Conference rusure::math

    Cyphers (if this truly is one) are usually broken by statistical
    analysis.  If you include the whole text the we can take a pretty
    good crack at it.
    
    Oh yeah, are the commas (",") in the puzzle or did you add them
    here?
    
    --  Barry

 
    Complete list, the commas are shown on the puzzle.    

                372,824,824,234,894
                707,769,153,153,862
                824,530,234,318,703
    824,824,864,372,621,333,703,234
    197,824,894,530,944,704,509,769
    703,707,824,509,372,894,511,197
    509,824,530,234,509,511,944,703
    511,769,234,530,944,769,509,234
    372,333,511,153,511,769,318,703
    197,611,865,611,824,621,318,824
    894,769,824,703,197,824,333,216
    704,707,865,509,530,894,769,333
    509,953,707,153,511,333,944,530
    216,511,703,707,234,769,372,707
    611,611,953,333,611,530,769,703
    197,234,824,707,511,153
    511,824,894,824,611,865
    223,511,333,611,944          <--picture of mouse here
    

Caution:

	Before spending too much time on this cipher, keep in mind
	that it is probably in error in at least one place.

	One possible way to remove errors would be for the submitter
	to type it in a *second* time without reference to the first
	copy.  Then use a computer to compare the two type-ins.

	By the way, since the submitter used the word "presedent", there
	may indeed be an error in the numbers.

/Eric

    It's possible that the numbers represent letters or words from some
    existing document.  523 is the 523'rd word or letter, for example.
    This is a fairly common way of encrypting a message, and has been
    done commerically as a contest in the not-too-distant past.
    				Jeff
    

    Or, perhaps the rank of the letter in the document ITSELF.
    
    For example, to code this very reply so far, I would write:
    
    	1,2,3,4,5,2,7,8,4
    
    I did this by saying the "o" is in position 1, the "r" is 2, the space
    is 3, the p is 4, the e is 5, the r is the same as what's at 2, the h
    is 7, the a is 8, the p is the same as what's in 4 etc.
    
    /Eric

    If you assume that the decryption is meant to be easy for those
    people who know the key, then encrypting on the document itself
    is locking the key in the box it opens.  The only way to decrypt
    the document is to know what the document says.  Also, there will
    be an arbitrary number of possible decodings of this cipher.
    				Jeff               

    Another possible interpretation: each group of three digits describes
    a line or page in a document and the letter or word; e.g. 372 =
    line 3, 72nd letter; or page 3, 72nd word. From the repetitions
    It appears the writer used the same symbols over and over (he might
    have made it a lot harder) so I would guess that a simple substitution
    was used (perhaps 824 = 'o' or 'e', so the message might begin with
    'Look' or 'Keep') ... 
    
    If this message has historical significance it is probably discussed
    in David Kahn's "The Codebreakers" which might be found in your local
    public library.
    
    Lynn Yarbrough 

RE: .6 (Jeff)
    
    > If you assume that the decryption is meant to be easy for those
    > people who know the key ...
    
    Although generally a good assumption for "real" ciphers there really
    is no reason to assume that here -- this is a challenge cipher after
    all, and the only intended recipients are those who "crack" it.
    
    > Also, there will be an arbitrary number of possible decodings
    > of this cipher
    
    Statistically very unlikely.  What is described is a simple
    substitution cipher and they are unambiguously decodable (assuming
    English text) after relatively few characters (about 50 I believe).
    
    Its probably worth reminding people that the ","'s may simply be
    conveniences for reading or may be red hearings to deliberately
    mislead.  There is a very good chance that they have no significance
    to the cipher.
    
    						Topher

    Notice that there are only 24 distinct 3-digit numbers in the message.
    
    824 occurs 15 times
    511 occurs 10 times
    769 occurs  9 times
    ...

    This is one of a series of puzzles put out by this company, usually
    at Christmas. (Is it gold printing on black background)? I have
    one
    from an earlier date.  The solutions to this series puzzles (if
    it is) is found in a historical document.  The one I have is an
    offset word count into the Constitution.  Cracking this one is not
    a mathematical problem but one perhaps best suited for a librarian.
    
                        -jb
    
    (I am a member of the American Cryptogram Association, pass member
    of the New York Cypher Society (D.Kahn director) and past crypto
    security officer -- advisor to S.Vietnamese on cryptosecurity).