Friday has come around once more and it is time for the second in the series of crypto-quotes. First things first. Here's the solution to last week's puzzle.
TROUBLES ARE OFTEN TOOLS BY WHICH GOD FASHIONS US FOR BETTER THINGS- HARRIET WARD BEECHER
This could have been a bit tricky since she often went by her 
married name. Harriet Beecher Stowe.
This week's quote comes from this man with the sturdy jaw and lovely flip hairdo.
GS TZG XKXI AXYZTX
XLJIXTXFN OVYUXB
ZFF ZJ SGYX - EPKXGZF
Gosh, I'm not very good at this sort of cryptic puzzle. I need a clue
ReplyDeleteSure.
ReplyDeleteIt helps to think of one, two and three letter word combinations. For example, in English there are only two words with only one letter. Unfortunately there is no example of only one letter in this particular puzzle. Then we must look for interesting patterns.. like the ZFF which is followed by ZJ. So it might be.. SEE.. S_.. But if it were z=S wouldn't there be at least one plural with S on the end of the word? So that is probably not correct.
Another technique is to think in terms of the times a letter is used. The most common letter in English is the letter E. In this puzzle, X is the most commonly used letter (10x) so I would venture to guess....Try X = E
Frankly I can only remember the name of the man but not his quote so after those clues, you are on your own.
By the way, Edgar Allen Poe's "The Gold Bug" provided a wonderful explanation of this kind of cryptography. Later Conan Doyle practically stole the idea in a Sherlock Holmes tales.