Apartment Code Puzzle

June 12, 2008 5:29 PM

Cypherfiler: Did anyone check out the NYT article about the amazing puzzle/scavenger hunt that was built into the NY apartment? possibly the coolest thing i've seen in years. i'm intrigued by the part of the cypher shown but i've got a little stuck...

"The children’s bedrooms have radiator covers with poems written specifically for each child cut into them in code. The Caesar Shift cipher in the bedroom of the oldest child, Cavan, was broken by a friend."

Caeser Shift works by "shifting" the alphabet a set number of letters along, so F becomes C, G becomes D, etc.

the code translates to (with odd 'errors'):

cavan, the archer's child
curioM, bright--your
quicE Gind pivots and
leaps like a dancer.
curiouMity;s light
is to love the question
as much as the answer.

can anyone figure out the code within the code? seems inexplicable that they'd just screw up those 4 letters, especially as they are the RIGHT letters if you translate the cypher backwards (if C becomes F instead, so M=S, E=K, and G=M).

why MEGM? (or SKMS or...)

posted by xz to society & culture (5 comments total)

There's a thread about this over on the blue and people are discussing the cypher. Check there.
posted by loiseau at 5:40 PM on June 12, 2008

The thread on the blue: Mystery on 5th Avenue.
posted by ericb at 5:50 PM on June 12, 2008

yeah... looks like people have gotten as far as I have. perhaps we just need more information.
posted by xz at 5:51 PM on June 12, 2008

iconomy's comment, and mine. I don't think there's enough to go on here. Maybe more details will emerge as the story is passed around the internet.
posted by Who_Am_I at 6:40 AM on June 13, 2008

Before this thread gets closed, I wanted to mention that I emailed the design firm specifically about this and they never got back to me. Oh well.
posted by Who_Am_I at 1:29 PM on July 11, 2008