I was looking through last years cipher challenge as preparation for this year (because this is the first time I’ve entered) and I was completely stumped by 7B and 8A. Would an elf or someone who took part last year mind telling me what ciphers were used so I can have a go at breaking them.
Not sure about 7B, because this is my first Cipher Challenge, but the “How the winners won guide” states, regarding 8A, that “They were about to be faced with a Hill cipher, based on matrix algebra in mod 26 arithmetic. And that was just part A of the Challenge.”
have a look in the competition notes from Last year
also, for challenge 8 a i believe that it was Hill cipher
not too sure about 7b though, haven’t looked at that one yet
7B was a Bifid cipher, and if my notes from last year are correct the keyword was [spoiler]LIGO[/spoiler]. 8A was a hill cipher and a believe the keyword was [spoiler]HILL[/spoiler]. Enjoy the challenge!
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