P J I E Q D R L V Q F L N J V E F M I D V T G X M V I E G O P D Y U F X P J Z H F D P L A Q Q X M J V

Poem to Anna — L (02 02 2020)

 

May 9 2020 — On February 2 2020 [02 02 2020], I felt the urge to speak to my best friend. What kind of life is waiting for us? Will our societies learn from this pandemic? Or will our world be just the same, but even worse? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

RELATED POST: KRYPTOS Week 2019 — Introduction : Sculpture Dedication Ceremony at the CIA (November 3 1990)

RELATED POST: KRYPTOS Week 2019 — How to Break a Vigenère Code

RELATED POST: KRYPTOS Week 2019 — The Solution of Section II

RELATED POST : KRYPTOS Week 2019 — History of the NSA Involvement

RELATED POST: KRYPTOS Week 2019 — SECTION I : A KEYED Vigenère Cipher [And why the CIA lies so much about it?]

RELATED POST: KRYPTOS Week 2019 — SECTION III : A Transposition Cipher

RELATED POST: KRYPTOS Week 2019 — SECTION IV : A Few Clues From Edward Scheidt

RELATED POST: KRYPTOS Week 2019 — New Clues from the CIA Website? [UPDATE : Get Ready for a New Clue!]

“Time goes, you say? Ah, no! alas, time stays, we go.” — Henry Austin Dobson

UPDATE (MAY 9 2021) — I have not written a single post about KRYPTOS in almost six months.

I promise you that I will come back soon to this fantastic puzzle which has been one of the most popular topics on this blog!

Kryptos is a sculpture by the American artist Jim Sanborn located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia.

Of the four parts of the message, the first three have been solved. The last part of the message remains as one of the most famous unsolved code in the world. 

Since its dedication on November 3 1990, there has been much speculation about the meaning of the four encrypted messages it bears.

The sculpture continues to be of interest to crypto-analysts, both amateur and professional, who are attempting to decipher the fourth passage.

The artist has so far given four clues to this passage.

RELATED POST: The KRYPTOS Sculpture — Jim Sanborn : “This is the third and to be sure final clue.” [UPDATE : And now, a 4th clue!?!]

As no progress has been made in decoding the last part of this enigma, it is time to look outside the box. Literally…

Stay tuned!

END of UPDATE

So, I wrote a short poem. Of course, I encrypted my message for her before I sent it.

A man is never too careful!

Can you read this poem?

OK. I will give you some help… I encoded the message with a Vigenère table.

For the KEY, I used PALINDROME, and I chose ZEUGMA as the passphrase.

Building the Vigenère Table

Decoding the Poem

This is very easy. First you write the encrypted text as I did below. (Here I just wrote the first 12 characters.)

On the second line, you write the passphrase (ZEUGMA) and you repeat it until you reach the end of the cipher.

Now, look in the Vigenère table which letter encoded with a Z gives a P? That is A! (in RED)

Which letter encoded with a E gives a J? That is R! (in BLUE)

Which letter encoded with a U gives a I? That is E! (in GREEN)

And you just keep going till all the cipher is decoded.

Are we not Anna

Drawn onward

We few

Drawn onward Anna

To new era?

And the poem is…

A R E W E N O T A N N A D R A W N O N W A R D W E F E W D R A W N O N W A R D A N N A T O N E W E R A

Are we not Anna

Drawn onward

We few

Drawn onward Anna

To new era?

So, yes, the poem is a palindrome. You can read it forward and backward just the same.

It is also a rather cute zeugma…

And time will tell us the answer!

REFERENCES

Vigenère cipher — Wikipedia

=

Crypto Games — A Poem to Anna [Vigenère Cipher]

One Year Ago — Crypto Games — A Poem to Anna [UPDATE : Back to KRYPTOS]