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mooonstone wrote: ↑February 10th, 2020, 10:56 am Can someone please explain what it means when text is encoded with a K2 alphabet? I understand how K1 works but I'm not sure about K2. Thanks!

K2 isn't that different from K1. In a K1 alphabet, if you write out the ciphertext alphabet from A to Z, then you will find a keyword in the corresponding plaintext letters. In a K2 alphabet, if you write out the plaintext alphabet from A to Z, then you will find a keyword in the corresponding ciphertext letters.

For example, this is a K1:


And this is a K2:


Notice how in both of them, one of the lines contains the keyword while the other one is just in alphabetical order. Which lines these are determines whether you're dealing with a K1 or a K2.

Does anyone have a specific calculator that they use for this competition?
Last year when I did the competition I bought a cheap one from the dollar store but didn't really like it.
Are there good ones on like Amazon or Walmart/Target that you would recommend?

JonathanRevoir wrote: ↑February 13th, 2020, 6:45 am Does anyone have a specific calculator that they use for this competition?
Last year when I did the competition I bought a cheap one from the dollar store but didn't really like it.
Are there good ones on like Amazon or Walmart/Target that you would recommend?

I'd recommend getting one of the larger ones meant to sit on a desk, since you don't have to pick it up to punch in the numbers and it's easier to see the numbers (big display, often at an angle toward the viewer).

Is a calculator like this allowed?
https://www.amazon.com/Calculator-Helec ... =8-14&th=1

I'm just making sure because on an faq the question was: CAN FOUR/ FIVE FUNCTION ACCOUNTING CALCULATORS BE USED?

And they answered...
No. Accounting calculators which have the switch for the number of decimal digits can not be used.

Vortexx2 wrote: ↑February 13th, 2020, 10:14 am Is a calculator like this allowed?
https://www.amazon.com/Calculator-Helec ... =8-14&th=1

I'm just making sure because on an faq the question was: CAN FOUR/ FIVE FUNCTION ACCOUNTING CALCULATORS BE USED?

And they answered...
No. Accounting calculators which have the switch for the number of decimal digits can not be used.

I would be hesitant about getting a calculator with the mark up button like on the one you linked. It doesn’t really offer any advantage to a competitor but technically that’s another function of the calculator (plus certain ES’s might not give you the benefit of the doubt).

Could someone please explain how to solve Pollux and Morbit ciphers? Thanks!

Does anybody have any special tricks they use to complete aristocrats in a fast manor?

Tejas wrote: ↑February 23rd, 2020, 11:30 am Could someone please explain how to solve Pollux and Morbit ciphers? Thanks!

Pollux: Each number (0-9) represents either a dash, a space, or a dot.
Morbit: Each number (1-9) represents a two-character combination of dash, space, or dot with no repeats.

JonathanRevoir wrote: ↑February 24th, 2020, 8:44 am Does anybody have any special tricks they use to complete aristocrats in a fast manor?

Practice, practice, practice. You'll eventually recognize familiar patterns the more cryptograms you do.

In regards to Baconian ciphers with other letters substituting 01/AB for example if ACEGIK = 0/A and BDFHJL = 1/B. Besides random grouping and testing, does anyone have more advanced tips to solve these difficult Baconians faster?? Any tips are helpful. Thanks!

In a k1 or k2, what's the difference between cipher and plain text? This may seem like a silly question but I have seen many different answers for this.