• Would Facepunch be interested in a periodic cryptography contest (with prizes)?
    9 replies, posted
A few months ago I was introduced to something called a headline puzzle. Basically a headline puzzle is a group of news article headlines encrypted using the same 26-letter sequence at different settings. I've been doing these puzzles every month since September, and I actually find it a pretty fun way to waste time. I've seen similar puzzles and contests on Facepunch before, and they've generally had a decent amount of participants, so I figured there might be some interest in this as well. If enough people want to do this, I'd write up a much more detailed and in-depth post and tutorial before starting, but in the meantime, [url=http://www.thephoenixsociety.org/puzzles/puzzlesolving.htm]you can go here[/url] to get a better idea of what the headline puzzle is. As I said, a headline puzzle is a group of headlines (normally five) encrypted using the same 26-letter sequence. This sequence is created using 2 words, called the hat and the key, and this sequence is shifted based on a third word, called the setting. To solve the headline puzzle, you have to find the hat, key, and setting in addition to the original headlines. Since Facepunch has members from all over the world, I would obviously limit the headlines to international news or articles posted in the Sensationalist Headlines section. As for prizes... Don't expect a lot. I'm heading off the college this fall, so I don't have a whole lot of extra cash. I think I could manage $10 or $15, though. And I suppose the more generous among us could offer any spare unused Steam games that haven't been gifted yet. The real issue here might be how to decide the winner. The most obvious choice would probably be the first right answer wins, but with different time zones, there could easily be some people who solve it before others even see it. Maybe all the right answers could be put in a raffle-type thing? So what do you think? Would you be interested in participating in something like this? If you need more info I'd be happy to answer questions, or I can post sample puzzles, including how they were created and how to solve them. Also post any other input or suggestions you might have, because I think something like this could really be fun for a lot of people.
periodic what what the fuck [editline]3rd July 2011[/editline] sorry man pay no mind didnt meant to
no
No, cryptography interests me none.
cryptoshit yeah
Are Bob and Alice going to be taking part
[QUOTE=nikomo;30859161]Are Bob and Alice going to be taking part[/QUOTE] I'll admit I spent 5 minutes trying to think of a way to answer that in a way that made it look like I understood the joke. But I didn't. :v:
I'd probably not win so nah
Maybe, cryptography is interesting shit.
[QUOTE=ArmyKid93;30859333]I'll admit I spent 5 minutes trying to think of a way to answer that in a way that made it look like I understood the joke. But I didn't. :v:[/QUOTE] Bob and Alice are always used as example people in cryptography examples, especially private-public key crypto. Can't remember the exact example, but I think it went something like Bob sends Alice a signed letter, so Alice uses the public key she got from Bob at a coffee shop to verify that it's from Bob, and then read it.
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