The Zodiac Z32 cipher (1970) has historically been considered unsolvable via standard cryptanalysis due to its shortness (low unicity distance). However, the cipher was accompanied by a map and the instruction "Radians and inches along the radians."
My Approach: I wrote a Python solver that treats the cipher as a Geographic Constraint Satisfaction Problem rather than a purely linguistic one. The code filters permutations based on:
Lexical constraints: Must use polar navigation vocabulary (e.g., integers, fractions).
Cryptographic constraints: Must strictly match the homophonic repetition pattern of the ciphertext.
The Result: The constraints isolated a specific plaintext: "IN THREE AND THREE EIGHTHS RADIANS TEN." When plotted from Mt. Diablo using 1970 magnetic declination, the vector lands on a specific 100-foot equilateral triangular crop mark, which also happens to be the geometric centroid of the killer's known activity radius.
dstamp•2h ago
My Approach: I wrote a Python solver that treats the cipher as a Geographic Constraint Satisfaction Problem rather than a purely linguistic one. The code filters permutations based on:
Lexical constraints: Must use polar navigation vocabulary (e.g., integers, fractions).
Cryptographic constraints: Must strictly match the homophonic repetition pattern of the ciphertext.
The Result: The constraints isolated a specific plaintext: "IN THREE AND THREE EIGHTHS RADIANS TEN." When plotted from Mt. Diablo using 1970 magnetic declination, the vector lands on a specific 100-foot equilateral triangular crop mark, which also happens to be the geometric centroid of the killer's known activity radius.