I've wanted to include a section on my website called Fun Stuff for some time, but since I'm at the mercy of my web master's very busy schedule, I thought I'd post some of it here. The first section has to do with coding. Here it is:
(Unfortunately the blog program thinks it's smarter than me and likes to compress my letters and dots and dashes with no spaces so you can't read them. I'll see what I can do.)Fun Stuff
In World War II, the Special Operations Executive used Morse code to send their messages. They converted poems into numbers—called a "transposition key." Towards the end of the war, these keys were written on silk and the poems were originals that only the sender and receiver knew. But first they used familiar poems.
Instead of using a transposition key, I've made things a little easier to decode.
Here a few codes and familiar poems. See if you can decode them.
Morse code
A . _ H . . . .
B _ . . . I . .
C _ ._ . J . _ _ _
D _ . . K _ . _
E . L . _ . .
F . . _ . M _ _
G _ _ . N _ .
U . . _ Question mark . . _ _ . .
T _ Full stop (period) . _ . _. _
S . . . Z _ _ . .
R . _ . Y _ . _ _
Q _ _ . _ X _ . . _
P . _ _ . W . _ _
O _ _ _ V . . . _
Poem (The slashes represent a space, since the program won't allow spaces.)
_ _ _/ _ ./ _ ._ . /./ . . _ /. _ _ . /_ _ _/ _ .
. _ /_ _ /. ./ _ . ./ _ ./ . ./ _ _. /. . . ./ _
_ . ./ . _ ./ ./ . _/ . _ ./ _ . _ _
. _ _ /. . . . /. ./ . _ . . /. /. ./
. _ _ . /_ _ _/ _ . /_ . . /./ . _ ./ . /_ . .
. _ _ /./ . _ /_ . _/ . _ /_ . /_ . .
. _ _ /. /. _ /. _ ./ _ . _ _
Can you guess the poem?
Here’s the title: _ / . . . . / . /. _ ./ . _ /. . . _ /. /_ .
And the author: ./ _ . ./ _ _ ./ . _ /. _ .
. _ /. _ . . /. _ . ./ ._ /_ . /. _ _ . /_ _ _/ .
If you know the poem, it might be easy to crack the code. That's why the SOE made up their own poems later, but by then it was already too late for a number of agents.
Find the rest of the poem on the Internet once you’ve figured out what it is. Then substitute these words in the first two stanzas:
Lost: seen/sighted
Curious: Holland
Nodded: cancel
December: position
Rare: contact
Evermore: tomorrow
Came: parachute
Over: safe
Door: drop
Angels: time
Ghost: compromise(d)
Sorrow: enemy
Quaint: in
Radiant: same
Poem
This one may be a bit tougher:
. . . . /_ _ _/ . _ _ /. . ./ . _ _/ ./ ./ _
_ /. . . ./ . /_ _ /_ _ _/ _ _ _/ _ .
. _ . . /. . /_ _ . /. . . . /_ /. . . /. _ ../ ./ . /. _ _ . /. . .
. . _ /. _ _./ _ _ _/ _ .
_/ . . . ./ . . /. . ./ _ . . ./ . _ /_./ _ . _ /. _ . _ . _
Google the first line and see what you come up with. Then substitute these words for the complete set of verses:
Quiring: time
Moonlight: cover
Floor: portal
Creep: next
Sings: alternate
Orb: close(d)
Touches: rendezvous
Cherubims: method
Motion: need
Music: extraction
Young: travel
Sleeps: blown
Other codes:
During World War II, the Navajo language was used for messages. They didn’t need to be coded because no one but the Navajo knew the language and no one but the Navajo sent and received them. Here are some examples of Navajo words:
English (Français) Navajo
One (Un) Łáá'íí
Two (Deux) Naaki
Three (Trois) Táá'
Man (Homme) Hastiin
Woman (Femme) Asdzání
Dog (Chien) Łééchąą'í
Sun (Soleil) Shá
Moon (Lune) Tł'éhonaa'éí
Water (Eau) Tó
Eat (Manger) Yiyą
See (Voir) Yoo'į
Hear (Entendre) Yidiists'a'
Sing (Chanter) Hashtaał
Leave (Partir) Diiyá
Here is a simple message using Navajo: Yoo'į hastiin diiyá naaki shá.
Remember sometimes messages aren’t totally clear. You have fill in the blanks to make sense of them.
My next Time Meddlers book takes place on the continent of Africa. Below are two examples of ancient African languages. I’m going to write a message in one of these languages. That will be a clue as to where this book is set. The message may give you further clues. The cartouche at the bottom you may have trouble finding. Keep watching, spying . . .
