This Xcellent cache was placed on Xmas Eve. Just fill in the X's
and you have the coordinates. With all the X's filled in with the
correct numbers it is a Monome-Dinome cipher. In a Monome-Dinome
cipher the letters of the alphabet are arranged in a 3x8 rectangle
using an 8-letter keyword. For example:
_ 4 5 9 0 6 2 1 8
_ N O T A R I E S
7 B C D F G H K L
3 M P Q U V W X Y
Note that in this example the I/J are combined and Y/Z as well,
in order to reduce the 26 letters to 24 places. In my cipher below,
the I/J are combined, but two other letters, not Y/Z, form the
other combined pair. Two numbers are chosen at random to serve as
row numbers and the rest are arranged at random at the top to serve
as column numbers. You encipher by substituting numbers for the
letters of your message. For letters in the first row, you use just
the single digit above the letter (the column number). For those in
the second and third rows you use the number to the left (the row
number) and the column number. Using the above example you would
encipher HELLO as 72178785. To decipher, just reverse the process.
It is just a simple substitution cipher - very easy to break -
except of course, there is the pesky problem of not knowing which
letters use one digit and which use two.
50112324683249898352X24192083523218068918960380241
23898352325899262324830323835044838923238329624252
325804X6838302723449X5231X42989232383624129899442X
X8923208033X299248360244924231933689624X924232923X
4839XX2998024832389202308327924237X241686989X62389
92086X9183926232420989X83621239242392062487
The Monome-Dinome as used here is a simplified version of the
VIC cipher used by Soviet spy VICTOR which used a straddling
checkerboard rather than a polybius square. See wikipedia's VIC
cipher entry for more details.
I filled the container with Xmas goodies, but they all got taken
when the cache went missing
There's also a couple of things mentioned in the text of my
message which may or may not last. That's what the holidays are
for!
After awhile I'll post more hints as needed, but let's give the
smart guys and gals a chance to get the FTF.