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From: Douglas A. Gwyn on 16 Feb 2007 17:54
"r.e.s." wrote:
> Possibly the hint about a one-letter-only key got
> garbled somehow?

No, in fact it's a Caesar-style encryption with one component
the normal alphabet and the other component the reversed alphabet.
Therefore, only the relative offset is needed as the key, and
that is usually expressed as the character that aligns with A,
in this case it's W.
From: r.e.s. on 16 Feb 2007 18:51
"Douglas A. Gwyn" <DAGwyn(a)null.net> wrote ...
> "r.e.s." wrote:
>> Possibly the hint about a one-letter-only key got
>> garbled somehow?
>
> No, in fact it's a Caesar-style encryption with one component
> the normal alphabet and the other component the reversed alphabet.
> Therefore, only the relative offset is needed as the key, and
> that is usually expressed as the character that aligns with A,
> in this case it's W.

You're repeating what I said. What you describe is nothing but
the cipher I posted in the form

>> Encrypt or Decrypt)(x) = Key - x (mod 26)
>>... with Key = 'W' = 22

or in table form

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
--------------------------
WVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBAZYX

The above question about a possibly-garbled hint concerns the
fact that the cipher you and I are both describing, decrypts
the given plaintext to
hesaidtheCookwasagoodCookasCooksgoandasCooksgoshewent
instead of the possibly more "meaningful"
hesaidtheLookwasagoodLookasLooksgoandasLooksgoshewent.
From: r.e.s. on 16 Feb 2007 19:08
"r.e.s." <r.s(a)ZZmindspring.com> wrote ...
> The above question about a possibly-garbled hint concerns the
> fact that the cipher you and I are both describing, decrypts
> the given plaintext to
^^^^^^^^^
oops, ciphertext

> hesaidtheCookwasagoodCookasCooksgoandasCooksgoshewent
> instead of the possibly more "meaningful"
> hesaidtheLookwasagoodLookasLooksgoandasLooksgoshewent.
From: Arthur J. O'Dwyer on 16 Feb 2007 19:15

On Sat, 17 Feb 2007, r.e.s. wrote:
> "r.e.s." <r.s(a)ZZmindspring.com> wrote ...
>> The above question about a possibly-garbled hint concerns the
>> fact that the cipher you and I are both describing, decrypts
>> the given plaintext to
> ^^^^^^^^^
> oops, ciphertext
>
>> hesaidtheCookwasagoodCookasCooksgoandasCooksgoshewent
>> instead of the possibly more "meaningful"
>> hesaidtheLookwasagoodLookasLooksgoandasLooksgoshewent.

Try adding spaces and punctuation, and the "cook" version
becomes the more meaningful:

"He said the cook was a good cook, as cooks go; and as
cooks go, she went."

Changing "cook" to "look" throughout produces nonsense.

HTH,
-Arthur
From: r.e.s. on 16 Feb 2007 19:43
"Arthur J. O'Dwyer" <ajonospam(a)andrew.cmu.edu> wrote ...
>
> On Sat, 17 Feb 2007, r.e.s. wrote:
>> "r.e.s." <r.s(a)ZZmindspring.com> wrote ...
>>> The above question about a possibly-garbled hint concerns the
>>> fact that the cipher you and I are both describing, decrypts
>>> the given plaintext to
>> ^^^^^^^^^
>> oops, ciphertext
>>
>>> hesaidtheCookwasagoodCookasCooksgoandasCooksgoshewent
>>> instead of the possibly more "meaningful"
>>> hesaidtheLookwasagoodLookasLooksgoandasLooksgoshewent.
>
> Try adding spaces and punctuation, and the "cook" version
> becomes the more meaningful:
>
> "He said the cook was a good cook, as cooks go; and as
> cooks go, she went."
>
> Changing "cook" to "look" throughout produces nonsense.

I disagree. The alternative sentence ...

"He said the look was a good look, as looks go;
and as looks go, she went."

.... is what a man might reply lightheartedly when asked about
his former lady-friend's looks. That would be a reference to
her good looks leaving her, just as she left him.

(Sorry, sci.crypt, for the non-sci.)
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