Zodiackillersite.com

T, yes, we've been round this one, had a little race to see who could decode the Tracy stuff first (I remember who won, but I'm not saying) - and we then had quite a long thread about the 340 as a Cardan (or trellis) grill cipher. DIdn't go anywhere, (no really?!) but it was a lot of fun.

smithy-

Was I the first to solve these? I can't remember, I only have a vague recollection of seeing this.... I have them solved now, anyways, LOL.

-glurk

(Yes, I was bored and had nothing better to do.)

I like the idea a lot. Can anyone else imagine Z taking great pleasure in using a children's Dick Tracy decoder to create a secret message that the blue pigs couldn't figure out? I certainly can. It could even add a level of irony considering himself a "cereal killer" like 'ol BTK although the term serial killer wasn't even coined until the 70s sometime, I believe.

AK's example made me think of this recent secret coded message for some reason:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bd527o5IQAAnHd5.jpg:large

It's a long shot, Tahoe, but have you tried placing those decoder cards over portions of the 340 cipher to see if they would fit and yield any kind of message? Perhaps all of those extraneous non-letter symbols are just filler? The cipher is tidy enough that it would at least be possible to try. If you solve the damn thing this way and make a fortune in speaking engagements, just remember who helped you out, OK?

Here are two more of these "Dick Tracy Decoder" messages. I think they are both the same.
Good luck on reading them, though, the images are way too small:





-glurk

(I don't think any of this has anything to do with Zodiac's ciphers. But sometimes corny, crispy
diversions can be a bit of fun.)

The format of the cipher looks similar..nevertheless, the 408 was solved in a different way and is there a lack of letters 'N' and 'A' in the 340, too. Anyway, interesting find.

QT

glurk wrote:smithy-
Was I the first to solve these? I can't remember, I only have a vague recollection of seeing this.... I have them solved now, anyways, LOL.
-glurk
(Yes, I was bored and had nothing better to do.)

Glurk - modesty forbids.

Entropy - yes, I seem to recall that's just what was done - completely pointlessly - in our little grill experiments.
Sometimes I recall all the things I've personally tried in attempting to decode the thing and I'm embarrassed.

Tahoe27 wrote:Ok...it's corny, but I'm sharing anyway.

A few years back I came upon this cereal box. At first glance it reminded me of the 340. I also thought the way in which they decode the secret message was interesting.

Note it tells you to use (-) when necessary. The 340 has that. Is that common to use? Code people?

I know it's silly, but maybe it truly was something easier and child-like? I actually own the green and red decoders. Yep. It actually took me like two years to get my hands on the red one. Why do I do these things? lol

Okay, I admit it..... I'm a tad bit jealous.

smithy wrote:
Entropy - yes, I seem to recall that's just what was done - completely pointlessly - in our little grill experiments.
Sometimes I recall all the things I've personally tried in attempting to decode the thing and I'm embarrassed.

It's only silly if it's wrong, smithy, and you don't know until you try.

I shared at Tom's a looong time ago, but didn't have the decoders yet. It is what made me search for them.
http://zodiackiller.fr.yuku.com/topic/1663#.UvfyFEnTkeg

entropy, nope. I have not tried it yet. I'd have to shrink it down to a MUCH smaller version. Ultimately though, you still have to know what those darn symbols meant.

I would like to know from you pros if using a (-) is a common thing to do. The back of this card does mention using it.

You wouldn't need to know anything about the symbols if the card blocked out all of the non-letter symbols, Tahoe. What I'm imagining is the holes in the cards isolating only letter symbols and forming some type of message. Z would have had to design the 340 cipher based on the layout of his Sugar Crisp Magic Decoder.

It's a total longshot but just seems like it's worth a try. It's just one example of an encoding method which is pretty simple to create but which Z would hold the key for (literally in this case).