The Z340-A Psychological Approach

[Daishi45]

Hi all, this is in discussion of attempting to make some sense out of the Z340. I approached my attempts to solve it utilyzing the FBIs Criminal Investigative Analysis techniques (this is more commonly known as 'profiling' in non-technical terms.) From what I've seen, the only reference the Zodiac ever made directly relating to the 340 was the 'My Name Is' letter where he asks if it's been cracked yet and then goes directly into the 'My Name Is--' cipher/code. This is, I feel, a direct clue given to help crack the 340. So I went to the last line othe 340 and right before the Zodiac sign and his Zodaik I saw M N I in the last line so I put that in as a solve in this section. It fit perfectly. Using these solves I then went to the top section, and started inputting character solves. Anyway, to make a long story short, I came up with this: The 340 starts out, top left corner with: 'A Game For Lies About Me' (Me = N9, line 2). It ends with: 'See Fit To Tell All That My Name Is' then the Zodiac sign and his signature. Check it out yourselves and see what you feel about it. The rest I've found to be tight anagrams, it appears to be a 'Little List' letter type poem and mentions Herb Caen, Paul Avery, A Clear Lake, and 'I owe you a blast' and a whole bunch of other stuff. I did not change any character solves, they stay consistant throughout the entire cipher. But anagraming while simulaneously assigning unknowns is a VERY complicated and time consuming art, and incredibly difficult to stay with for long periods. Anyway, if you plug in these sentences at the start and end and try your own solves for the unknowns it will be fascinating for me to see, if by using this template, you come up with anything close to my attempted solve. Remember, the Zodiac was very shrewd and had odd spellings and vernacular at times. He misspelled frequently and even omitted or added letters.
I also feel he, by design, composed this to directly deflect the main thing that got his 408 solved by the Hardens (in, like, 2.3 seconds), frequency occurance. His main trick is the + sign. He knew everyone would go right to the double L schtick, so what he did was to leave it stand for L, but to also denote 'and' in many places, as he did often in his letters. This was one of clues, he started using + to stand for 'and' more frequently in his latter letters as a clue to his 340 format. And also, he can mention Herb Caen, but while everyone is trying to decode 'Herb Caen', he calls him something else. These are some of his tricks, be warned! I feel his start of 'A Game' is a nod to the Ripper's 'From Hell' letter to Mr. George Lusk back in 1888. I have lots more to discuss, on the 340 and the other unsolved ciphers (Bus Bomb cipher/code, My Name Is code) as well. So if you want a great challenge give this partial solve a crack and see what you think, feel and may come with with a complete solve. I'd love to see anyones results!

Cheers,
Rick

[Jarlve]

Edit: generated with: http://oranchak.com/zodiac/webtoy/

Hey Daishi45,

I like the idea of seeing the "+" symbol also denoting "and" in the cipher. I also think, like yourself, that he did something with the 340 to keep it from being solved so easily as the 408. Here is where the psychological approach might pay off. Because he probably knew/saw how they solved the 408 and then probably did something clever in return to how. You are suggesting annagramming here, while possible it is not my cup of tea, I just might be the world's worst annagrammer.

Lately I have been thinking that he must have had an extensive background with cipher stuff.

[traveller1st]

Welcome to the board rick.

ana.jpg

[glurk]

But anagramming while simultaneously assigning unknowns is a VERY complicated and time consuming art, and incredibly difficult to stay with for long periods.

I don't think that it is an art, per se. I have another word that I would use, but it would be inappropriate to post here.

-glurk

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[up2something]

Posts should have a like button.

[AK Wilks]

Welcome aboard Daishi45. I will look at your interesting work tonite or tomorrow.

I am the founder of AA. Yes that is Anagrammers Anonymous. My name is AK, I am an anagrammer, and I have been 3 years sober. 3 years with no wide anagrams. I still do an occasional very tight anagram. The problem in general with anagrams is they create so many possibilities it is impossible to know which one out of hundreds was intended.

Let me look at your work and what jarlve did and I will give you my thoughts tonite or tomorrow.

[up2something]

I am the founder of AA. Yes that is Anagrammers Anonymous. My name is AK, I am an anagrammer, and I have been 3 years sober.

As Larry the Cable Guy would say, "That right thar's funny... I don't care who ya are."

[AK Wilks]

At this point in the Z case you have to have a sense of humor just to stay sane Up2something.

There is a lot of interest in your psychological approach setting aside our probable disagreement on anagrams for the moment. And not sure if you are aware of this but some elements of your solution are similar to parts of the raw Graysmith, a solution I think may have some merit in parts [a minority opinion. Lonely are the brave ]. I also agree with you about the JTR letter. Remember it was FROM HELL...

I will give this a full look tomorrow. Thanks for posting and thanks to Jarlve for his post with the code filled in.

[AK Wilks]

Thanks for posting this. Some questions.

Where are the names, anagrammed or not, like Herb Caen and Paul Avery? I must be missing them as I don't see them. You can indicate by calling horizontal lines rows and vertical lines columns, such as saying "Herb Caen starts with B at Row 5 Column 7" or whatever. Another way to do it is to take what Jarlve posted, put it in paint/photo shop, and circle the names.

I find your opening interesting but unsupported. In other words, even thinking psychologically that Z was obsessed with certain themes - hunting, couples, maybe Jack The Ripper, etc. - there are still hundreds of possible openers. Can you tell us more what your thinking was on this opener?

I think the + + is LL for reasons gone over before, including the great work by quicktrader and some supporting work by glurk, doranchak and myself, and for which I will do a new post on soon. But you think ++ stands for AND? can you elaborate?

Most of the code still seems unsolved.

Also have you looked at the Raw Graysmith? Have you looked at my analysis of the possible influence of JTR and the FROM HELL letter in Z opening the 340 with something like I GIVE THEM (or I CAME FROM) HELL TOO. See my work here viewtopic.php?f=81&t=260

Finally, have you seen the work by NIN (and me) on possible tie ins between the My Name Is code and the 340? Here viewtopic.php?f=81&t=298

[Daishi45]

Hi, all

I'm very familiar with all here, I've been reading everybody's ideas here for a long time, it's just you all don't know me yet.
My approach to cracking the codes and ciphers was to go in Z's head and see them through his eyes, like John Douglas and Robert Ressler of the FBI used to do. Since his 340 and Bus Bomb code couldn't be cracked, if I were him, I'd start dropping clues, and this is what he did (but most have been misread). I then said "how would I plant these clues?" and went on a search. I found he planted so many clues everywhere that it's ridiculous. I then used these clues he gave and cracked the 340 and Bus Bomb code. As for the 'My Name Is" code, I solved it as either 'A Verey Angry Man' or "A Very Angerey Man', depending on his misspell of the day, I guess. The real clue is the reference to the 340 where he goes directly to 'My Name Is'. THIS is the clue to the last line of the 340, I saw M-N-S in the last line leading up to siggy. He even was nice enough to put the S uncoded right where it belonged. He knew from these words deciphered the first line could be deduced if the solver was up to the challenge, and after cracking that, the last full sentence could be cracked. This is what I did. Then I moved on to 'The Game', his anagraming. I did it all old school, pad and paper. Hit and miss. I stuck with it for a very long time and have it all pretty much deciphered, but I've found it's the basic same old stuff he used to write, no great clues or anything. My main concern is verification. How can this be done if he anagrammed? The ONLY way I can see is that enough people have to decode it and get the same message INDEPENDENTLY of each other. There is no other way. If I give my solution it'll bias the solve and independent verification becomes impossible....

Now try this, I've just seen it: Robert G was on the right track with the HER and Herb Caen, but fell into Z's trap. RG continued to the right after HER when he should have gone down to the B diagonally then to the reverse C. HERE is where Zodiac made his snake path. I feel a message snakes through the 340, either one long one or many short one. These are the odd 'To Die By' 'Shot Boy' 'Kilt God' etc....they are read snaking through the code and they are of three types of codings, but you have to solve the 340 in order to use the letters. He uses the regular letters, 408 solves and 340 solves all connected together in snaking fashion. This is why he used many of the 408 symbols, they decode to the 408 in his snake message. I deduced this from the 3 symbols under the reversed C in Herb C. Decode these three symbols to the 408 and you get AEN. So from HER to Diag B down to reversed C, down 3 decoded to the 408 you get Herb Caen. Folks, the 340 is a true masterpiece of codework if this is valid, unlike anything ever created before or since. It explains much of the odd format, the weird look and many other things. But it has to be decoded properly to be found! Then after Herb Caen I went to the F next to the N and snaked 'Fat Lier' through the solved 340 right where 'Fat Lier' decodes in the 340, it goes though the F and ends on the exact R in LIER that is decoded in the 340. This all is unbelievable, but it's all there. I'll give you a bit more of the solve to help you understand: The famous S99 is indeed 'SEE'. It says 'See to fat riel'. He calls Herb Caen 'Fat Lier'. The snaked Fat Lier snakes through this area of the decode. It's sheer genius! My hats off to the Z man....

Now consider this: X marks the spot. There are only two X's in the 340. There are only two places where GY appear together.
Both X's appear only at the GY areas, adjacent to the G's. X solves to K (I'll give you another decipher). This K, in both places is the K in Rick. Yes, in both of these areas Rick Gyke and Rick Gycc snake through the 340. The lower on is more easily seen, RI revese C to X to GY reverse C, reverse C. The top right is more coded, it has to solved to read 'Rick', it horseshoes in perfect symmetry through the reverse K of Gyke. It's all here, and who knows what else may be hidden? And my deep sympathy here to all the anagrammers that have been through what I've been through, I feel your pain! Don't have much time, I could talk for hours on all this, but it should all give many out there much to think about and discover with the mythical 340.