One of the first things I noticed as I wandered the streets of Rome two weeks ago was the ready availability of postcards featuring Pope Benedict XVI. Since they were fairly inexpensive (2 Euros for 20 cards), I toyed with the idea of sending some to my atheist friends. To avoid being barred from touring the Vatican – or worse, being molested arrested for writing something nasty about the holy father – I was going to encode my messages. Upon realizing that I would get back to the USA before the cards would arrive at their destinations, however, I decided to wait and publish the postcard on my blog. So, pretend that the picture on the left is the front of the postcard and that the message below is written in beautiful flowing handwriting on the back.
Ycpvgf hqt ckfkpi, cdgvvkpi, cpf eqpurktkpi vq eqpegcn, etkogu cickpuv ejknftgp. Vjgkt vtwuv ycu dgvtcagf da ogp yjq kpukuvgf qp dgkpi ecnngf, “Hcvjgt,” cpf yqogp yjqo vjga ygtg eqorgnngf vq ecnn, “Ukuvgt.” Kh aqw ugg vjku ocp, qt cpaqpg ftguugf nkmg jko, twp cyca cu swkemna cu aqw ecp.
When you decode the message, send me an email with your answer. I’ll post the answer here eventually, along with the names of all who successfully decoded the message.
– the chaplain
Successful decoders (they’re far better at decoding than I am at coding!): Larry, Holly, mutzali, Lorena, Gdeb, Ian (and NAL’s web tool)
the chaplain
April 28, 2010 at 8:36 pm
So far, Larry, Holly and mutzali have decoded the message. Thanks to Larry and Holly for helping me fix some errors. I obviously don’t write codes for a living!
atimetorend
April 28, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Your crossed out “molested” sentence is very funny.
:^)
Larry Wallberg
April 28, 2010 at 9:59 pm
They’re far better at decoding than I am at coding!
Obviously, you never actually worked for the Vatican, where most of the messages are written in a code called “Church Latin.”
the chaplain
April 28, 2010 at 10:11 pm
ATTR:
I’m glad at least one reader caught the humor there.
Larry:
I thought Vatican messages were written in Da Vinci Code.
Lorena
April 28, 2010 at 10:52 pm
That would be two readers, Chappie. Very funny.
NAL
April 28, 2010 at 11:08 pm
Too easy. Web based tool solved it less than a second. I’m lazy.
the chaplain
April 28, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Lorena:
Hey, I’ve doubled my comedic value!
NAL
It took a web based tool nearly a second to break my code? I thought it was easier than that.
Ian
April 29, 2010 at 3:58 pm
I went digging for your web-based tool NAL (after solving it by hand, I should say
– it is impressive.
I spent too much of my youth doing stuff like this… ETAOIN SHRDLU, and all that.
the chaplain
April 29, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Ian:
Good work. Thanks for joining the fun.