The Crypt

[bplus]

@ahenry3068 you say seed I say number key, no I didn't see that link or maybe I did, coding systems can be kinda boring admittedly.

@euklides Read a book or get the gist of the thing in a minute?

AI:

In Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Gold-Bug" (1843), the code system is a mono-alphabetic substitution cipher used by character William Legrand to decode a message revealing Captain Kidd’s buried treasure. It replaces each letter of the alphabet with a specific symbol, number, or punctuation mark.
Key Details of the System:
Method: The cipher is broken using frequency analysis, where the most common symbols correspond to the most frequent letters in the English language (e.g., 'e', 't', 'a', 'o', 'i', 'n').
The Cryptogram: It begins with 53‡‡†305))6*;4826)4‡.) and uses characters like 8, ;, 4, ‡, ), and (.
Decryption: The message translates to: "A good glass in the bishop's hostel in the devil's seat twenty-one degrees and thirteen minutes northeast and by north main branch seventh limb east side shoot from the left eye of the death's-head a bee line from the tree through the shot fifty feet out".
Significance: This story is famous for popularizing cryptography in literature and demonstrating a methodical, rational approach to solving puzzles.
The code is not a simple Caesar shift but a complex substitution that requires analyzing the frequency of symbols, which Legrand explains in detail to the narrator.

I did say, "there are much much much better methods to make code harder to break than this easy peasy coder!"

I do have a system of numbers where none are repeated and there aren't blanks to separate words. So letter substitutions or word substitutions are useless.
But to keep the code secure you don't go around revealing how clever you are by showing off your system of coding.

Oh seeing frogs today!