Thread: BORDER CODE

There seems to be a code on the border any thoughts?

I think there's more than one code in the border on 94.

You have the berry code, and what I can only call a "cellular" code in the background. This code (or some variation) also appears on 92.

at the top with the insects. there are 8 distinct purple shapes.
I believe we use these, maybe with the corresponding insects with the
"cellular code" ???

there are only 9 of the 12 insects in the top picture border, the 3 missing are the hummingbird, dragonfly, and spider.

I had thought this may possibly be a chessboard ciper or something similar. The chapter title "It Would Be Like Old Times" could always be telling us that this is a tribute to ATT. The following is the data I have currently been working with.

6 0
5 4
6 5
2 4
0 1
4 6
0 4
4 6
0 7
4 1
4 1
3 4
5 5 3 3 4 1 7 2 4 4

yes i agree,
other indicators are perhaps,
insects grouped at top in a 4 and a 5.

if you always count the berries from the lowest berry on each stalk first and reflect every other berry (so they are all ordered/face the same way) then you find the left page berries are one of 5 values (one is no berry) and the right berries are one of 5 values. put them together with their opposite partner and this would make a polybius, but only 17 pairs = 17 letters long.

reading down this would fit

DOFTHEREISALLONGS

very hard to decrypt something this short.
i've tried the old polybius grid from ATT (ABCDE etc) but doesn't fit in any obvious way i can see. i'm pretty sure this is the method.

can someone please tidy this up?

i am making an exception of the first right hand berry.
it is missing but i am giving it a value of 4 (the largest berry) because there is a star (the only star) just outside the border here.

i think this may also be a clue for the STARting point of this puzzle.



(By the way there is also a STARting point on page 92. the three stars at the top point to the purple mark bottom left which seems a natural starting point. )

TIM, I am not sure it is a standard polybius using a 5x5 grid. I was thinking more along the long of some hybrid chessboard cipher using a 8x8. It would still be a throwback to the previous book but with a new spin. The main question would be how to populate the grid.

Tiny,

I spent most of last night trying to duplicate your results and failed. Could you explain a wee bit more? You say you only got 5 values for the purple berries. How did you manage this? There is a purple berriy in 6 of the 7 possible positions, plus the no-berry position, which gives 7 values. Are you combining? ignoring some? Help please.

Greenprincess

This is bugging the heck out of me but I am working the 7x7 angle.

How would we make an 8x8 grid?
The 7x7 doesn't work because of the zero berrie bunches.