Enciphering for Fun

1.Substitute Alphabet
Using the substitution system, develop a cipher for the name of your school, city and state, etc., for your class to unravel. For example, Lincoln Middle School would become BFCGSBC RFZZBA JGMSSB (where B=l; F=i; C=n; G=c; S=o; R=m; Z=d; A=e; J=s; M=h) or numerically, it would become 0123402 516607 839440 (where 0=l; 1=i; 2=n; 3=c; 4=o; 5=m; 6=d; 7=e; 8=s; 9=h).

2.Team Challenge
Divide the class into teams and challenge them to be first at correctly enciphering the word "mathematics" using a code word of your choosing or by using the code word DIG. The answer using DIG as the code word: PIZKMSDBOFA.

(Solution: M becomes P (since D is the 4th letter of the alphabet, we move over 4 letters from M); A becomes I (I is the 9th letter of the alphabet; move over 9 letters from A); T becomes Z (G is the 7th letter of the alphabet; move over 7 letters from T); H becomes K (back to D, 4th letter of the alphabet; move over 4 letters from H); and so forth.

Note: An excellent source for ciphers can be found in most daily newspapers on the crossword puzzle page.

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Last Updated: 02/16/03
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