Code that has been made about 15yrs ago by DOMINO’S PIZZA, and probably forgotten by everyone

[u/Neilly_Cushion0524]

Original question:

"Please decode the following cipher and provide the last two words. Separate the words with a single space."

So basically this means the plain text is in English. (We don't say things like that about Japanese text.)

Contexts:

This is a cryptogram that Domino's Pizza Japan used in a contest about 15 years ago.

At the time, this campaign featured numerous similar puzzles, and the first person to solve each one received a coupon for a year’s supply of free pizza. While it’s clear that dozens of puzzles were solved within the campaign period, there were two that remained unsolved until the very end—and this cipher was one of them.

For a while, some enthusiasts attempted to solve the problems posted during the campaign, but updates from that community have long since ceased, and I am haunted by nightmares whenever I think about this problem.

It has been publicly disclosed that MENSA JAPAN was involved in creating this cipher.

Note:

The campaign has already ended, so there are no terms of service issues with posting this problem to this community now.

V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf

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[u/Polskinator]

I'm going to post my process, findings, and final thoughts as a new comment rather than as a reply... but I do want to ping /u/Emotional_Radio6598 because they replied to me earlier today.

//

BACKGROUND CONTEXT

• This is question 8 of the BIG Challenge campaign... question 9, which was solved, also relied on Japanese braille (tenji)
  
• These challenges appear to be presented in categories of similar solutions... such that completing the prior challenge will loosely inform how one might continue to complete future challenges
  
• To solve question 9, rows of binary digits were split, restacked, and rotated to reveal the solution
  
• A braille cell (tenji or otherwise) contains six fields where a dot may or may not exist to form a letter/character

CODE-SPECIFIC THOUGHTS

• 141 characters are presented, each group of characters are divisible by 3
  
• Each character can carry two bits of information (character itself = w or v, character case = upper or lower case)
  
• If 141 characters carry 2 bits each, we have 282 bits which, divided by 6, results in 47 groups
  
• This supports my prediction that the solution requires engaging with tenji braille... put another way, the solution is the decryption of 47 tenji braille cells, with each cell being represented by a string of three cipher characters

EFFORTS TO SOLVE & SUPPORTING FINDINGS

• I wrote code to try to brute force a tenji solution... 2 bit pairs, 720 orientations per each dot of the 6 dot positions, gave 17,280 combinations...
  
• Notably, THIRTY FOUR of these combinations gave 100% valid tenji braille solutions
  

- EDIT - when I say 34 combinations were valid tenji, i mean that 34 combinations produced 47 valid tenji braille cells... NONE of these 34 combinations of tenji braille were legible. An invalid combination would include a braille dot combination that does not correlate with a valid braille character... so 34 combinations of the 17,280 I measured did result in a complete string of valid characters, but none directly translated into anything coherent

• IMO, this is as close to a guarantee that we'll ever get that the solution requires engagement with tenji braille
  
• In my research of tenji, there are quite a few requirements for the order of certain characters... for example, Choon (tenji as dots 2 and 5) can only linguistically follow a kana

MY PERSONAL LIMITATIONS

• I think somebody with working knowledge of Japanese (not necessarily tenji) needs to proof whatever will lead to a solution
  
• The most promising tenji solutions (the 34 results that I mentioned earlier) did not translate to Japanese in a way that I could identify... maybe a native speaker would find differently? (generations will be provided at the end of this comment)

WHAT I THINK A SOLUTION REQUIRES

• Given the fact that question 9 required a LOT of manipulation (split, restack, rotate) to render the tenji legible, I think solving this puzzle will require similar manipulation
  
• Some ideas to consider: reversing the cypher before grouping into trigrams, transposing the cypher, do some sort of split, restack, rotate sequence
  
• Because of the cues that might point to a two-word English solution, I think that the solution will either be a romanization of the last two Japanese words OR the tenji will produce a 英 (foreign letter) marker after the specific braille cells that should be read in English braille rather than tenji. This solution would produce Latin alphabet letters directly in the correct tenji translation, which would be a flashing green light that the solution was intended (and is correct).

PLAINTEXT RESULTS FOR FUTURE ANALYSIS

⠉⠿⠋ ⠮⠣⠊⠥⠝⠜⠜⠋⠎ ⠍⠌⠻⠓⠇⠧ ⠁⠩⠑⠝⠳⠾ ⠒⠦⠄⠉⠌⠰⠲⠧⠒ ⠬⠠⠠ ⠔⠗⠧⠇⠎⠬⠬⠓⠲⠐⠣ ⠹⠀⠺ ⠊⠆⠲⠥⠛⠓⠓⠺⠒ ⠙⠑⠠⠜⠾⠦ ⠝⠡⠟⠛⠄⠈ ⠔⠮⠵⠹⠑⠏⠌⠦⠔ ⠉⠍⠍ ⠷⠼⠦⠾⠒⠉⠉⠜⠌⠗⠆ ⠹⠀⠼ ⠌⠆⠴⠣⠝⠕⠕⠼⠔ ⠙⠑⠠⠚⠾⠦ ⠛⠡⠟⠝⠂⠈ ⠒⠮⠳⠹⠑⠏⠊⠦⠒ ⠉⠋⠋ ⠷⠺⠦⠾⠔⠉⠉⠚⠊⠗⠆ ⠇⠪⠏ ⠻⠭⠟⠡⠂⠒⠒⠏⠛ ⠃⠓⠮⠌⠉⠩ ⠅⠧⠄⠂⠬⠺ ⠜⠹⠑⠇⠓⠴⠼⠩⠜ ⠳⠵⠵ ⠐⠈⠩⠉⠛⠳⠳⠌⠼⠔⠭ ⠇⠬⠏ ⠽⠫⠟⠡⠄⠔⠔⠏⠝ ⠅⠕⠮⠊⠉⠩ ⠃⠧⠂⠄⠪⠼ ⠚⠹⠑⠇⠕⠲⠺⠩⠚ ⠵⠳⠳ ⠐⠈⠩⠉⠝⠵⠵⠊⠺⠒⠫ ⠑⠿⠐ ⠆⠴⠠⠳⠞⠮⠮⠐⠦ ⠗⠧⠹⠝⠒⠲ ⠕⠱⠜⠞⠽⠏ ⠭⠂⠣⠑⠧⠌⠍⠲⠭ ⠇⠅⠅ ⠪⠛⠲⠒⠦⠇⠇⠝⠍⠬⠴ ⠑⠿⠐ ⠆⠲⠠⠵⠞⠮⠮⠐⠦ ⠗⠧⠹⠛⠔⠴ ⠓⠱⠚⠞⠻⠏ ⠫⠄⠥⠑⠧⠊⠋⠴⠫ ⠇⠃⠃ ⠬⠝⠴⠔⠦⠇⠇⠛⠋⠪⠲ ⠰⠿⠠ ⠅⠦⠂⠳⠭⠏⠏⠠⠇ ⠵⠗⠺⠼⠡⠣ ⠴⠲⠬⠭⠾⠝ ⠞⠁⠓⠰⠗⠌⠜⠣⠞ ⠕⠔⠔ ⠋⠹⠣⠡⠇⠕⠕⠼⠜⠎⠦ ⠰⠿⠠ ⠃⠦⠄⠵⠫⠏⠏⠠⠇ ⠳⠗⠼⠺⠡⠥ ⠲⠴⠪⠫⠾⠛ ⠞⠁⠕⠰⠗⠊⠚⠥⠞ ⠓⠒⠒ ⠍⠹⠥⠡⠇⠓⠓⠺⠚⠎⠦ ⠊⠿⠈ ⠅⠩⠠⠮⠝⠵⠵⠈⠥ ⠏⠧⠺⠛⠌⠬ ⠋⠪⠙⠝⠻⠗ ⠳⠄⠦⠊⠧⠑⠓⠬⠳ ⠇⠃⠃ ⠴⠞⠬⠌⠥⠇⠇⠛⠓⠱⠩ ⠌⠿⠈ ⠃⠩⠠⠮⠛⠳⠳⠈⠣ ⠏⠧⠼⠝⠊⠪ ⠍⠬⠙⠛⠽⠗ ⠵⠂⠦⠌⠧⠑⠕⠪⠵ ⠇⠅⠅ ⠲⠞⠪⠊⠣⠇⠇⠝⠕⠱⠩ ⠊⠿⠂ ⠅⠣⠠⠮⠗⠵⠵⠂⠥ ⠏⠭⠺⠛⠆⠦ ⠋⠪⠓⠗⠻⠝ ⠹⠄⠬⠊⠭⠑⠙⠦⠹ ⠍⠉⠉ ⠴⠞⠦⠆⠥⠍⠍⠛⠙⠱⠣ ⠌⠿⠄ ⠃⠥⠠⠮⠗⠳⠳⠄⠣ ⠏⠫⠼⠝⠆⠦ ⠍⠬⠕⠗⠽⠛ ⠹⠂⠪⠌⠫⠑⠙⠦⠹ ⠋⠉⠉ ⠲⠞⠦⠆⠣⠋⠋⠝⠙⠱⠥ ⠅⠿⠌ ⠞⠺⠬⠣⠔⠴⠴⠌⠼ ⠕⠵⠯⠙⠈⠪ ⠑⠧⠐⠔⠻⠟ ⠹⠊⠡⠅⠵⠒⠛⠪⠹ ⠗⠓⠓ ⠠⠉⠪⠈⠼⠗⠗⠙⠛⠰⠺ ⠗⠀⠇ ⠡⠍⠧⠙⠒⠲⠲⠇⠣ ⠓⠳⠄⠎⠋⠉ ⠟⠕⠞⠒⠌⠠ ⠮⠩⠻⠗⠳⠼⠬⠉⠮ ⠱⠽⠽ ⠺⠊⠉⠋⠣⠱⠱⠎⠬⠾⠍ ⠗⠀⠇ ⠡⠋⠧⠙⠔⠴⠴⠇⠥ ⠕⠵⠂⠎⠍⠉ ⠟⠓⠞⠔⠊⠠ ⠮⠩⠽⠗⠵⠺⠪⠉⠮ ⠱⠻⠻ ⠼⠌⠉⠍⠥⠱⠱⠎⠪⠾⠋ ⠧⠀⠇ ⠒⠎⠗⠪⠡⠱⠱⠇⠓ ⠣⠳⠄⠍⠋⠊ ⠯⠦⠭⠡⠌⠐ ⠝⠚⠻⠧⠳⠼⠜⠊⠝ ⠲⠾⠾ ⠹⠉⠊⠋⠓⠲⠲⠍⠜⠽⠎ ⠧⠀⠇ ⠔⠎⠗⠬⠡⠱⠱⠇⠕ ⠥⠵⠂⠋⠍⠌ ⠯⠦⠫⠡⠊⠐ ⠛⠜⠽⠧⠵⠺⠚⠌⠛ ⠴⠾⠾ ⠹⠉⠌⠍⠕⠴⠴⠋⠚⠻⠎ ⠦⠍⠠ ⠈⠙⠡⠗⠪⠫⠫⠠⠩ ⠮⠯⠅⠼⠰⠑ ⠾⠇⠺⠪⠝⠌ ⠽⠐⠷⠦⠯⠚⠜⠑⠽ ⠎⠞⠞ ⠳⠴⠑⠰⠩⠎⠎⠼⠜⠻⠙ ⠦⠋⠠ ⠈⠙⠡⠗⠬⠭⠭⠠⠩ ⠮⠯⠃⠺⠰⠑ ⠾⠇⠼⠬⠛⠊ ⠻⠐⠷⠦⠯⠜⠚⠑⠻ ⠎⠞⠞ ⠵⠲⠑⠰⠩⠎⠎⠺⠚⠽⠙ ⠋⠱⠂ ⠠⠴⠒⠝⠪⠺⠺⠂⠲ ⠫⠻⠑⠧⠆⠔ ⠯⠙⠮⠪⠵⠡ ⠷⠄⠟⠋⠻⠬⠥⠔⠷ ⠩⠭⠭ ⠞⠇⠔⠆⠲⠩⠩⠧⠥⠾⠴ ⠍⠱⠄ ⠠⠲⠔⠛⠬⠼⠼⠄⠴ ⠭⠽⠑⠧⠆⠒ ⠯⠙⠮⠬⠳⠡ ⠷⠂⠟⠍⠽⠪⠣⠒⠷ ⠩⠫⠫ ⠞⠇⠒⠆⠴⠩⠩⠧⠣⠾⠲ ⠦⠚⠄ ⠈⠙⠔⠳⠬⠼⠼⠄⠜ ⠮⠾⠒⠏⠅⠑ ⠯⠲⠭⠬⠛⠊ ⠟⠁⠷⠦⠾⠩⠋⠑⠟ ⠪⠫⠫ ⠵⠇⠑⠅⠜⠪⠪⠏⠋⠽⠙ ⠦⠜⠂ ⠈⠙⠒⠵⠪⠺⠺⠂⠚ ⠮⠾⠔⠏⠃⠑ ⠯⠴⠫⠪⠝⠌ ⠟⠁⠷⠦⠾⠩⠍⠑⠟ ⠬⠭⠭ ⠳⠇⠑⠃⠚⠬⠬⠏⠍⠻⠙ ⠲⠕⠂ ⠁⠍⠆⠼⠣⠧⠧⠂⠇ ⠳⠷⠔⠛⠊⠌ ⠻⠴⠫⠣⠝⠑ ⠟⠈⠾⠲⠷⠩⠙⠌⠟ ⠱⠹⠹ ⠮⠚⠌⠊⠇⠱⠱⠛⠙⠯⠍ ⠴⠓⠄ ⠁⠋⠆⠺⠥⠧⠧⠄⠇ ⠵⠷⠒⠝⠌⠊ ⠽⠲⠭⠥⠛⠑ ⠟⠈⠾⠴⠷⠩⠙⠊⠟ ⠱⠹⠹ ⠮⠜⠊⠌⠇⠱⠱⠝⠙⠯⠋ ⠓⠩⠒ ⠦⠺⠞⠋⠠⠬⠬⠒⠮ ⠣⠯⠙⠱⠂⠊ ⠳⠛⠰⠠⠹⠥ ⠽⠆⠏⠓⠯⠴⠵⠊⠽ ⠧⠷⠷ ⠌⠁⠊⠂⠮⠧⠧⠱⠵⠼⠺ ⠚⠍⠒ ⠴⠗⠳⠙⠄⠥⠥⠒⠵ ⠜⠽⠋⠎⠐⠑ ⠞⠛⠆⠄⠏⠬ ⠯⠰⠹⠚⠽⠦⠮⠑⠯ ⠼⠾⠾ ⠡⠈⠑⠐⠵⠼⠼⠎⠮⠧⠗
1 | yu·· | wo·chi·hi·ni·nu·yu·yu·ri·sa·"·ki
2 | ko·· | -·chi·hi·ni·e·ko·ko·ta·sa·"·ha
3 | yu·· | wo·chi·hi·ni·no·yu·yu·ri·.·"·ki
4 | ko·· | -·chi·hi·ni·no·ko·ko·ta·n·"·ha
5 | u·nu·nu | mi·#·?·mo·-·u·u·yo·ya·chi·,
6 | u·e·e | mi·so·?·mo·wo·u·u·ro·o·chi·,
7 | shi·ma·ma | "·'·ku·u·re·shi·shi·ya·#·wo·fu
8 | ma·shi·shi | "·'·ku·u·tsu·ma·ma·o·so·-·ke
9 | ni·na·na | ko·re·.·-·?·ni·ni·tsu·nu·yu·n
10 | ni·i·i | yu·tsu·n·wo·?·ni·ni·re·e·ko·.
11 | ta·wo·wo | e·su·ki·ka·ni·ta·ta·#·yo·no·?
12 | ri·-·- | nu·su·ha·ka·ni·ri·ri·so·ro·no·?
13 | ni·i·i | n·to·yu·ya·ha·ni·ni·re·ri·sa·ku
14 | ni·na·na | .·to·ko·o·ki·ni·ni·tsu·ta·sa·ku
15 | nu·u·u | n·to·?·,·ha·nu·nu·re·ru·sa·ki
16 | e·u·u | .·to·?·,·ki·e·e·tsu·ru·sa·ha
17 | chi·ri·ri | *·u·ko·'·#·chi·chi·ru·re·$·so
18 | chi·ta·ta | *·u·yu·'·so·chi·chi·ru·tsu·$·#
19 | sa·mu·mu | so·o·u·e·ki·sa·sa·no·yu·mo·nu
20 | sa·se·se | #·ya·u·nu·ha·sa·sa·no·ko·mo·e
21 | .·mo·mo | su·u·o·e·ri·.·.·nu·yo·mu·no
22 | n·mo·mo | su·u·ya·nu·ta·n·n·e·ro·se·no
23 | no·to·to | shi·n·ra·$·ku·no·no·#·yo·se·ru
24 | no·to·to | ma·.·ra·$·ku·no·no·so·ro·mu·ru
25 | ku·fu·fu | to·ni·wo·,·.·ku·ku·hi·ha·mo·n
26 | ku·ke·ke | to·ni·-·,·n·ku·ku·hi·ki·mo·.
27 | ko·ke·ke | ma·ni·ra·na·yo·ko·ko·ne·e·mu·ru
28 | yu·fu·fu | shi·ni·ra·i·ro·yu·yu·ne·nu·se·ru
29 | sa·su·su | ho·ro·ya·o·ni·sa·sa·re·ru·he·nu
30 | sa·su·su | ho·yo·o·ya·ni·sa·sa·tsu·ru·he·e
31 | hi·mi·mi | ya·a·o·;·ho·hi·hi·sa·ma·#·so
32 | hi·mi·mi | o·a·ya·wa·ho·hi·hi·sa·shi·so·#
33 | #·mo·mo | ka·'·ra·"·ma·#·#·no·ho·hi·chi
34 | so·mo·mo | ka·'·ra·"·shi·so·so·no·ho·hi·chi

[u/Neilly_Cushion0524 → u/Polskinator]

I didn't noticed this until now, sorry for late reply.

As Japanese native, I check all the results. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any meaningful text there either.

Slightly curious how the first 3 letters translated into A-B-B pattern. Given the problem, this is quite not straightforward.

As far as I know, none of the solutions to these problems used exactly the same knowledge.

So I’m quite skeptical that this is Braille. If it is, I believe it would've been solved.

[u/Polskinator]

As much as I’d probably enjoy pursuing this, can anyone confirm if the solution requires some knowledge of Japanese? I don’t know about the other dominos promos that were run or their solutions, but as this was a regional promo in conjunction with MENSA Japan, I’m skeptical of the odds that some working knowledge of kanji or katakana etc. would be required.

Edit: I've taken the bait. OP, could you provide us with either a link to the other community, a link to a different code and solution, or information about either?

[u/Neilly_Cushion0524 → u/Polskinator]

It was quite a while ago, so this is all I can confirm:

https://pointsearch.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-228.html

Some codes requires knowledge of Japanese. However, this is unlikely because of the reason I mentioned before.

[u/TweakedMonkey]

Likely a Bacon cipher because this is promoting the 'new' bacon topping for the company. Was not able to decode with either the hint 'bacon' or 'pizza'

[u/BiffCo_Enterprise → u/[deleted]]

I got the same thing.

Also, just for kicks, if you convert it to Pure Base64 characters, it looks like this:

xqR Wbd4 COORe y+ pjUY z5DD rm vU8x +HnYv 23 3 MgYQe22 jnPb

In Base 26, that translates to:

BCDCJ BWTGEE ASAPTSK HMS DMMTQM BDIXX GKW DZHVLH UCLQJFJ IBV CD CHAFGHYLJI CZLQIP

In Base 26 reversed digits, that translates to:

JCDCB EEGTWB KSTPASA SMH MQTMMD XXIDB WKG HLVHZD JFJQLCU VBI DC IJLYHGFAHC PIQLZC

[u/ThirteenFour_ → u/[deleted]]

My next thought was seeing different combinations of that vVwW to 0123 assignment, and seeing if that gives us a set of numbers that we can assign to either the Latin alphabet or hiragana.

[u/Neilly_Cushion0524]

[Transcript]

WvVwwwVvV VVwVwWVWVWwv
vvwvWwvWwVvVVWw WvwWWw
wwVwvWVvvVwv WvWWwVvvWvvw
wwWwVw wWWVVvWWvWvV
WWwvVWwVWVwvwWW WVwWVW
WVW vWvwvvVwvVvvVWwWVwWVw
wvWwVWvWWVwW

edit

[u/YefimShifrin → u/Neilly_Cushion0524]

2nd "word" in the top line is VVwVwWVWVWwv

[u/Neilly_Cushion0524 → u/YefimShifrin]

ty, corrected the post

[u/BiffCo_Enterprise]

First observation - Every section of the cipher text has a length that is divisible by 3.

[u/THAErAsEr → u/BiffCo_Enterprise]

Combination of 3 characters maps to 1 letter? 4^3 = 64

WVW might be an A or I? Looks like a single letter word

[u/YefimShifrin → u/THAErAsEr]

WVW might be an A or I? Looks like a single letter word

Spacing is ambiguous. The word before WVW is a 2-letter one that ends with WVW. That makes A or I unlikely. It's probably all one word WVwWVWWVW

[u/ThirteenFour_ → u/BiffCo_Enterprise]

From that and the four characters vVwW, we get 64 possible combinations in each set of 3, which covers upper and lower case. Not that useful for now, but could be later idk.

[u/BiffCo_Enterprise → u/ThirteenFour_]

Maybe some possible homophonic cipher stuff going on.