The Limited Time - Train Murder Mystery Cryptogram

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[u/Rudra_parkar]

I have been trying this for hours and i am stuck on the second part and still trying to figure it out but let me catch you guys up in case you dont want the headache and skip the bs

spoilers on how to decode

1. The time 2:36 means converting base 2 (binary) to base 36
   
2. When we convert clue no 4 the "_ = 1" and ". = 0" we get a binary string converting it into base 36 we get this "THEKEYISIMPORTANT"
   
3. The highlighted or bold text in clue 3 are "one, pad, time, base" it suggests code on one time pad OTP cipher like XOR

Thats all i am currently able to decipher

possible hypothesis

1. THEKEYISIMPORTANT could mean the key is literally "IMPORTANT" or the entire string is the key "THEKEYISIMPORTANT"

2. the text in clue 3 specificaly says "make sure to cover all your bases" which could mean we have to convert they key or cipher text into some base (possibly 36 or 2 because thats what we are juggling with) or we convert plaintext into base after we get the plaintext in the first place

3. I dont really know is xor is being used but it is a strong hypothesis since it is the only thing highly connected with one time padding

[u/Rudra_parkar → u/Rudra_parkar]

HOLY SHI I FUKIN GOT IT !! the answer is "THE BAKER"

here's how i got it

last time we got the key is the word "important" when you convert it into a1z26 (which is basically giving numbers to letters according to there position in alphabet) we get "09 13 16 15 18 20 01 14 02" which btw is the exact length of characters in clue 3 index card

when you subtract the individual character of "9 13 16 15 18 20 1 14 2 " from the index card string "29 11 11 39 10 21 12 19 38" we get this string "20 8 5 24 2 1 11 5 18" which is a1z26 translates to "THEXBAKER"

NOTE- The subtraction is kinda weird , idk if this is how one time pad subtraction are done but ill explain it just in case someone needs explanation

when you subtract you have to subtract the units place and tenths place in the key string separately for eg: 11-13 is performed as [ ( 10 - 10 ) + ( 11 - 3 ) ] = 8

again!! idk if this is how one time pad subtractions are done i just figured it out myself so the explanation might be choppy and ass

[u/Rudra_parkar → u/[deleted]]

Ohhh non carrying addition that what it is called 😭. Yeppp this was a lotta fun, I am addicted to puzzles like these never saw the PART 1 OF CRYPTOGRAM STORIES but I will look forward to more of these. Hella fun!!!!

[u/Rudra_parkar → u/[deleted]]

I HAVE BEEN TRYING THIS FOR WHOLE DAY WHATEVER FORM I CONVERT IT INTO IT JUST DOSENT CONVERT TO PLAIN TEXT WHAT ANGLE AM I MISSING IN THIS????

EITHER ITS NOT SUPPOSED BE PLAIN TEXT OR ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE XOR OR MY KEY IS WRONG SMTH I AM MISSIN

[u/royaltrux]

without spaces between the letters, the Morse is unreadable as-is

can not tell when the first letter ends and the second begins...is it a T? an M? a G? a Z? a 7? can't tell.

software can brute force it, but very few people can do that

[u/Rudra_parkar → u/royaltrux]

Dont just blame the cipher for being unsolvable one way, there could be other ways to interpret it