Riddles and Codes

[blacksheep]

every forum (with me in it) should have a riddles/codes thread.
here it is. im no good at solving/cracking them but i do enjoy them... probably more than people who can actually solve them. So... here's our very first substitution cypher if anyone wants to solve it.

zg utftkqzt ziol dtllqut, o ktqkkqfutr zit atnl gf dn atnwgqkr of qshiqwtzoeqs gkrtk qfr znhtr gxz zit dtllqut. tbhsqof igv ngx ekqeatr zit egrt of ngxk hglz. ziol dxei ztbz ligxsr wt uggr.

It will hopefully get harder as time goes on.
as for our very first riddle, what be it? i dont have time to find a better one so here it goes...

You are presented with a ladder. At each stage, you may choose to advance either one rung or two rungs. How many different paths are there to climb to any particular rung; i.e. how many unique ways can you climb to rung "n"?

After you've solved that, generalize. At each stage, you can advance any number of rungs from 1 to K. How many ways are there to climb to rung "n"?

Note: the non-generalized question was asked at a M$ interview.

[blacksheep]

wow. I'm still a n00b and i'm already beginning to sound like a selfcentered... uh... no swearword person here.:p

[imthefoolonthehill]

Mom tcf fwrwqizcigzm gwadzs gvwth qwdvsfg.

[blacksheep]

Mom tcf fwrwqizcigzm gwadzs gvwth qwdvsfg.

substitution cipher? or is it something else? no tricks up the sleeve?
im gonna say that since w appears most often, its e.
the only problem is that with such a short string of text, its hard to use frequency analysis.

im so bad at this.
i couldnt even figure out what the first word was. and its a palidrome thingy. wow? gig? i couldnt think of a word that... :bawling:

and the second three letter word... the? nahh... e should appear more often.
can you maybe write a longer message? this is going to annoy me. im no good at solving anything but i get soooo annoyed whenever I can't solve it. it just floats on the back of your mind and its constantly there. you know that feeling?

[Taliesin]

The Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5 ,8, 13, 21 et cetera, you get the next number by adding up two previous ones) is the answer of the ladder puzzle, and here's why:
Let's prove by induction:
We see that when there is 0 rungs, there is 1 possiblity, 1 possibility for 1 rung and 2 possibilities for 2 rungs.
Let's mark the answer for each n as a(n)
To climb to k+1th rung, the last step can come from either kth step or k-1th step. There are a(n-1) possibilities to get to the k-1th rung and a(n) possibilities to get to the kth rung, so altogether there are a(n-1) + a(n) possibilities to get to n+1th rung. And as a(n-1)+a(n)= a(n+1) and the first numbers are 1, 1 and 2, we have the Fibonacci sequence by definition.

[blacksheep]

yup! do you want to give out a puzzle too?

[cuppajoe_9]

zg utftkqzt ziol dtllqut, o ktqkkqfutr zit atnl gf dn atnwgqkr of qshiqwtzoeqs gkrtk qfr znhtr gxz zit dtllqut. tbhsqof igv ngx ekqeatr zit egrt of ngxk hglz. ziol dxei ztbz ligxsr wt uggr.

to generate this message, i rearranged the keys on my keyboard in alphabetical order and typed out the message. explain how you cracked the code in your post. this much text should be good.



âyèòeèiëêyüïúòyèüoàëòyúôâîáyeyèïïíyêëèòüoöâïîyoòïá òeìyâyaïúîêyïîyöàëyùëé<yyöàëyíâîiyâôyeöyöàëyéïööïìyïayöàâôy
ìëôôeáë>yéúöyâyêïúéöyâayâöyùâííyàëíoyüïú>yeôyâÐuëyôúéôöâöúöëêyaïòyöàëyoúîèöúeöâïîyöïyìeiëyâ öyìïòëyêâaaâèúíö<yy
öàëyôüìéïíôyaïòyâîuëòöëêyèïììeôyeòëyïíêyëîáíâôàyèà eòeèöëòôyöàeöyeòëyôöâííyúôëêyâîyôïìëyíeîáúeáëô>yôúèàyeôy
âèëíeîêâè<yyöàëyóúïöëyâôyaòïìyôàeiëôoëeòëÐôyöàëyòeoëyïayíúèò ëèë<

ÞöâìëÐôyáíïòüyâôyöïyèïììéîêyèïîöëîêâîáyiâîáô>y
öïyúîìeôiyaeíôëàïïê>yeîêyéòâîáyöòúöàyöïyíâáàö<Þ


èàëëòô>y

äïë



http://joesacher.com/books/technical/thecodebook.php?Page=Subst




Cleverly coded message, or the sound I made when I stubbed my toe getting out of bed this morning? You decide.

[cuppajoe_9]

Mom tcf fwrwqizcigzm gwadzs gvwth qwdvsfg.

yay for ridiculously simple shift ciphers.

That was actually surprisingly difficult.