The Zodiac Z32 cipher (1970) has historically been considered unsolvable via standard cryptanalysis due to its shortness (low unicity distance). However, the cipher was accompanied by a map and the instruction "Radians and inches along the radians."
My Approach: I wrote a Python solver that treats the cipher as a Geographic Constraint Satisfaction Problem rather than a purely linguistic one. The code filters permutations based on:
Lexical constraints: Must use polar navigation vocabulary (e.g., integers, fractions).
Cryptographic constraints: Must strictly match the homophonic repetition pattern of the ciphertext.
The Result: The constraints isolated a specific plaintext: "IN THREE AND THREE EIGHTHS RADIANS TEN." When plotted from Mt. Diablo using 1970 magnetic declination, the vector lands on a specific 100-foot equilateral triangular crop mark, which also happens to be the geometric centroid of the killer's known activity radius.
The Zodiac Z32 cipher (1970) has historically been considered unsolvable via standard cryptanalysis due to its shortness (low unicity distance). However, the cipher was accompanied by a map and the instruction "Radians and inches along the radians."
My Approach: I wrote a Python solver that treats the cipher as a Geographic Constraint Satisfaction Problem rather than a purely linguistic one. The code filters permutations based on:
Lexical constraints: Must use polar navigation vocabulary (e.g., integers, fractions).
Cryptographic constraints: Must strictly match the homophonic repetition pattern of the ciphertext.
The Result: The constraints isolated a specific plaintext: "IN THREE AND THREE EIGHTHS RADIANS TEN." When plotted from Mt. Diablo using 1970 magnetic declination, the vector lands on a specific 100-foot equilateral triangular crop mark, which also happens to be the geometric centroid of the killer's known activity radius.