codebreaking

1 min read 2021-11-12 00:06:28

The Founding Fathers of Cryptography?

It’s Veterans Day, and on an occasion dedicated to giving thanks to all those who served the United States honorably during either war or

1 min read 2021-09-07 23:06:27

[Image courtesy of Derek Bruff.org.] One of my all-time favorite cryptography stories comes from the book The Spy That Couldn’t Spell, a

3 min read 2021-03-30 23:02:57

About six months ago, I shared the story of a secret code lurking in plain sight, sitting atop the Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles. It’s

3 min read 2021-03-25 22:59:53

We’ve talked quite a bit about the importance of Enigma machines in the past. The quest to crack the unbreakable Nazi code machine spanned the

4 min read 2021-02-24 00:05:09

Puzzles in various forms have been with us for thousands of years. We can look back at examples like riddles from ancient Greece and Sumeria, the

3 min read 2021-01-22 00:01:05

In previous posts, we’ve explored many ways that messages can be encrypted or hidden. We’ve talked about legendary encryption methods like

2 min read 2020-10-06 23:01:34

[Image courtesy of MathTutorDVD.] I am fascinated by codebreaking, secret codes, and that whole subgenre of puzzle solving. Probably because I’m

2 min read 2020-09-01 23:03:35

Hey there, fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers. I’ve got a question for you today: Have you ever accidentally created a puzzle for yourself? It

3 min read 2020-08-20 22:59:27

[Image courtesy of Atlas Obscura.] We’ve spent a lot of time over the last few months discussing treasure hunts, but those are far from the only

6 min read 2020-07-23 22:58:48

Oh yes, it’s that time again. For years now, crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have been hotbeds of innovative puzzle and

9 min read 2020-05-25 15:31:50

Part 1 of this blog introduced Alan Turing’s paper on ‘The Applications of Probability to Cryptography’, explained the Vigenère cipher, and

5 min read 2020-05-20 20:54:24

The Archivists’ Guide to Film is a blog series in which staff at The National Archives write about favourite films that have a connection to

5 min read 2020-04-24 15:32:04

Alan Turing (1912-54). Photo: Wikicommons ‘The Applications of Probability to Cryptography’ is a paper written by Alan Turing released by

3 min read 2020-03-03 23:51:35

During World War II, the Enigma code was one of the most daunting weapons in the German arsenal. Cracking the code would be the key to intercepting

5 min read 2020-02-14 23:59:28

Instead of offering a puzzle for Valentine’s Day, this year I thought I’d do something different and share a story, a wartime puzzly love story