Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the SAT (A Harvest Test Preparation Book) by Charles Harrington Elster & Joseph Elliot

Author:Charles Harrington Elster & Joseph Elliot [Elster, Charles Harrington]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2014-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

“I did it!” Leo cried half an hour later. He set down his notepad and pencil, closed his book, and released a deep sigh. “I finally deciphered the first clue.”

Phil, who had succumbed to the soporific effect of a soft couch, was deep in the grip of a catnap.

Caitlin snapped her book shut. “You’re kidding! That’s great!” She got to her feet and shook Phil. “Phil, wake up! Leo’s figured out the clue.”

Phil sat up slowly and looked at them through bleary eyes. “Sorry guys. I’m feeling a bit scatterbrained. It was kind of a rough day.”

Caitlin sat down on the couch next to Phil. “C’mon, Leo. Don’t keep us in suspense. What did you find out?”

“Well, for one thing, that Prospero sure was a master of obfuscation. The clue turned out to be a transposition cipher. It’s two quotations from Shakespeare.”

“Shakespeare again?” Phil said, stifling a yawn.

“What’s a transposition cipher?” Caitlin asked.

“Two of the most common methods for writing secret messages are the substitution cipher and the transposition cipher,” Leo explained. “In the substitution cipher, one letter—or number or symbol—stands for another. For example, x might stand for e, 8 for a, the plus sign for o. It’s arbitrary—whatever the person writing the code decides. In a transposition cipher, the letters of the message are arranged into groups of the same number of letters, then the letters in each group are jumbled according to a formula—first letter last, last letter second, fourth letter third, whatever. Of course, there are a great many possible jumbling formulas, which makes it difficult to decode.”

“How’d you manage to figure it out?” asked Phil. He was feeling more awake now, and his curiosity was piqued.

“Here, I’ll show you,” Leo said, picking up his yellow notepad and motioning for Phil and Caitlin to join him. When they had positioned themselves on either side of his armchair, Leo pointed to three rows of gibberish:

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