Hatrack River Forum: How Encrypted Is This?

This is topic How Encrypted Is This? in forum Discussions About Orson Scott Card at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

I got my bank account today, I had trouble finding a password because of extremely difficult bank-password-making criteria.

So I made myself something, and started putting tiny little complications into it, until this is what it looks like:

Firﬅ, þink abȣt ƿhat one ƿeareþ above,
On top of noggins ʃat on by a dove;
Next, þink of leet and ƿhat one haþ it for
Now, add a yȣ and leet it (ƿork galore);
Laﬅ, brooks ƿiþ lettern leß ðan dozen’s half,
Inſert ﬁrﬅ half and ſee hoƿ þou ʃalt laugh.
To give a hint: juﬅ þink of oh, eß ſee,
His forum haþ a name ƿiþ ƿorden þree,
Ðe ﬁrﬅ one’s ﬁrﬅ half rimeþ wiþ ſewer-rat,
Wiþ preſenʦ-give ðe ſecond rimes – plain ðat;
Now þink of ſımCity Ruʃ Hȣr’s ver,
And place it in ðe middle – ƿhat a blur!
Remember, ðȣgh, ðat ƿorden ﬅart big, ﬅroŋ,
So make ðem ſo and þȣ ƿon’t ƿork for loŋ.

Is this crackable? Or should I stay with the simpler original? (Below:)

First, think about what one wears up above,
On top of noggins shat on by a dove;
Next, think of leet and what one has it for
Now, add a you and leet it (work galore);
Last, brooks with letters less than dozen’s half,
Insert first half and see how you shall laugh.
To give a hint: just think of OSC,
His forum’s name has words in it – and three,
The first one’s first half rhymes with sewer-rat,
With presents-give the second rhymes – plain that;
Now think of SımCity Rush Hour’s ver,
And place it in the middle – what a blur!
Remember, though, that words start big and strong,
So make them so and you won’t work for long.

Posted by sands (Member # 8344) on :

that is your password? isn't it a little long? i couldn't understand either of the versions

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

I'm pretty sure it's a bad poem meant to tell someone his password. I don't understand the point, but it seems fairly guessable from the clues:

1) Hat
2) +Whatever reason one might have for 133tness.
3) +U
4) Convert to 133t
5) Brooks with five letters (=river?)
6) Insert result of 1-4.
7) I have no idea why he talks about Hatrack River here, especially since it's not technically made of three words and I can't think of any synonym for "presents-give" that rhymes with Rack or River.
8) Insert 4 (Rush Hour's version number?)
9) Capitalize the first letter

Of course, that could just be complicating things. But Jon likes things complicated.

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

No, it's my hint in case I forget the password.

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

1) Damn.
2-3-4) It's actually in the "for", add "you" to "for" and leet it - resulting in "4". The reason you have leet is for that.
5) Damn.
6) Uh, what?
7) "Hatrack River Forum". And the rhymes are not synonyms.
8) Yup.
9) Of every word.

But essentially, you can manage with lines 1-6 or 7-12; you don't need both. 13 and 14 are just little reminders.

But did you guess it, Tom, from the ancient-English one or not?

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :

Kudos on using the wynn character. I'm sad that you didn't use the ash, though. Also, you conjugated thou incorrectly. [No No]

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :

Not only did you have a very crackable clue, you also published it on the bulletin board.

Hats off to your highly honed sense security! [Hat]

My password hint is much simpler: "my sister's favorite soup"

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

quote:
Kudos on using the wynn character. I'm sad that you didn't use the ash, though.

There's a fourth dead letter? It took me ags to find Wynn, and now another one?

quote:
Also, you conjugated thou incorrectly.

Huh?

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :

The ash looks like a Latin ae ligature, but in Old English, it represented the sound in—you guessed it—ash.

In the last line, you have "thou won't." Thou should go with wilst, which doesn't form a contraction with not.

Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :

Thou is a verb?

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :

*sigh*

It's been a long day.

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

For whom?

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :

Pour moi.

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

And how come I never found an "ft" ligature in Code2000, not to mention Arial Unicode MS?

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :

How should I know?

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

Because you seem to be the one (1) who'd know more than anyone else on this forum.

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :

I would guess it's simply because not all font sets have all characters, especially uncommon ones like ft ligatures.

Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :

Okay, there is no way in heck I could possibly crack that code, though I might show it to my brother he qualifies for Mensa.

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :

My Mom joined Mensa (to meet men). She says that there are lots of idiots in Mensa.

The best thing about knowing someone in Mensa is not that they are a terrific help in deciphering codes. The best thing is that whenever the Mensa member says or does anything dumb, you have a great line handed to you. You say "Mensa!" with a roll of the eyes. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :

Oi, menschen!

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :

Now that you menschen it...

Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :

hahaha! Omg, that was hilarious.