Science Olympiad — Sierra Vista Codebusters B

Names of participants: (Please print neatly)

School Name: Team Number: B

Check your team: ◻ Varsity ◻ JV1 ◻ JV2 ◻ JV3

Warning: Do not open this packet until given permission to do so.

Note: There are useful notes after this page.

Scoring: Time to solve first problem: ________________________________ (use to calculate Bonus below)

Question Value Incorrect letters Deduction Score

Timed 240
1 163
2 271
3 236
4 242
5 278
6 223
7 297
8 282
9 231
10 554
11 372
12★ 293 ★
13 296
14 172
15 418
16 287
17 230
18★ 284 ★
19 214
20 218
21 325
22★ 384 ★
23 194
24 492
25 277
26 434
27 246
28 312
29 200
30 254
31 391

Bonuses Timed: Special Bonus: ★ = 150; ★★ = 400; ★★★ = 750

Final Score
Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

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The following tables might be useful during the event.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M AAAAA A ABBAA N
A,B N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AAAAB B ABBAB O
C,D O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z N AAABA C ABBBA P
E,F P Q R S T U V W X Y Z N O AAABB D ABBBB Q
G,H Q R S T U V W X Y Z N O P AABAA E BAAAA R
I,J R S T U V W X Y Z N O P Q AABAB F BAAAB S
K,L S T U V W X Y Z N O P Q R AABBA G BAABA T
M,N T U V W X Y Z N O P Q R S AABBB H BAABB U/V
O,P U V W X Y Z N O P Q R S T ABAAA I/J BABAA W
Q,R V W X Y Z N O P Q R S T U ABAAB K BABAB X
S,T W X Y Z N O P Q R S T U V ABABA L BABBA Y
U,V X Y Z N O P Q R S T U V W ABABB M BABBB Z
W,X Y Z N O P Q R S T U V W X
Y,Z Z N O P Q R S T U V W X Y

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A

1 3 5 7 9 11 15 17 19 21 23 25
1 9 21 15 3 19 7 23 11 5 17 25
Frequency Table of English letters:
E - 12.51% S - 6.54% C - 3.06% G - 1.96% K - 0.67%
T - 9.25% R - 6.12% U - 2.71% W - 1.92% X - 0.19%
A - 8.04% H - 5.49% M - 2.53% Y - 1.73% J - 0.16%
O - 7.60% L - 4.14% F - 2.30% B - 1.54% Q - 0.11%
I - 7.26% D - 3.99% P - 2.00% V - 0.99% Z - 0.09%
N - 7.09%

Frequency Table of Spanish letters:

E - 14.08% I - 5.98% M - 3.08% Y - 1.09% Z - 0.47%
A - 12.16% L - 5.24% P - 2.89% V - 1.05% Ñ - 0.17%
O - 9.20% D - 4.67% B - 1.49% G - 1.00% X - 0.14%
S - 7.20% T - 4.60% H - 1.18% F - 0.69% K - 0.11%
N - 6.83% U - 4.69% Q - 1.11% J - 0.52% W - 0.04%
R - 6.41% C - 3.87%

For the purposes of cryptograms it is customary to treat n and ñ as distinct letters, but a and á are the same letter. Likewise for e and é, and i
and í. In other words, all the accent marks get amputated when working with cryptograms. Also, while some older Spanish dictionaries consider
ch, ll, and rr, to be their own letters—this has fallen out of modern usage. Accordingly, “burro” is considered as five letters: “b-u-r-r-o” and not as
four letters “b-u-rr-o.”

Morse Code:
A ●– F ●●–● K –●– P ●––● U ●●–
B –●●● G ––● L ●–●● Q ––●– V ●●●–
C –●–● H ●●●● M –– R ●–● W ●––
D –●● I ●● N –● S ●●● X –●●–
E ● J ●––– O ––– T – Y –●––
Z ––●●

0 ––––– 2 ●●––– 4 ●●●●– 6 –●●●● 8 –––●●

1 ●–––– 3 ●●●–– 5 ●●●●● 7 ––●●● 9 ––––●

● E – T
●● I ●– A –● N –– M
●●● S ●●– U ●–● R ●–– W –●● D –●– K ––● G ––– O
●●●● H ●●●– V ●●–● F ●–●● L ●––● P ●––– J
–●●● B –●●– X –●–● C –●–– Y ––●● Z ––●– Q
––––– 0 ●–––– 1 ●●––– 2 ●●●–– 3 ●●●●– 4
●●●●● 5 –●●●● 6 ––●●● 7 –––●● 8 ––––● 9
Timed Question [240 points] Solve this Aristocrat. When you have solved it, yell “ALPHABETICAL!” so that the time can be recorded and the
solution checked. When you have solved it, raise your hand so that the time can be recorded and the solution checked.

XTHFIHABFL AI BJHM JIZ DORGHXKOJGMR, XIF XIQR IFFZL

HX PF JDDEOJHF VAHMAI J LGFDATAD KOFFU QFHHFO.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 6 2 5 1 12 3 9 7 6 2 3 3 5 1 2 3 2 1 1 5 2
Replacement
 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

1) [163 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Caesar cipher with a shift of 606.

B P M K W T T M K B Q D M W N I T T X A M C L W V G U A

U I Z K P M L B W O M B P M Z Q V B W J I B B T M .

2) [271 points] Solve this Aristocrat about a reaction.

QX XLLM QX CVI XSKCOV BPKTTIA CL LM, CVI XRW PKC DT

SKCV Q OQXOQAI LB IETPLAKMF BKJISLJRX.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 3 3 6 1 1 1 6 2 6 7 3 3 3 5 2 3 4 4 1 7
Replacement

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

3) [236 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Porta cipher and the key MEMBER.

O Y I V L Z W E N R D P T C J P W Z M D V Y F W A M O Z A J

I G X Z J O T O X B L T F E I T T L U M S O P J W T W O J X

N T W Q P J

4) [242 points] Solve this Aristocrat that was encoded using a K2 alphabet.

OZGJQ LOAHNBI GYQXKIY YJOSV QONB, WNGGNBI FJWNUJ O

FAODNBI-YXG ZNQJTAOMJ MOB ZJJA GYJQOTJKGNM.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 4 5 1 2 7 1 4 10 2 1 3 8 9 5 1 2 1 1 2 2 5 3
Replacement

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

5) [278 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Fractionated Morse cipher. The plaintext begins with SPARE.

S T J C E U W U T Y L R U H A

Z N I F S A T T B Z W Q

G B N M R B Z P K Y G R R J F

K R X S F E B N S O

Replacement
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● – – – – – – – – – × × × × × × × ×
Morse
● ● ● – – – × × × ● ● ● – – – × × × ● ● ● – – – × ×
fraction
● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● –

6) [223 points] Solve this Aristocrat that was encoded using a K1 alphabet.

DJAWA CWA XMZT DRX DTVAO XH EOOPAO: DJXOA DJCD

BCDDAW, CMG DJXOA DJCD TXP FCM OCHAZT EIMXWA.

K1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Frequency 10 1 7 11 2 1 1 2 1 5 4 7 2 1 4 1 4 7 2
Replacement

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

7) [297 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Fractionated Morse cipher. The plaintext begins with KEEP.

H U D J S V W F L S D V I E U R

A U E D G Z P Q L D N S X C

Y I D O U L E F M K T D

Y N C B M H B L N I J

Replacement
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● – – – – – – – – – × × × × × × × ×
Morse
● ● ● – – – × × × ● ● ● – – – × × × ● ● ● – – – × ×
fraction
● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● – × ● –

8) [282 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Nihilist cipher with the Polybius key PENGUIN and key AWARD.

44 77 43 56 38 34 95 33 65 68 67 106 36 84 38 34 104 65 84 38 1 2 3 4 5
1
2
3
4
36 73 66 65 39 65 64 44 88 39 44 97 66 66 47 67 95 63 54 57 76
5

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

9) [231 points] Decode this phrase that was encoded using the Complete Columnar cipher. The plaintext contains the string WOULD.

AEASL RFWXT WTWDK IOXHH EAUOS EDWTH WOWAR O

Answer: _______________________________________________

10) [554 points] Solve this Patristocrat.

LFLMT MCGYY TBGMC HGTMB KAPWO AHLHY KMACT QGJCV

LCCVT FFGMC GMQGV LFLRL TOYKF COLMB GHGBT MMTMB

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 3 5 8 5 9 4 1 3 8 11 3 1 2 1 8 3 1 4
Replacement

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

11) [372 points] Solve this cryptarithm for 3916470582 (two words).

Values to decode for solution

3 9 1 6 4 7 0 5 8 2

Cryptarithm formula 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

D R O W N D

E
D R I P
* H
O R R I E N I

O P E H O N
+
N

+HPTDN P

+R E D P N R

T H I R T E E N T

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

★(Special Bonus Question) 12) [293 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Porta cipher. The 4th to 8th ciphertext
characters XHSFT decode to ERASE.

E O Z X H S F T K V V O N F H O Z L O G

B F C Q J O J S U U W R X U X Q H V L N

S F U U K A X A C M L K O Y Q R

13) [296 points] Solve this Aristocrat that contains some advice?

IJ EGMJ ZV SVDJ OGWBFXR ZLMVGQL ZLJ DHXXJR VA

SHQWBHX AGKQW ZV HDVWN WKLHXWKQ HKR EYVMJE.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 2 2 3 3 1 4 6 1 6 4 4 3 1 1 4 3 2 7 6 5 1 4
Replacement

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

14) [172 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Atbash cipher.

G Z P V G S V G S R M T H B L F O V Z I M V W Y V U L I V Z M W

I V F H V G S V N V O H V D S V I V .

15) [418 points] Solve this cryptarithm for 74861720593 (two words).

Values to decode for solution

7 4 8 6 1 7 2 0 5 9 3

Cryptarithm formula 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A G A T E A

D
S E N D
+ E

+USER G

D R A G O N N

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

16) [287 points] Solve this linguistic Aristocrat.

XYMUSCO OJC CT VJYB CRQWQSCSYM LRSQHC. BTR ZJY MT GT

CZOTTU ESGOTRG WOBCSZJUUB MTSYM GT CZOTTU!

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 4 9 1 4 1 4 1 5 6 3 4 7 11 5 1 2 1 5 4
Replacement

17) [230 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Affine cipher. The ciphertext characters PQ decode to AT.

G P Q H P Q C Z D O Q , P C H I L P M P Q Z N C G H W Q N Q O H

W Z F L N M H U T N S Y U H L Z N B F R H Q P G F Z C Q O H

C H P U A T O Z G G F .

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

★(Special Bonus Question) 18) [284 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Baconian cipher. The plaintext ends with
TION.

LOCAL IMAGE LOGIC OUTER ANGER OWNER CRASH RAINS RANCH

HUMOR BEGAN CLIMB BRUTE RISKY PARTS TRASH CEASE OUTTA

GNOME HOTEL LYING KNOWN PAULO LOCAL FLUSH RIVAL HENRI

METAL

19) [214 points] Solve this Aristocrat. The first plaintext letter is S.

RGDJ NJGNAJ ZJAHJXJ CKBC HC'R JBRT CG DBLJ VGGE

EJUHRHGFR, ZQC BAYBTR OHFEHFV CKJ ZJRC GNCHGF HRF'C

RG RHDNAJ.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 4 5 9 3 3 5 9 9 12 2 1 4 1 1 10 2 1 2 1 1 3
Replacement

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

20) [218 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Affine cipher with the key (A,B) = (17,12).

S Q Z U C X P S C L U P Q G G S Z K X B C G X P C C X , D O X

S X J O G X K Q X M Z K P E M X I C !

21) [325 points] Solve this Aristocrat.

PERZ VUPEOPF KB CA ZKMVP JV PGMJUUPQ LJHZ HZP

RFJVUPVH UKVVJSDP EMQJK GMEDJHA.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 2 1 1 2 4 2 2 4 7 4 1 4 1 9 2 2 1 5 7 4
Replacement

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

★(Special Bonus Question) 22) [384 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Nihilist Substitution cipher. The first word is
GENERAL.

69 49 56 47 27 58 66 44 44 46 88 75 53 75 1 2 3 4 5
1
2
3
4
59 70 49 54 45 59 60 58 34 45 49 56 57 35
5

76 40 60 46 57 55 37 58 75 66 45 46 79 56

34 77 49 67 59

23) [194 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Atbash cipher.

N L E R M T R M K Z I Z O O V O , G S V G D L W Z M X V I H

M V E V I J F R G V G L F X S V W Y F G T O R W V W Z O L M T

H R W V L M V Z M L G S V I .

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

24) [492 points] Solve this Patristocrat that was encoded using a K2 alphabet. The first word is not SOMETIMES.

ZXYCB VYCZH INXNK NZZHI FSXWH XFBVH KNZSX AQNMN

HMYOC SXANI IYHMZ ANXMA YJNZH ONISO FYRKH XZNNA QNW

Replacement

K2 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Frequency 5 2 3 3 8 5 1 3 4 13 3 2 1 4 2 2 8 6 8

25) [277 points] Decode this phrase that was encoded using the Complete Columnar cipher. The plaintext contains the string
COMPARTMENT.

DAPMI TTATE EIESU TATAB CHOTM VLEOY VRHUC VHCNN

WSYEI AMOAO KRPAR HEEOT GIX

Answer: _______________________________________________

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

26) [434 points] Solve this Patristocrat that was encoded using a K1 alphabet. The first plaintext letter is R.

CPNPT ETYRZ YWLJW TIIWP IJKIP ZQJAC ZMWPX KQWJE

ZCNJY MPPYZ DRSTY QZCXJ ITZYI ZIJNV WPTI

K1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Frequency 1 4 1 2 8 7 2 1 2 3 8 3 2 1 6 1 6 2 6 8
Replacement

27) [246 points] Decode this phrase that was encoded using the Baconian cipher.

MYMYMYMDADAYMDAYDAMYDMYAMYMDYMAYMYMYDAMDYMAYDMAYDA

DMADYAMYMDAYMDYMYAMYDMYMYMAYMYMDAYDAMYDADMYMAYDADM

AYMYMYDAMDYADAMYDAMDAYMYMDYMAYMDYMYMADYAMDAYMDYMYA

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

28) [312 points] Solve this Aristocrat that uses some funky grammar.

FBSXS TU FKSF EKHZK SU PEK NBTNKB CSG PEK BSHQKBU

QBKSP UDXU PW XSTHPSTH PEKTB JDTKP.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 7 1 2 4 3 1 4 1 10 2 7 2 9 6 5 1 3 1
Replacement

29) [200 points] Decode this sentence that was encoded using the Caesar cipher.

Y X Q L U Q D Y C F Q H J Y Q B U L U D J J E Q J J U D T J E

Q J Q S Q H D Y L Q B .

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 Sierra Vista Codebusters B Team Number:_B_________

30) [254 points] Solve this historical Aristocrat.

UJCUIB MSB LEI YSQHYS CVM V IQCMT WUWB LHFVJ LEIBH

MSVJ VJT LG UMC YQHHBJM VMMBJIBBC.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 8 5 2 1 1 5 5 6 4 8 3 4 2 4 6 2 3
Replacement

31) [391 points] Solve this Spanish Aristocrat.

GKQHDAQEOQ, DH QNIÑQDH KQPQVGH QENQJHVOQ HDLW AHN

SÑQ IGQEIGH W XGNOWVGH. KQPQVGH QENQJHVOQ IWAW YGYGV

ÑEH PÑQEH YGKH.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N Ñ O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Frequency 3 4 6 10 14 4 2 4 1 5 4 4 3 18 1 6 5 1 3
Replacement

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