A a.. ( Q .

S O L V I N G C I P H E R S E C R E T S Edited by M. E . Ohaver

P R E S E N T I N G A C I P H E R U S I N G A P H O N E T I C A L P H A B E T , W I T H S O M E I N T R O -

D U C T O R Y R E M A R K S A B O U T P H O N E T I C A L P H A B E T S A N D P H O N E T I C S P E L L I N G

ON E of this week's c iphers—No. 145, by M . Walker , to be explicit-—uses a phonetic alphabet. So a few words about phonetic alphabets and phonetic spelling may not be amiss.

I n a phonetic alphabet each different sound is represented by its own special character. Most shorthand alphabets are of this nature. A n d , in fact, the phonetic alphabet herewith, which provides al l the sounds necessary for a practical representa-tion of the language, closely follows that employed in P i t m a n phonography.

T h e phonetic characters in this i l lustra-tive alphabet are shown i n the second col-u m n of the accompanying table. B y using italics, where indicated, the alphabet can be expressed in ordinary type. T h e numbers i n the first column have been compiled for the express use of the cipher solver, and indi-cate frequencies i n one thousand characters of phonetically spelled text. A n d these numbers reveal some surprising facts.

F o r example, T , with a frequency of eighty-two per one thousand, here sup-plants our old friend E as " k ing of the roost," phonetic values of the latter being divided among several characters. Passing to the other extreme, Z , seldom used in the ordinary alphabet, here has a frequency of forty-three per one thousand!

5 1 A (short A ) a m , ask, final. 9 A ( l o n g A ) ale, senate, core, eight,

there.

4 AE' ( I t a l i a n A ) a r m . 13 AW ( b r o a d A ) a l l , orb. 21 E boy.

5 CH cbart, a r c b , n a t a r e . 47 D ciay. 3 1 VH the, with, hieathe. 46 E (short E ) end, recent. 43 E ( long E ) eve, event, eel, ptque. 16 F /ame, rougA, phone, phantom.

6 G go. 23 H bouse, who. 73 I (short I ) i l l , l y r i c , i r / ( long I ) ice, idea, fly, hyena,

o J jar, grandeur, soldier, gem, surgeon, region.

30 K cal l , ecbo, bite, bacb, co^aette. 41 L iet. 26 M may, him, 68 N not , ten. 19 NO long, uncle, a n c h o r , ink. 36 O (short O ) odd, -whot. 22 O (long O ) old, obey.

0 01 (diphthong 0 1 ) oii, boy. 13 0 0 (short O O ) foot, wolf, fal l .

5 00 ( long 0 0 ) do, food, rade, c a n o * . I I OU (diphthong O U ) oat, o w l . 22 P ^at, up. 55 R far, t r a i n . 46 S so, yes, civil, force.

7 SH sharp, chaise, machine, sure. 82 T fie, if.

6 TH thin, breath. 26 U (short U ) a p , a m , fern, fir, other,

does, flood, t o a c h , m y r t l e . 2 U ( long U ) ase, anite, new, beauty.

10 V vivid, ever. 29 W wet.

1 Y year, y o u , mil l ion. 43 Z zeal , zone, uje, xebec.

I ZH rouge, azure, f u i i o n .

A phonetic character may have more than one equivalent in ordinary spelling. T h u s F represents the sound of F i n " fame " ( f a m ) , of G H in " rough " ( r u f ) ,

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and of P H in " p h o n e " (ion). Paren-theses inclose phonetic spellings according to the present system.

T h e letters C , Q, and X have no place i n this alphabet. T h e sounds of C are re-placed by S and _K, as in " c i ty " ( s i t i ) and " c a m e " ( k a m ) . Q U is represented by K or K N , as in " coquette " (koket) and " quick " ( k w i k ) . A n d X is expressed by K S , G Z , or Z , as in " e x c e p t " (eksept) , " e x i s t " (egzist) , and " x e b e c " ( z e b e k ) , respectively.

Other combinations are also given a queer twist. T h u s T H in many words w i l l here be represented by D H as in " the " ( d h e ) , " t h a t " ( d h a t ) , " w i t h " ( w i d h ) , and so on. W H is merely reversed, as " w h y " ( h w f ) , " w h e n " ( h w e n ) , and " w h i c h " ( h w i c h ) . T h e following short example in the present alphabet should en-able the novice to grasp the idea of pho-netic spelling without much difficulty.

A fonetik alfabet iz w u n i n h w i c b eck sound iz reprezented hi itz on speibal "sin. A n d i n fonetik speling w u r d z ahr speld eg-z a k t l i a z dha ahr pronoanst.

Our correspondent has used an alphabet of thirty-six pr imary sounds, arranged i n a special order, but otherwise very similar to the alphabet herewith. F o r his cipher alphabet he has employed figures, le t ters— omitting I and 0 — a n d the signs * and &, making thirty-six symbols in a l l , one for each phonetic character. Normal word di-visions have been observed.

Another phonetic cipher by M r . Walker wi l l be published next week. A n d the so-lutions to both, w i t h complete alphabets, w i l l appear i n two weeks. T h e answers to the other new ciphers in this article wi l l be published next week. No. 1 4 3 is of the simple substitution type. A n d i n No. 1 4 4 M r . Crotty has embodied an interesting principle which you should be able to dis-cover by " running down the alphabet."

D i d you get that " jawbreaker " in last week's No. 1 4 0 ? Here is the answer: " Transsubstantiationableness is said to be the longest nontechnical word in the E n g -l ish language."

No. 1 4 1 , by W m . B . M a r k s conveyed the message: " T h i s system is easy to use, but i f you solve i t you are good!" T h e

key, 21-7, indicated G — t h e seventh letter of the alphabet—as starting point for the first count, with one count backward in the alphabet and two forward, in rotation, for each three letters of text. Numbers larger than twenty-six were word spacers.

No. 1 4 2 , by J . A . Dockham, requires a set of vertical alphabetical slides, on each of which the ordinary alphabet is twice repeated. T o decipher, adjust the slides so that the cipher letters appear in the same line, as at f a ) , repeating the last let-ter of each group as the first of the next following group. T h e message wil l then appear in various lines, marked *, each group thus representing six letters instead of only five!

etc. etc. P D E O O 0 I J U C F

(or) Q E F P P P J K V D G R F G Q Q Q K L W E H S G H R R R L M X F I

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

etc. etc.

W h e n enciphering, any line on the slides may be used for a given group except the one ending in the next following message letter. Groups can be of any length. A n d , if desired, slides with mixed alphabets may be employed. A clever cipher! T h e mes-sage: " T h i s system produces a cryptogram which is shorter than the message it com-municates."

A l l of which being said and done, here are this week's ciphers.

C I P H E R N o . 143, P J K G E K C Q H W T Y P W T N D A H I . Q U -C Q K D T Q P Y U O Y A D D P Y T C X Q E K W T P J W D V W T C Q X Z E A G P Q N E Y H .

C I P H E R N o . 144 ( P h i l i p J . C r o t t y , C h a r l e s -t o w n , M a s s a c h u s e t t s ) .

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

C I P H E R N o . 14s ( M . W a l k e r , A k r o n , O h i o ) .

K D 4 F U N D Q E 6 F N Z * F V D 2 E d F C 4 F U E i A D D i D N 52 Z * E V O S4D2 P1N5D F 8 V V O T D 3 N H 2 E . L i 1J2C L 6 V E 4 F U O C 2 J N 6 k V * D L 4 E L I Y & U 2 N 8 K V 2 F V * D U B 2 L L 3 D S 9 F N .

10 F W