Need help on something

amol

Lifer
Jul 8, 2001
11,680
3
81
The Case of the Atypical PSA Student

Her classmates couldn?t understand her. Despite their and their PSA instructor?s best efforts, they couldn?t make any headway. Frustration was followed by impasse and soon no solution seemed possible.

Needless to say? This looked like a job for Zack Black, master detective.

Zack arrived on the scene faster than you could say ?Zack Black?. He stumbled in with his usual entrée: ?Never fear, Zack Black, here.? Half the class rolled their eyes in exasperation, the other half hit their foreheads with the palm of their hands and wondered if this was worth it, but the PSA instructor knew the situation was dire and was willing to deal with Zack?s shenanigans ? at least while they were desperate.

With his usual flare. Zack sized up the situation. ?So normal?, he thought. She had that ?deer in the headlights? daze, the pulsating carotid artery, the pallid skin tone. Yes, Zack quickly deduced, typical freshmen syndrome.

So, why, he thought did they have to call in him, the master detective, when mere mortals could quickly deduce the problem. Ever mindful of the red herring that could cook his goose (and other mixed metaphors), Zack reserved judgment. He decided it might be better to communicate with the girl in writing.

Hesitatingly, he spoke and wrote simultaneously. ?My name is Zack. Are you OK??
?D?U MHHM?, she wrote while speaking with equal hesitation. ?D QIDHR LO.?

Zack was taken aback. Never had he heard or seen such a language. Undeterred, he spoke and wrote again. ?Do you know where you are??

?YXL?, she nodded as she wrote. ?D MU DH UY KLM EVMLL.? Still perplexed, Zack wrote as he mouthed the words, ?How do you write ?Zack?. ?BMER? she quickly responded. ?DS YOG GHZXTLQMHZ NIMQ D NTDQX, D EOGVZ FDAX YOG M AXTY WDF RDLL.?

?Eureka!? cried Zack, as scribbled ?XGTXRM? on his tablet. Anna was astounded, pleased, and relieved, all at the same time.

Zack then proceeded explain to the PSA instructor that the abject student?s name was ?Anna? and how to communicate with her. Everyone was pleased because they now knew how to write and talk to Anna.

As Zack turned to address the next crisis, Anna wrote as Zack translated into the vernacular, ?Don?t you want to know my last name??

?I already know your last name,? Zack said. It?s ?FTMIMU?.?

What is Anna?s last name?

A friend sent it to me to help figure it out, I'm coming up with nothing
 

myusername

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2003
5,046
0
0
It looked like a simple substitution cipher, but I got hung up on the 4th letter in GHZXTLQMHZ

She's in her RSA class and she *should* be saying "if you unscramble them", leaving X as C but the X has already been used for the E in "yes"

Is this worth any more effort?
 

myusername

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2003
5,046
0
0
oh. wow. I didn't even count right and just assumed if it wasn't unscramble it must be unencrypt. who's the dumb ho now :(

understand
 

imported_Tick

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2005
4,682
1
0
Yes, It's Graham.

Heres the letter equivelents.

SPOILERS























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

imported_Tick

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2005
4,682
1
0
On a related note, did anyone figure out what the letters missing from my corespondence are? Or are those letters simply not specified?
 

BEL6772

Senior member
Oct 26, 2004
225
0
0
The three letters aren't used, so I don't see any way to be sure of their assignment. No apparent pattern to the letter pairs.