[Maddison] SOLUTION FOUND! New Items! 4/22/2007

[ignatzmouse]

He even made it easier this time. By using a 5-letter keyword, with the 5-letter known plaintext in 'Hurry', the whole message gets decoded without guessing any letters (as opposed to guessing Bill*=Bills before).

Yes, I was wondering if Zipp was deliberately setting up a race between the cryptanalysts and the passphrase-puzzle-solvers. Boo hoo, I dropped the baton

[deagol]

AHHHH! I'm so jealous! Im working on my final project and was off the forum for 5 or so hours.

In that time theres been a puzzle, a solution, and a drop
IN MY AREA!

Damn!

Good luck Panda!!!

DITTO!!! (Literally - same story.) I can't believe this happened the one day I finally stopped lurking on the forum and buckled down to work on my final project. ARGH!

There's still a drop waiting to be retrieved.

[cynicar]

Have there been any thoughts on the six broken strings and the muting thereof?

[Luminous]

Have there been any thoughts on the six broken strings and the muting thereof?

Well six broken strings on a guitar would put you pretty much down for the count, unless it was a twelve string, in which case you would need to mute it so it wouldn't be abrasive. 12 strings have a very irritating sound to them if six of the strings are missing. Not sure if that's what it's talking about though.

[limadean]

AHHHH! I'm so jealous! Im working on my final project and was off the forum for 5 or so hours.

In that time theres been a puzzle, a solution, and a drop
IN MY AREA!

Damn!

Good luck Panda!!!

DITTO!!! (Literally - same story.) I can't believe this happened the one day I finally stopped lurking on the forum and buckled down to work on my final project. ARGH!

There's still a drop waiting to be retrieved.

Come on, somebody!!

[ElizKM86]

I just cant go

School must come first.

But I really want to.....

(college blows sometimes....)

[Elixir]

Okay so, Tom Wiggins played at the Whitehouse in 1860. No quotes from him (he was a kid). But, the president at that time was James Buchanan.

Quotes from him (with no years attached to them yet) are:

"I like the noise of democracy."


"The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among free men. "


"The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there. "

"To avoid entangling alliances has been a maxim of our policy ever since the days of Washington, and its wisdom no one will attempt to dispute. "

"What is right and what is practicable are two different things. "

"If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man indeed. " [I think this was said in 1860, as Lincoln took over the presidency.]

The Marsh Chapel is said to have a picture of Lincoln in a stained glass window on the blacony, so this could somehow be related. ???

Okay, now - Buchanan was president from 1857-1861.

In 1860, he was overthrown as president for his views on slavery. Abraham Lincoln took over.

"Consequently, when the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, it was a foregone conclusion that he would be elected even though his name appeared on no southern ballot. Buchanan watched silently as South Carolina seceded on December 20, followed by six other cotton states, and by February, they formed the Confederate States of America. Eight slave states refused to join." (wikipedia)

There's that number - six. Hmmm.... six 'broken' states?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Buchanan

Maybe this is just directing us toward the Lincoln window? I don't know... I don't have time to look anything else up now, but maybe someone else can use this information.

[honeybee627]

Thanks, Elixir. I'm going to head right for the Lincoln window. Everything seems to be pointing that way.

[giddeanx]

Have there been any thoughts on the six broken strings and the muting thereof?

Well six broken strings on a guitar would put you pretty much down for the count, unless it was a twelve string, in which case you would need to mute it so it wouldn't be abrasive. 12 strings have a very irritating sound to them if six of the strings are missing. Not sure if that's what it's talking about though.

Since Tom was a pianist. I would immagine the 6 broken strings were on a piano. 6 strings would not take a piano down for the count and if you were a composer w/ a broken piano you could compose around them using the soft pedal.

Muteing:
The soft pedal of the piano, the use of which makes the hammers hit only two of the three strings for each note (or one of the two at lower registers) can be seen as a kind of mute. Indication that the soft pedal should be used is the instruction una corda or sometimes due corde with tre corde or sometimes tutte le corde cancelling it. On older pianos it was possible by use of the soft pedal to play only one, two or all three strings, making the distinction between una corda (one string) and due corde (two strings) meaningful, but this is no longer the case.

[lonelyelendi]

Wow mad props to gidd!

[nowherepixie]

Ooh a piano good one!

Is there a piano in the church place then?

[giddeanx]

probably not it was probably just a clue to get to the key for the cypher.

Im still not sure how the rest of the paper applies to blind tom wiggins.

[lg15panda]

There is a regular grand piano in the chapel along with a huge pipe organ. Both are located near the front of the chapel. When I was there, the piano was in use and there were some choir singers practicing, so I couldn't get near the front of the church.

I am still stumped about the "Empty House" clue/message as well. What is Zipp trying to tell us?

[lostgurl]

Could "empty house" mean that you should go when there is no one there. that way you would be able to look around the piano.
under the peddles??

[giddeanx]

Or maybe he can't believe we havent filled the house yet.