Codebusters C

[Longivitis]

I'm having trouble finding a true 4-function calculator. Most of the simple ones also include percent and/or square root keys. Does anyone know if those are OK for this event?

As long as it doesn't have trig functions you should be set.

[nicholasmaurer]

I'm having trouble finding a true 4-function calculator. Most of the simple ones also include percent and/or square root keys. Does anyone know if those are OK for this event?

As long as it doesn't have trig functions you should be set.

Per the Calculator Policy, square root functionality is permitted. If the calculator includes trigonometric functions, etc. it would not be allowed. Any calculator with modulus capabilities would not be permitted.

[UTF-8 U+6211 U+662F]

I'm having trouble finding a true 4-function calculator. Most of the simple ones also include percent and/or square root keys. Does anyone know if those are OK for this event?

As long as it doesn't have trig functions you should be set.

Per the Calculator Policy, square root functionality is permitted. If the calculator includes trigonometric functions, etc. it would not be allowed. Any calculator with modulus capabilities would not be permitted.

(Of course it's fairly easy to calculate the modulus anyway by just dividing, subtracting the integer part, and then multiplying again, e.g. 7/3 = 2.333333; 0.333333 * 3 = 1)

[someone1580]

Do you guys have any tips or tricks on any of the codes in this event? For some reason in my area, they changed Game On B to Codebusters B.

[Jacobi]

Do you guys have any tips or tricks on any of the codes in this event? For some reason in my area, they changed Game On B to Codebusters B.

Too many. See the Codebusters Wiki for information.

[Avalanche]

Rule 3.e.vi says "Xenocrypt - no more than one cryptogram can be in Spanish"
What does this rule mean besides that the cryptogram will be in Spanish.

[Unome]

Rule 3.e.vi says "Xenocrypt - no more than one cryptogram can be in Spanish"
What does this rule mean besides that the cryptogram will be in Spanish.

A xenocrypt is a cipher in a foreign language, although this could inadvertently imply the possibility of xenocrypts in languages besides Spanish being allowed (which is probably not the intention) - I don't know whether another part of the rules is more explicit about that though.

[Jacobi]

Rule 3.e.vi says "Xenocrypt - no more than one cryptogram can be in Spanish"
What does this rule mean besides that the cryptogram will be in Spanish.

A xenocrypt is a cipher in a foreign language, although this could inadvertently imply the possibility of xenocrypts in languages besides Spanish being allowed (which is probably not the intention) - I don't know whether another part of the rules is more explicit about that though.

I think that the intent of the rules is that xenocrypts are in Spanish only.

However, prepare for anything, and a liberal reading of the rules could allow for cryptograms in French, Spanish, etc., as well as Hill, Atbash, Affine, or Vignere ciphers - given that no letter encrypts to itself.

[Riptide]

Rule 3.e.vi says "Xenocrypt - no more than one cryptogram can be in Spanish"
What does this rule mean besides that the cryptogram will be in Spanish.

A xenocrypt is a cipher in a foreign language, although this could inadvertently imply the possibility of xenocrypts in languages besides Spanish being allowed (which is probably not the intention) - I don't know whether another part of the rules is more explicit about that though.

I think that the intent of the rules is that xenocrypts are in Spanish only.

However, prepare for anything, and a liberal reading of the rules could allow for cryptograms in French, Spanish, etc., as well as Hill, Atbash, Affine, or Vignere ciphers - given that no letter encrypts to itself.

A post was made on Soinc FAQ addressing xenocrypts.

[Avalanche]

I was reading the rules to make sure I wasn't wasting to much time reading about the state/nats ciphers, and noticed that for the hill cipher it states, "Mathematical Cryptanalysis of the Hill Cipher - either producing a decryption matrix given a 2x2 encryption matrix or computing a decryption matrix given 4 plaintext-ciphertext letter pairs." What does this rule even mean.

Thanks