[superprismatic]

Suppose, I place some random-looking

text in a 26 by 26 square matrix,

indexing the rows and columns by the

alphabet thusly:

  ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

A ntdmolbyl r  u nsgo.heeaac

B   slr hb mnotdtlwadmaeee o

C  srmigP so"i lrm",'fPsryge

D sl ,ntnyyiwfeo adali    nm

E mtno oate iehmayln ye t cm

F ePktboe wstslod.nh   iahe

G yllhiaetst; lcoCo o r"cein

H he sg,pk oom eeoeoradbr pr

I nw  oti,rhaohsIf d dmeca

J  a iad, r45cpn h,0ea   n0o

K  tt taan th, hm deah w Iie

L oec s tfao oct liolhrsiJnw

M sRbHt  "nusu.otye  t 'Biro

N  ssuadeoaed  n w  aihivtrl

O fic r tyidfosycnrls aeeo h

P rsypBnweir a usnns'a noak

Q oiado dnsIf lmwcFohfr    a

R w cn uhkfrrhtst a aldoios

S e tf ioa.uItvlelt ere ltms

T e'aelt hsL rsuvc th P""rie

U t iledn   hnaalg e,trtdial

V tc eae r fesevei gnehrottn

W klsor cbnasm emaw lse'hope

X Istdeineswl   rwnva coo  e

Y ity .Meei't h  fllabltrlsl

Z yp ioslndmviokcnbi ,oieti

[/code]




But notice that, if you permute the

rows, columns, and the indexing

alphabet with the same appropriate

permutation, you get:



[code]

  QUENFCLPSBMGWJYOZIVKRHDXAT

Q From a child I was fond of

U  reading, and all the litt

E le money that came into my

N  hands was ever laid out i

F n books. Pleased with the

C "Pilgrim's Progress", my f

L irst collection was of Joh

P n Bunyan's works in separa

S te little volumes. I after

B ward sold them to enable m

M e to buy R. Burton's "Hist

G orical Collections"; they

W were small chapmen's books

J , and cheap, 40 or 50 in a

Y ll. My father's little lib

O rary consisted chiefly of

Z books in polemic divinity,

I  most of which I read, and

V  have since often regrette

K d that, at a time when I h

R ad such a thirst for knowl

H edge, more proper books ha

D d not fallen in my way, si

X nce it was now resolved I

A should not be a clergyman.

T  Plutarch's "Lives" there

This is a perfecly readable portion of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. This puzzle asks you to do the same type of unscrambling to the following:

  ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

A p eat vcpoai ,oeheolenc  n

B sl cfihaoeo  cf ia rskptte

C  edokcgnd cananaeti dutn,e

D otarrteer acdng yute  oht

E darys'hcoear tme ieca, t h

F olanehdoerwa tlp  o pgg et

G Orueawascbhot  frtto: u  i

H apxssiao tgrntdnmo e,iip f

I yva A  e e ao.uolyihltss

J  w rodeanoBp  awne t'.lpte

K .ngntauaom a!nP u  irtnhef

L iht laaesfate 'tlrt ,le  u

M ednn feitpot osru  anghdds

N mamta atel wrslp ys sea i'

O e.sThtn egt a daefdr hoild

P ht erbyhtsi b  toewou bagl

Q tpi ids,sc ir roctfhtosaa

R la dehmnyitnitci  e,p erot

S eG egruoarneiemr,b n rmNHt

T m yr liahsb  lt teoehet ed

U oocmneamarilnm rta  ,uip a

V weoi srr .' gideshgGhnTeon

W uw oehshr eodttn  eyc frod

X  eltt f tfbeddilhe tiirosg

Y pci rodeVi crt .satohot is

Z  rtatilisea  aihiwh nlaigW

[/code]


The correctly permuted matrix contains

an interesting historical quotation.


Please ignore the coloring of the text.

This is an artifact of the code tag that

I used to keep everything aligned.

Edited May 27, 2011 by superprismatic

[Molly Mae]

Unlike the first, did you lead with a space? *Glare*

[Guest]

The split words at the end of the lines made it a bit tricky. Though the example quote did have split words too.

While awaiting his trial a

t Nuremberg, Herman Goerin

g offered this little tidb

it about war: Of course th

e people don't want war. B

ut after all, it's the lea

ders of the country who de

termine the policy, and it

's always a simple matter

to drag the people along w

hether it's a democracy, a

fascist dictatorship, or

a parliament, or a communi

st dictatorship. Voice or

no voice, the people can a

lways be brought to the bi

dding of the leaders. That

is easy. All you have to

do is tell them they are b

eing attacked, and denounc

e the pacifists for lack o

f patriotism, and exposing

the country to greater da

nger. This showed Goering'

s depth of understanding o

f human nature. Poignant!

and the key I believe is

ZSXGJLWRNFEQUYAPOITCBHDVMK

And regarding the example quote you gave, I have to ask, is there truely such a thing as a perfecly readable portion of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography? lol

Edited May 27, 2011 by Nana7

[superprismatic]

The split words at the end of the lines made it a bit tricky. Though the example quote did have split words too.

While awaiting his trial a

t Nuremberg, Herman Goerin

g offered this little tidb

it about war: Of course th

e people don't want war. B

ut after all, it's the lea

ders of the country who de

termine the policy, and it

's always a simple matter

to drag the people along w

hether it's a democracy, a

fascist dictatorship, or

a parliament, or a communi

st dictatorship. Voice or

no voice, the people can a

lways be brought to the bi

dding of the leaders. That

is easy. All you have to

do is tell them they are b

eing attacked, and denounc

e the pacifists for lack o

f patriotism, and exposing

the country to greater da

nger. This showed Goering'

s depth of understanding o

f human nature. Poignant!

and the key I believe is

ZSXGJLWRNFEQUYAPOITCBHDVMK

And regarding the example quote you gave, I have to ask, is there truely such a thing as a perfecly readable portion of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography? lol

Very nice! You got it very quickly. Benny Franklin is a real favorite of mine, but I'll grant you that the autobiography is a difficult read. Thanks for doing the puzzle.

[Guest]

Very nice! You got it very quickly. Benny Franklin is a real favorite of mine, but I'll grant you that the autobiography is a difficult read. Thanks for doing the puzzle.

No offense intended. He was great certainly. And the puzzle was fun to figure out how to solve.