616E642069662049206A75737420686974202264656C65746522206F6E206D7920736F6369616C207365637572697479206E756D6265722E2E2E… there. It’s me, The Puzzleboy.
I have spent the entire month putting out firewalls and playing games on the grid and it looks like I am finally back in control here.
I am so sorry that last month’s puzzle was co-opted by a cadre of computational criminals. Their extra layer of encryption was not enough for a good many of you who now found your names engraved into The Puzzleboy Pantheon for all to see.
The key to decrypting these ciphers was finding a familiar word or pattern, like a lone letter, which must be an “a” and an “I,” or a contraction.
Once you got there, you could suss out the rest of the sentence and eventually you could figure out the following:
Some of the lads like a bit of scotch, or a nip of brandy at the end of the week. Me and the boys are closing down the pub, hoisting these…
You’re sitting in your hot rod, revving your engine. At your right, I’m in my cherry rocket and as soon as my girl drops the scarf, I’m beating you in this race and taking your car because we are racing for this…
I am surfing the Internet. I’m going from website to website: scrolling, chatting, emailing. The thing I do best online? Clicking these to jump somewhere new.
Some kids wear yellow shirts with a black zig-zag. Some kids have a cloud of dust around them. Me? I always carry my blue security blanket because my name is this…
And once you have those, you could determine the answers must be:
pints
pinks
links
linus
Thus, following the pattern of a single-letter substitution, the answer to what’s “the name of the operating system all the coolest hackers use” is Linux.
Each Puzzler received a point for each correct answer, which brings us to:
Welcome to the Puzzleboy Pantheon!
Alex S. - 5
Anne E. - 5
Cyrus H. - 5
Dan B. - 5
Eric C. - 5
Helene L. - 5
Jay W. - 5
Joan J. - 5
Kari A. - 5
Kristen K. - 5
Lisa L. - 5
Maxim L. - 5
Naina M. - 5
Rakedu T. - 5
Robin L-F. - 5
Ryan D. - 5
Sam L. - 5
Tim M. - 5
Trace G. - 5
Valarie D. - 5
Jennifer K. - 3
Matt M. - 3
Our cybersecurity is beefed up and battle tested! Next month, get in line for a blockbuster puzzle! Join us on July 1st for:
