Solution: Morose Codes
Answer: CROZIER
Authors: Violet Xiao, Shuxin Zhan
As indicated by the title, Morse Code should be relevant in this puzzle. The first intended step is to translate each of the strings to Morse Code. Doing this produces:
| Original | Translation |
|---|---|
| AMMNAAIMMNAMNAMNAAAMMAIANIA | .- -- -- -. .- .- .. -- -- -. .- -- -. .- -- -. .- .- .- -- -- .- .. .- -. .. .- |
| AOIWOMJTOMMGUMMOMOIWOMTZUMSMMOMGEJMOOMMDOMWMUMMOWMSIEJDI | .- --- .. .-- --- -- .--- - --- -- -- --. ..- -- -- --- -- --- .. .-- --- -- - --.. ..- -- ... -- -- --- -- --. . .--- -- --- --- -- -- -.. --- -- .-- -- ..- -- -- --- .-- -- ... .. . .--- -.. .. |
| EATEMTETENKT | . .- - . -- - . - . -. -.- - |
| EOSTOESMSMETTIMMEIOEOMSMOETITOSEMIITM | . --- ... - --- . ... -- ... -- . - - .. -- -- . .. --- . --- -- ... -- --- . - .. - --- ... . -- .. .. - -- |
| EWWKMYKMMK | . .-- .-- -.- -- -.-- -.- -- -- -.- |
| HHSUSHIESFIEHISEHBIHSHIIHEAHSSESHLIRSHSVEEISSISEISDHSIINEHSSHS | .... .... ... ..- ... .... .. . ... ..-. .. . .... .. ... . .... -... .. .... ... .... .. .. .... . .- .... ... ... . ... .... .-.. .. .-. ... .... ... ...- . . .. ... ... .. ... . .. ... -.. .... ... .. .. -. . .... ... ... .... ... |
| JKNMAYYT | .--- -.- -. -- .- -.-- -.-- - |
| ORRRRSRKOKKSGKGDDSWDDDW | --- .-. .-. .-. .-. ... .-. -.- --- -.- -.- ... --. -.- --. -.. -.. ... .-- -.. -.. -.. .-- |
| SHNUNUANSTIUPNGS | ... .... -. ..- -. ..- .- -. ... - .. ..- .--. -. --. ... |
| TFIKHTUIIRTFIUVTRMNOSADNIDXT | - ..-. .. -.- .... - ..- .. .. .-. - ..-. .. ..- ...- - .-. -- -. --- ... .- -.. -. .. -.. -..- - |
Not all these strings appear to be obviously suspicious, but some seem to have some notable properties. For example, the first one only uses morse letters with length 2 (that is, 2 dashes or dots), the fourth one only uses morse letters that are either all dashes or all dots, the eighth one only uses morse letters with length 3, and the sixth one just has a ton of dots and very few dashes.
Looking at, for example, the sixth string in particular, we can notice that there are long sequences of dots each separated by a single dash. Counting the dots in each group, we find that it’s [13, 15, 18, 26, 19, 5, 14, 21, 13, 19]. Translating these numbers using the typical A-Z as 1-26 mapping, we obtain the letters MORZSENUMSMORZSENUMS. This should be interpreted as the message MORSE NUMSMORSE NUMS with the extra letter ZZ, which should be confirmed from the puzzle title. The message MORSE NUMSMORSE NUMS is a clue to decoding another of these strings. By finding the string that fits this message and decoding it, or by breaking into other strings, we can find that each string can be decoded into a message and an extra letter, each describing the next string in a cycle.
Arbitrarily starting with the aforementioned string, the data in cyclic order is:
| Plaintext | Mechanic | Translation | Extra Letter | Message |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HHSUSHI... | UNARY | MORZSENUMS | Z | MORSENUMS |
| AOIWOMJ... | MORSENUMS | MAITCHWITHATOZ | I | MATCHWITHATOZ |
| EWWKMYKMMK | MATCHWITHATOZ | ABEINRY | E | BINARY |
| TFIKHTU... | BINARY | READBRACKWARDS | R | READBACKWARDS |
| SHNUNUA... | READBACKWARDS | SWAPDITSANDADAHS | A | SWAPDITSANDDAHS |
| JKNMAYYT | SWAPDITSANDDAHS | BRAINLLE | N | BRAILLE |
| AMMNAAI... | BRAILLE | ASCIISART | S | ASCIIART |
| ORRRRSR... | ASCIIART | TAPC | C | TAP |
| EOSTOES... | TAP | CORMBINEPAIRS | R | COMBINEPAIRS |
| EATEMTETENKT | COMBINEPAIRS | UNOARY | O | UNARY |
Reading in cyclic order starting from the fifth row, we get ANS CROZIERANS CROZIER for a final answer of CROZIERCROZIER.
Appendix
We provide an explanation of each string, in the order they were provided in the puzzle.
AMMNAAIMMNAMNAMNAAAMMAIANIAAMMNAAIMMNAMNAMNAAAMMAIANIA
.- -- -- -. .- .- .. -- -- -. .- -- -. .- -- -. .- .- .- -- -- .- .. .- -. .. .-.- -- -- -. .- .- .. -- -- -. .- -- -. .- -- -. .- .- .- -- -- .- .. .- -. .. .-
This message is to be read as Braille, with each letter representing a row of a Braille character, grouped into groups of three. The dots of Morse represent dots of Braille, and the dashes represent spaces. This gives the message ASCIISART.
AOIWOMJTOMMGUMMOMOIWOMTZUMSMMOMGEJMOOMMDOMWMUMMOWMSIEJDIAOIWOMJTOMMGUMMOMOIWOMTZUMSMMOMGEJMOOMMDOMWMUMMOWMSIEJDI
.- --- .. .-- --- -- .--- - --- -- -- --. ..- -- -- --- -- --- .. .-- --- -- - --.. ..- -- ... -- -- --- -- --. . .--- -- --- --- -- -- -.. --- -- .-- -- ..- -- -- --- .-- -- ... .. . .--- -.. ...- --- .. .-- --- -- .--- - --- -- -- --. ..- -- -- --- -- --- .. .-- --- -- - --.. ..- -- ... -- -- --- -- --. . .--- -- --- --- -- -- -.. --- -- .-- -- ..- -- -- --- .-- -- ... .. . .--- -.. ..
This message is to be reparsed into Morse numbers. (Note that starting from the beginning, each pair of letters in the string have lengths that sum to 5.) Parsing as numbers yields [1301092003082309200801201526], which can be split up into pairs of digits as [13, 01, 09, 20, 03, 08, 23, 09, 20, 08, 01, 20, 15, 26]. Using the A-Z as 1-26 mapping, this gives the message MAITCHWITHATOZ.
EATEMTETENKTEATEMTETENKT
. .- - . -- - . - . -. -.- -. .- - . -- - . - . -. -.- -
Starting from the beginning, each pair of letters can be combined to make the string ..- -. --- .- .-. -.--.
Reading this as Morse gives the message UNOARY.
EOSTOESMSMETTIMMEIOEOMSMOETITOSEMIITMEOSTOESMSMETTIMMEIOEOMSMOETITOSEMIITM
. --- ... - --- . ... -- ... -- . - - .. -- -- . .. --- . --- -- ... -- --- . - .. - --- ... . -- .. .. - --. --- ... - --- . ... -- ... -- . - - .. -- -- . .. --- . --- -- ... -- --- . - .. - --- ... . -- .. .. - --
This message is to be reinterpreted as alternating run lengths of dots and dashes. (Note that every letter consists of either all dots or all dashes.) This produces the number pairs (1,3), (3,4), (4,2), (3,2), (1,2), (2,4), (3,3), (1,5), (3,5), (1,1), (2,4), (4,2), (4,3). Reading as tap code gives the message CORMBINEPAIRS.
EWWKMYKMMKEWWKMYKMMK
. .-- .-- -.- -- -.-- -.- -- -- -.-. .-- .-- -.- -- -.-- -.- -- -- -.-
When ignoring spaces, this message becomes the 26-long string
..--.---.----.---.------.-
Treating this as the letters from A through Z, we see that the letters marked by dots are A, B, E, I, N, R, Y. This gives the message BINARY with an extra E.
HHSUSHIESFIEHISEHBIHSHIIHEAHSSESHLIRSHSVEEISSISEISDHSIINEHSSHSHHSUSHIESFIEHISEHBIHSHIIHEAHSSESHLIRSHSVEEISSISEISDHSIINEHSSHS
.... .... ... ..- ... .... .. . ... ..-. .. . .... .. ... . .... -... .. .... ... .... .. .. .... . .- .... ... ... . ... .... .-.. .. .-. ... .... ... ...- . . .. ... ... .. ... . .. ... -.. .... ... .. .. -. . .... ... ... .... ....... .... ... ..- ... .... .. . ... ..-. .. . .... .. ... . .... -... .. .... ... .... .. .. .... . .- .... ... ... . ... .... .-.. .. .-. ... .... ... ...- . . .. ... ... .. ... . .. ... -.. .... ... .. .. -. . .... ... ... .... ...
As discussed previously, counting each group of dots separated by a dash and using the A-Z as 1-26 mapping gives the message MORZSENUMS.
JKNMAYYTJKNMAYYT
.--- -.- -. -- .- -.-- -.-- -.--- -.- -. -- .- -.-- -.-- -
This message needs all of its dits (dots) exchanged for dahs (dashes), and vice-versa. Doing so gives -... .-. .- .. -. .-.. .-.. ., which when read as Morse gives the message BRAINLLE.
ORRRRSRKOKKSGKGDDSWDDDWORRRRSRKOKKSGKGDDSWDDDW
--- .-. .-. .-. .-. ... .-. -.- --- -.- -.- ... --. -.- --. -.. -.. ... .-- -.. -.. -.. .----- .-. .-. .-. .-. ... .-. -.- --- -.- -.- ... --. -.- --. -.. -.. ... .-- -.. -.. -.. .--
This message should be looked at pictorially, with each row being one of the three-long Morse letters. Treating dashes as dark squares and dots as blank squares, we can see the message TAPC.
SHNUNUANSTIUPNGSSHNUNUANSTIUPNGS
... .... -. ..- -. ..- .- -. ... - .. ..- .--. -. --. ...... .... -. ..- -. ..- .- -. ... - .. ..- .--. -. --. ...
This entire message needs to be reversed to obtain
... .-- .- .--. -.. .. - ... .- -. -.. .- -.. .- .... ...
Reading this message as Morse gives the message SWAPDITSANDADAHS.
TFIKHTUIIRTFIUVTRMNOSADNIDXTTFIKHTUIIRTFIUVTRMNOSADNIDXT
- ..-. .. -.- .... - ..- .. .. .-. - ..-. .. ..- ...- - .-. -- -. --- ... .- -.. -. .. -.. -..- -- ..-. .. -.- .... - ..- .. .. .-. - ..-. .. ..- ...- - .-. -- -. --- ... .- -.. -. .. -.. -..- -
This message should be interpreted as binary in groups of 5, with dots representing 0 and dashes representing 1. (Note that starting from the beginning, each pair of letters in the string have lengths that sum to 5.) Doing so and using the A-Z as 1-26 mapping gives the message READBRACKWARDS.
Authors’ Notes
- This puzzle inspired by a mini-puzzle that Peter wrote involving characters like ¡!:.¡!:. representing morse code. I (Violet) thought that a puzzle about reinterpreting Morse Code strings could be neat, and decided to follow the template I've seen before in puzzles such as A Basic Puzzle.
- This puzzle was originally intended for the intro round, and started a trend of Violet writing puzzles designed for the intro round before having them subsequently moved out in some manner.
- The string with SUSHISUSHI in it used to have a lot more copies of SUSHISUSHI inside it. Now it has both SUSHISUSHI and VEEVEE inside it, the two authors of this puzzle :)