Game 26
This challenge requires breaking a random substitution cipher using frequency analysis. The ciphertext is:
szqkagczvcvyabpsyincgozdainvscbnivpnzvbpnyfkqhzmmpcqhzygzgfcxznvvzgdfnvbpnjyifxmpcqhzygbpnoyaimygbzgngbvmpcqhzygcbpinnbzqndicgxhiztozgcfmpcqhzygbpnjyifxeagzyimpcqhzygbpneagzyidicgxhiztozgcfmpcqhzygcgxcoyaibzqnvyabpsyincggcbzygcfmpcqhzygszqzvbpnozivbvyabpsyincgozdainvscbnibyjzgcqnxcfcbcgzvaeagzyiyivngzyidicgxhiztnungbzvampcqhzygvpzhcgxbpnyfkqhzmdcqnvvpnzvbpnozivbonqcfnvscbnibyjzgbpnyfkqhzmdcqnvbpnjyifxmpcqhzygvpzhvbpnoyaimygbzgngbvmpcqhzygvpzhvcgxbpndicgxhiztozgcfvpnzvygnyobpnqyvbpzdpfkinmydgzlnxcbpfnbnvcgxqnxzcozdainvzgvyabpsyinccvyochizfbpzvkncivpnzvicgsnxvnmygxzgbpnjyifxrkbpnzgbnigcbzygcfvscbzgdagzygvpnzvbpnmaiingbinmyixpyfxnioyifcxznvzgbpnvpyibhiydicqbpnoinnvscbzgdcgxbpnmyqrzgnxbybcfagxnibpnzvaeaxdzgdvkvbnqvpnzvcfvybpnozivbonqcfnvscbnibyvaihcvvbpnbjypaxincxhyzgbqcisagxnibpnzvaeaxdzgdvkvbnqvpnpcvgnunirnnghfcmnxyoobpnhyxzaqzgpningbzinmcinniFrequency Analysis Approach:
Analyze the character frequency in the ciphertext:
$ echo "$CIPHER" | fold -w1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr 92 n 78 z 69 g 65 c 65 b 62 v 60 i 59 y 58 pIn English text, the most common letters are E, T, A, O, I, N. Since n is the most frequent cipher character (92 occurrences), it likely maps to e in the plaintext. Similarly, z (78 occurrences) might map to t.
Use an online frequency analysis solver or substitution cipher tool to find the plaintext. Tools like quipqiup.com or frequency_analysis.html can automatically break the cipher based on English word frequencies.
The plaintext decrypts to a biography of Kim Yuna, a renowned South Korean figure skater, and the flag is her name.
kimyuna