Compete to crack secrets lost to history—for fun, clout, and (no) profit
Thirteen written rows contain 148 encoded numbers. In the middle sits 7.30 & 8., written as an ordinary time rather than part of the encoded count. The lines also divide words: DE and AR, or FO and R, can belong to a single word even when a dash intervenes. Source grouping therefore has to be preserved before readable spacing is supplied.[1]
The direct table 1=A, 2=B, …, 25=Y accounts for every encoded value. Three separate jobs preserved the distinction between reading the handwriting, examining provenance, and attacking the frozen stream. The resulting table does not need a keyword or shifted alphabet. Its usefulness is tested against the entire message, including repeated sequences and its anomalous words.[2]
| Row | Written values | Mechanical output |
|---|---|---|
| R01 | 13.25-4.5-1.18-14.1- | MY-DE-AR-NA- |
| R02 | 20.8.1.14.11.19-6.15-18-12.5.20.20.5.18. | THANKS-FO-R-LETTER. |
| R03 | 20.8.9.19-13.15-18.14.9.14-7- | THIS-MO-RNIN-G- |
| R04 | 23.9.12.12-3.15.13.5-1.14.5- | WILL-COME-ANE- |
| R05 | 19.5.5-25.15.21-20.15-13.15.18.18.15.23 | SEE-YOU-TO-MORROW |
| R06 | 14.9.7.8.20-4.5.1.18-23.9.12.12- | NIGHT-DEAR-WILL- |
| R07 | 3.15.13.5-2.5.20.25.5.8.14- | COME-BETYEHN- |
| R08 | [open 7.30 & 8.]-7.15.15.4.14.9.7.8.20- | [open]-GOODNIGHT- |
| R09 | 4-5.1.18.5.19.20-9.20-23.9.12.12- | D-EAREST-IT-WILL- |
| R10 | 19.15.15.14-2.5-8.5.18.5- | SOON-BE-HERE- |
| R11 | 23.9.20.8-13.21.3.8-12.15.22.5- | WITH-MUCH-LOVE- |
| R12 | 6.18.15.13-25.15.21.18-15.23.14 | FROM-YOUR-OWN |
| R13 | 11-11-11-11-11-11- 23.1.12.20 | K-K-K-K-K-K- WALT |
MY DEAR NA THANKS FOR LETTER. THIS MORNING WILL COME ANE SEE YOU TO MORROW NIGHT DEAR WILL COME BETYEHN 7.30 & 8. GOODNIGHT DEAREST IT WILL SOON BE HERE WITH MUCH LOVE FROM YOUR OWN K K K K K K WALT
The salutation ends in 14.1, which is NA. “Ada” is an editorial restoration supported by a later card, not a result of converting those two values. The writer’s ANE plausibly means “and.” BETYEHN plausibly means “between,” but that would require replacing source 25 and 8 with 23 and 5. The six separate 11 groups remain six Ks; kisses are a reasonable interpretation, not their literal alphabet value.
The unchanged table reads three occurrences of WILL, two of COME, and the shared sequences in DEAR / DEAREST and NIGHT / GOODNIGHT. These are the recorded internal checks. A different card supplies historical context: Hornsey Historical Society published a 1906 card to Ada at the same 41 Welbeck Street address, signed Walt, and its solution in 2005. That card uses the same direct alphabet numbers and similar address, date, delimiter, and affectionate-signoff habits. It is a previously solved control, not a second campaign crack.[4]
This result is the 1904 target reading, not a discovery of the direct alphabet-number system or of the whole Ada-Walt correspondence. The later public card supports the Ada identification and correspondence link, but same-writer identity has not been forensically proved. HHS prose spells the surname Nichols; the physical evidence favors Nicholls, and the discrepancy is retained.
The target is dated in writing 11 November 1904 at 9.15 p.m.; its cancel shows 10 a.m., 12 November 1904. The locality arc remains faint. Dartford Heath is a picture caption, not a proved postal origin. HCP supplied no target key or plaintext and marked it “Not solved” on 29 August 2026. No exact-target prior reading was found in the bounded screen; this does not establish universal first priority.[3]