Cipherday #74 · September 5, 2026

The answer to Cipherday #74

The full three-cipher chain from September 5, 2026, the public-domain quote it hid, and how each cipher worked. Today’s chain stays sealed until it becomes a past day.

The revealed quote

“Give me six hours to chop a tree and I will spend four sharpening the axe.”— attributed to Abraham Lincoln

A famous case for preparation as the larger half of the work.

The cipher chain

1. Stage 1 · Caesar · Shift of 13

   Ciphertext

   Orggre yngr guna arire.

   Decodes to

   Better late than never.

   Every letter was slid 13 places down the alphabet; sliding it back the same amount restores the line.

2. Stage 2 · Substitution · Keyword “KEYSTONE”

   Ciphertext

   Aihtpqx bp qat etpq jifbyx.

   Decodes to

   Honesty is the best policy.

   A keyword scrambled the alphabet into a fixed cipher alphabet, so each letter always stands for the same partner — letter frequency gives it away.

3. Stage 3 · Rail-fence · 6 rails

   Ciphertext

   Gx eifeaii ocrewl opn xvshtht ldurieee o o aI nranh. euspan se hgtmr dps

   Decodes to

   Give me six hours to chop a tree and I will spend four sharpening the axe.

   The letters were written in a zig-zag across the rails, then read row by row; re-weaving the zig-zag recovers the order.