Cipherday #75 · September 6, 2026
The answer to Cipherday #75
The full three-cipher chain from September 6, 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
“Great oaks from little acorns grow.”— traditional proverb
The largest things often begin from something easy to overlook.
The cipher chain
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Stage 1 · Caesar · Shift of 4
Ciphertext
Pievrmrk riziv ibleywxw xli qmrh.Decodes to
Learning never exhausts the mind.Every letter was slid 4 places down the alphabet; sliding it back the same amount restores the line.
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Stage 2 · Substitution · Keyword “MEADOW”
Ciphertext
Ouoqy ailtd cmr m rfiuoq ifkfkb.Decodes to
Every cloud has a silver lining.A keyword scrambled the alphabet into a fixed cipher alphabet, so each letter always stands for the same partner — letter frequency gives it away.
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Stage 3 · Vigenère · Keyword “SPHINX”
Ciphertext
Yglig lszz nele apbgiw pjwekk vywj.Decodes to
Great oaks from little acorns grow.A repeating keyword shifted each letter by a different amount, which is what lets one letter encrypt two ways; the right keyword resolves it.