by: Jo Rothermal

Throughout your Hunt A Killer experience, you may need to solve different types of ciphers and puzzles to unlock clues and we want to ensure you have all the tools you need to decode them. Our quarterly cipher challenge is designed to take you from a beginner-level code cracker to an expert message extractor, with each post offering an array of unique, one-of-a-kind ciphers that challenge and test your skills. 

Your mission (should you choose to accept it!) is to join us through this series of cipher and puzzle challenges in order to gain enough information to be able to crack the ultimate Hunt A Killer code! Do you have what it takes?

Cipher 1:

You awake from a sleep-like state to find yourself in an empty room. Have you been abducted?! Desperate to get out, you make your way to the only door. Next to the door you discover a strange incomplete panel and beside it a code written in bold. 

Can you find the word that will open the door and set you free?

Cipher 2:

Hi! Everything is going great here. Lots of things to do each day. Please remember to feed your iguana. Maybe clean the water every once in awhile! Everyone here has been so nice. I wish I had done this sooner. Anyway, something funny happened the other day. My foot got caught in a log and I twisted my ankle. But, that is not the funny part, the funniest part was a bird pooped on my head. Everyone laughed. I couldn’t believe it. No one warned me there was a big log in front of me. Gotta be more careful! 

How has everything been there? Everything ok? Location of your apartment close to school? Do you need anything? Have you started school yet?  Enjoying your classes? Remember to pay attention! Every class counts. 

So I guess that’s it for now. Everyone says hi. No need to send anymore clothes. Doing laundry in the lake is fun, camping is liberating. Hope everything is going well for you. Every day I miss you. Lots of love. Please say hi to everyone from me!

Cipher 3:

Lisa’s daughter, Michelle, left yesterday to meet friends but never returned. Frantically worried Lisa searches Michelle’s room and finds her phone tangled up in her unmade bed.

She checks social media and finds nothing to indicate where she might have gone. There is nothing of significance in her texts, either except some messages to Michelle’s friend Carla she can’t decipher, darn teenage lingo. 

Do you know where Michelle went?

Cipher 4:

Philip, an avid collector of antiquities, is found dead with an antique golden gun in his hand.

The coroner announces death by misadventure, deducing Phillip must have accidentally shot himself while cleaning the antique, not realizing it was loaded. But detective Ratio is not so sure. Upon inspecting the body more closely, he notices Philip is grasping a tiny piece of transparent paper containing a single symbol and a code. Could it be the killer’s calling card?

Cipher 5:

Fay has been kidnapped, her captors give her a cell phone and tell her she can send one message to her husband so he will not worry, but she is not permitted to say anything unusual. 

She writes:

Hi Honey, 

I am so sorry, I have been caught up and cannot make Hannah’s pickup today. Could you grab her from school at 3:30 pm and I will be home as soon as humanly possible.

There is a casserole in the oven and a salad in the fridge. 

Love you!

Fay 

How is Tom going to find her?

Cipher 6:

Lisa Cameron went to Mexico for a holiday. While there, she discovered from a drunk man in the bar that there is treasure hidden in one of the old Mayan ruins.

He hands Lisa a slip of paper and tells her the treasure map is hidden somewhere in the Chichen Itza.

The slip of paper reads:

Where is the map located?

Cipher 7:

Sometimes solving a case is like doing the Cha-cha, you take a couple steps forward only to take a few more steps back. If only that was reversed! 
Can you solve the below and find out what your next step should be?

Ciphers and codes are fun if you know how to approach them, take your time, ponder and good luck detectives! Until next time.