BREAKING THE 340 CIPHER- THE GOLDILOCKS CODE

12/8/2017

THE 340 CIPHER WAS CRACKED ON DECEMBER 3RD 2020 BY DAVE ORANCHAK, SAM BLAKE AND JARL VAN EYCKE, SO THIS EARLIER ARTICLE SHOULD BE VIEWED IN RESPECT TO RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.

The 'Hunt for the Zodiac Killer' docudrama on the History Channel has just revealed a portion of code they claim is a solve for the infamous 340 cipher. With the accompanying Dripping Pen card, the Zodiac Killer mailed us a message "This is the Zodiac speaking. I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet. Could you print this new cipher in your frunt page? I get aufully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing."

Using the deciphering of the History Channel (right side) I have attempted to fill in the blanks on the first six lines. The green lettering is from the History Channel. The yellow lettering is my calculated decryption. The pink lettering is far more speculative.
The reasoning behind the opening two words "my thing," is partially derived from the threat on the Dripping Pen card, possibly left as a clue by the killer, and the code itself. The solve reads:

MY THINGS, I KILL BOTH NIGHT AND DAY. I LIVE BY THE GUN BARREL AIM AND LIKE FISHING FOR GOLDFISH OVER PIGS. I MISS GOLDILOCKS NOW.

Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were brutally stabbed 6 weeks prior to the mailing of the 340 cipher. Considering the proximity of water, were they like 'goldfish in a bowl' to the Zodiac Killer. Cecelia Shepard had blonde hair - so was he referencing her in the phrase "I miss Goldilocks now."
If you have a better decryption for the pink and yellow areas, please post them in the comments below. The 340 Cipher.

LINE 7 AND 8 OF THE 340 CIPHER

"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and the older still "The Story of the Three Bears" are two variations of a 19th-century fairy tale. The original tale tells of a badly-behaved old woman who enters the forest home of three bachelor bears whilst they are away. She sits in their chairs, eats some of their porridge, and sleeps in one of their beds. When the bears return and discover her, she starts up, jumps from the window, and is never seen again. The other major version brings Goldilocks to the tale (replacing the old woman), and an even later version retained Goldilocks, but has the three bachelor bears transformed into Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear. Taken from Wikipedia.

Rubislaw 32 link

12/8/2017 05:24:13 am

In deference to Ricardo Gomez,Rubislaw 32's final solution to Zodiac's ''340'' cipher,can be viewed at zodiackillermystery.freeforums.net

I do not seek to criticise other's attempts at a solution to Zodiac's ''340''.

But,the computer scientists' work is over,and they are running on empty.

Final Scorecard :

Don and Bettye : 1

Roland and Alex : 1

Me : 6

FBI : + 2 -

Code Team : 0

Thank you.

Ray Jenkins

12/9/2017 03:27:35 pm

But are others allowed to criticize yours? ;-)

I think the real tally is in fact:

Don and Bettye : 1

SFPD: 0

Me : possibly about 0.000009

FBI : 0

Code Team : 0

Thank you.

Rubislaw 32 link

12/10/2017 01:46:10 am

Most amusing Ray,but of course there is an element of ''tongue in cheek'',in most things that I do,in life.Call it ''Gallows Humour'',with respect to the Zodiac case.

With regard to your scorecard,the SFPD never became involved in any side of the cipher work.Sgt.Lynch of the Vallejo Police,was the closest that any local law enforcement officer came to cryptography participation.

I don't understand your ''Me'' category....shouldn't you have entered,simply ''zero'' ?

On a matter of my ''achievements'' or otherwise.....I shall merely mention the ''Celebrity Cipher'' for now,to keep it straightforward.

For someone else to come up with something similar,of pertinence,fluency,full meaning...etc....''and'' tally with what lies behind the postage stamp.....

.....would take about 3,000 years of work....and still surety that they would succeed.

Knowledge of the solution : The FBI Cold Cases Unit...who hold guardianship of the original....The FBI Cryptanalysis Unit.....NCIS Washington.....NCIS Cold Cases....The Crown Prosecution Service,in Edinburgh,Scotland.....Police Scotland....The San Francisco Chronicle.....The Vallejo Times Herald.....The Daily Express,in London and Glasgow.

Now,the fact that Rubislaw 32's solution to the 1990 Celebrity Cipher,has not been officially ratified,is only because it ,so far,suits the FBI not to confirm anything,beyond a certain year.

But,anyone that might wish to attempt to solve the 1990 Celebrity Cipher is.......merely wasting their time.

Feel free to contact NCIS Cold Cases,to find out.

Flippancy just does not suit,if you are not prepared to acknowledge constructive aspects,also [?].

Ray Jenkins

12/10/2017 02:21:58 am

One of the things I really despise about cipher solutions and suspects is that people can spend their entire lifetimes working on ideas, eventually polishing something off, and by that time they have totally convinced themselves that they simply MUST be right and everybody else must therefore be wrong. But chances are those who believe this are the ones who are completely and utterly wrong. I have spent thousands upon thousands of hours working on Zodiac-related pondering, but would never claim that I have found a "solution" to anything. I may have scratched the surface at times, hence the score of .000009

I have developed plenty of ideas but I would never say that any of them are watertight and exactly what the Zodiac intended. Meaning is open to individual interpretation and the 340 cipher is so open to variability that it is to all intents and purposes entirely random nonsense. Finding meaning among the nonsense is a bit like looking up at clouds and seeing faces, shapes and animals.

"pertinence,fluency,full meaning"

Sorry Rubislaw, but I am going to be blunt. I just don't see any of those things in your solution and I am sure many other people do not either. It is too jarring and obscure, and the more obscure something is the more explanation it requires, which means the variability levels go way out the window and launch into outer space.

I have submitted ideas to the FBI and various police sheriff's offices too. Really that means nothing, even if they said "thank you". Mostly what they mean is "Thank you for wasting our time, but we will consider it on its way to the furnace."

I admire your Superman-like powers of x-ray vision too!

Ray Jenkins

12/10/2017 01:48:12 pm

I was making a very honest observation. I was not being flippant.

Shawn

12/8/2017 07:19:17 am

Hi Richard,

Great Work!

At the beginning of the short Clip for Episode 5 it shows the left side of the cipher. (part, screenshot below)

https://ibb.co/mctBaG

The 6th line starts IWRIS you have ISSGO
The 7th line starts ANGRY
The 8th Line starts WONTCH

Maybe the 8th line starts with Wont Change....just a guess.

Thanks,

Shawn

Shawn

12/8/2017 07:27:27 am

Hi Richard,

Here is another upload of a screenshot with more letters.

https://ibb.co/h1azvG

The 6th line starts IWRIST
The 7th line starts ANGRYD
The 8th Line starts WONTCH

Thanks,

Shawn

Richard

12/8/2017 08:05:24 am

Thanks Shawn - so they're saying "I wrist di locks now." strange.

Richard

12/8/2017 08:08:27 am

Or should I say "m wrist di locks now."

Richard

12/8/2017 08:12:08 am

Or even "mi wrist di locks now."

Richard

12/8/2017 08:43:06 am

What's the betting line 8 in their version, is supposed to say "won't change the way the collecting of slaves." or something along those lines. Taken from the Bus Bomb letter.

Richard

12/8/2017 09:04:33 am

These letters seem to fit with other ones they've used (see above)

Rubislaw 32 link

12/10/2017 03:13:25 am

Ray,the simple and plain ''Thank you's'' were for the recent submission,of a solution to Zodiac's ''340'' cipher.

The 1990 Celebrity Cipher solution,is now three years old,and much has happened,since.

I am aware of some of those ''events'',with references,occasionally,in newspapers,that many might miss,since they would be seen,out of context.

I am not in need of your apologies.....but thanks,anyway.

masootz

12/8/2017 08:12:26 am

the problem is the use of more than one letter per cipher character. in the image you posted, the cipher character "G" represents both "O" (row 1, column 15) and "B" (row 3, column 9). if that's allowed then the cipher can basically say anything but nothing provable as a solution.

masootz

12/8/2017 08:14:47 am

also, i'm guessing their "solution" is going to be a series of words with a lot of gibberish, basically hypothesizing that there is a mini message inside a bunch of noise. the problem, again, is it's unconvincing as a solution since any arbitrary message could be equally valid.

Ray Jenkins

12/10/2017 07:39:45 pm

Thanks masootz. It is great to read that somebody else "gets it" (i.e. the heart of the problem). Variability and subjective interpretation are the arch nemesis of anyone who may seek to definitively "solve" this 340 cipher.

The solution to the 408 can be re-tested and replicated over and over again. I have yet to find a 340 "solution" that can be replicated as well and as sensibly. Basically the 340 solution, if it is ever found, will be self-explanatory. Moreover it will be proven by its sheer simplicity and elegance and the ease with which it can be spoken and replicated, and also its distinct lack of arbitrary or complex variables.

Richard

12/8/2017 08:29:59 am

I totally agree Masootz. All I have basically done is use some of their ciphertext and plaintext combinations, and transferred them to the left side in an attempt to produce a readable message. I have always thought that the 340 cipher may have referenced Lake Berryessa, considering he never mailed a letter mentioning his exploits.
When I saw "ilocks", the only thing that made any sense was "Goldilocks," thereby bringing the M into play, to produce "Miss Goldilocks", in a reference to Cecelia Shepard. Their version "mi wrist di locks now." appears confusing. But certainly, I understand the cipher can read several different versions because of the variability. Trying to understand it from the Lake Berryessa attack seemed more plausible, but likely unable to be proven

Shawn

12/8/2017 09:48:04 am

Hello,

Below is the Confirmed Text. Maybe we can have a friendly
contest of trying to solve the remaining Chris Bauer solution
before Tuesday final show? * = Unknown Letters

*******SIKILLBOTH
*******DDAY.ILIVE
*******NBARELAIM*
*******ISHINGFORG
*******OVERIGIS*M
IWRIST*ILOCKS*NOW
WONTCH***********
ANGRYD***********

Thanks,

Shawn

Richard

12/8/2017 10:29:09 am

*******SIKILLBOTH
*******DDAY.ILIVE
*******NBARELAIM*
*******ISHINGFORG
*******OVERIGIS*M
IWRIST*ILOCKS*NOW
ANGRYD***********
WONTCH***********

Rubislaw 32 link

12/8/2017 08:37:17 am

That is a very relevant point,Masootz.

The facts are,or at least what I have ascertained is,that Zodiac employed homophonic substitution,in the main,in both the ''408'' and ''340''

However,in the ''408'',a total quantity of 8 symbols,had polyphonic properties.

And,in the ''340'',a total quantity of 6 symbols,had polyphonic properties.

To a layman,this might be called ''cheating''.

But then,one could argue that the ciphers were ''Zodiac's gigs'',and he could do whatever he wished.

One just has to be ''aware'' enough of these possibilities,and pinpoint them,accordingly.

The employment of some symbols with polyphonic properties,merely illustrates that Zodiac was a beginner,albeit bright.

Polyphonic employment,is really an ''unsophisticated'' attempt at making the cipher,that more difficult to solve.

But,if one is on to what he is up to,it isn't that much more difficult to solve,than if he had employed exclusive homophonic substitution.

For the solver,it is a case of making allowances for all eventualities,within the general applied science of cryptography.

Ray Jenkins

12/13/2017 01:22:48 pm

"on to what he is up to"
As if anyone can know what the Zodiac was up to.

Rubislaw 32 link

12/14/2017 06:27:47 am

With regard to your question below,Ray.

What Zodiac was ''up to'' specifically,was the employment of polyphonic substitution,as detailed above,in both the ''408'' and ''340''.

''Cheating'' is what Zodiac was attempting,to make his cipher's solutions,more difficult to achieve.

But as his the case,with most cheats,their cheating ''habit'' becomes predictable....and provided one can follow that pattern of cheating,then it is not so much of an extra problem,to deal with.

In theory,anyone ''could'' solve Zodiac's ciphers....but a trained mathematician holds advantages,in having studied such areas of Advanced Algebra,as ''permutations and combinations'' and ''Probability Theory''.

Ray Jenkins

12/14/2017 01:15:49 pm

Why do I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall! Your "solution" is not a valid solution Rubislaw. I find it very ironic that you persist with your belief that you have found the "only solution", yet it fails all of the tests that Garlick and Oranchak were talking about! If you truly believe it is the "only solution" than you are clearly either being facetious or deluded. Your "solution" demonstrates to me that you are no "expert in cryptography" despite your numerous boasts to the contrary. As for your suggestion that Scotland Yard and others have thanked you, well big deal. That does not make it any more valid. All that means is they thanked you. In reality, they probably shelved it somewhere alongside the ramblings of Ms Betts and co. Your solution is actually worse than the Goldilocks solution in my honest opinion. It has all the hallmarks of a bad solution that Garlick talks about, but I remain astounded that somehow you can't seem to see that. Being unable to see the wood for the trees seems to be a common malady in Zodiacland, suffered by those who have "pet suspects" and "pet solutions". I guess we can but let them have their delusions in the interest of peace on the internet, which is perhaps the reason why law enforcement sometimes thank us for our efforts.

Ray Jenkins

12/14/2017 04:27:23 pm

You say a lot about cryptography that sounds really academic, intelligent and intellectual, but really all you have done is used some impressive language in order to validate your claim to a viable solution, e.g. "a trained mathematician has advantages".

And what pattern of cheating???? Anybody could find additional letters for symbols to fill out that cipher and call it "a pattern". Many people have found patterns in that cipher, but whether they were planned that way by the Zodiac is often very difficult to say. And when it comes to a homophonic solution, well then it would definitely be impossible to say for sure without the original key. The number of patterns one could allegedly find would be close to infinite. But of course you knew what was on the Zodiac's mind and knew what he was thinking, so I guess that makes you right. lol!

I actually had a go at the 340 using your "solution" and reversing the "logic" in an attempt to deconstruct it. I can see how you come up with some of your ideas via various iterations, but I must say many were giant leaps into the unknown. And I can also see how you may have led yourself to believe certain things. The variability in your solution is immense. And because it fails the rigorous tests by Garlick and Oranchak, I would have to call it an invalid solution.

Shane

12/8/2017 10:24:58 am

Hello,

Here is a Craig Bauer proposed solution based on confirmed text and not any key. Something to kick around.

TWO GIRLS I KILL BOTH
ON HEATED DAY. I LIVE
BY THE GUN BAREL AIM T
O KILL AN WISHING FOR
GIVNESS OVER PIGS IM
I WRISTS I LOCKS I NOW
WONT CHANGE KIL. THE
ANGRY BLUE PIGS KILL

Thanks,

Shawn

Rubislaw 32 link

12/14/2017 02:32:27 pm

Ray.....rather than get upset

Just post your solution to the 1990 Celebrity Cipher [?].

It appears to be a problem with you [?].

If not...at least state how many symbols,that you have calculated,that are obscured behind the Marianne Moor postage stamp.

One does not necessarily need ''X-Ray vision'',if one is educated in the art and science of Logic [?].

Ray Jenkins

12/18/2017 11:02:20 pm

Shawn, It's funny I am getting a slightly different solution by Craig Bauer published 14 December 2017 on Science Blogs. Has the author already been tampering with it? If so this kind of suggests there is still a lot of variability there and so the "tinkering" continues.

HEREITISIKILLBOTH
NIGHTANDDAY.ILIVE
BYTHEGUNBARELAIM.
SOQUITWISHINGFORG
AMETOBEOVERIGIS.M
YWRISTNILOCKS?NOW
ANGRYDANGEROS___I
WONTCHANGANYOFGAM
RICHERDMNIKSON

Richard

12/8/2017 12:17:48 pm

Robert Southey first recorded Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Ironically he was a Lake poet.

Shawn

12/8/2017 06:16:10 pm

Hello,

This is a solution from CheckMate at ZodiacKillerSite.....Sounds reasonable

Here it is I Kill both
night and day I live
by the gun barel aim
So quit wishing for game
to be over pigis

Thanks

Shawn

Richard

12/8/2017 11:47:51 pm

That sounds a lot better than the one just above.

Ray Jenkins

12/18/2017 11:03:48 pm

Shawn

12/13/2017 06:50:26 am

Hi Richard,

Seems like Craig Bauer has come up with a Fairy Tale type of solution to the 340.

It is very sad to see a team of top notch code breakers saying yes to a solution without a key.

Do the History Channel cameras make people go crazy and throw logic out the window?

Ughh.....the solution stinks!

Thanks,

Shawn

Richard

12/13/2017 07:18:40 am

It's almost as if they didn't want to offend him, so just politely agreed it was a good solution. It is so easy to change the odd word here and there and still create a readable message based on the limited code key they did use. In other words the 'solution' is malleable. I do agree that the solution is likely part referencing Lake Berryessa, so key words in relation to this attack may be a good starting point when deciphering the 340. But this is just a hunch and cannot be fully replied upon. The problem with the codes, is many people, too numerous to mention, have claimed a solution to the Z340, Z32 and Z13, and people become very attached to their solves. Unfortunately it is very difficult to disagree, because often it is taken as a personal slight and 'internet friendships' are ultimately lost. I have presented my own ideas on the codes, but I certainly understand not everybody is going to agree, if anybody. I don't think any less of the detractors- because honesty is the best policy. The code presented in the History Channel could never be proven the answer, and likely isn't, but they are not alone in this respect.

Ray Jenkins

12/13/2017 01:31:50 pm

"It's almost as if they didn't want to offend him, so just politely agreed it was a good solution."

Likewise, the authorities will either tell this to everyone who submits a solution, or tell them nothing. Just because they say thank you or say it looks interesting, does not mean it is a valid solution. Lots of people spend a long time working on these ciphers to the point that they believe they know what the Zodiac was doing and can understand the way he thinks. Total rubbish of course. One would have more luck knowing what the neighbour's dog had on his mind then knowing what was going on in the head of the Zodiac. But people will always want to believe their own fantasies. That is just human nature I guess. I just wish people would understand the problems instead of arrogantly presuming they know better than everybody else. The 340 cipher and its extreme variability is at odds with anybody who claims victory as a homophonic substitution. All solutions to date have for the most part been totally made up gibberish which say more about the person doing the solving than the cipher itself.

Ray Jenkins

12/13/2017 01:57:20 pm

"Do the History Channel cameras make people go crazy and throw logic out the window?"

Yes, but I think much of the craziness and lack of logic occurs a long time prior to the cameras being set up.

Ray Jenkins

12/9/2017 03:20:15 pm

Let me be the first to say, all of these so-called "solutions" are complete bollocks. :-)

Ray Jenkins

12/9/2017 03:46:39 pm

Now here is the only REAL solution. Incessant laughter. :-o

It is a perfect substitution and so concise that it requires only 2 letters to solve. lol!

https://s18.postimg.org/v2yfh3ra1/solution.jpg

Cheers
Ray

RichHWells

12/13/2017 06:31:34 pm

You are all wrong. Especially the History Channel. Too much overthinking. lol.

Ray Jenkins

12/13/2017 07:25:47 pm

I can see you put a huge amount of thought into your comment.

Polly

12/13/2017 08:31:55 pm

So this IS the "solution" that they want the world to acknowledge?

Dr. Ryan Garlick: "How to know that you haven't solved the Zodiac-340 cipher"

Via David Oranchak: http://www.zodiackillerciphers.com/?p=602

Oranchak: "To his guide I would add my litmus test: If your approach can generate many different and equally compelling plaintext messages, then you can’t prove your approach is the one used by Zodiac to encrypt his message."

They are little more than a sycophantic gaggle of cipher elitist Hypocrites trying to peddle a bull**** "solution" for History Channel limelight and a cheap payday.

Their respective academic institutions must be so proud.

Ray Jenkins

12/13/2017 10:38:49 pm

I enjoyed reading Dr. Garlick's words of wisdom. Never a truer word has been spoken about the 340 cipher.

In fact, here is the only viable solution to the 340 cipher as a homophonic substitution taken to its absolute resolution. Not much sense can be made of it, except for occasional words. There are really only three words in the whole thing that run together, and that is on the final line: "one city pay". The rest is complete randomized gibberish. Yet some people continually strive to make sense out of all this chaos, which is impossible unless they force a major re-lettering and then fall into the trap of making things up.

GSHISCENTOPERNATM
ESTELSILARLDEIAVO
EDVANTOCARLORSEGI
NSSPECTINGSITTHAT
SUNTERIMPORTTHEOF
STHERCISIMPORITAL
SOTABLYTOACANDERP
LATIVISITSELETORU
MENTATCHTREADYSEA
SECONTEITISPEREDS
OTHFORSPALESANNAI
TEACHIPIONENDTHER
ESUNDSTEPOREALYTH
CAREEVOTEADANERTT
DECEIVEUPSINOCOST
PADGEEALISEDVNBAT
HANTRESPETRCREPOR
TTORPERATINGNFLOS
PROMREPRESLIEISPA
INAGESONECITYPAYT

Ray Jenkins

12/13/2017 10:45:25 pm

Correction: only 6 letters can be strung together in any meaningful way and they are on the last two lines.

LIE IS PA(IN) AGES ONE CITY PAY

And granted the final T could also be an S to say "One City Pays", but even that means we would be starting to make words without any proof that a T can also be an S.

Ray Jenkins

12/13/2017 10:48:14 pm

Ugh! That should read "only 6 words". It's been a long day!

Ray Jenkins

12/13/2017 10:52:08 pm

OK, so that is actually 7 words! :-/
I give up!

Rubislaw 32 link

12/14/2017 06:54:14 am

Hear,hear....Polly,and well said.

I make it a point of not criticising other's specific work on cipher solutions.

But,give Mr.Bauer and company's desire and willingness to accept commercial television's version of a ''king's shilling'',then they elect to put themselves up on a pedestal,as ''world experts''.

Mr.Bauer's chosen substitution preference,ran out of gas,and came off the tracks,after 8 lines.

And as you have quote Mr.Oranchak,he has merely come up with some ''claptrap'' words,pieced together to sound authoritative,in order to qualify ''something''.

One can only imagine what their respective academic institutions,will think [?].

I have suggested that the ''Code Team'' take up professional wrestling,as an alternative occupation.

Simulation of another sort....but with less expectation.

Ray Jenkins

12/14/2017 01:40:07 pm

"I make it a point of not criticising other's specific work on cipher solutions."

Oh the irony! Perhaps you are being disingenuous in order to make a point?

It seems all self-proclaimed "experts" suffer from the same maladies, and some more than others, those maladies being: arrogance, self-conceit, self-righteousness, and the ability to be condescending and patronizing towards any "rivals".

The worst kind of experts are the self-appointed experts. They frequently 1) Consider themselves to be a world(-renowned?) expert on Zodiac crytopgraphy. 2) They often believe their own fairytales, that they "know what the Zodiac was thinking" or "what he was up to". And 3) They believe beyond all doubt that their solution is the only valid and credible solution, even though few others (no others?) can see it, and their solution suffers the same fundamental problems that all other solutions suffer. And 4) A deluded belief that their solution is somehow immune from all those same fundamental problems, solely because of points 1-3.

A house of straws with no foundation quickly falls down in the slightest breeze.

Rubislaw 32 link

12/14/2017 02:41:45 pm

Ray,as post above.....don't get upset.

Just post your solution to the 1990 Celebrity Cipher,since this is clearly the real problem for you.

So much investment in time [?].

At least tell everyone how many symbols that you have allocated,behind the Marianne Moore postage stamp [?].

Ray Jenkins

12/14/2017 04:14:13 pm

Hahaha! I am not upset at all. Far from it. I am actually very amused. I thought it would be clear by now that I have no time for self-proclaimed experts and people who push their own solutions and pet suspects.

The Celebrity Cipher? Where did that come from? My solution to the celebrity cipher is probably as wrong as yours. At least I am not so arrogant as to presume otherwise. Nor do I claim to have x-ray vision.

In any case it is a fair bet that if anyone does post an alternative solution, your answer will be as dismissive as always: "Well you gave it a fair try" followed by "but if only people knew what the Zodiac was up to" then followed by "now my solution on the other hand shows"... and ending with "being a former expert in cryptography I came to understand", and finally "I was thanked by Scotland Yard..." etc. etc.

LOL!

Rubislaw 32 link

12/14/2017 04:43:24 pm

Happy to slag everyone else off,for what they are prepared to freely bring to the table.

But,without having the self confidence to offer up what you have concocted,yourself [?].

Don't they call that : ''All show,and no trousers.'' [?].

Q.E.D. - Proof as demonstrated.

Ray Jenkins

12/14/2017 04:48:49 pm

All show and no trousers pretty well sums up your 340 solution.

Proving other people's solutions wrong does not make yours any more right.

Ray Jenkins

12/18/2017 11:19:23 pm

If it is any consolation Rubislaw, I do at least consider your "solution" a better one than Craig Bauer's.

Bauer's so-called "solution" is hilariously bad. I actually think Corey Starliper's is marginally better than the Bauer solution, and that is saying something! LOL!

I note that Dave Oranchak wasted no time telling the public what he really thought of Starliper's so-called solution. http://www.oranchak.com/zodiac/corey/hoax.html

Can we expect a similarly verbose and denigrating reply to the work of his esteemed colleague(?) in future? I will not hold my breath.

The derogatory use of the word "hoax" can evidently only be applied to rank amateurs, not to those who believe they have earned the right to be labelled professionals in their field.

Alex Lewis

12/27/2017 10:27:56 am

I think overall Rich, the 340 cipher, like His School bus threat and His mount Diablo mine-fields are just games he likes to play to cause maximum panic to Bay Area Citizens & maximum response from Law Enforcement.

"Watch this now, I will tell police I am going to kill schoolbus full of kids, hahahaha. . . They will crap themselves and go into panic overdrive and then I shall stop a bombshell, quite literally, into Diablo."

None of that ever had a serious chance of becoming real. He has given us thus in his own words that falsse claims and fake leads/evidence He offers to Cops to observe as they run around like idiots chasing something that isn't there.

"I enjoy needling the blue pigs" said Zodiac and its he has to use the public threat to get LEs full response and resources available to them at his disposal now, its up to Him where cops focus their effort and manpower and all he has to do is say the word & we will have choppers flying over, and police car following, the yellow busses all over SF and Z is amusing himself and is in high spirits as he bashfully asks a rhetorical: "What, all this for me?"

Carl Karas link

2/20/2018 10:23:23 am

Wow, I missed all the excitement above due a family crisis over the holidays.

The key for the cipher is right there in the accompanying letter: 6 underlines and 6 exclamation marks around the word thing (bolded) placed adjacent to the enlarged Zodiac target symbol, instructions to place the end of the word thing in the lower left quadrant of the 340. Of course it doesn't all fit so you've got to look for more instructions. The cut marks and center target indicate to cut in half. In order to get the rest of 'thing' placed, move the lower half to the right of the top half, presenting a nice long line of text. Straight substitution homophonic from there. Here's the solution. I know it's right because it rhymes, but it might be improved:

1) "It interested me a ton O I get en on the fun
2) A ton a knife or a gun........peggey from no.
3) Nine fon.....mk RIP........gone are I
4) ....Tyre......OO..I.......tyhre eye OO
5) Before I e/go so my THING

9) O A Fohoni Tonei..............
10) –Reneor Pont_aoni...NFFI Attorney Euro"

I've diagrammed it better I think on my wordpress site: Zodiac fon Kane
Ps. I think he is ratting out Xenophon Anthony...Fohoni Tonei!

Knock yourselves out! As they say in NY

Ray Jenkins

2/20/2018 03:03:33 pm

Richard, there should be some kind of award presented for when the number of unique cipher solutions reaches a certain figure. Shall we make it 1000? What do you think? The problem is, I have lost count, and I have no money to donate towards a prize. Maybe the winner gets a free cookie on their computer internet cache? We should not discriminate on the basis of which ones seem more right or wrong, because as we already know, ALL solutions are 100% correct and infallible, according to their respective decoders. :-))

maul

3/17/2019 05:42:05 pm

Ray, what do you think about this solution? It apparently is just a simple substitution technique like the 408, and points to the Halloween card being released a year later as the answer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaMP1o9F1CU

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BREAKING THE 340 CIPHER- THE GOLDILOCKS CODE

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