if you’re following along with cipher hunt, you may be trying to crack Alex’s last clue using the Polybius Square.
the big issue here is that according to Alex’s most recent clue:
we need to generate number sets using the trees behind Bill on the first clue:
those number sets, when applied to the Polybius Square, generates letters. but, as you may be able to tell just from looking at the sketch, the number of possible number sets that could be extracted from the sketch is….a lot.
this database was created by MigMigg on the discord as a way to keep track of everything tried, ever. even if you pull numbers that give you letters that look like gibberish, they could still be encoded some further way. any and all number sets, gibberish or not, should go in this database!
in order to get numbers from the trees, look at the features of each:
counting the branches and knots—and maybe the twigs and needles too?—should give you some kind of numbered pair. do it for all the trees, or only some collectively, to get a number set. for a 5×5 Polybius Square, that set of numbers cannot include digits 6-9.
here’s an example of just one possible way to get a number set from the trees:
i count just branches and knots, not the twigs or needles. each tree’s position, going from right to left, gives me the first number of each pair. the second number of each pair comes from the collective number of branches and knots that each tree has. this gives me a set of number pairs:
12 23 32 43 53 63 73 82 92
however, i know that with the 5×5 Polybius Square, i can only use numbers 1-5. maybe the line in the riddle “IN BRANCHES AND KNOTS NO MATTER THE SIDE” indicates that i should split the sketch in half in order to have five or less trees on each side. so i apply this and get a new set of numbers:
12 23 32 43 53 | 13 23 32 42
this number set fits with the rules of the Polybius Square, so i take out the divide and submit it to the database!
this is just one of many many many MANY ways that numbers could be extracted from the trees. be sure to read the rules about formatting before you submit!
thank you for your help, everyone! i’ll update once updates are available! ∆
somewhere in the woods 