CAN YOU SOLVE THE RIDDLE?
BOHEI YIMIO NBYTO RRTEA AIADI SPOOA RTITT SHALN SMKNC ANKLA HSNHO OSTDT HEHON BIIRA NOOUR T
THE SOLUTION
Book: Dogsledding & Extreme Sports: A Non-fiction Companion to Magic Tree House #54, Balto of the Blue Dawn
Author: Mary Pope Osborne
Library: West Seattle Branch, 2306 42nd Ave. S.W. Seattle, WA 98116
This puzzle is a variation on a Rail Fence Cipher.
To solve a rail fence cipher, you take the total number of characters and divide it by the number of “rails.” You then stack those groups on top of each other, in order. We didn’t give you the number of stacks, so it could only be solved by trial and error.
Our riddle has 76 characters total. 76/4 = 19. Place the letters in 4 groups of 19 and stack those groups on top of each other:
Read the columns top to bottom to decipher the code:
BALTO AND HIS TEAM HID KEY IN HIS COMPANION BOOK IN A LIBRARY THAT IS NOT NORTH OR SOUTH OR EAST
- “Balto and his team” – Balto is famous sled dog featured in Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House #54: Balto of the Blue Dawn.
- “In his companion book” – Mary Pope Osborne also wrote Dogsledding & Extreme Sports: A Non-fiction Companion to Magic Tree House #54, Balto of the Blue Dawn, which is where the key was hidden.
- “Library that is not north or south or east” – That leaves us with west. The West Seattle Branch.