The Adventure of the Dancing Men

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1. a-salehSep 2019
   I would almost considered quoting the great ancient literature a cheat-code but I still do really like the Ecclesiastes.

   From the other end of the spectrum, "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" is the book/story that inspired my interest in cryptography. In the end I never worked in infromation-security but I did enjoy it from my 10 years til I left college, and I still do enjoy going for puzzle-hunts with some of my friends :)

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2. rramadassAug 2019
   This is a must read story.

   The exact same code was copied by Arthur Conan Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Dancing men". He just substituted the symbols in the code with different ones.

   Arthur Conan Doyle himself acknowledged Edgar Allan Poe's influence in his creation of Sherlock Holmes. So fans of detective fiction should absolutely read the three stories featuring Poe's hero Auguste Dupin;

   1) The Murders in The Rue Morgue.

   2) The Mystery of Marie Roget (supposedly based on a true story).

   3) The Purloined letter.

   (1) and (2) in particular have fantastic chains of reasoning which is just delightful.

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3. rramadassOct 2026
   This is one of my favourite Edgar Allan Poe stories. The cipher is just a simple monoalphabetic substitution one based on frequency analysis.

   The same idea was "reused" by Arthur Conan Doyle in his story "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" where he used pictures of dancing men for his cipher text.

   Note that Conan Doyle indirectly acknowledged Poe's influence (via his character Auguste Dupin) on Sherlock Holmes in "A Study in Scarlet".

   Poe wrote three stories starring his detective Auguste Dupin all of which are fantastic. They are "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and "The Purloined Letter". They are a must-read for all fans of detective fiction. Folks who have read Sherlock Holmes can see how much he was influenced by Dupin. The stories often have some close/clever observations/reasonings which given Poe's style of writing are a delight to read.

   For example the opening paragraph of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" reads;

   THE mental features discoursed of as the analytical, are, in themselves, but little susceptible of analysis. We appreciate them only in their effects. We know of them, among other things, that they are always to their possessor, when inordinately possessed, a source of the liveliest enjoyment. As the strong man exults in his physical ability, delighting in such exercises as call his muscles into action, so glories the analyst in that moral activity which disentangles. He derives pleasure from even the most trivial occupations bringing his talent into play. He is fond of enigmas, of conundrums, of hieroglyphics; exhibiting in his solutions of each a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension præternatural. His results, brought about by the very soul and essence of method, have, in truth, the whole air of intuition.

   The essence of why some people love solving problems!

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4. adrian_bOct 2026
   As a child, I discovered cryptography in a few novels by Jules Verne.

   I happened to read later "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" and "The Gold-Bug", when I was already familiar with these techniques.

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5. teddyhJun 2026
   Why on earth would you quote a TV version of a book, when the book is readily available to be cited?

   ⁂

   “So, Watson,” said he, suddenly, “you do not propose to invest in South African securities?”

   I gave a start of astonishment. Accustomed as I was to Holmes's curious faculties, this sudden intrusion into my most intimate thoughts was utterly inexplicable.

   “How on earth do you know that?” I asked.

   He wheeled round upon his stool, with a steaming test-tube in his hand and a gleam of amusement in his deep-set eyes.

   “Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken aback,” said he.

   “I am.”

   “I ought to make you sign a paper to that effect.”

   “Why?”

   “Because in five minutes you will say that it is all so absurdly simple.”

   “I am sure that I shall say nothing of the kind.”

   “You see, my dear Watson”—he propped his test-tube in the rack and began to lecture with the air of a professor addressing his class—“it is not really difficult to construct a series of inferences, each dependent upon its predecessor and each simple in itself. If, after doing so, one simply knocks out all the central inferences and presents one's audience with the starting-point and the conclusion, one may produce a startling, though possibly a meretricious, effect. Now, it was not really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between your left forefinger and thumb, to feel sure that you did NOT propose to invest your small capital in the goldfields.”

   “I see no connection.”

   “Very likely not; but I can quickly show you a close connection. Here are the missing links of the very simple chain: 1. You had chalk between your left finger and thumb when you returned from the club last night. 2. You put chalk there when you play billiards to steady the cue. 3. You never play billiards except with Thurston. 4. You told me four weeks ago that Thurston had an option on some South African property which would expire in a month, and which he desired you to share with him. 5. Your cheque-book is locked in my drawer, and you have not asked for the key. 6. You do not propose to invest your money in this manner.”

   “How absurdly simple!” I cried.

   “Quite so!” said he, a little nettled. “Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you. […]”

   — The Adventure of the Dancing Men, The Strand Magazine, Vol. 27, January 1904, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle <https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/108/pg108-images.html#c...>

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6. rramadassMay 2026
   Nice, embodies the quote;

   "What one man can invent, another can discover" -- Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Dancing Men.

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