the follow cryptogram was encoded with a 2 X 2 matrix 5,2,25,11,-2,-7,-15,32,14,-8,-13,38,19,-19,-19,37,16 the last word of the message is -Sue what is the message? I am not sure what 2 by 2 matrix to use? -------------------------------------------------------- You accidentally left out a number in the message and that caused me to have to go to a lot of trouble to discover what number you left out. But I finally found it. You left out the number -30 between the -15 and the 32. You had this: 5,2,25,11,-2,-7,-15,32,14,-8,-13,38,19,-19,-19,37,16 and it should have been this: 5,2,25,11,-2,-7,-15,-30,32,14,-8,-13,38,19,-19,-19,37,16 Make that as this list of 1 by 2 matrices: [5 2],[25 11],[-2 -7],[-15 -30],[32 14],[-8 -13],[38 19],[-19 -19],[37 16] Let a blank space "_" be 0, let A be 1, B be 2, etc. In other words: _=0, A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5, F=6, G=7, H=8, I=9, J=10, K=11, L=12, M=13, N=14, O=15, P=16, Q=17, R=18, S=19, T=20, U=21, V=22, W=23, X=24, Y=25, Z=2600 Let the decoding matrix (the inverse of the coding matrix) be [a b] [ ] [c d] Don't confuse the small letters a,b,c,d with the capital letters A,B,C,D as they are different. Since _=0, S=19, U=21, and E=5 The last two 1 by 2 matrices in the coded message [-19 -19], [37 16] must decode as the numbers corresponding to [- S],[U E] which are [0 19],[21 5] So [19, -19]must decode to [_ S], or [0, 19] Therefore, [a b] [-19 -19]·[ ] = [0 19] [c d] Multiplying the matrices on the left: [-19a-19c -19b-19d] = [0 19] So we have the equations -19a-19c = 0 -19b-19d = 19 Also 37, 16 must decode to U, E, or 21, 5 [a b] [37 16]·[ ] = [21 5] [c d] Multiplying the matrices on the left: [37a+16c 37b+16d] = [21 5] So we have the equations 37a+16c = 21 37b+16d = 5 So we have the four equations: -19a-19c = 0 -19b-19d = 19 37a+16c = 21 37b+16d = 5 Solving the 1st and 3rd -19a-19c = 0 37a+16c = 21 that gives a=1 and c=-1 Solving the 2nd and 4th -19b-19d = 19 37b+16d = 5 that gives b=1 and d=-2 So the DEcoding matrix is [a b] [1 1] [ ] = [ ] [c d] [-1 -2] So we start decoding [5 2],[25 11],[-2 -7],[-15 -30],[32 14],[-8 -13],[38 19],[-19 -19],[37 16] Decoding the [5 2] [1 1] [5 2][ ] = [5-2 5-4] = [3 1] = [C A] [-1 -2] Decoding the [25 11] [1 1] [25 11][ ] = [25-11 25-22] = [14 3] = [N C] [-1 -2] Decoding the [-2 -7] [1 1] [-2 -7][ ] = [-2+7 -2+14] = [5 12] = [E L] [-1 -2] Decoding the [-15 -30] [1 1] [-15 -15][ ] = [-15+15 -15+30] = [0 15] = [_ O] [-1 -2] Decoding the [32 14] [1 1] [32 14][ ] = [32-14 32-28] = [18 4] = [R D] [-1 -2] Decoding the [-8 13] [1 1] [-8 -13][ ] = [-8+13 -8+26] = [5 18] = [E R] [-1 -2] Decoding the [38 19] [1 1] [38 19][ ] = [38-19 38-38] = [19 0] = [S _] [-1 -2] And of course [-19 -19] decodes as [_ S] and [37 16] decodes as [U E} so the decoded message is [C A},{N C],[E L],[_ O],{R D],[E R],[S _],[_ S], [U E] CANCEL_ORDERS_ _SUE Edwin