CryptoSoxery No. 5
Until now, all CryptoSoxery cryptogram quizzes have been real quotes for or about the White Sox or their players or other personnel. This time the quote — a dialogue, actually — is from a piece of fiction.
But first, the answer to last week's encryption, which showed Tommy John is not just another pretty elbow:
When they operated, I told them to put in a Koufax fastball. They did — but it was Mrs. Koufax's.
One of these two had a pretty good fastball.
John was, of course, referring to his trip under the knife for the now-renowned surgery that bears his name. That surgery was in 1974, but this week we're going back even further — or maybe forward a bit, depending how you look at it.
CryptoSoxery No. 5 is actually a short dialogue, and a fictional one, though with a solid factual basis. It comes from the 1988 movie Eight Men Out, about the 1919 Black Sox — and though very brief, it's a dialogue that explains a lot. A usual, thanks to the encryption template at wordles.com.
PWNKJ PMZZCHDL: ANM PDA ANM QDL BCLI PYHYL UYL NL JGY TYPJ
QZMT JGDJ YHYK JNNF JGY BCYZI SCZZCL' JN JGKNS JGY SNKZI PYKCYP?
C BCLI *JGDJ* GDKI JN TYZCYHY.
QGCQF RDLICZ: ANM LYHYK WZDAYI BNK QGDKZCY QNUCPFYA.
For those who have never done a cryptoquote, the procedure is easy — a letter in the puzzle equates to a different letter, the same one all the way through. I'll be generous and tell you in this one, a G equals an H.
The way to solve the cipher is to go by how English works ... an "e" is the most common letter, a single letter is probably an "a" or "I," and so on.
Go ahead and give it a try. Let's face it — you're not doing much of anything else now, anyway. The answer, and a new CryptoSoxery, next week.
Past puzzles:
CryptoSoxery No. 1: Jean Shepherd
CryptoSoxery No. 2: Barack Obama
CryptoSoxery No. 3: Al Lopez
CryptoSoxery No. 4: Tommy John