“F6.10, F6.18, F6.19: blank cells placed by the keyword, letters reshuffled inside rows at widths 2-48, and the French diagonal method, then or before a repeating key on the table”
Three items, one run, a verdict each. F6.10 (pivot audit D12): a grid as wide as the keyword, its blank cells (rows x width minus 97) placed under the first or the last key numbers, in the last row or the first, columns read in key order (0082 and 0135 placed blanks at fixed spots only). F6.18 (TM 32-220 pars. 89a-b, 134f): the letters inside every row of width w reshuffled by the keyword's numbering, rows kept in order (0070 did width 7 only): dictionary and puzzle words for widths 2-24, 25-48-letter windows of the K1-K3 plaintexts for widths 25-48. F6.19 (par. 88): the down-right diagonals from the tops of the columns numbered 1 to j taken first, in key order, then the remaining cells by columns in key order, j from 1 to the key length for puzzle words and 1-3 for dictionary words (the 'prearranged diagonals' taken as ones the key itself names). Then a repeating key 1-26 on the standard or KRYPTOS table after or before; compiled; ten scrambled coppers.
Three more hand ways of moving letters with a keyword: leaving the grid's empty squares under particular keyword letters, shuffling the letters within each row by the keyword, and copying out a few diagonals first, then the columns. Each is followed or preceded by a repeating secret wordthe secret word The word or string a cipher needs besides the method. on the sculpture's tablethe table The right-hand half of the sculpture, 26 rows of the alphabet each shifted one place further, starting from the word KRYPTOS. and checked against the 24 known lettersthe known letters Sanborn has confirmed that positions 22 to 34 of the message read EASTNORTHEAST and positions 64 to 74 read BERLINCLOCK. and scrambled copies.
Words in the margin are defined on the glossary page.
1.1
The method at work
The carved letters go in at the top; the reading comes out at the bottom.
the idea
Leave the grid's empty squares under chosen keyword letters; shuffle the letters inside each row by the keyword; copy out a few diagonals before the columns. Each needs only a keyword.
the check
Every rule for 181,308 keywords (and K1-K3 passages as keys for rows wider than 24), both directions, with a repeating key of 1-26 on the sculpture's tables after or before.
the bound
In all three the shortest key that fits K4 is no shorter than on the copies, and K4 leads the copies in at most two cells. Closed.
2
Best candidate against the known letters
This experiment produced no candidate: the search ruled everything out before a full text was built. Its product is the bounded negative in section 7.
3
Walkthrough, by hand
Redo the method on a few letters with pencil and paper.
Keyed blanks: rows as wide as the keyword; 13 rows of 8 hold 104 squares, 7 too many: leave empty the squares of the last row under key numbers 1-7; copy out the columns in key order.
Row reshuffle: write rows of the keyword's width and rewrite each row in the order of the keyword's numbering.
French diagonal: copy out first the diagonal starting at the top of column 1 (by key number), then column 2's diagonal, then the remaining squares by columns in key order.
Then a repeating key on the table; check the known letters for every key length, and on scrambled copies.
the worksheet: the first steps by hand, on squared paper
4
Worked example, generated
The same steps run by the code on the real letters.
PALIMPSEST: rows of 10, 10 rows hold 100 squares; the last row's squares under key numbers 1-3 left empty; columns read in key order
place letter lands at carved
22 E 3 K
23 A 30 N
24 S 21 W
64 B 25 V
65 E 44 S
74 K 26 Q
5
Hypothesis, for a cryptanalyst
Family, key space, the constraint under test, and the clues it reads.
C17(b) (padding, 'whether it's 97, whether it's 100'), C1(a), C5; TM 32-220 pars. 88, 89, 134 (research_notes/Scheidt patents and field ciphers/addendum_downloaded_manuals.md); pivot audit 2026-10-16 (issue #55) D12. Key numbering: letters ranked alphabetically, ties left to right. Statistic fixed before the run (0134's), per item.
6
Prediction
Written before the run; the result decides it.
For each item, nothing live below key length 20 beyond the coppers' rate; K4 above every copper in no more cells than the null's maximum. Zero candidates.
7
Method
Keywords as 0164 (dictionary and puzzle words, one per numbering), plus K1-K3 windows for widths 25-48.
Per item, the routes in the workers, forward and inverse.
Compiled periodic-key test, orders A and B, 8 classes; the fixed statistic per item.
8
Result and bounds
The harness's record: candidates, gates, loss, and the negative result this experiment leaves behind.
0candidates returned
0passed every gate
0/24known letters, best
–lowest loss
nonechampion before
F6.10 keyed blanks: 1,450,196 routes, shortest live A 21 B 25, K4 above every copper 0 (null max 3); F6.18 row reshuffle: 361,698 routes, shortest live A 21 B 25, K4 above every copper 2 (null max 2); F6.19 French diagonal: 2,264,476 routes, shortest live A 22 B 24, K4 above every copper 1 (null max 2)
What was searched, as the harness recorded it.
family
keyed blank cells, in-row reshuffles (widths 2-48), French diagonal (key-named diagonals), then or before a periodic key