K3-style rotation grid applied to K4

Single rotations at grid widths 2 to 48

In plain English: Single rotations at grid widths 2 to 48, using a method that reads text from a grid in various rotated arrangements. Every combination within the stated scope was tested (445 thousand configurations); none produced a valid solution. This record is negative within the tested scope.

NOISE Tier 2

How to read this record

Verdict – ELIMINATED (ruled out within the tested scope), NOISE (nothing beyond what chance produces for a search of this size; also shown when a record stored no verdict of its own), INCONCLUSIVE (the test left candidates or options standing, or could not decide, so it does not rule the method out), INTERESTING (slightly above random, almost certainly coincidence), SIGNAL (statistically unusual, warrants investigation), or FULL MATCH (all 24 known letters correct).
Confidence Tier – Tier 1 = mathematical proof, valid while its stated assumptions hold. Tier 2 = every possibility within the stated scope tested. Tier 3 = partially tested or sampled. Tier 4 = not yet properly tested.
Configs Tested – How many different key/parameter combinations were tried.
Best Score – How many of the 24 known plaintext letters the best attempt matched (out of 24). N/A means no such score could be read from this record.
Keystream Consistency (Bean) – Whether the key values at different positions are mathematically consistent with each other. The check only holds when the known letters stay in their carved positions (no letters rearranged or removed), and the full set used here assumes the standard A to Z alphabet.
Scope Limitations – What this elimination does not rule out.

Configs Tested: 444,582
Best Score: 6 / 24 known letters matched · low, no sign of a solution
Confidence: Tier 2: Exhaustive search under stated assumptions. Does not eliminate multi-layer variants.
Date Tested: 2026-02-18
Script: scripts/exploration/e_bespoke_10_rotation_grid.py

Scope Limitations

This elimination does not rule out:

Tests one quarter-turn or half-turn of the grid at every width from 2 to 48 columns (padded with X), plus a few grids close to 97 cells (7x14, 14x7, 10x10, 9x11, 11x9, 8x13, 13x8) with other padding, an inserted L, or a keyword columnar step, with or without a Vigenere or Beaufort step using six fixed keywords. K3 itself used two rotations on two different grids (8 rows of 42, then 24 rows of 14), and that two-grid procedure was not tested.

Assumptions

K4 uses a K3-style grid rotation
Standard reading order

Reproduce

PYTHONPATH=src python3 -u scripts/exploration/e_bespoke_10_rotation_grid.py

Requires the kryptos repo, Python 3.11+, PYTHONPATH=src. Some recent scripts may not be in the public repository yet.

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