Operation Gold / Stopwatch thematic keywords

19 Operation Gold / Stopwatch thematic keywords as repeating cipher keys (Vigenere, Beaufort, Variant Beaufort), applied directly and after undoing a columnar transposition

In plain English: 19 Operation Gold / Stopwatch thematic keywords as repeating cipher keys (Vigenere, Beaufort, Variant Beaufort), applied directly and after undoing a columnar transposition, using a key derived from a thematic word or phrase. Every combination within the stated scope was tested (2.3 million 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: 2,314,371
Best Score: 7 / 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: 2026-02-16
Script: scripts/_uncategorized/e_opgold_01_keywords.py

Scope Limitations

This elimination does not rule out:

Keywords other than the 19 tried
Columnar widths other than 8, 13, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24 and 26, which were taken from a list of 'Bean-compatible' numbers that rests on a proof withdrawn on 2026-08-24
Column orders at widths above 8 other than the in-order and reversed orders and their cyclic shifts (width 8 was tested in every order)
The other layer order, where encryption rearranges the letters before applying the key

Assumptions

Keyword repeated as the key
Standard A-Z alphabet
Columnar transposition undone first, then the key applied

Reproduce

PYTHONPATH=src python3 -u scripts/_uncategorized/e_opgold_01_keywords.py

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

Found an error? Report on GitHub