Route transposition at periods 8, 13 and 16, plus double routes

Route transpositions (serpentine, spiral and others, single and double) combined with a repeating-key substitution at periods 8, 13 and 16. Those periods were chosen by a 'Bean-surviving periods' rule that was retracted on 2026-08-24.

In plain English: Route transpositions (serpentine, spiral and others, single and double) combined with a repeating-key substitution at periods 8, 13 and 16, using a method that writes text into a grid and reads it along a path (spiral, zigzag, etc.). 52 thousand key/parameter combinations were tested. Best match: 19/24 known letters. That is not a real signal: searches of this kind can reach scores this high without the right key. A consistency check this search used to discard candidates was later found invalid for it, so this result no longer rules the method out.

NOISE

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: 52,104
Best Score: 19 / 24 known letters matched · high, but judged chance for this search
Keystream Consistency (Bean): NOT APPLICABLE Corrected 2026-08-24. This experiment applies a transposition, which moves the known-plaintext positions. The stored Bean check compared the result against constants derived for the unmoved arrangement, so any “failure” it reported was an artifact of the mismatch rather than a fact about K4. The check is withdrawn for this page. Because the search used it to throw out candidates, it may have discarded valid ones, so this search no longer rules the method out.
Confidence: Not classified.
Script: scripts/transposition/other/e_route_definitive.py

Scope Limitations

This elimination does not rule out:

Any other period: this run tested only 8, 13 and 16, and the rule that picked them was retracted on 2026-08-24

Reproduce

PYTHONPATH=src python3 -u scripts/transposition/other/e_route_definitive.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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