Lesson 1

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  Welp, peoples, let's delve into the basics of solving these puzzles, shan't we¿ Alrighty. Now, this particular puzzle I clipped from a newspaper. I do hope that they won't be too offended by my taking it, but I don't believe it should be much of a problem. Anyways, I solved this puzzle and found that it should be the perfect starting place. Now, without further ado, here's the puzzle:

X Y N   C J K K V   C X Q O N   Y K U O ' X   K O D   S Q F P K I N ,
E F X   I P K U F K V V D   A X   E N S K J N   K   V A X X V N   E Q F V U N P .

Ok. Now, let's look through the puzzle, and see if we can find ourselves a good place to start. Notice the apostraphe¿ If we refer back to our page of hints and starting places, we'll find out that it's either a t or an s. Ok, with that in mind, let's look at the word "VAXXVN". Now, if we refer to the page again, we should find that the pattern this word refers to almost surely matches the word "little". So, let's hold off on that, and let's distribute the letter t. So, now our puzzle looks like this:

X=T

T                     T                 ' T                         ,
X Y N   C J K K V   C X Q O N   Y K U O ' X   K O D   S Q F P K I N ,
 
    T                         T                         T T                     .
E F X   I P K U F K V V D   A X   E N S K J N   K   V A X X V N   E Q F V U N P .

  Perfect. Now, notice the word with the two t's¿ Notice also the letter at the beginning, and after the two t's. Shouldn't they be l's¿ To save time, I'm going to distribute the l, i, and e all at once. That way I don't have to do so much typing, and those who decided to use pen and paper can make sure they have the same results. So, now we have:

V=L
A=I
N=E

T   E         L L     T     E           ' T                       E ,
X Y N   C J K K V   C X Q O N   Y K U O ' X   K O D   S Q F P K I N ,
    T               L L     I T     E       E       L I T T L E         L   E   .
E F X   I P K U F K V V D   A X   E N S K J N   K   V A X X V N   E Q F V U N P .

  Alrighty then. Does that look good¿ I think so :)
  Now, if you don't remember, please feel free to consult our hints page as often as you like. Either way, let me ask this... If there's a 'T' following an apostraphe, what can we discern (find out) next¿ Remember, we know it's a contraction, and whenever there's a contraction ending with 't, then it'll always be --- not. Do you see¿ will not = won't, cannot = can't, etc. So, we know that there's an N, and we know exactly where it's at too. Once again, let's consult our puzzle and distribute, shall we¿ We know that:

O=N

T   E         L L     T   N E         N ' T     N                 E ,
X Y N   C J K K V   C X Q O N   Y K U O ' X   K O D   S Q F P K I N ,
 
    T               L L     I T     E       E       L I T T L E         L   E   .
E F X   I P K U F K V V D   A X   E N S K J N   K   V A X X V N   E Q F V U N P .

Now, does that give us any more clues¿ How's about the first word¿ I'm sure at least a few people (what, did you think you're the only one who'll ever read this¿ lol, just kidding) spotted it, and knows exactly what the missing letter is. That's right, it's an H. So, why not fill that in¿

Y=H

T H E         L L     T   N E   H     N ' T     N                 E ,
X Y N   C J K K V   C X Q O N   Y K U O ' X   K O D   S Q F P K I N ,
 
    T               L L     I T     E       E       L I T T L E         L   E   .
E F X   I P K U F K V V D   A X   E N S K J N   K   V A X X V N   E Q F V U N P .

  Now, what should we look at next¿ Let's fill in that contraction. Now, since it begins with h, wouldn't it most likely be 'hasn't'¿
  Let's fill that in, and see how it works¿ I'll go ahead and fill in the s and n in one hit.

K=A
U=S

T H E       A L L     T   N E   H A S N ' T   A N             A   E ,
X Y N   C J K K V   C X Q O N   Y K U O ' X   K O D   S Q F P K I N ,
 
    T       A S   A L L     I T     E   A   E   A   L I T T L E         L   E   .
e f x   i p k u f k v v d   a x   e n s k j n   k   v a x x v n   e q f v u n p .

  Well, let's see… the AN? word... If the code letter's a D, then the missing letter can't be a D. However, if the word before it is hasn't, maybe the combined could be "hasn't any"¿ Let's try it. I know it doesn't help much, but at least it's another step toward completion.  So, we now have:

T H E       A L L     T   N E   H A S N ' T   A N Y           A   E ,
X Y N   C J K V V   C X Q O N   Y K U O ' X   K O D   S Q F P K I N ,
 
    T       A S   A L L Y   I T     E   A   E   A   L I T T L E         L S E   .
E F X   I P K U F K V V D   A X   E N S K J N   K   V A X X V N   E Q F V U N P .

  Well, if we assumed that the last word ended with 'ed', that'll make the "as?lly" word have a 'd' in there, and that'll definately not look like any word we've seen before. However, let's let our brains give a jolt of lightning. Maybe we messed up somewhere. That's why I say these puzzles are part trial-&-error. Hmmm... Maybe that 's' could actually be a 'd'¿ If that were the case, our contraction would be 'hadn't' instead of 'hasn't'. Once we make that change, maybe that'll give us a better outlook¿ Hey, while we're thinking, how's about the word after the comma¿ It's a three letter word ending with 't'. We know it can't be 'not', or 'get', or 'out', or a couple other words ending with 't'. If our object hasn't any of something, maybe there's some consolidation, and out mystery word might be 'but'. What do you think¿ Alrighty, let's try them.

Before we go any farther let me say this: The web browser I'm using can't hold more than so much information in a document, so I will continue this on the next page.

To Be Continued...

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