Let's Crack Zodiac - Episode 1 - Graysmith

Quarantine inspired me to create a new video series on Youtube.
It's called "Let's Crack Zodiac".
True crime meets classical cryptography.

Episode 1: Graysmith
Almost 35 years ago, Robert Graysmith published his blockbuster book, "Zodiac", and claimed to solve a famous unsolved Zodiac Killer cipher. But did he really solve it? Let's break it down.

Many thanks go out to:
Largo (for the awesome Zodiac font)
Phoenix Pictures/Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros for the Zodiac clips.
And the FBI for releasing the Zodiac case files.

[jleclanche]

Congratulations David, you have broken the cypher. Your solution is good and valid.

[shirleylilly]

I want this solved so they can solve the murder of Cheri Jo Bates. She was killed 10/30/66. She was my neighbor and babysat me when I was little! A number of us, now in our mid sixties want this solved before we die!

[observing]

That’s it! The Zodiac Killer was a “Complete Pong Master”

Check all ping pong tournaments in the relevant times and areas. We got him now boys!

[Blake_Stone]

Robert Graysmith: Greg Mellen told me "go away boy, you bother me", but upon applying a substitution cipher plus a lot of rearrangement of letters, it turns out he actually said "congratulations, you've broken the code"!

[yissssss]

Complete pong master is obviously the correct solution. He was giving us a clue to his identity. He is the pong master.

[guitarslim]

Graysmith did a lot of creative "fill in the blank." About half of what he writes in his book is pure fantasy.

[rengarcia]

When I read Robert Graysmith's book, I could tell he really, really wanted to be the guy who cracked the 340 character cipher. His solution was optimistic at best, dodgy and unintelligible at worst. The Zodiac wrote in a polite monotone, the 480 cipher reflected that. Greysmith's solution was a hot mess. Congrats on your dedication and hard work. With luck, we might someday close the book on the Zodiac.

[occularmalice]

Now that you guys actually solved this, this shows Graysmith was full of crap and got his "solution" completely wrong.

[violinmerchant]

So glad Zodiac got those replacement mops. We needed them after the splatter cop got tempted to mangle that corpse after the complete pong master spent the whole day contemplating sperm. But you know what they say...






...Pros get a complement

[davidmartins]

"Got replacement mops" is the most eery message of all

[mistertor]

He did stumble across "slaves" and "because" in the same line. Was that just random good luck, or did he happen to follow the correct sequence for a fleeting moment, albeit inadvertently?

[sobanked-]

Took 5 episodes for you to crack it. Genius

[akis]

"Go contemplate Sperm" ... I almost chocked

[finkployd]

An absolutely brilliant showcase of how you can solve a cipher using the "whatever the hell I want" method.

[CryptographyForEverybody]

Well made and good and easy to understand - looking forward to see the next one 🙂👍

[Aster_Risk]

The Nancy Drew, true crime, puzzle enthusiast in me is really excited to watch this.

[patricklemire]

One thing that is disappointing is how many things Graysmith just bent until they fit.

[JeanCarloQR]

I just finished watching the movie a few minutes ago. I went to look for more information and saw your video, it was very good. Now in quarantine I will read the book. I will be waiting for more episodes. Greetings from Peru.

[jameswestgate]

This is a fabulous high quality video that really deserves more views.

[JoesGLI]

Amazing, simply amazing. Well done to you and the team! 50 years in the making.