Train Treason
You arrive at the station just as the train suspected of carrying the KGB agent pulls in. Scores of men and women pour off and begin to make their way to the exit. Your espionage instincts are unfortunately not identifying any standout candidates as the operative. Whatever was supposed to be handed off is of grave import to the Moscow Kremlin. Your only hope is to decode the note found on the now captured American mole - quickly!
Do you notice anything about each of the sets of words (“rocky chamber”, “not dumb” etc.?). What might these encode?
Each set of words can be replaced by a singular word. For example, another name for “rocky chamber” could be “cave”. And “not dumb” could be “smart”. Can you determine a suitable replacement for each of the sets of words?
Once you have discovered a number of suitable replacements, do you notice anything about these discovered words? Why are there lines connecting sets of words on the left and right? (for example, “rocky chamber” and “cut the turkey”)
Looking at the top set of six:
Rocky chamber = cave, cut the turkey = carve
Not dumb = smart, small river = stream
Stick for walking = cane, move to music = dance
Do you notice anything about the paired words? Cave - carve, smart - stream, cane - dance.
Can this help you determine the final equivalent six words? How might these pairings reveal an identifying characteristic of the KGB spy?
The next six words are: tree - three, cone - ocean, real - later.
Each word on the right has the same letters as the word on the left, except with one additional letter. Can you use these letters to reveal an identifying characteristic of the KGB spy?
cave - caRve, smart - strEam, cane - Dance
tree - tHree, cone - oceAn, real - laTer
The solution is “RED HAT”. Enter this solution to discover the conclusion to the puzzle, as well as some info about the mechanic.