View source for Smithy code

{{Short description|Private amusement embedded in a court judgement in the ''DaVinci Code''}}
{{about|a cipher used in 2006 by Peter Smith|the prisoner code invented by Smitty Harris in 1965|Tap code}}

The '''Smithy code''' is a series of letters embedded, as a private amusement,<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4949488.stm|title=Judge creates own Da Vinci code|work=[[BBC News]]|date=April 27, 2006|accessdate=April 28, 2006|archive-date=September 5, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070905211028/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4949488.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> within the April 2006 approved judgement of [[Peter Smith (judge)|Mr Justice Peter Smith]] on ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'' copyright case. The judge publicly admitted that "I can't discuss the judgement, but I don't see why a judgement should not be a matter of fun."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2006-04-27 |title=Judge creates own Da Vinci code |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4949488.stm |access-date=2024-07-29 |language=en-GB}}</ref> It was first broken, in the same month, by Dan Tench, a lawyer who writes on media issues for ''[[The Guardian]]'', after he received a series of email clues about it from Justice Smith.<ref>{{cite news|first=Dan|last=Tench|url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1763533,00.html|title=How judge's secret Da Vinci code was cracked|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=April 28, 2006|accessdate=April 28, 2006|archive-date=May 4, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504021757/http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1763533,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== How the code works ==
The letters in question are part of the actual text of the judgement, but italicised in contrast to the rest of the text. The following sequence of unusually emphasised letters can be extracted from the judgement document:

{{quote|{{strong|s m i t h y c o d e J a e i e x t o s t g p s a c g r e a m q w f k a d p m q z v}}}}

The italicised letters only occur up to paragraph 43 (which is page 13 of a 71-page document). Meanwhile, paragraph 52 concludes with this sentence: "The key to solving the conundrum posed by this judgment is in reading HBHG and DVC." (These abbreviations are used by Smith throughout the judgement in referring to the books at issue, ''[[The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]]'' and ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]''.)

There are 70 sections in the judgement. The source words from the judgement for the letters (with intervening words removed): 

{{quote|Claimant{{strong|s}} clai{{strong|m}}ant {{strong|i}}s {{strong|t}}hat {{strong|h}}is realit{{strong|y}} {{strong|c}}ynicism f{{strong|o}}r prece{{strong|d}}ed t{{strong|e}}mplar}}

{{quote|{{strong|J}}ersey {{strong|a}}ble res{{strong|e}}arch th{{strong|i}}s techniqu{{strong|e}}s e{{strong|x}}tinguished {{strong|t}}echnical st{{strong|o}}ry wa{{strong|s}} {{strong|t}}he somethin{{strong|g}} grou{{strong|p}}s u{{strong|s}}ed w{{strong|a}}s do{{strong|c}}uments bein{{strong|g}} e{{strong|r}}adicated elsewh{{strong|e}}re Templ{{strong|a}}rs Clai{{strong|m}}ants se{{strong|q}}uence {{strong|w}}ith o{{strong|f}} {{strong|k}}ey Plant{{strong|a}}rd intro{{strong|d}}uced manuscri{{strong|p}}ts ulti{{strong|m}}ately {{strong|q}}uestions embla{{strong|z}}oned pre{{strong|v}}alent}}

=== Letter frequencies ===
Excluding leading letters "s m i t h y c o d e", the letter frequencies are as follows:

* a – 4
* e – 3
* g, m, p, q, s, t – 2
* c, d, f, i, j, k, o, r, v, w, x, z – 1

=== Letter location ===
Paragraph numbers for cipher letters:<ref name="BBC"/>

* 1 Claimant('''s''')
* 2 {{text|clai('''m''')ant}}
* 3 {{text|('''i''')s ('''t''')hat{{nbsp}}[...] ('''h''')is{{nbsp}}[...] realit('''y''')}}
* 4 {{text|('''c''')ynicism}}
* 5 f('''o''')r
* 6 {{text|prece('''d''')ed}}
* 7 {{text|T('''e''')mplar}}
* 8 {{text|New ('''J''')ersey{{nbsp}}[...] ('''a''')ble}}
* 9 {{text|res('''e''')arch}}
* 11 {{text|th('''i''')s{{nbsp}}[...] techniqu('''e''')s}}
* 13 {{text|e('''x''')tinguished}}
* 14 {{text|('''t''')echnical}}
* 16 {{text|st('''o''')ry{{nbsp}}[...] wa(s)}}
* 18 ('''t''')he
* 19 {{text|somethin('''g''')}}
* 20 {{text|grou('''p''')s}}
* 21 u('''s''')ed
* 23 w('''a''')s
* 25 {{text|do('''c''')uments{{nbsp}}[...] bein('''g'''){{nbsp}}[...] e('''r''')adicated}}
* 26 {{text|elsewh('''e''')re}}
* 27 {{text|Templ('''a''')rs}}
* 29 {{text|Clai('''m''')ants{{nbsp}}[...] se('''q''')uence}}
* 30 {{text|('''w''')ith}}
* 31 o('''f''')
* 34 ('''k''')ey
* 35 {{text|Plant('''a''')rd}}
* 37 {{text|intro('''d''')uced}}
* 38 {{text|manuscri('''p''')ts}}
* 40 {{text|ulti('''m''')ately}}
* 42 {{text|('''q''')uestions}}
* 43 {{text|embla('''z''')oned{{nbsp}}[...] pre('''v''')alent}}

===Hints===
From article {{"'}}Da Vinci' judgement code puzzles lawyers":

{{quote|The New York Times reported that Smith sent an e-mail to a reporter at the newspaper that offered a hint. It said the code referred to his entry in this year's edition of Britain's "Who's Who," which has references to his wife Diane, his three children Frazier, Parker, and Bailey, British naval officer Jackie Fisher, and the Titanic Historical Society – among other things.<ref>{{cite news|first=Derek|last=Kravitz|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/artandlife/1404AP_Britain_Da_Vinci_Code.html|title='Da Vinci' judgement code puzzles lawyers|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=April 27, 2006|access-date=April 28, 2006}}</ref>}}

===Solution===
The cipher was a type of [[polyalphabetic cipher]] known as a [[Variant Beaufort]], using a keyword based on the [[Fibonacci number|Fibonacci sequence]], namely AAYCEHMU. This is the reverse of the [[Vigenère cipher]], which here enables decryption rather than encryption.
[[Image:Admiral John Fisher.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.9|[[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|Jackie Fisher]], Captain R.N. 1883, later First Sea Lord 1904–1910, 1914–1915]]
Assigning each letter its place in the alphabet, the keyword corresponds to 1, 1, 25, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21. It is possible that the reason 25 (Y) was included is to denote a backward step of 2 rather than a forward step. It is a twist drawn from ''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'', and concerns the number 2 in the Fibonacci series, which becomes a requirement to count two letters back in the regular alphabet rather than a signal to use an alphabet that begins with B. For instance, the first E in the coded message, which corresponds to a 2 in the Fibonacci series, becomes a C in the answer.

The 10th ciphertext letter, T, should really be an H, and there should also be a Z at the end of the ciphertext.

The repetition of the digraph 'MQ', after 8 letters, suggested a key that was 8 letters long, which is in fact the case. (This type of attack on a cipher is known as a [[Kasiski examination|Kasiski test]].)

The full plaintext should read:

{{quote|JACKIEFISHERWHOAREYOUDREADNOUGHT,  ("Jackie Fisher who are you?  Dreadnought")}}

However, correct application of the cipher in reverse, to decrypt, actually yields:

{{quote|JACKIEFISTERWHOAREYOUDREADNOUGH}}

The algorithm for generating the plaintext from the ciphertext is: repeating the eight-letter key, add the relevant key letter to each plaintext letter, and then take a step one letter back.

(Alternatively, as is done in a professional context, the letters of the alphabet may be numbered from 0, in which case the final step back does not have to be made.)

[[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|Jackie Fisher]] was a British admiral. "He was a driving force behind the development of the fast, all big-gun battleship, and chairman of the Committee on Designs which produced the outline design for the first modern battleship, [[HMS Dreadnought (1906)|HMS ''Dreadnought'']]."{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* The complete text of the judgment was formerly available at http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/images/judgment-files/baigent_v_rhg_0406.pdf.
**The archived copy of this text from 5 December 2006 can be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20061205214206/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/images/judgment-files/baigent_v_rhg_0406.pdf here]
*{{cite BAILII|country=ew|litigants=Baigent v Random House|court=EWHC|division=Ch|year=2006|num=719|date=7 April 2006}}, text of the judgment without the italics that mark out the cyphertext.
* [http://www.elonka.com/UnsolvedCodes.html Famous Unsolved Codes] (lists the Smithy Code as solved)
* [http://www.elonka.com/SmithyCode.html Kryptos Group report] - analyzes how the code is put together, and contains a link to a mirrored copy of the PDF of the original judgment
*{{cite news|first=Ben|last=Hoyle|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2155362,00.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20080516094227/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2155362,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 16, 2008|title=A nudge from the Da Vinci judge to help you to crack his code|work=[[The Times]]|location=London|date=April 28, 2006|accessdate=April 28, 2006}}
*{{cite news|first=Ben|last=Hoyle|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2156137,00.html|title=How I cracked the Smithy code (with a little help from the judge)|work=[[The Times]]|location=London|date=April 28, 2006|accessdate=April 28, 2006}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070312013426/http://smithycode.wikitimescale.org/ Tool to crack the code]

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[[Category:The Da Vinci Code]]
[[Category:History of cryptography]]
[[Category:Puzzles]]
[[Category:2006 in British law]]
[[Category:2006 in the United Kingdom]]