Famous Last Letters (Solution)

by David Farhi

Each of these is a famous last words, encoded with a Vigenere cipher. In each case the key is another person/character. They come in alphabetical order by speaker, but the keys can be put into the scrabble grid, giving an ordering:

  • 1. Rosebud (KANE // HOBBES)
  • 2. The rest is silence (HAMLET // YGRITTE)
  • 3. O happy dagger! // This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die (JULIET // WALTDISNEY)
  • 4. With great power comes great responsibility. (UNCLE BEN // DUMBLEDORE)
  • 5. You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. (OBI-WAN KENOBI // BOGART)
  • 6. Scar! Brother, help me! (MUFASA, ALEXANDERTHEGREAT)
  • 7. Et Tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar (JULIUSCAESAR // MAJORSTRASSER)
  • 8. And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!' (MACBETH // AUSTEN
  • 9. Live long, and prosper. (SPOCK // BOROMIR)
6A
3W
 A L T D I S N E
2Y
E G
X R
A
4D
 I
N
8A
 U S T E N
D M T
E
1H
 O B B E S
R L
7M
 A J O R S T R A S S E R
H D
E O
5B
 G R
10B
 O R O M I R E
G E
A A
R T
T

Then one can reverse each one; encode the key's last words using the speaker's name as a key. Reading down the last letters spells the answer: OPERATION.