Casino Lobdell (Solution)
by Robyn Speer, organized by Bianca Homberg
When you go to the sketchy casino and play blackjack, eight sequences
of cards are dealt repeatedly. They form cryptograms:
4♡ A♠ K♢ 7♠ 6♣ K♣ A♢ 3♢ K♣ K♢ A♠ K♡ 3♢ 4♠ T♡ 8♣ 7♠ J♢ T♣ 6♣
WAR IS THE TRADE OF KINGS
4♡ A♠ K♢ A♣ A♠ 8♣ 3♢ 6♣ K♢ A♠ K♣ K♣ J♣ 7♠ J♢ T♣ T♣ 4♠ 4♠ K♡ A♢ 7♠ 6♣ K♣ 4♠ K♢ J♡ Q♡ A♡ K♣ 3♣ 3♢ A♠ 7♡ 3♢ 7♠ 6♣ 3♣ 4♠ 4♠ K♢ K♢ 3♢ A♠ K♡ 7♠ J♢ T♣
WAR MAKES RATTLING GOOD HISTORY BUT PEACE IS POOR READING
4♡ A♠ K♢ 7♠ 6♣ A♣ J♡ T♡ A♠ T♢ 4♠ K♢ 7♠ K♣ 3♢ 7♡ A♠ K♢ K♡ T♣ A♠ A♣ 3♢ A♠ J♢ K♡ 7♠ 4♡ 7♠ J♢ A♠ Q♡ 4♠ A♡ K♣ A♢ A♠ J♣ T♡ K♣ A♢ 3♢ K♣ 7♠ A♣ 3♢
WAR IS MY FAVORITE CARD GAME AND I WIN ABOUT HALF THE TIME
K♢ 3♢ 7♡ J♣ A♠ 7♠ A♣ J♡ 4♠ A♡ K♢ 4♠ 4♡ J♢ 7♡ A♠ K♢ K♡ 6♣ T♡ 7♠ K♢ 6♣ K♣ T♡ 4♠ K♢ A♠ Q♡ J♣ 4♠ 4♠ K♡ J♣ 3♢ 6♣ 6♣ T♢ 7♠ 7♡ K♣ 4♠ K♢ J♡
RECLAIM YOUR OWN CARDS FIRST FOR A BLOODLESS VICTORY
5♢ 7♢ Q♣ 9♢ 5♢ T♠ 8♠ 5♡ 4♢ 8♢ 9♡ 9♡ 3♠ Q♣ 8♡ 2♢ 2♠ 9♡ 9♢ T♠ 4♢ 6♢ 2♢ 8♢ 3♡ T♠ 8♠ 5♡ 7♣ 5♢ 5♡ 8♢ 8♢ 9♠ Q♣ T♠ 4♢ Q♣ 7♣ 9♡ 2♡ Q♣ 2♠ 9♡ 2♠ 2♢ 8♢ T♠ 8♠
when war is looked upon as vulgar it will cease to be popular
7♣ 7♢ Q♣ 8♠ Q♣ 9♢ Q♣ 6♢ Q♣ 8♠ 5♢ T♠ 4♢ T♠ 3♡ 9♡ 9♡ 8♡ 5♢ T♠ 8♠ 9♡ 8♠ T♠ 2♡ T♠ 8♡ 2♠ Q♣ T♠ 9♠ Q♣
there never was a good war or a bad peace
5♡ 4♣ 9♠ 5♡ 6♢ 5♡ 8♢ 5♡ 5♠ T♠ 7♣ 5♡ 9♡ 9♢ 7♢ T♠ 4♢ T♠ 9♢ 9♡ 2♠ 2♠ 9♡ 4♢ 5♡ 7♣ Q♣ 5♡ 7♣ 5♡ 4♢ 5♢ T♠ 8♠
if civilization has an opposite it is war
5♢ T♠ 8♠ 5♡ 4♢ 9♡ 9♢ 8♢ 5♣ T♠ 9♠ 9♡ 5♢ T♠ 8♠ 8♡ 8♢ 5♣ Q♣ 4♢ 9♠ T♠ 2♠ Q♣ 4♣ 8♠ 9♡ 6♠ 7♣ 7♢ Q♣ 2♠ 8♠ 9♡ 2♡ 8♢ Q♣ 6♠ 4♢ 9♡ 4♣ 2♠ Q♣ T♠ 9♠ Q♣
war is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace
The two different cryptogram alphabets used (one for the quotes that are
approximately pro-war, and one for the ones that are anti-war) form a
complete deck of cards, though there are letters like J, Q, and X that
you won't see.
Here's the mapping from letters to cards:
♣ ♢ ♡ ♠
A M H U A
K T R D __
Q e __ B __
J L N Y __
T G V F a
9 __ n o c
8 K l d r
7 t h C I
6 S v __ m
5 y w i z
4 f s W O
3 P E g k
2 __ u b p
The physical deck you get at the casino event gives:
7c 3d 4d Th 2s Td 4c Js 5h Jh 8s 6c 5c 8c 8d 3c 9h 4s 2h Jd 6h Jc 6d Qs 2d Qh 2c Ks 5s Kh 3s Kd Qd 7s Ts 4h 7d Kc 3h As 8h Ah 9s Ad 5d 9c 9d Ac 6s Tc Qc 7h
Dealing the deck gives you:
deck1 7♡ T♣ A♣ 9♣ A♢ A♡ A♠ K♣ 4♡ 7♠ K♢ K♡ K♠ Q♡ Q♠ J♣ J♢ 4♠ 3♣ 8♣ 6♣ J♡ J♠ T♢ T♡ 3♢
deck2 Q♣ 6♠ 9♢ 5♢ 9♠ 8♡ 3♡ 7♢ T♠ Q♢ 3♠ 5♠ 2♣ 2♢ 6♢ 6♡ 2♡ 9♡ 8♢ 5♣ 8♠ 5♡ 4♣ 2♠ 4♢ 7♣
Play War with these cards. As instructed by one of the messages, if you always take
your own card first when you win, then the pro-war player will win without there ever
being a "war" (a tie). This gives a final permutation on the deck:
final A♣ T♠ 9♢ 4♡ A♢ 9♡ 9♠ 4♠ A♡ 8♢ 8♡ 3♣ A♠ 8♠ K♣ 7♣ 7♢ 3♢ K♢ Q♣ K♡ 7♡ K♠ Q♢ Q♡ 7♠ Q♠ 6♣ 6♢ 3♡ J♣ T♣ 6♡ 3♠ J♢ 6♠ 5♣ 2♣ J♡ 5♢ 5♡ 2♢ J♠ 5♠ 4♣ 2♡ T♢ 9♣ T♡ 8♣ 4♢ 2♠
letters M a n W H o c O U l d P A r T t h E R e D C ? ? B I ? S v g L G ? k N m y ? Y w i u ? z f b V ? F K s p
The "man who could part the red C" is MOSES.
