by Stephen Peters and Mary Linton Peters

Each of the images is of an Illinois driver’s license, with everything the same except for the license number and a picture of someone associated with Illinois. As it turns out, the Illinois driver’s license number is generated through a code using the driver’s name, date of birth, and gender. Each of the driver’s license numbers shown is similar to, but not exactly like, the one for the given “driver.”

Each of the 12 driver’s licenses differs in a different position. When you take the differing digit, and arrange them in order a new license number is formed: “S655-2001-0237.” When the coding is reversed, solvers will find that it corresponds to a male born on August 20th, ’10, whose first name starts with E, no middle initial, and a last name starting with S and followed by an R and a couple of Ns as the next likely consonants. A quick Google search finds one unambiguous answer: EERO SAARINEN.

Person Birthday Gender Actual Code Shown Code Diff. Position Diff. Digit
John P Cusack 6/28/1966 M C220-4756-6183 S220-4756-6183 1 S
Jennifer K Hudson 9/12/1981 F H325-4318-1860 H625-4318-1860 2 6
Carl A Sandburg 1/6/1878 M S531-1217-8006 S551-1217-8006 3 5
Harrison Ford 7/13/1942 M F630-3204-2199 F635-3204-2199 4 5
Karlie E Kloss 8/3/1992 F K420-5059-2820 K420-2059-2820 5 2
Michael J Jordan 2/17/1963 M J635-5506-3048 J635-5006-3048 6 0
Mandel B Patinkin 11/30/1952 M P352-5425-2340 P352-5405-2340 7 0
Frances L McDormand 6/23/1957 F M236-2525-7778 M236-2521-7778 8 1
Stephen T Colbert 5/13/1964 M C416-7986-4137 C416-7986-0137 9 0
Roger J Ebert 6/18/1942 M E163-7304-2173 E163-7304-2273 10 2
Alphonse G Capone 1/17/1899 M C150-0079-9017 C150-0079-9037 11 3
Barack H Obama 8/4/1961 M O150-0686-1221 O150-0686-1227 12 7