Can you find the hidden message inside the following square?
Each letter or symbol (period) will be used exactly once.
Hint: 8 Franklin Square in The Lost Symbol.
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Solution to the Problem:
The decoded message is:IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE A GOOD MIND. THE MAIN THING IS TO USE IT WELL. DESCARTES
The hint referred to Ben Franklin's order 8 Magic Square which was used to solve a mystery in Dan Brown's book The Lost Symbol.
Here is Ben Franklin's Magic Square along side the coded message:
Match up the numbers in Franklin's Magic Square with the letters in the coded square to get the message:
1 : I
2 : T
3 : I
4 : S
5 : N
6 : O
7 : T
8 : E
:
:
Correctly solved by:
| 1. Colin (Yowie) Bowey | Beechworth, Victoria, Australia |
| 2. Veena Mg | Bangalore, Karnataka, India |
| 3. Angelica Mosher |
Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming |
| 4. Holly Hamblin |
Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming |
| 5. Aubrie Winkler |
Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming |
| 6. Joshua Cushing |
Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming |
| 7. Maddi Aimone |
Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming |
| 8. Taylor Balding |
Redlands Middle School, Grand Junction, Colorado |
| 9. Kadin Holloway |
Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming |
| 10. Ivy Joseph | Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| 11. Lindsay Gammon |
Redlands Middle School, Grand Junction, Colorado |