A Child's Garden of Cyphers

"Oh magus, you have begun thy journey. Your master's temple has fallen but his work is not yet finished…" - Orrin Oscar Lutwidge This article falls within the scope of the BioShock Wiki:Something In the Sea Content Project. This project is dedicated to improving the quality of all content related to the viral website, "There's Something in the Sea." Would you kindly help the BioShock Wiki by volunteering on the project page?

Cindy's much-worn copy.

A Child’s Garden of Cyphers was a book written by Orrin Oscar Lutwidge using the alias “Orson Orville Liddell” and published by his company, Liddell and Lewis Publishers, in 1947.

There's Something in the Sea

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Mark Meltzer used this book to decipher the symbol code on several puzzle boxes which he found while searching for his kidnapped daughter, Cindy.

This symbol code, referred to as “Lutwidgian cipher” covers the outside of the Lunchbox Puzzle, and is used in unlocking the various levels of the Metal Box. It can also be seen on the cover of the book itself, where it forms a rectangular border around the title. This border, when decoded, reveals the message:

Starting from the top left reading to the right:

“Yawn not darer and wander nary/ Be warned and ready/ Dawn’s ray nears/ Will my wand err nay”

Reading in the opposite direction down the left side:

“Read now and be wary”

Notably, many word combinations in this message form an anagram of “Andrew Ryan”:

Yawn + darer: Andrew Ryan

Wander + nary: Andrew Ryan

Wand + err + nay: Andrew Ryan

In November, Mark received Cindy's personal copy of A Child's Garden of Cyphers from his estranged wife, Amanda. This copy was much dirtier than Mark's, and it had Cindy's signature on the front, along with a short cypher warning: "KEEP OUT!!!"

This copy of the book could be opened to a page containing a cryptic word search puzzle. The symbol filled grid of this word search doubles as an ADFGVX cipher for solving the fourth level of the Metal Box puzzle.

The Cryptic Word Search

The word search, with circled letters translated

The word search contains cypher sybols that, when translated, read:

(Bold letters were circled in the book.)

X	E	R	D	N	A
W	G	O	B	L	R
R	Y	F	I	S	K
Y	P	C	D	U	H
A	E	W	Q	A	T
N	Z	M	J	V	N

The following text is on the adjacent page.

(Highlight the white blocks with your pointer to see the answers.)

Now test your knowledge of the cipher! Find the hidden words... and remember, on this grid sometimes Y = X! We've checked off the first few to get you started.
✔	1. No if, this, or but!	(3)	AND
✔	2. Home for a Hungary Pest.	(3)	ERD
✔	3. Not me, but I. Not us, but --.	(2)	WE
✔	4. A ham's humor is often---.	(3)	WRY
✔	5. Yea? I say thee ---!	(3)	NAY
	6. What Painvin cracked.	(5)	ADFGX
	7. Dirigible, in a hurry.	(3)	ZEP
	8. Swindler's Act.	(3)	GYP
	9. Where the frog lays on a log.	(3)	BOG
	10. 1872 Black Friday's scoundrel.	(4)	FISK
	11. Thor's stunning sweetheart.	(3)	SIF
	12. Auction term.	(3)	BID
	13. Maybe hetero- or ortho-.*	(4)	DOXY
	14. Arabian tea with no u.	(3)	QAT
	15. Hull of a nut.	(3)	ARK
	16. Hollow, to a Welshman.		CWM
	17. Mecca trek.		HAJ
	18. She fell underground.		ALICE
	19. Sr. Varsity's offspring. (abbr)		JV
*Remember! On this grid, sometimes X=Y

Cipher Images

A decoder made from a dial on the Lunchbox Puzzle.

Cipher text on the front of the Lunchbox Puzzle.

A cipher message from inside the Lunchbox Puzzle.

The cipher buttons on level one of the Metal Box Puzzle.

The front of the 4x4 grid of the Metal Box Puzzle.

The 5x5 grid of the Metal Box Puzzle.

Translated 5x5
(This image contains an inaccuracy.)

Cipher letters in the sand in a photo taken by Mark Meltzer.

Tiles with cipher letters from Lutwidge's basement workshop.

Bottom left tiles.

Bottom right tiles.

Top right tiles.

All tiles combined and decoded.

Level Four of the Metal Box Puzzle.

A message from Cindy.