Publicity Puzzles

Usman Akeju, Brandy Evans


_WHAT_ is the key... to the Vigenere cipher.

Using the word "WHAT" to decipher the ciphertext yields the answer to the question:

KNOWINGHOWTO
RECOGNIZETHECLUES

or "Knowing how to recognize the clues."


The "MH2K4 signature" is a collection of 10 sequences, each with a missing character. The email's body clues what the different sequences are:

"irrational number"   -> _14159265 (pi)
"prime"	              -> 314159_17 (a prime)
"months"              -> jFMAMJJA_OND (Jan., Feb., Mar..)
"key... bottom line"  -> zXCV_NM (see your keyboard)
"shift gears"         -> pR_D32L (park, reverse, neutral..)
"ordinal number"      -> fSTFFSSENT_T (first, second, third..)
"rainbow"             -> rOYG_IV/rO_GBIV (red, orange, yellow..)
"major scale"         -> dRMFS_TD (do, re, mi..)
"worlds"              -> m_EMJSUNP (Mercury, Venus, Earth..)
Using the parenthesized numbers to put the associated characters in order, we get the answer:
 1 L DRMFS(L)TD
 2 0 3141592(0)7
 3 B ZXCV(B)NM
 4 B ROYG(B)IV
 5 Y RO(Y)GBIV
 6 S JFMAMJJA(S)OND
 7 3 (3)14159265
 8 V M(V)EMJSUNP
 9 E FSTFFSSENT(E)T
10 N PR(N)D32L
⇒ "L0BBYS3VEN" (or "Lobby 7".. duh ;)
[Answer coming soon]
GURL JBA'G OR GUVF RNFL
THEY WON'T BE THIS EASY