Tag Archives: password

A Password Brain Teaser With an Unexpected Snag

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[Image courtesy of The Next Web.]

One of the curious aspects of being a modern Internet user is figuring out how to manage your passwords. Most sites, whether commercial or recreational, have log-in screens or other account info, and it’s up to you to remember passwords for these numerous accounts.

You could use the same password over and over for everything, but that’s not a terribly safe choice. You could keep a list where you write down your different passwords to each site in order to keep them all straight, which is also not safe. You could opt to use a password-management service to handle them for you, which is a bit unwieldy for most users.

And if you need to come up with a new password for each account, you might find yourself employing a puzzly technique like Mira Modi’s in order to conjure up a password.

[Image courtesy of In the Black.]

Recently, Gizmodo writer Rhett Jones posed a password-centric brain teaser to his readers, asking why the seemingly safe-looking string “ji32k7au4a83” might not be a good choice for a password.

Can you puzzle out why?

I’ll give you a few moments to ponder it.

…

…

…

…

…

All set? Okay, here we go.

As it turns out, “ji32k7au4a83” is the Chinese equivalent of one of the worst choices for a password. Using the Zhuyin Fuhao system for transliterating Mandarin to English, “ji32k7au4a83” becomes “my password,” a top contender for terrible password ideas like those compiled below:

[Image courtesy of Ars Technica.]

Yup, as it turns out, that random string of letters and numbers isn’t particularly random after all.

You’d be better off using a technique suggested by one of my fellow puzzlers. To generate her random passwords, she composes a sentence related to the website, then uses only the first letter of each word in that sentence as the base for the password.

Toss in a number or two, and voila, you’ve got something that appears to be gibberish, but is easily recalled and reassembled for your own use.

Pretty diabolical! Give it a shot and let us know how it works for you!

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Meet the Daily POP Crosswords Constructors: Neville Fogarty

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One of the Daily POP Crosswords app’s best features is the level of involvement from topnotch constructors. We’ve assembled one heck of a team when it comes to creating terrific, exciting, fresh themed crosswords.

Over the last month or so, we’ve been introducing you to some of them. You might not recognize every name at first, but rest assured… they’re all doing amazing work on these puzzles and deserve a little time in the limelight.

In this installment, allow us to introduce you to constructor Neville Fogarty!

How did you get started in puzzles?

My mom taught me how to solve crosswords in the summer of 2007, when I was home from my first year of college. I soon started toying around with making my own puzzles, and I had my first puzzle published in The Los Angeles Times in 2008. I’ve been constructing crosswords for fun ever since.

What do you enjoy about working on Daily POP Crosswords?

Daily POP Crosswords puzzles are accessible to a wide variety of solvers. It’s a lot of fun to write puzzles that I know a lot of people can solve, especially folks who are my age. I know a lot of people are turned off by crosswords because they use arcane words. Patti Varol, the Daily POP Crosswords editor, insists on accessible answers in all of the puzzles, and I think the crosswords are a lot more fun for that. (Patti is a joy to work with all around!)

The size of the puzzles makes them a little faster to construct than the other puzzles I write, which is a nice change of pace. From solving the other constructors’ Daily POP Crosswords puzzles, I know that I enjoy the lighter challenge of solving a smaller puzzle, too!

Is there a particular theme day that you prefer?

My favorite theme type to write is TV Time, because I watch way too much television. I also like the writing Remember When puzzles, because I have more familiarity with pop culture of the past. That said, I’ve been trying to expand my horizons and learn more about current events in other subjects (especially sports) so that I can write more puzzles!

How is working on Daily POP Crosswords different from constructing for some other outlet, like the Indie 500?

When I sit down to write a puzzle for Daily POP Crosswords, I’m on the solver’s side from beginning to end. I try to channel Betty White playing “Password” and give direct clues that will lead you right to the answer. I don’t want the solver to even have to decide between a pair like EVADE and ELUDE, which have so many letters in common that the wrong answer will definitely give you a false positive.

[Image courtesy of NY Daily News.]

Any other puzzle, though, and all of that changes. I’ll start using those punny “question mark” clues that are designed to misdirect you as you solve. I’ll also start making tougher cultural references to remove gimme clues. Answers will also become trickier, and they may leave the realm of our everyday vocabulary.

I’ve written puzzles for the Indie 500 crossword tournament for the past three years. In addition to the nastiness mentioned above, those puzzles all had tricky themes, like having certain clues swapped so that they didn’t match their answers! These devious themes are designed to challenge the top solvers who come to compete. Of course, I keep the puzzle fair (after all, I do want people to eventually work it all out), but to really test the experienced solvers who attend the Indie 500, we have to pull out all the stops.

On the other hand, with Daily POP Crosswords, I keep the themes simple: stars of a movie, sports teams in a city, books by a particular author, etc. You won’t have to worry about switched clues in my Daily POP Crosswords puzzles! That said, if you’re looking for an additional challenge, try solving a puzzle just looking at the down clues. It’s tough, but it can be done!

A huge thank you to Neville for his time! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for his puzzles in the Daily POP Crosswords app, free to download for both iOS and Android users!

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Mira Modi + dice = safer passwords for all!

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Every time you sign up for a new website, email address, or social media account, you’re reminded of one of the most curious aspects of modern life for an Internet user: the increasing complexity of passwords.

Whether you’re being graded on the relative strength (or weakness) of your password based on its length or being required to include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation marks, or other symbols along the way, passwords are getting more and more complicated in the name of Internet safety.

This modern form of cryptography often leads to one of three results:

  • you use the same password over and over for everything (not safe)
  • you have to write down different passwords to every site in order to keep them all straight (also not safe)
  • you opt for a password-management service to handle them for you (a bit unwieldy)

Well, as it turns out, an 11-year-old girl named Mira Modi might have the answers to all your password needs.

Mira started a company called DiceWARE to create passwords that are both secure and easy to remember!

From her website:

The DiceWARE method creates strong passwords that are easy to remember but extremely difficult for hackers to crack. Passwords contain random words from the dictionary, such as: alger klm curry blond puck horse.

For the very affordable price of $2, Mira will create a six-word password just for you, send it to you by mail, and then encourage you to customize it however you see fit — capitalized letters, number replacement, etc. — so even she won’t know your password when you’re done.

How does it work?

You roll a die 5 times and write down each number. Then you look up the resulting five-digit number in the DiceWARE dictionary, which contains a numbered list of short words.

So, essentially, the same randomness that can make Yahtzee a delight or a challenge will decide each of your six words. It’s ingeniously simple and designed to dissuade the usual hacking tricks.

Kudos to Mira for creating an affordable and immensely clever way to make our websurfing safer! This is puzzly thinking at its finest!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!