Codebusters Test Graduation Requirements 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: At the invitational and regional levels of Codebusters, which cipher type is NOT typically included in the graduation requirements?
- Aristocrat
- RSA public-key cipher (Correct answer)
- Caesar cipher
- Xenocrypt
Correct answer: RSA public-key cipher
RSA public-key cipher is an advanced cryptographic algorithm not covered at invitational or regional Codebusters levels.
Question 2: In Codebusters scoring, what is the standard penalty applied for an incorrect letter submission on a running key or Vigenere cipher?
- 5 points deducted per wrong letter
- 10 points deducted per wrong letter (Correct answer)
- The entire cipher scores zero
- No penalty; partial credit is awarded
Correct answer: 10 points deducted per wrong letter
Incorrect letters on keyed ciphers typically incur a 10-point deduction per wrong letter in standard Science Olympiad Codebusters scoring.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes the 'Xenocrypt' cipher that appears in Codebusters graduation requirements at the national level?
- A cipher using numbers instead of letters
- A monoalphabetic substitution cipher in Spanish (Correct answer)
- A polyalphabetic cipher using a keyword
- A transposition cipher with a geometric grid
Correct answer: A monoalphabetic substitution cipher in Spanish
A Xenocrypt is a monoalphabetic substitution cipher whose plaintext is in Spanish, requiring frequency analysis with Spanish letter distributions.
Question 4: To graduate from the invitational division to the regional division in Codebusters, teams must demonstrate proficiency in how many members per team?
- 2 members
- 3 members (Correct answer)
- 4 members
- 5 members
Correct answer: 3 members
Codebusters is a 3-member Science Olympiad event at all competition levels.
Question 5: When completing a Baconian cipher for Codebusters graduation requirements, what is the alphabet size used in the standard two-alphabet version?
- 20 letters
- 24 letters (I=J, U=V) (Correct answer)
- 25 letters (I=J)
- 26 letters
Correct answer: 24 letters (I=J, U=V)
The standard Baconian cipher uses a 24-letter alphabet where I and J share one code and U and V share another.
Question 6: Which index of coincidence (IC) value indicates a monoalphabetic substitution cipher in English, a key graduation requirement skill?
- 0.038
- 0.045
- 0.065 (Correct answer)
- 0.077
Correct answer: 0.065
English monoalphabetic ciphers have an IC of approximately 0.065, reflecting the natural letter frequency distribution of English.
Question 7: In Codebusters, the 'timed question' at the end of the test is worth how many additional points if answered correctly within the time limit?
- 5 points
- 10 points (Correct answer)
- 15 points
- 20 points
Correct answer: 10 points
The timed question in Codebusters is worth 10 bonus points when answered correctly before time expires.
Codebusters Test Graduation Requirements 2
At the invitational and regional levels of Codebusters, which cipher type is NOT typically included in the graduation requirements?