19/02/2026

Vigenere's Cipher That Allows Two Readings

I uploaded a new article, "Vigenere's Chiffres à Double Entente", which allows two readings of a ciphertext.

I have been interested in such a cipher that allows disclosing one of the two plaintexts but not the other and I was aware that Vigenere deals with "chiffre a double sens" as of my blog post in 2021.

Now I've studied the relevant pages in Vigenere's work.

In my understanding, Vigenere's chiffre à double entente or double sens works in a manner similar to a running key cipher, in which a first plaintext is combined with a second plaintext instead of a key text. Since the key text is not given for deciphering, each cell of the square table provides two letters instead of one. So, seen end-to-end, it is effectively a digraphic cipher.

Although the scheme may not provide effective protection against pressure from a tyrannical government, I find it interesting enough to be used in a detective story or film.



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