Cross Exam Books - Rules of the Contest

Prizes: first 100 entrants to solve all ciphers will receive a signed copy of a Singer novel of their choice; all entrants who solve the ciphers prior to midnight, August 31st, 2006, will be entered into a random drawing for the GRAND PRIZE : an all-expense paid trip for two to the Virgin Islands.

Entrants may work on the ciphers individually or as part of a two-person team. No help or answers should be received from others though entrants should feel free to use tools on the Internet or in other resources.

The contest is open to readers of all ages. However, to be eligible for the Grand Prize, at least one member of the two person team must be 18 years of age or older.

One of the ciphers has no known solution. For that cipher, the entrant should type the words "NO SOLUTION" in the space provided for the answer. If an entrant solves this particular cipher, they should contact Randy immediately. Since this cipher contains the location of a hidden treasure, we can forget about the Virgin Islands trip, we'll split $10 million dollars instead.

By entering the contest, you will be included in the next quarterly newsletter sent out by Randy. If you want to un-subscribe, you may do so at that time.
Spacing between words in your answer and punctuation in your answer are irrelevant. The software checking your answers has been programmed to factor out spacing and punctuation as it checks your entry. Capitalization is irrelevant for the same reason.

A few of the codes used in The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ have no known code letter for certain English letters. For example, the key to a particular code might be an existing writing that doesn't contain an unusual letter like k or z. If that is the case, and if a k or z is necessary for the decoded message, an * will appear in the coded text. When you type in the solution to that coded text, make sure you also type in the letter that should take the place of the *. You will be able to easily determine what that letter should be from its context in the rest of the message. The software checking for your solutions will not count it as correct unless it has the complete decoded message.

This contest is not open to employees or contractors of WaterBrook Press, relatives of the author, or any persons involved in the design or construction of the contest Web site.

After you have answered a cipher correctly, each time you log back into the contest site, your cipher answer form will give you credit for that answer and show only the ciphers you have not yet solved. However, you will not have a chance to solve the last cipher until you have solved all other ciphers (introduction through chapter 9). When that occurs and you have a solution to the last chapter, you will be required to submit that solution, along with a brief explanation of how you arrived at it, directly in an email to Randy. This is done for three reasons:
1. so that you may entered into the drawing and awarded any prizes you've earned;
2. so that Randy can check the narrative of how you solved the cipher to make sure nobody has just copied the answer from someone else;
3. because not even the Web site designers (who have been sworn to secrecy about all the other ciphers) know the solution to the final cipher. Randy is the only person in the world who knows. Warning: this last cipher is very difficult, though not impossible. Randy's estimation is that less than ten percent of readers will be able to solve it. If you have little patience, it could be harmful to your emotional health.
If Randy dies before anybody solves the last cipher, this contest is null and void.