{
  "id": 7192889,
  "title": "Claude Fable 5.1 Solves the Cyphral Distich, a 370-year-old cipher",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/claude-fable-5-1-solves-the-cyphral-distich-a-370-year-old-cipher-7192889",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-13T21:06:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hacker News Best",
    "slug": "hacker-news-best",
    "url": "https://www.vals.ai/blogs/fable-solves-cyphral-distich"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Claude Fable 5.1 successfully solved the 370-year-old Cyphral Distich cipher, which emphasizes the importance of persistence and noticing unusual patterns. The cipher appeared as a sequence of 64 numbers, each corresponding to a word in Sir Thomas Urquhart’s Proquiritations. The key to solving the cipher was the repetition of the number \"32\" in both the Proquiritations and the cipher lines, indicating that the solution lies within the text itself. Once Fable 5.1 recognized this pattern, it was able to decipher the hidden message, revealing a prayer for King Charles II. This case demonstrates that frontier models can solve not only mathematical problems but also historical puzzles, showcasing the power of persistence and creative analysis in uncovering hidden information.",
  "summary": "Article URL: https://www.vals.ai/blogs/fable-solves-cyphral-distich Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49688695 Points: 184 # Comments: 51",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Hacker News",
        "title": "Claude Fable 5.1 Solves the Cyphral Distich, a 370-year-old cipher",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/claude-fable-5-1-solves-the-cyphral-distich-a-370-year-old-cipher",
        "published": "2026-09-13T21:06:13.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}