RE: How do you know when an encrypted book is solved?
-JKP- > 21-07-2020, 12:13 PM
The basic initial steps might be reproducible, but if the result is different for each person because of increasing degrees of freedom as you walk through the steps, I don't think we can call the solution reproducible.
Depending on the nature of the proposed solution, there might be some wiggle room that produces a small amount of variability that might be acceptable. It depends on what method is needed to produce the end result and the complexity of the underlying message (e.g., polyglot would be harder to decipher than a single language; a straight narrative easier than poetry). If a majority of it rings true, I think most people would be satisfied with that.