2012-04-25
Original: 2012-04-25 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
TRANSCRIPT
The comic is narrated in red caption boxes above each panel, telling the story of a spy explaining how secret messages were hidden.
Panel 1:
Caption: OUR MESSAGES HAVE ALREADY PASSED THROUGH YOUR CRYPTOGRAPHERS UNNOTICED.
Image: Two people sit in the front seats of a car at night. A balding man drives; a smiling woman with reddish hair and glasses sits in the passenger seat.
Panel 2:
Caption: UNNOTICED BECAUSE THEY WERE IN PLAIN SIGHT.
Image: A man with brown hair walks toward the entrance of a store at night. A glowing yellow sign above reads "UNIVERSITY BOOKS."
Panel 3:
Caption: YOU SEE, THEY WERE PLACED IN THE EVEN-NUMBERED PROBLEMS OF A MATH TEXTBOOK.
Image: The man browses a bookstore aisle, holding an open blue book. A shelf sign reads "TEXTBOOKS."
Panel 4:
Caption: NO ONE WILL EVER FIND THEM.
Image: Close-up at a checkout counter. One hand passes folded green cash to a cashier in a red shirt while another hand holds a yellow book titled "CALCULUS."
Panel 5:
Caption: BECAUSE NO ONE WILL EVER LOOK.
Image: An open page of the calculus textbook, headed "...ve the differential ...uation:" The problems are a mix of math exercises and hidden spy messages (the even-numbered ones):
1. dy/dx = y/x
2. The plan to assassinate Lord John Roxton will be delayed 12 minutes.
3. dy/dx = 1/y
4. Agent 6283 has set the ...rweapon in the Zu-Vendis ...ilding basement. It ...arch 5 at 07:...
5. (1+tan y)y...
6. Agent Thursday has been unmasked. He is Gabriel Syme and works for Scotland Yard.
7. dy/dt = 2 +2y + t +t...
8. Kallikrates has returned. He is going by the name "Leo Vincey."
9. dy/dx = x/y
10. (a partly hidden message) ...murder in the ...by a gorilla.
Votey:
Panel 1 (separate small comic):
A wine glass (held by an unseen speaker) and a smiling woman with reddish hair on the right.
Speech bubble (from off-panel): BUT I KNOW NOW...
Speech bubble: ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK AT EVENS NOW?
Reply: ...NO.
The comic is narrated in red caption boxes above each panel, telling the story of a spy explaining how secret messages were hidden.
Panel 1:
Caption: OUR MESSAGES HAVE ALREADY PASSED THROUGH YOUR CRYPTOGRAPHERS UNNOTICED.
Image: Two people sit in the front seats of a car at night. A balding man drives; a smiling woman with reddish hair and glasses sits in the passenger seat.
Panel 2:
Caption: UNNOTICED BECAUSE THEY WERE IN PLAIN SIGHT.
Image: A man with brown hair walks toward the entrance of a store at night. A glowing yellow sign above reads "UNIVERSITY BOOKS."
Panel 3:
Caption: YOU SEE, THEY WERE PLACED IN THE EVEN-NUMBERED PROBLEMS OF A MATH TEXTBOOK.
Image: The man browses a bookstore aisle, holding an open blue book. A shelf sign reads "TEXTBOOKS."
Panel 4:
Caption: NO ONE WILL EVER FIND THEM.
Image: Close-up at a checkout counter. One hand passes folded green cash to a cashier in a red shirt while another hand holds a yellow book titled "CALCULUS."
Panel 5:
Caption: BECAUSE NO ONE WILL EVER LOOK.
Image: An open page of the calculus textbook, headed "...ve the differential ...uation:" The problems are a mix of math exercises and hidden spy messages (the even-numbered ones):
1. dy/dx = y/x
2. The plan to assassinate Lord John Roxton will be delayed 12 minutes.
3. dy/dx = 1/y
4. Agent 6283 has set the ...rweapon in the Zu-Vendis ...ilding basement. It ...arch 5 at 07:...
5. (1+tan y)y...
6. Agent Thursday has been unmasked. He is Gabriel Syme and works for Scotland Yard.
7. dy/dt = 2 +2y + t +t...
8. Kallikrates has returned. He is going by the name "Leo Vincey."
9. dy/dx = x/y
10. (a partly hidden message) ...murder in the ...by a gorilla.
Votey:
Panel 1 (separate small comic):
A wine glass (held by an unseen speaker) and a smiling woman with reddish hair on the right.
Speech bubble (from off-panel): BUT I KNOW NOW...
Speech bubble: ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK AT EVENS NOW?
Reply: ...NO.
Alt text
A SMBC comic told through red narration captions above each panel. The story: a spy reveals how secret messages slipped past enemy cryptographers "in plain sight." Panel 1 ("OUR MESSAGES HAVE ALREADY PASSED THROUGH YOUR CRYPTOGRAPHERS UNNOTICED") shows two people in a car at night. Panel 2 ("UNNOTICED BECAUSE THEY WERE IN PLAIN SIGHT") shows a man approaching a store with a yellow "UNIVERSITY BOOKS" sign. Panel 3 ("YOU SEE, THEY WERE PLACED IN THE EVEN-NUMBERED PROBLEMS OF A MATH TEXTBOOK") shows him browsing a shelf marked "TEXTBOOKS." Panel 4 ("NO ONE WILL EVER FIND THEM") shows hands buying a "CALCULUS" book with cash. Panel 5 ("BECAUSE NO ONE WILL EVER LOOK") shows the open textbook page: the odd-numbered items are real calculus problems (1. dy/dx = y/x; 3. dy/dx = 1/y; etc.), while the even-numbered "problems" are hidden spy messages, e.g. "2. The plan to assassinate Lord John Roxton will be delayed 12 minutes," "6. Agent Thursday has been unmasked. He is Gabriel Syme and works for Scotland Yard," and "8. Kallikrates has returned. He is going by the name 'Leo Vincey.'" The joke: the perfect hiding place for secrets is the part of a math textbook no student ever does. In the votey aftercomic, a person holding a wine glass says "BUT I KNOW NOW... ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK AT EVENS NOW?" and the smiling woman replies "...NO."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.