Professor Fox entered the room and walked quietly to one of the main blackboards, keeping his hands in his pockets. He then began writing a note to the classroom, and when he had finished simply left. Quote:
Students,
Note, I would recommend attempting to solve the second puzzle first, as it is encoded using a much simpler and more traditional method. Furthermore, the second puzzle has no space holders.
Now, place holders are simply meaningless letters contained in a puzzle to make it easier to decode if you know how and harder if you do not. For example:
In the puzzle,
gnsh reaa egnm egdx
x is a space holder whose purpose is to make certain there are 16 letters instead of fifteen. This makes decoding the original message easier for anyone who knows how to decode it. A good idea is always to write down what you know about the puzzle first. One piece of information that is important concerning the first puzzle is the number of letters in it. Also note, space holders can occur anywhere in a puzzle, not merely at the end. Again, I would personally attempt to solve the second puzzle before the first.
Lastly, I have added a hint concerning the second puzzle to the bulletin board.
As always good luck,
Professor L.M. Fox