PBS to show Austen films on Masterpiece Theatre

'Complete Jane Austen' features all her novels
By Steve Brennan

Nov 2, 2007
Jane Austen fans in the U.S. can be grateful for what appears to have been something of a local feud between the U.K.'s ITV and the BBC over filmed versions of the author's English classics. The rush to production over recent years has made it possible for PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre" to air adaptations of all six of her novels for the first time in what amounts to an Austen festival beginning in January.

Fans in the U.S. have been busily blogging for months with chatter about the upcoming series, "The Complete Jane Austen." But full details of the event are now being outlined by U.K. screenwriter Andrew Davies and "Masterpiece" executive producer Rebecca Eaton, who are on a multicity tour to promote the series and meet sponsors.

"Complete Jane Austen" offers new productions of "Northanger Abbey," "Persuasion," "Mansfield Park" and "Sense and Sensibility." The lineup also includes "Pride and Prejudice," starring Colin Firth, as well as the version of "Emma" that stars Kate Beckinsale.

drawing above: Austen at Bath, England

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Persuasion Cryptogram

The puzzle below is a quote from Persuasion by Jane Austen.

The puzzle is a simple letter substitution.

XUFPF JD R NWJVCZFDD YB MFPVFMXJYZ JZ


DYTF, R ZJVFXK JZ XUF SJDVFPZTFZX YB


VURPRVXFP, R ZRXWPRE MFZFXPRXJYZ, JZ


DUYPX, OUJVU ZY FLMFPJFZVF JZ YXUFPD


VRZ FNWRE.

Two hints:
The first word is "there"
The last word is "equal"

If you would prefer to work the puzzle from the
original site go here.

SOLVING SUGGESTIONS

(1) A single letter is probably A or I. Given

PV PF X VBGVR GCPNZBFXAAD XTICMJAZHSZH VRXV ... one might guess that X=A.

(2) Look for common patterns. For instance, "PV PF" could be "IT IS" and "VRXV" begins and ends with the same letter so might be "THAT".

(3) You can use either upper or lower case letters in your decoding table. You might want to use upper case for letters you are sure of, and lower case for tentative assignments. For example, if you are sure that V=T and R=H and have a suspicion that B=R, then set B=r (lower case) in your decoding table, to see "VBGVR" partially decoded as "Tr-TH".

(4) Some quotations contain proper names or archaic spellings. If you are having trouble, the hints may help. If there are several hints, they are usually progressive -- that is, hint #1 will give you a little information, hint #2 will give a bit more, and so on.

(5) The letter to appear most frequently in the English
language is E.

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