Could a word on ball of string be deciphered if the ball unravelled?

Deciphering a word written on a ball of string that then unravelled depends on the randomness of the rolling process, says one New Scientist reader. But why not try it for yourself at home?

21 September 2022

FTTG61 Ball of white heavy thread isolated on white — Anton Starikov/Alamy

If you wrote a word on a ball of string, then unravelled it, how challenging would it be to decipher the word?

Bryn Glover
Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire, UK

I would expect that a word written on the ball pictured (above) could never be deciphered.

In any coding or ciphering process, the vital factor is that the coder and intended decoder operate according to a logical, predictable process known to both. The first step for a decoder is to discover what this process is.

Some balls of string are wound systematically by machinery, producing a regular cylinder, for example. In…