# Stein 1999: The Puzzle at CIA Headquarters: Cracking the Courtyard Crypto

> David D. Stein, 1999. 6 records on Mysteries Department cite it. Primary account of the first public solution inside the CIA and of how the sculpture was…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D7HSVVA2G5B/the-puzzle-at-cia-headquarters-cracking-the-courtyard-crypto  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Kryptos](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/kryptos)Stein 1999

**0**

# The Puzzle at CIA Headquarters: Cracking the Courtyard Crypto

David D. Stein, 1999. _Studies in Intelligence 43(1), CIA_.

The CIA analyst's own account of solving K1 to K3 by hand over about 400 hours from 1991 to 1998, with the editor's note on the commission and Scheidt's role. Released and posted by the National Security Archive.

**Kryptos** ArticleCopy of **[David Stein, "The Puzzle at CIA Headquarters: Cracking the Courtyard Crypto" (Studies in Intelligence, 1999)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/kryptos/artifacts/ART0D7HTJSP0MDA/david-stein-the-puzzle-at-cia-headquarters-cracking-the)** Checked against the original0

## What it's used for here

Primary account of the first public solution inside the CIA and of how the sculpture was made.

## The document 11 pages

[Pages][Text]Page 1 of 11

[![Page 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p1)1][![Page 2](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p2)2][![Page 3](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p3)3][![Page 4](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p4)4][![Page 5](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p5)5][![Page 6](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p6)6][![Page 7](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p7)7][![Page 8](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p8)8][![Page 9](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p9)9][![Page 10](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p10)10][![Page 11](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p11)11]

![Page 1 of The Puzzle at CIA Headquarters: Cracking the Courtyard Crypto](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0/p1)

Text taken from the file. Check it against the page.

## Cited by on this site 6 records

[David Stein, "The Puzzle at CIA Headquarters: Cracking the Courtyard Crypto" (Studies in Intelligence, 1999)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/kryptos/artifacts/ART0D7HTJSP0MDA/david-stein-the-puzzle-at-cia-headquarters-cracking-the)

ART

[David Stein, "The Puzzle at CIA Headquarters: Cracking the Courtyard Crypto" (Studies in Intelligence, 1999): scan](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/kryptos/copies/CPY0D7HTK1G72X9/david-stein-the-puzzle-at-cia-headquarters-cracking-the)

CPY

[Stein's worked solution of K1 to K3 (declassified)](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0D7HTH307VFQ/steins-worked-solution-of-k1-to-k3-declassified)

Dataset

DAT

[CIA analyst David Stein solves K1 to K3 with pencil and paper](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/kryptos/events/EVT0D7HT54623CK/cia-analyst-david-stein-solves-k1-to-k3-with-pencil-and)

EVT

[David Stein](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/kryptos/people/FIG0D7HT2XW33D9/david-stein)

FIG

[Kryptos](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/kryptos)

The mystery article

MYS

## Cite it

```
Stein, D. D. (1999). The Puzzle at CIA Headquarters: Cracking the Courtyard Crypto. Studies in Intelligence 43(1), CIA. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB431/docs/intell_ebb_010.PDF
```

[Read it free at nsarchive2.gwu.edu](https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB431/docs/intell_ebb_010.PDF)[Download PDF · 1018 KB](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/d/13ac4582602318b4cdb7a3b6931dab9708904e7d06e417d1eb33182619c44db0)

Anyone can read it here; members can download it.

Key

**SRC** 0D7HSVVA2G5B

Kind

Journal article

Rights

public-domain

Kept

26 Oct 2026

Checked

Against the published article

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

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