The final puzzle will not accept the correct answer to the cryptogram. I've types it over and over, checked to make sure the case of each letter is correct., but it will not accept it. It appears bugged. Anyone else run into this? I've searched everywhere and made sure my answer is correct.

The answer changes every time you play.
Andrew Schultz's FAQ has the best solution to the puzzle, he points out which letters match to the cypher

Ah, I see. I misinterpreted the question to be answered. I thought the key to the puzzle was the answer itself.
Thank you!

another hint if you use dosbox:
type ALT-Pause. It will freeze the timer. You will see PAUSED in the title bar.

Yes, this would have been the smart way to work through the final challenge. Unfortunately I did not do it tried to beat the game fairly and failed.... Which I thought is nothing bad as one can try it again....the issue however then has been that all the items required to get their had been gone and in order to try it a second time I would need to go back to all the places and collect them.... somehow I could not find the energy to do this.. had mixed feeling of failing (it too me 5 min longer than what the game has given me) and having been betrayed to try it again...So MM2 will have to wait another 30 years till I play it again....as starting MM3 has been much more energizing