How To Solve A Cryptogram (2024)

A cryptogram is a puzzle with an encrypted message, where each letter in the message has been substituted by another letter of the alphabet. As you guess each substitution, add the letter everywhere it occurs in the puzzle, and the message will start to reveal itself.

The example puzzle below contains an encrypted quotation by the late great Robbie Coltrane.

How To Solve A Cryptogram (1)

Getting started

These can help you start solving a cryptogram:

1 Words with the given letter

2 One-letter words

3 Words with an apostrophe

4 Letter patterns in words

5 Letter frequency in the puzzle

1 Words with the given letter

First, look at the words containing the given letter (‘G’ in the example). In this puzzle, the best starting point is probably G_ _ _G. The most likely answer is GOING (as GULAG is unlikely in a celebrity quote!). You could pencil in GOING now or look for further confirmation — up to you.

2 One-letter words

Turning to the other letters in the word G_ _ _G, we see that one of the letters (‘E’) also appears at the start of the puzzle, on its own as a one-letter word.

There are two commonly found one-letter words in English: ‘A’ and ‘I’. (‘O’ is found in exclamations only.) This message contains two different one-letter words, represented by the letters ‘E’ and ‘F’ in the cryptogram.

Substituting the letter ‘E’ in G_ _ _G with ‘A’ or ‘I’ would give ‘G_ A _G’ or ‘G_ I _G’ respectively. This again makes GOING the most likely answer. And, logically, if the one-letter word ‘E’ is ‘I’, then the other one-letter word ‘F’ must be ‘A’.

How To Solve A Cryptogram (2)

3 Words with an apostrophe

A single letter following an apostrophe could represent ‘S’, ‘T’ or ‘D’. In a long word (as in this puzzle), the letter after the apostrophe is likely to be ‘S’.

4 Letter patterns in words

Keep an eye out for double letters and any other repeated letter patterns in words, as these are often the easiest words to decipher, especially in combination with the given letter. In English, double letters could be the vowels EE or OO, or the consonants BB, CC, DD, FF, GG, LL, MM, NN, PP, RR, SS, TT, ZZ.

In this puzzle, if ‘H’ after the apostrophe represents ‘S’, then the word HBBXH in the third row is S_ _ _S. ‘B’ in that word must represent a vowel, and it can’t be ‘UU’, ‘AA’ or ‘II’, so it must be ‘OO’ or ‘EE’. We’ve already had ‘O’ in GOING, so we can be fairly certain that ‘B’ represents ‘E’, which gives SEE_S.

SEE_S could be SEEDS, SEEKS, SEEMS, SEEPS or SEERS, so look at the words that follow it: ‘_O _E GOING’. A reasonable guess is SEEMS TO BE GOING.

Before the apostrophe is the letter pattern E-T-L, which is repeated at the end of the word we’ve guessed to be GOING. So, E-T-L is the common letter pattern I-N-G.

5 Letter frequency in the puzzle

If you’re struggling to get started with any cryptogram, look for the most common letter in the puzzle. In English texts, the most frequently occurring letter is ‘E’. In this puzzle, the letter ‘B’ is the most common letter, so you can pencil in ‘E’ as a likely substitution for ‘B’.

Taken together, this gives us the word E_E_ _ _ _ING’S, which is likely to be EVERYTHING’S.

Making progress

These will help you polish off a cryptogram:

1 Knowing how English works

2 Keeping track of letters, especially vowels

3 Guessing what the celebrity might say

1 Knowing how English works

Short words in cryptograms can be helpful, as two- and three-letter words in English are often grammatical words. For example, prepositions, such as ON, IN, TO, AT; the articles A, AN and THE; conjunctions, such as AND, OR, BUT, IF; personal pronouns, such as ME, HE, WE, SHE.

‘S’ is often found at the end of English words as a plural noun or verb form.

2 Keeping track of letters, especially vowels

Every English word contains at least one of the five vowels or Y, and many cryptogram puzzles contain all the vowels and Y. Keep track of which vowels you’ve already used, and which are still to go in. ‘Q’ in English is almost always followed by ‘U’.

3 Guessing what the celebrity might say

Unsurprisingly, quotes by famous people often have ‘I’, ‘my’ or ‘me’ in them. Film stars love to talk about films, musicians about music, and sportspeople about winning!

Practicalities

  • Jot down the letters A to Z to the side of the puzzle, keeping a note of the substitutions as you go. For example, E=I, H=S, L=G.

  • Solve the puzzle in pencil so you can erase guesses if needed.

And, in case you were wondering, here’s the completed cryptogram:

How To Solve A Cryptogram (3)

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How To Solve A Cryptogram (2024)

FAQs

How To Solve A Cryptogram? ›

Analyze word lengths, letter frequencies, and context clues. Substitution ciphers often have common patterns, such as "the" or "and." Patience and trial-and-error are key, gradually filling in letters and building momentum. Additionally, consider common prefixes and suffixes to help deduce words.

What is the strategy for solving cryptograms? ›

Cryptography 101: Basic solving techniques for substitution ciphers
  1. Scan through the cipher, looking for single-letter words. ...
  2. Count how many times each symbol appears in the puzzle. ...
  3. Pencil in your guesses over the ciphertext. ...
  4. Look for apostrophes. ...
  5. Look for repeating letter patterns.
Sep 27, 2021

What is the cryptogram code? ›

A cryptogram is a kind of secret code. The formal name for this particular kind of code is a simple substitution cipher. Strictly speaking, a code is a method of disguising a message that uses a dictionary of arbitrarily chosen replacements for each possible word.

What is an example of a cryptogram? ›

Cryptograms in newspapers and magazines are usually based on a simple substitution cipher, often replacing each letter in the alphabet with a different one. The letter A, for example, might be represented by the letter K, while the letter K is represented by the letter R.

What is the trick to solving puzzles? ›

Sort your pieces by color and pattern. These are the most easily-distinguished features and they offer a way to break the puzzle into a series of manageable sub-tasks. Also, set aside corner and edge pieces. Optional tip: Divide your piles into smaller collections of pieces based on their number of tabs and blanks.

Do cryptograms help your brain? ›

Cryptograms can improve memory, focus, and concentration. To solve the puzzle, it's necessary to pay close attention to details and use their brains in a variety of ways. Solving cryptograms requires students to use logical thinking, deductive reasoning, and trial-and-error to decode the encrypted message.

What are the rules for cryptograms? ›

A cryptogram is a puzzle with an encrypted message, where each letter in the message has been substituted by another letter of the alphabet. As you guess each substitution, add the letter everywhere it occurs in the puzzle, and the message will start to reveal itself.

What is the difference between a cipher and a cryptogram? ›

A cryptogram is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text. Generally the cipher used to encrypt the text is simple enough that the cryptogram can be solved by hand. Substitution ciphers where each letter is replaced by a different letter or number are frequently used.

How do you solve cryptograms for kids? ›

The basic strategy is to continually build on what you have, using the letters you know to help figure out other letters and words in the message. Check the list of letters you've used (which are marked off automatically at the top of the puzzle) as you go to help you think about your possibilities.

What is the program that solves cryptograms? ›

quipqiup is a fast and automated cryptogram solver by Edwin Olson. It can solve simple substitution ciphers often found in newspapers, including puzzles like cryptoquips (in which word boundaries are preserved) and patristocrats (inwhi chwor dboun darie saren t).

What is the hardest cryptogram? ›

What Is the Most Difficult Cipher to Crack?
  • RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) One of the first public-key cryptosystems and is widely used for secure data transmission. ...
  • Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) ...
  • Twofish. ...
  • One-Time Pad (OTP) ...
  • AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) ...
  • Camellia. ...
  • Serpent. ...
  • ECC (Elliptic-Curve Cryptography)

How to crack a cryptogram? ›

Expand your search to 3-letter words that repeat throughout the puzzle. As you start finding more letters, 3-letter words become a lot easier to decipher. If the word comes at the start of the sentence and has 3 different characters, try substituting in the word THE since it's usually the most common.

How to solve a cryptogram without a key? ›

To solve cryptograms without hints, start by identifying common one-letter words, like "a" or "I," and look for repeated patterns. Analyze word lengths, letter frequencies, and context clues.

What is the best way to start a cryptogram? ›

#1. Start with the one-letter words.

In the english language, the only two commonly used one-letter words are I and a, so it's usually a safe bet that any single-letter word in your puzzle can be decoded to one of those two.

How do you approach cryptograms? ›

The basic strategy is to continually build on what you have, using the letters you know to help figure out other letters and words in the message. Check the list of letters you've used (which are marked off automatically at the top of the puzzle) as you go to help you think about your possibilities.

What is the most strategic way to do a puzzle? ›

Our Top 7 Tricks To Complete Puzzles Like The Pros
  1. Turn all the pieces up the right way. ...
  2. Start with the borders. ...
  3. Sort the pieces into similar colours and build from there. ...
  4. Work on smaller images within the bigger image. ...
  5. Sort pieces into the same shapes (especially if you're struggling at the end with one block of colour)
Aug 20, 2021

How do cryptogram puzzles work? ›

Substitution ciphers where each letter is replaced by a different letter or number are frequently used. To solve the puzzle, one must recover the original lettering. Though once used in more serious applications, they are now mainly printed for entertainment in newspapers and magazines.

References

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