How to Solve Cryptograms

A cryptogram, also sometimes called a cryptoquote, is a phrase where the 26 letters are encoded with a rearrangement of the alphabet. For example the phrase

TO BE OR NOT TO BE

could be represented by the code

AB CD BE FBA AB CD

where A=T, B=O, C=B, D=E, E=R, and F=N.

To solve the puzzle you have to go back from the code to the original phrase. My puzzles are rearranged completely. A letter is not represented by the same letter in the code.

One method to solve the puzzle is to assume letters that are frequent in the puzzle are as frequent as normal English. The most frequent letters are in this order E,T,A,O,I,N,S,R,H,D,L,U,C,M,F ,Y,W,G,P,B,V,K,X,Q,J,Z.

So if your puzzle contains the most of letter Z then maybe Z represents E or T. If there are some small words in the puzzle, you can usually guess what they are. There are only two one-letter words, A and I. Common two letter words are: AM, AN, AS, AT, BE, BY DO, GO, HE, HI, IF, IN, IS, IT ME, MY, NO, OR, SO, TO, UP, US, AND WE. Common three letter words are “THE” and so on. Also, only certain letters can occur after an apostrophe. Also, plural words end in s.

Once you figure out a few letters you can fill them in below the puzzle in pencil as you crack the code. Then you can start to guess the other letters that are used less or see if your guesses are consistent with your existing letter choices.

 My puzzles are about medium difficulty. There are two tables of hints in the back of my books that will help you solve the puzzles if you get stuck. The first hints and second hints each reveal two letters of the code for a total of four letter reveals. There are also complete answers in the back of my books. Shorter puzzles will generally be more difficult than longer puzzles. There are difficult and easy puzzles towards the beginning of the books, and medium puzzles towards the end.

Check out the video below for some tips on how to solve cryptograms.

Good Luck! 

Here is a link to my most popular book of cryptograms. This is the best selling book on cryptograms  on Amazon for the last six months.