Cryptograph

How to play Cryptograph

• Choose a number in the coded text.
• Assign it the letter you believe it represents.
• Every occurrence of that number changes at once.
• Change an assignment at any time if it stops working.
• The puzzle is done when the quotation reads as English.

Consistency is the lever

Because the substitution never varies, a single correct guess pays out everywhere. Assigning E to the right number can fill a dozen positions in one stroke and turn an unreadable line into a set of recognisable word shapes.

Which is also why one wrong assignment held onto stubbornly can waste a great deal of time. If a word will not resolve, suspect the letter you are most confident about.

Tips and strategy

Count first, guess second

• Tally which numbers appear most. The top one is usually E, with T, A, O, I and N following.
• Look at what ends words. E, S, D and T dominate final positions.
• Look at what starts them. T, A, S, H and W are the common openers.

Short words carry the most information

• A one letter word is A or I.
• Two letter words come from a list of about twenty: of, to, in, is, it, as, at, on, or, be, by, he, we, an, so, no, do, up, my, me.
• Three letter words are dominated by the, and, for, but, not, you, all, can, has.

Solving one three letter word usually gives you three letters, and three letters is normally enough to start reading.

Structural clues

• An apostrophe with one letter after it is S or T. With two it is RE, LL or VE.
• Doubled numbers are most often LL, EE, SS, OO or TT.
• A comma is frequently followed by and or but.
• A number appearing exactly once is likely to be J, Q, X or Z, and can be left until the end.

When you stall

Stop applying rules and read what you have out loud. Half completed words solve themselves through recognition long before frequency analysis gets there, and the brain is better at filling gaps than at counting.