Articles & Books From Cryptograms

Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-27-2021
Cryptography offers you the chance to solve all kinds of puzzles. Use basic solving techniques to crack substitution ciphers, including the Freemason’s cipher. Encode your own messages, decode incoming communications, and have fun trying to figure out conspiracies, codes, and cryptograms!Cryptography 101: Basic solving techniques for substitution ciphersIt doesn’t matter whether a cryptogram presents you with letters, numbers, arcane symbols, lines and dots, or weird alien squiggles — if you’re asked to replace each letter in the alphabet with another symbol, you’re dealing with a simple substitution cipher.
Article / Updated 09-27-2021
These five cryptograms are all letter substitution ciphers, at an Easy level. Each letter of the alphabet is substituted by another letter, and no letter is encrypted as itself.To start out on these puzzles, look for the most frequent letter in each cryptogram — you’ll find it’s almost always E. Single-letter words will be A or I.
Article / Updated 06-06-2016
In this cryptogram, influential Freemason Albert Pike expresses his true feelings on slavery, in several statements on the subject gathered here as a single paragraph:
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Cryptography today has evolved into a complex science (some say an art) presenting many great promises and challenges in the field of information security. The basics of cryptography include classes and types of ciphers — cryptographic transformations — various terms and concepts, and the individual components of the cryptosystem.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Freemasons have used ciphers since at least the 18th century. The Freemason’s Cipher is sometimes called the Pigpen Cipher, because the alphabet is written into a grid of lines, which may look like pigpens, and a cross shape from two diagonal lines. A letter is enciphered by drawing the shape of the cell that encompasses it.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
It doesn’t matter whether a cryptogram presents you with letters, numbers, arcane symbols, lines and dots, or weird alien squiggles — if you’re asked to replace each letter in the alphabet with another symbol, you’re dealing with a simple substitution cipher. All substitution ciphers can be cracked by using the following tips: Scan through the cipher, looking for single-letter words.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Cracking Codes & Cryptograms For Dummies has something extra — a secret word within the book for you to discover! This secret word isn’t listed in the Hints or Answers, and it isn’t mentioned anywhere within the book. The only way you can discover it is by solving the puzzles. Here are a few pointers to get you started on the trail: The secret word occurs as a keyword within one of the substitution cryptograms.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Printing out this page will make it easier to solve these cryptograms. Drawing a light vertical pencil line between the words in a symbol cipher makes it easier for you to see the words and letter patterns. Medium Symbol Cipher 1. Adapted from a story told about the last days of traitor Benedict Arnold (who died in 1801): Medium Symbol Cipher 1 Hint Medium Symbol Cipher 1 Answer Medium Symbol Cipher 2.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
These number substitution cryptograms come from a variety of sources, from ancient times to the modern day. Use your letter frequency skills to crack them! You can find more tips on how to crack cryptograms on the Cracking Codes & Cryptograms For Dummies Cheat Sheet. Tricky Number Cipher 1. The numbers in this cipher have been randomly assigned as any two digit number between 01 and 99.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Even though these number substitution cryptograms may look terribly confusing, they can be solved with exactly the same strategies as letter substitution puzzles. The numbers within one encrypted word are linked by a dot or a dash. Keep a close eye out for the spaces between words and punctuation. Look for the most frequently occurring numbers, which will probably be E, T and A.