Cracking Codes and Cryptograms For Dummies
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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.

  • The cryptogram in question doesn’t have any introductory text saying that the puzzle has a keyword.

  • Decrypt the cryptograms in the usual way. To reveal any possible keywords, write out the plaintext and cipher alphabet in two rows (a to z on the top line, and the encrypted cipher letters on the second line, beneath the alphabet). If the puzzle has a keyword, you’ll see a sequence of letters that spells out a word within the cipher alphabet.

  • The secret word has more than three letters.

  • Not all keywords are placed at the start of the alphabet.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Denise Sutherland is a syndicated puzzle author. Her puzzles appear in a range of publications, including the Reader's Digest Mind Stretchers series, and she is the author of Word Searches For Dummies.

Mark E. Koltko-Rivera, PhD, is a 32degree Freemason and expert on the major symbols and ceremonies of Freemasonry. Using this expertise, he analyzed prepublication clues to uncover and blog about key elements of The Lost Symbol. He co-hosts the weekly podcast Masonic Central.

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