How to Solve Cryptograms

How the code works

The code on this site is a simple substitution. Each of the 26 letters is swapped for a different letter, and no letter ever stands for itself, so a coded Q is never a plain Q. Two different code letters never stand for the same plain letter either. That gives you two quick checks for every guess: the letter you want must not be the code letter itself, and it must not already be in use somewhere else.

On the page, every coded letter has a square above it for your answer. Select a square and type a letter, or tap one on the A to Z keyboard, and every square with the same code letter fills at once. Used letters are marked on the keyboard, and a letter typed again moves to the new square.

The daily puzzle on this site

Short sayings give fewer clues, which is why easy days come with four letters in place; long ones are slower to type, but their extra words make the code easier to see. The sayings are traditional proverbs, weather rhymes and old country sayings, and none comes back for more than a year.

Start with the short words

The shortest words are the best way in.

• One-letter words are almost always A or I. If the same one-letter code word appears twice, it is very likely A.
• Two-letter words come from a small set: OF, TO, IN, IS, IT, BE, AS, AT, SO, HE, BY, OR, ON, DO, IF, NO, UP and a few more. A two-letter word that starts with a letter you already know narrows the choice to two or three.
• Three-letter words are dominated by THE and AND. A coded three-letter word that appears two or three times in one saying is THE more often than not, and it hands you three letters, including the commonest letter of all.

Apostrophes and punctuation

Apostrophes are gifts, because so few letters can follow them.

• One letter after an apostrophe is S (IT’S, A MAN’S), T (DON’T, CAN’T, WON’T) or D (HE’D).
• Two letters after an apostrophe are usually LL, RE or VE, as in YOU’LL, THEY’RE and WE’VE.
• N before an apostrophe and T after it is the pattern of DON’T and CAN’T: if a word ends in two code letters around an apostrophe, try N and T.

Commas and semicolons split a saying into halves, and many proverbs are built as two matching halves: "first come, first served", "least said, soonest mended". If the two halves of a coded saying start with the same code words, they probably say the same thing twice with one change.

Letter frequency

In ordinary English text a few letters do most of the work. E is the commonest by a clear margin, followed by T, A, O, I, N, S, H and R. Switch on Show letter counts in the options and the page lists every code letter with how often it appears. The code letter at the top of that list is very likely E, and the next few are drawn from T, A, O, I and N.

Frequency is a guide, not a rule, and short sayings bend it most. Use the counts to choose where to try first, then let the words confirm or reject the guess.

Double letters and repeated patterns

A doubled code letter is a doubled plain letter, and only a handful are common: LL, SS, EE, OO, TT and FF, with RR, NN and PP behind them. A four-letter word ending in a doubled letter is often a word like WILL, WELL, FALL or LESS.

Repeated letters inside a word are just as useful. Write down the pattern and compare it with words you know:

Endings repeat across a saying too. Two long words that end in the same three code letters may both end in ING, and a code letter that often ends words is a good candidate for S, E, D or T.

Checks, hints and the leaderboard

When every square is filled, the page sends your letters and the server answers: solved, or not yet. It never says which letters are wrong, so a full grid that is not accepted means at least one letter needs another look. Two helpers are there when you are stuck, and both are counted:

1. Check marks every filled letter that is wrong. It is the quickest way out of a wrong turn on a long saying.
2. Hint shows the right letter for the selected code letter, or for the most frequent one still open if the selected square is already known. Hinted letters are locked, like the ones given at the start.

Cryptogram is ranked by time, fastest first, and fewer checks and hints break ties. The clock starts with your first move, and only a member’s first solve of the day counts for the leaderboard. Practice puzzles from Play more are never ranked, so they are the place to practise without a clock to beat.

Habits that help

• Read the whole coded line first. Look for single letters, apostrophes and repeated short words before typing.
• Say the gaps out loud. A word like NE?ER is often easier to hear than to see.
• Think proverb. Once a few words appear, ask which familiar saying starts that way.
• Use the keyboard on a computer. Type letters, move with the arrow keys, erase with Backspace and undo with Ctrl+Z.

If you enjoy rebuilding words from letters, try Word Scramble next, or the guessing logic of Daily Word.