a beginner`s guide to solving cryptograms

WRITTEN BY
DAVID MCCALL
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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO
SOLVING CRYPTOGRAMS
TIPS & TRICKS
FOR SOLVING CRYPTOGRAMS
THE BASICS
IN A SUBSTITUTION CYPHER/CRYPTOGRAM, ALL THE LETTERS HAVE BEEN
REPLACED BY ANOTHER. IN EACH CRYPTOGRAM, THE SUBSTITUTED
LETTER REMAINS THE SAME THROUGHOUT THE CODE. NO LETTER WILL
REPRESENT ITSELF - ”A“ WILL NEVER REALLY BE AN “A,” FOR
EXAMPLE. THE CODE WILL REMAIN THE SAME THROUGHOUT THE
SPECIFIC CRYPTOGRAM, BUT WILL CHANGE BETWEEN CRYPTOGRAMS.
IN THESE CRYPTOGRAMS, THE SMALLER BOX TOWARD THE BOTTOM IS
EITHER THE AUTHOR OR CHARACTER THAT MADE THE QUOTE.
A REAL PERSON WILL HAVE A BIRTH YEAR (AND IF DECEASED,
THE YEAR OF DEATH). A FICTIONAL CHARACTER WILL BE SIGNIFIED BY
PARENTHESIS.
TIPS FOR SOLVING:
1) I PUT A LITTLE NUMBER BY EACH WORD IN THE ORDER I TRY TO
SOLVE IT. IF I MAKE A HUGE MISTAKE, I CAN FOLLOW MY TRAIL
BACK TO WHERE THE PROBLEM BEGAN.
2) I CALL THIS NEXT TIP THE “1, 2, 3 TIP (1, 2, AND 3
BEING THE NUMBER OF LETTERS IN A WORD).” WE START OUT WITH
ONE-LETTER WORDS. ONE-LETTER WORDS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS GOING
TO BE “A” OR “I.”
TWO-LETTER WORDS USUALLY HAVE ONE CONSONANT AND ONE VOWEL,
AND ARE USUALLY PREPOSITIONS: “AT” “IN” “BE” “TO,” ETC.
TWO-LETTER WORDS THAT START WITH “A” OR “I” ARE EASIEST TO
DO IN THE 1,2,3 ORDER, AS THE ONE-LETTER WORDS HELP YOU
PROGRESS FASTER.
THREE-LETTER WORDS, UNLESS THEY’RE ABBREVIATIONS, TEND TO HAVE
ONE VOWEL. THE MOST COMMON THREE-LETTER WORD IS “THE,”
FOLLOWED BY “AND.”
© Copyright 2010 by David McCall
TIPS & TRICKS
FOR SOLVING CRYPTOGRAMS
SOME MORE THREE-LETTER WORDS TO WATCH FOR WOULD BE “DID,”
“OFF,” AND “ALL,” SINCE THEY TEND TO BE EASIER TO SPOT.
3) A FOUR LETTER WORD THAT STARTS AND ENDS WITH THE SAME LETTER
TENDS TO BE “THAT.”
4) IN A SUBSTITUTION CRYPTOGRAM, PUNCTUATION DOESN’T CHANGE.
A QUESTION MARK WILL ALWAYS REPRESENT A QUESTION; THEREFORE,
“?” MIGHT INDICATE “WHO,” “WHAT,” ”WHEN,” “WHERE,” “WHY,” AND
“HOW,” AND WILL PROBABLY BE HIDING IN THE CODE, USUALLY
TOWARD THE BEGINNING.
5) APOSTROPHES - A TWO-LETTER WORD WITH AN APOSTROPHE BETWEEN
THE TWO LETTERS IS GOING TO BE “I’M.” A THREE-LETTER IS USUALLY
“IT’S” FOLLOWED BY “HE’S.”
WOULDN’T, COULDN’T, DIDN’T, “CAN’T” “HE’S,” “IT’S” - IF IT HAS
ONE LETTER AFTER THE APOSTOPHE, IT IS MOST LIKELY EITHER “T”
OR “S.”
6) WITH SHORTER WORDS, A WORD WITH TWO OF THE SAME LETTERS
NEXT TO EACH OTHER WILL MOST LIKELY REPRESENT EITHER “E”
OR “O” - “GOOD,” “NEED,” “BOOK,” ETC.
WITH LONGER WORDS (USUALLY 5 OR MORE LETTERS), TYPICAL LETTERS
ARE “L” “M” “N” “T” AND “R” “COMMENT,” “BETTER,” ETC.
7) IF YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT, THINK ABOUT THE CONTEXT OF THE
CRYPTOGRAM PUZZLE. WHAT IS IT ABOUT? CAN YOU FIGURE OUT THE
AUTHOR/CHARACTER? (TWO LETTERS WITH A PERIOD AFTER ARE PROBABLY
“MR.” “MS,” OR “DR.” DEPENDING ON WHO THE AUTHOR IS, THE
LANGUAGE (AND SYNTAX) MAY BE DIFFERENT...
8) IF ALL ELSE FAILS, TRY THIS: THE MOST COMMON LETTER IN A
TYPICAL ENGLISH SENTENCE IS “E.”
ON THE NEXT PAGE, WE’VE GIVEN YOU A SAMPLE CRYPTOGRAM.
© Copyright 2010 by David McCall
CRYPTOGRAM
CRYPTOGRAM
7
1
3
“C’RP EPDWKPY ITDI
T HA T
I ’ V E
L E A R N E D
1
3
“C’RP EPDWKPY ITDI
E
E
R
I ’ V E
HNLPITCKQ
E
I
2
SNLPH MWNL PRPWX YPMPDI..”
M
E
S
E
E
E V E R Y
R O
-
4
HNLPITCKQ
S OM E T H I N G
SNKHIWBSICRP
S
I V E
R
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INL EDKYWX
T
A N
R Y
(1924-2000)
© Copyright 2010 by David McCall
SNKHIWBSICRP
C ON S T R U C T I V E
H
H
2
SNLPH MWNL PRPWX YPMPDI..”
C O M E S F R OM E V E R Y D E F E A T
6
H
-
INL EDKYWX
L A N D R Y
T OM
(1924-2000)
© Copyright 2010 by David McCall
1) BASED ON THE LOCATION OF THE APOSTROPHE, “I’VE” IS ABOUT THE ONLY WORD THAT
WILL WORK HERE. SO ANY TIME YOU SEE A “C”, WRITE DOWN I UNDER IT. ANY TIME YOU
SEE AN “R”, WRITE A V UNDER IT. ANY TIME YOU SEE THE LETTER “P,” WRITE DOWN E
BELOW.
2) ONCE THAT IS FINISHED, THE EIGHTH WORD KIND OF STICKS OUT. E V E _ _ IS MOST
LIKELY GOING TO BE THE WORD “EVERY.” SO “W” WILL PROBABLY REPRESENT AN R, AND “X”
IS REALLY Y.
3) REREADING THE CODE, I SEE THAT THE THIRD WORD (ITDI) HAS THE SAME FIRST AND
LAST LETTER. REMEMBER HOW I MENTIONED THAT A 4 LETTER WORD ENDING STARTING AND
ENDING WITH THE SAME LETTER IS PROBABLY “THAT?” TRY IT OUT.
4) WE NOW HAVE “_ _ _ E T H I _ _.” AND “_ E A R _ E _” AS TWO WORDS THAT ARE
STARTING TO LOOK FAMILIAR. LET’S TRY TO SEE IF “SOMETHING” WORKS, ESPECIALLY
SINCE THOSE LETTERS ARE REPEATED IN MANY OTHER PLACES THROUGHOUT THE CODE. ALSO,
WE’RE GETTING MORE OF THE AUTHOR’S NAME. LET’S HOLD OFF ON THAT, THOUGH, FOR NOW.
5) WE HAVE A FEW MORE WORDS THAT ARE STARTING TO “POP” OUT AT US. WE HAVE
“_ O M E S” AND “_ R O M.”
IT COULD BE “DOMES,” “HOMES,” OR “TOMES,” BUT
“COMES” SEEMS MOST LIKELY. LET’S JUST TRY H AND C (THE MOST LIKELY POSSIBILITIES),
JUST TO BE SURE.
6) LET’S TRY “F” FOR “FROM.”
7) “I’VE _EARNE_ THAT SOMETHING CONSTR_CTIVE COMES FROM EVERY _EFEAT.” - TOM
_AN_RY. THE CRYPTOGRAM SEEMS TO MAKE SENSE SO FAR, SO FAR,SO GOOD. NOW LET’S JUST
FINISH THIS UP. I THINK THAT “LEARNED” IS A REASONABLE GUESS. THAT FILLS OUT
“DEFEAT” AS WELL. WE ALSO KNOW (IF NOT BEFORE NOW) THAT THE QUOTE IS FROM TOM
LANDRY. I THINK OUT OF THE REMAINDER, “CONSTRUCTIVE” IS THE ONLY POSSIBILITY THAT
MAKES ANY SENSE.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! A COMPLETED CRYPTOGRAM!
TIPS & TRICKS
FOR SOLVING CRYPTOGRAMS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID PERFORMING MIND READING
WHILE BLINDFOLDED.
DAVID HAS ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN USING GAMES & PUZZLES
FOR MENTAL FITNESS. HIS FAVORITE TYPE OF BRAIN TEASERS ARE
MAZES, CRYPTOGRAMS, AND SUDOKOS. WHILE HE’S CREATED
HUNDREDS OF PUZZLES (SOME OF WHICH YOU MAY SEE IN
UPCOMING MONTHS, THIS IS HIS FIRST “OFFICIAL” E-BOOK.
WHEN NOT DEVELOPING, CREATING OR WRITING ABOUT VARIOUS
BRAIN TEASERS, DAVID WORKS AS A MENTALIST, MAGICIAN,
AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER.
YOU CAN CHECK OUT SOME OF HIS WORK AT
WWW.DAVID-MCCALL.COM
© Copyright 2010 by David McCall