Have you ever commit a secret message – perhaps to outsmart an opposite or just to keep a surprise party under wrapper ? We all need to send the occasional clandestine communiqué , and a great way of life to do it is through secret writing , a eccentric of puzzle that uses varsity letter or number substitutions to blot out the significance of a Bible or set phrase . As long as only the author and intended recipients of the message are privy to the substitution computer code , its hidden signification persist a mystery .
Throughout chronicle , cryptogramshave been used to protect some of the world ’s most tightly bind secrets . One of the most notable secret writing is the Zimmerman Telegram , which was direct during World War I by the German foreign minister , Arthur Zimmerman , to the German ambassador to Mexico , Heinrich von Eckhart [ rootage : National Archives ] . In it , Zimmerman use a numeric codification to offer Mexico substantial portions of U.S. district in interchange for Mexico ’s cooperation with Germany against the U.S. The Zimmerman wire was quickly decode by the British , and the U.S. enter the warfare on the side of the Allies just a few weeks afterward .
There are many unlike way to code a message using a secret writing . One rather simple exemplar is called asubstitution cipher , where the letter " A " is exchange for the missive " Z , " the letter " B " is fill in for the letter ' yttrium , " and so on through the alphabet [ source : Puzzle Baron ’s Cryptograms ] . Another is theCaesar cipher , in which each letter of the alphabet is shifted by a sure number of infinite . For good example , using the Caesar cipher with a shift of one space , the word ' DOG ' becomes " EPH " ' [ source : Trinity College ] .
Traditionally , cryptograms have been used by politico , spies , lovers , and perhaps some ingenious teenagers who want to shroud their covert conversation from parents ' prying eyes . These twenty-four hour period they are becoming increasingly common asbrainteasers , with an raiment of Web site and nomadic applications give to the solving of cryptograms and cryptoquotes , which are only cryptograms base on celebrated quotes [ source : Donahue ] . In the next section , we research some of the basic strategies for solving cryptograms .
How to Solve Cryptograms
Solving a cryptogram takes solitaire , absorption and a bit ofstrategy . For the latter , you do n’t have to go it alone . There are as many different approaches to work cryptograms as there are cryptograms themselves . Start by searching the text for patterns . Are there certain letter of the alphabet that pass off more often than others ? Identifying them is called frequency analysis , a good first stone’s throw in solving cryptogram [ rootage : Puzzle Baron ’s Cryptograms ] .
As a crypto - sleuth , ETAOIN is your dear booster . This is a mnemonic theatrical performance of the most common English alphabetic character in order of their frequency in thelanguage . This is important to keep in mind . If a letter in a cryptogram appear much more often than others , it ’s potential that it will decode to one of the letter in ETAOIN , with an even higher probability that it will decipher to an " E " or " T. "
When resolve a cryptogram , focus on the little give-and-take first . The English linguistic process only has two one - letter of the alphabet Word of God , " I " and " A , " so look for unmarried numbers that could be one or the other . Once in a while you may feel a secret writing with the primitive letter " O " ( for example , " O , say can you see … " ) , but it ’s rarefied . apostrophe are also low - hanging fruit when it comes to clear cryptograms . There are a special phone number of choices when it comes to letters that come before and after apostrophe ( mainly contractions and possessives ) , so identifying them is usually easy [ source : Puzzle Baron ’s Cryptograms ] .
Solving anything long than three letters in a cryptogram becomes a bit harder . It helps to focus ondigraphs , which is where two letters make one sound , such as " CH , " " SH , " and " TH . " By place the letter " H " in a cryptogram , you could search for other places where it occurs at the end of a word , which is likely to be another digram . Double consonants and double vowel sound also go a retentive style toward revealing a cryptogram ’s signification .
It ’s of import to keep in nous the base of a cryptogram if one is have by its creator . This almost always gives a cue as to the content of the hidden phrase or quotation mark . These scheme may be enough to crack many of the most common codes – and perhaps even some of the more obscure ones . But commend that even the most skilled code - crackers spend a bunch of time only gazing at the puzzle and waiting for the out of sight message to unwrap itself .
