Editing Cryptogram

{{short description|Puzzle}}
{{Other uses}}
{{redirect|Cryptic writings|the Megadeth album|Cryptic Writings}}
{{distinguish|text=[[cryptogam]], a type of biological organism}}

[[File:Cryptogram-example.svg|right|thumb|297px|Example cryptogram. When decoded it reads: "Style and structure are the essence of a book; great ideas are hogwash." -Vladimir Nabokov]]
A '''cryptogram''' is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of [[encryption|encrypted]] text.<ref name= "allure">{{cite news |last=Danesi |first=Marcel |url= https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-workout/201009/cryptograms-and-the-allure-secret-codes |title=Cryptograms and the Allure of Secret Codes |work=[[Psychology Today]] |date=September 22, 2010 |access-date=June 11, 2017}}</ref> Generally the [[cipher]] used to encrypt the text is simple enough that the cryptogram can be solved by hand. [[Substitution cipher]]s where each letter is replaced by a different letter, number, or symbol are frequently used. To solve the puzzle, one must recover the original lettering. Though once used in more serious applications, they are now mainly printed for entertainment in newspapers and magazines.

Other types of [[classical cipher]]s are sometimes used to create cryptograms. An example is the [[book cipher]], where a book or article is used to encrypt a message.

==History==
The ciphers used in cryptograms were created not for entertainment purposes, but for real encryption of military or [[privacy|personal secrets]].<ref name="Sutherland">{{cite book |last=Sutherland |first=Denise |title=Cracking Codes and Cryptograms For Dummies |last2=                                         
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                     Koltko-Rivera |first2=Mark |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-1180-6847-2}}</ref>

The first use of the cryptogram for entertainment purposes occurred during the [[Middle Ages]] by monks who had spare time for intellectual games. A manuscript found at [[Bamberg]] states that Irish visitors to the court of [[Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad]] (died 844), king of [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]] in [[Wales]], were given a cryptogram which could only be solved by transposing the letters from Latin into Greek.<ref>Kenney, J. F. (1929), The Sources for the Early History of Ireland (Ecclesiastical), Dublin, Four Courts Press, p. 556 (363).</ref> Around the thirteenth century, the English monk [[Roger Bacon]] wrote a book in which he listed seven cipher methods, and stated that "a man is crazy who writes a secret in any other way than one which will conceal it from the vulgar." In the 19th century [[Edgar Allan Poe]] helped to popularize cryptograms with many newspaper and magazine articles.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/edgar-allan-poe-and-cryptography-are-there-hidden-messages-in-eureka/2013/04/27|title=Edgar Allan Poe and cryptography: Are there hidden messages in Eureka?|work=baltimorepostexaminer.com|access-date=2017-09-28|language=en-US}}</ref>

Well-known examples of cryptograms in contemporary culture are the syndicated newspaper puzzles Cryptoquip and Cryptoquote, from [[King Features Syndicate|King Features]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://weekly.kingfeatures.com/?team=games-and-puzzles|title=Games and Puzzles {{!}} King Features Weekly Service|website=weekly.kingfeatures.com|date=16 June 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-19}}</ref> Celebrity Cipher, distributed by [[Andrews McMeel Syndication|Andrew McMeel]], is another cipher game in contemporary culture, challenging the player to decrypt quotes from famous personalities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Imi |first=K |date=March 22, 2023 |title=Celebrity Cipher Today Answer |url=https://cryptoquip.net/todays-celebrity-cipher-answer/ |access-date=March 22, 2023 |work=Cryptoquip.net |pages=1}}</ref> 

A cryptoquip is a specific type of cryptogram that usually comes with a clue or a pun. The solution often involves a humorous or witty phrase.<ref>{{Cite web |last=William |date=2024-08-11 |title=Cryptoquip Answer Today |url=https://cryptoquip.net/cryptoquip-answer-today/ |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=Cryptoquip |language=en-US}}</ref>

In a public challenge, writer J.M. Appel announced on September 28, 2014, that the table of contents page of his short story collection, ''Scouting for the Reaper'', doubled as a cryptogram, and he pledged an award for the first to solve it.<ref>"A Challenge," ''Hoosier Topics'', (Cloverdale, IN) Sept 29, 2014</ref>

==Solving a cryptogram==
Cryptograms based on substitution ciphers can often be solved by [[frequency analysis]] and by recognizing letter patterns in words, such as one-letter words, which, in English, can only be "i" or "a" (and sometimes "o"). Double letters, apostrophes, and the fact that no letter can substitute for itself in the cipher also offer clues to the solution. Occasionally, cryptogram puzzle makers will start the solver off with a few letters.

A printed code key form (the alphabet with a blank under each letter to fill in the substituted letter) is usually not provided but can be drawn to use as a solving aid if needed.  Skilled puzzle solvers should require neither a code key form nor starter clue letters.

==Other crypto puzzles==
While the cryptogram has remained popular, over time other puzzles similar to it have emerged. One of these is the Cryptoquote, which is a famous quote encrypted in the same way as a cryptogram. A more recent version, with a biblical twist, is CodedWord. This puzzle makes the solution available only online, where it provides a short exegesis on the biblical text. A third is the Cryptoquiz. The top of this puzzle has a category (unencrypted), such as "Flowers". Below this is a list of encrypted words which are related to the stated category. The person must then solve for the entire list to finish the puzzle. Yet another type involves using numbers as they relate to texting to solve the puzzle.

The [[Zodiac Killer]] sent four cryptograms to police while he was still active. Despite much research, only two of these have been translated, which was of no help in identifying the serial killer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/headline-story/16679/zodiac-killer-cipher-amateur-codebreakers/|title=The obsessive amateur code-breakers hoping to crack the Zodiac killer's cipher|website=kernelmag.dailydot.com|access-date=2017-09-28|archive-date=2017-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928150347/http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/headline-story/16679/zodiac-killer-cipher-amateur-codebreakers/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of famous ciphertexts]]
*[[Musical cryptogram]]
*[[American Cryptogram Association]]
*[[Verbal arithmetic]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Cryptography navbox | classical}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:History of cryptography]]
[[Category:Word puzzles]]