Cryptograms, free to solve

How to Solve One

1. 1

   Every Letter Stands for Another

   One substitution, used consistently all the way through. If G stands for T once, it stands for T everywhere — so cracking a single letter fills in every place it appears.

2. 2

   Start with the One-Letter Words

   In English a lone letter is almost always A or I. That is two of the twenty-six settled before you have thought about anything else.

3. 3

   Then look at the short words and the endings

   THE, AND, OF and TO make up a startling share of ordinary English. A three-letter word appearing twice is very often THE, and a word ending in the same letter as several others is probably ending in S.

4. 4

   Use the Doubles

   A doubled letter is a strong clue: LL, EE, SS, OO and TT account for most of them. A double at the end of a short word is usually LL or SS.

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Cryptogram questions, answered