Crack the letter code to read the proverb: every letter stands for another, the same way every time
A cryptogram is a short piece of text written in a simple letter code. Every letter has been swapped for a different letter, and the swap is the same all the way through: if R stands for E once, it stands for E everywhere. Your job is to work out the code and read the message. Ours uses well-known proverbs and a few sayings written for this site, and the code is new every time you play, so the same proverb never looks the same twice. Before a phrase was added, a solver tried every word in a 39,000-word English list against its letter pattern, and the letters you are shown at the start are enough to leave exactly one reading.
Pick a level. Easy shows the letters needed for a single answer plus two more, medium plus one, and hard shows only the letters needed (some phrases start with none).
Press New cryptogram. Each square has a small code letter underneath; the big space above it is for your guess. Given letters are already filled in.
Tap a square, then tap a letter on the keyboard (or type it). Every square with the same code letter fills in at once, and the cursor jumps to the next blank code letter.
Use ⌫ or Backspace to clear a guess. Keys you have already used are greyed out, because no two code letters can stand for the same letter.
With Show clashes on, two code letters that you have given the same guess turn red.
Stuck? Hint fills in the right letter for the selected code letter (or the first wrong one). Hints lower the XP for that puzzle but not your time.
When every code letter is right, the proverb is shown in full and your time is saved as a best for that level.
Pattern recognition in language. Solving a cryptogram means noticing word shapes (a one-letter word is almost always A or I, a three-letter word with a common last letter is often THE or AND), holding several possible letter swaps in mind, and testing each guess against every other word that shares those letters. It exercises working memory, spelling knowledge and the habit of revising a guess when the evidence changes, the same skills used in word puzzles and codebreaking. Another word game to try next: Word Scramble. Prefer paper? The printable puzzle pack has twelve proverb cryptograms with answer keys.
Start with one-letter words: in English they are A or I.
Look for the most common three-letter words, THE and AND. A repeated three-letter code word is very often THE.
Apostrophes are left out of our phrases, so short words are whole words, not parts of contractions.
Watch for doubled letters: in English the most common pairs are LL, EE, SS, OO and TT.
Count how often each code letter appears (the line under the puzzle tells you for the selected one). The most frequent letters in English text are E, T, A, O, I and N.
Words with repeated letters have a pattern you can test: a code word like XYZZY must be a word whose third and fourth letters match.
Guess boldly but check every other word your guess touches; a single impossible word means the guess is wrong.
A cryptogram is a puzzle in which a short text has been written in a substitution code: every letter is replaced by another letter, always the same one. You solve it by working out which letter each code letter stands for until the text reads clearly.
No. The code is drawn so that no letter is ever replaced by itself, and two different code letters never stand for the same letter. That is why a used key is greyed out.
Yes. For every phrase, a solver tried all the words in a 39,000-word English list that fit each code word's letter pattern and the letters shown, keeping the code one-to-one. The phrase is used only if exactly one reading is left, and the letters shown at the start of the hard level are the fewest that make that true.
Most are traditional proverbs, such as 'Actions speak louder than words', which belong to no one. A few were written for Mind Skills Arcade. The source is shown when you finish.
How many letters are filled in at the start. Hard shows only the letters needed for a single answer, medium shows one more and easy two more. The phrases are the same pool on every level.
A hint fills in one correct letter. It does not add time, but each hint lowers the XP for that puzzle, and the finish screen shows how many you used.
Yes. Our printable puzzle pack includes twelve proverb cryptograms with large print and answer keys; see the Printables page.
It is free with no sign-up. Your best time per level, the number of puzzles you have solved and the Show clashes setting are saved in this browser only.