What is cryptogram
A cryptogram is a block of text which has been rendered unreadable through the use of what is called a “substitution cypher”. This means that each letter used in the original text has been substituted with another (G becomes A, F becomes P, etc.). Letter/word positions, spaces and punctuation remain unchanged.
Cryptograms have been used as a means of protecting sensitive information for thousands of years, though today computers and more advanced cryptographical methods have made simple substitution cyphers much less practical. Still, they live on in newspapers and puzzle books as a popular form of brain exercise.
Why another cryptogram website?
There are a lot of other websites out there which offer cryptograms, but I wanted to offer a new type of online cryptogram software which could be played exactly as you would play it on paper. Cryptograms.org requires no special keypunches, pull-down menus, or dragging-and-dropping. You can play these puzzles just as you would with pencil and paper – enter a letter anywhere in the puzzle, and the software will automatically copy it for you across all companion positions.
How do I solve a cryptogram?
Cryptograms are solved primarily by two methods. First, pattern recognition. The easiest to recognize are single-letter words, which generally can only be A or I (or, rarely, O). Then there are a limited number of two-letter words such as IN, IS, IT, TO, AN, AT, AS, WE, HE, US, etc. One trick in particular is to look for the common TH- words, i.e. THE, THAT, THEN, THEY, THERE, THEIR.
Secondly, the successful cryptogrammer will use letter frequency to help suss out a difficult puzzle. The twelve most frequently-used letters in the English language are ETAOIN SHRDL, in that order. The least common letters are JXQZ. If you notice a certain letter being used again in again in any given cryptogram, at a frequency much higher than any other letter, its a good bet that its unencrypted form will be one of the ETAOIN group.
More at http://www.cryptograms.org/