Word puzzles
Cryptogram — rules and where to play
CRYPTOGRAM · Substitution cipher / Crypto
Each letter is swapped for another fixed letter; you recover the sentence from frequency and common words. You play the code-breaker.
- Origin
- 1840 · United States
- Difficulty
- ★★★★★ 2–4 / 5
- Time
- 10–30 min
- Grid
- Cipher text
- Sites
- 2
Rules
- Every plaintext letter maps to one ciphertext letter (the same letter always the same cipher).
- Spaces and punctuation usually stay; only letters are replaced.
- Restoring the full plaintext sentence wins.
How to start
Start on single-letter words
In English those are almost only I and a — pin them first.
Use frequency and common words
E, T, A top the chart; the, and, of repeat — align them.
Lean on bigrams and endings
th, er, ing, ed are frequent clusters that lock whole regions.
Where players get stuck
- Assuming the map is not fixed, decoding one cipher letter as different plaintexts.
- Watching single letters only, missing where the/and land as wholes.
Play Cryptogram
2 sitesRelated puzzles
About this page
- Last updated 2026-09-22
- Source Curated compilation of established puzzle rules and listed third-party play sites
- Audience Players learning Cryptogram rules or looking for online sites to play
- Covers Rules summary, how to start, common pitfalls, and the dedicated play sites listed on this page
- Does not cover Hosted puzzles, worked solutions, official contest rankings, third-party uptime or pricing guarantees
- Not advice This page is puzzle reference content only. It does not constitute financial, legal, medical or other professional advice.
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