Jump to content

Seeking Special Cryptogram Tool


NHAnimator

Recommended Posts

New to solving cryptograms. I often use solvers to make the process go a little faster, but have recently run into several puzzles where each encrypted letter is represented by an alphanumeric string of variable length. For example, I might see the following...

 

A1 JH CA1 X JH N UN2 22 CA1

 

...which actually represents 9 letters (rather than 9 words). I started trying to use Word to do a simple find and replace (A1=A, JH=B, CA1=C, etc.) to simplify the code, but this is time-consuming and error-prone.

 

Does anyone know of a crypto solver which can deal with this situation. Or does anyone know of a tool which can at least take such a string and, based on spaces, replace the strings with single letters (which I can then take further).

 

Thanks,

NHAnimator

Link to comment

Is pencil and paper still considered a tool? Count the quantity of each character group. If it's English, then the frequency order will probably be E-T-A-O-I-N-S-R. (Google letter frequency.) You should have a good idea of the degrees longitude and latitude, so look for those words; and a "Y" will follow a "T", as in "thirty", "forty", "fifty". "North" and "west" may be there. The coder may have spelled out the word "point" - twice. And the coordinates will most likely be at the end of the message, so concentrate there.

 

Good luck.

 

Joe

Link to comment

Is pencil and paper still considered a tool? Count the quantity of each character group. If it's English, then the frequency order will probably be E-T-A-O-I-N-S-R. (Google letter frequency.) You should have a good idea of the degrees longitude and latitude, so look for those words; and a "Y" will follow a "T", as in "thirty", "forty", "fifty". "North" and "west" may be there. The coder may have spelled out the word "point" - twice. And the coordinates will most likely be at the end of the message, so concentrate there.

 

Good luck.

 

Joe

 

Thanks. I'm not having a problem solving the cryptos per se. But it's a lot easier to solve them when a 9-letter word is represented by something like ABDFRESADC rather than A1 JH CA1 X JH N UN2 22 CA1. Cyrpto helpers online are basically letter-for-letter. I'm looking for "groups of characters"-for-letter. I can take from there.

Link to comment

Thanks. I'm not having a problem solving the cryptos per se. But it's a lot easier to solve them when a 9-letter word is represented by something like ABDFRESADC rather than A1 JH CA1 X JH N UN2 22 CA1. Cyrpto helpers online are basically letter-for-letter. I'm looking for "groups of characters"-for-letter. I can take from there.

I've done this, but so infrequently I do it semi-manually: add a space to the start and end of the string. Then do (up to) 26 find & replaces in your favourite text editor (mine's BBEdit) of (space)(code)(space) with (space)(letter)(space). e.g. replace all ' JH ' with ' B '.

Link to comment

I've done this, but so infrequently I do it semi-manually: add a space to the start and end of the string. Then do (up to) 26 find & replaces in your favourite text editor (mine's BBEdit) of (space)(code)(space) with (space)(letter)(space). e.g. replace all ' JH ' with ' B '.

 

Thanks, barefootguru. That's exactly what I do now.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...