Cryptonine Puzzle

Cryptogram puzzles are interesting to solve, but most people find them too difficult. I have come up with an easier version of cryptograms for beginners. I call this type of puzzles cryptonine because only nine letters are encrypted. Each of these letters is consistently replaced by a different number. All other letters are left as free letters in their locations without being replaced by numbers. The letters in the cryptonine message are printed in ALL CAPS to avoid confusing the letter L with the number 1.

Here are some sample cryptonine words and their solutions to give you a feel for this approach:

  • J3Y = JOY. (3 = O)
  • 45NY = MANY (4 = M, 5 = A)
  • QU88N = QUEEN (8 = E)
  • PU558E = PUZZLE (5 = Z, 8 = E)

Now go ahead and solve this cryptonine puzzle:

1234 34 5 93G21 V6743O8 OF 126 C7YP1OG75M PUZZ96.

Tips for Solving Cryptonine Puzzles

Begin by figuring out words at the latter parts of the puzzle because you will find more free letters to help you.

One-letter words are either A or I.

The most common two-letter words are TO, OF, IN, IT, IS, AS, AT, BE, WE, HE, SO, ON, AN, OR, DO, IF, UP, BY, and MY.

The most common three-letter words are THE, AND, ARE, FOR, NOT, BUT, HAD, HAS, WAS, ALL, ANY, ONE, MAN, OUT, YOU, HIS, HER, and CAN.

The most common four-letter words are THAT, WITH, HAVE, THIS, WILL, YOUR, FROM, THEY, WANT, BEEN, GOOD, MUCH, SOME, and VERY.

Click here to check your solution.

Solution

THIS IS A LIGHT VERSION OF THE CRYPTOGRAM PUZZLE.

How To Construct Your Own Cryptonine Puzzle

Creating a cryptonine puzzle is easy if you know how to use the Find and Replace function in your word processor's Edit menu.

Here are the steps:

1. Type a message in ALL CAPS.

Here is my message (from my training session on Conflict Management):

IN A CONFLICT NOBODY WINS UNLESS EVERYBODY WINS.

2. Use the Find and Replace function in your word processor. Replace the first letter in your message with the number 1.

This is what happens to my message when I do this. Notice all of the letter Is are replaced by the the number 1:

1N A CONFL1CT NOBODY W1NS UNLESS EVERYBODY W1NS.

3. Apply the same process by replacing the second letter in the message with the number 2.

In my message, all the Ns are replaced with 2s:

12 A CO2FL1CT 2OBODY W12S U2LESS EVERYBODY W12S.

4. Continue this process by replacing each new letter in the current version of the message with the next number.

I continue replacing more new letter with sequential numbers:

12 3 CO2FL1CT 2OBODY W12S U2LESS EVERYBODY W12S.

12 3 4O2FL14T 2OBODY W12S U2LESS EVERYBODY W12S.

12 3 4526714T 25B5DY W12S U27ESS EVERYB5DY W12S.

12 3 45267148 25B5DY W12S U27ESS EVERYB5DY W12S.

12 3 45267148 2595DY W12S U27ESS EVERY95DY W12S.

5. Stop when you have used all the numbers up to 9. (We don’t use the zero to prevent people from confusing it with the letter O.)

6. Present the current version of the message to the participants as a puzzle to be solved.

Here's my puzzle, ready to be solved:

12 3 45267148 2595DY W12S U27ESS EVERY95DY W12S.