Covert operations, secret codes and cryptic messages bring out the 007 in all of us, and Crypto Puzzler is just what the CIA ordered. Cryptogram puzzles, where one letter is directly substituted for another, have long been a staple in puzzle magazines. With Crypto Puzzler, you can create cryptograms, solve them on-screen, save them to disk or print them out.
Getting Underway
Begin by running Crypto Puzzler from Menu 64. The first screen asks if you want to load a puzzle. The first time you use the program, you won't have created any puzzles yet, so press N. When the editing screen appears, type in the text for a puzzle. It can be any message up to 239 characters, including spaces. You can use only uppercase letters and standard punctuation. If you make a mistake while typing, use the inst/del key to remove the error and retype the text. Note: Do not break words at the end of a line. If a word will not fit on the line, add spaces until the cursor scrolls to the next and begin the word there.
Puzzles can be very simple or quite difficult, depending upon the text; the shorter the text, the more difficult the puzzle. Normal patterns of letter usage and sentence structure become more apparent as the length increases. You can use famous quotes, biblical passages, your own secret messages or even text from a history assignment. If you're a puzzle fan, have someone else create puzzles and save them to disk for you.
When you're satisfied with the text press F1. The program will spend a few seconds encrypting the text and will return you to the main menu.
Solving Crypto Puzzles
In a cryptogram, each letter is replaced by another that is picked randomly. For example, the letter Q could be substituted for the letter E, B could replace T, and so on. The puzzle might then display BQRB. Of course, substitutions remain constant throughout the entire puzzle, so if Q=E in one place, Q will stand for E every time it appears in the puzzle. Otherwise, solving a puzzle would be impossible!
If you are solving the puzzle, and think you know one of the substitutions, type it in using the keyboard. For example, if you think R in BQRB is a D, type R=D [return] or F1. Crypto Puzzler will place a D in the highlighted area below each R in the puzzle. This may or may not be correct; the program won't tell you. If you've made a mistake (as in this example) you can retry simply by typing in your new guess (R=X), and every occurrence will be changed to reflect your latest choice.
In the example above, BQRB stands for TEXT. But remember, no two puzzles are alike. Each time Crypto Puzzler encrypts a message, it uses a different substitution pattern.When you approach a puzzle, look first for obvious clues. For instance, a single- letter word will always be either an A or an I.
Hyphenated words, words with an apostrophe, words in quotes, and double letters all provide valuable clues. Patterns for words like the and and may appear frequently. E is the most common letter in the English language, Z is the least common, all vowels appear frequently.
Once all of the letters have been properly substituted, Crypto Puzzler will tell you that you have solved the puzzle. Whenever you wish to resign, type ===. The program will display the entire message and return you to the main menu.
Crypto Puzzler has a built-in timer, and puzzles can be solved competitively. (If you resign, the program will not display your time). To compete, you need two players and a referee. The first player solves the puzzle without the other present, then the second player solves the puzzle. The referee records both times and the faster player wins. As an alternative, print out several copies of the same puzzle and have players solve it simultaneously. This can be a useful educational tool, both in the content of the message, and by teaching problem-solving logic skills.
One final note: If you're planning to load or save a puzzle, be sure to check the disk directory of a formatted work disk before running the program. Crypto Puzzler does not have a directory function. If you try to load or save a puzzle name improperly, you will be prompted to enter another name. Puzzles do not have to be on the same disk as the program.
