How to make a cryptogram
Put in a phrase, get a substitution puzzle with a blank for every letter and an answer key.
Enter your own message — a birthday greeting, a class motto, a treasure-hunt clue — and it becomes a puzzle to be decoded.
Step-by-step
- Type your phrase.
- Choose how many letters to reveal as a starting hint.
- Generate and print, answer key on its own page.
Choosing a phrase
- Long enough to give the solver traction. Under about twenty-five letters there is too little repetition for frequency reasoning, and the puzzle becomes guesswork.
- Ordinary words. Names and invented words cannot be reasoned towards; the solver arrives at them only after everything else is done.
- Keep the apostrophes. They are one of the strongest footholds a solver has.
Setting the difficulty
The number of revealed letters is the main control. Revealing the E and T of a long phrase makes it approachable for a child; revealing nothing makes it a proper puzzle for an adult. Revealing a letter that appears often helps far more than revealing a rare one.
No letter stands for itself
The substitution is a derangement, so no letter ever maps to itself. This is the traditional convention and a real aid: a solver can immediately rule out the possibility that ciphertext H means H.
Frequently asked questions
How long should the phrase be?
At least twenty-five letters. Shorter than that and there is not enough repetition for a solver to reason from, so it becomes guessing.
Can a letter represent itself?
No. The mapping is a derangement, which is the standard convention and helps the solver eliminate possibilities.
Should I include names?
Sparingly. Names cannot be deduced from language patterns, so they tend to be the last thing solved rather than a way in.
Open the cryptogram generator →