©Pat Ashforth & Steve Plummer 2019
Tips for Cracking Codes
In the English language some letters are used more often than others.
The most common (in alphabetical order) are A E S T.
The most commonly occurring 3-
Almost every 2-
A word with a single letter is most likely to be A or I
Some pairs of letters occur frequently together, such as SH, CK
There is no foolproof method but it often helps to start by looking for three letter words. You can probably tell, from the position in the sentence, whether a word might be ‘and’ or ‘the’. If you can establish that a symbol might stand for E, you can then find all the other Es.
Look for double letters. There are some letters that never appear in twos. Most appear after a vowel (sitting, happen, tell, for example).
Remember that the message may contain a name with an unusual arrangement of letters.
Click here for an example of code-
An alternative way is to use the frequency of the letters as your of starting point. Find the symbols that occur most often and decide which might be E (often the most common), A, S or T.
Some letters, such as J, Q, X, and Z occur rarely.
Curve of Pursuit |
Magician's Chain |
Klein Bottle |
Square To Eternity |
Applique |
Block Prints |
Counting Panes |
Enscriptions |
Screen Prints |
Circular Prints |
Colour effects |
Halves |
Illusions |
Irrationals |
Pentominoes |
Weaving Patterns |
Castor & Pollux |
Ear-piece |
Flamingo |
Golden Earring |
Penrose |
Wild Oats |
Crossover Halves |
Points of Sail |
Set Sail |
Steeplechase Halves |
Boxed In |
Hexentricity |
Holes and Corners |
Rose Windows |
Runabout |
The Other Man's Grass |
Tripartite |
Window Pains |
Irrational Boxes |
Irrational Flowers |
Irrational Folds |
Irrational Roofs |
Bunch of Fives |
Moons and Nooms |
Pentamoons |
Fleece Basketry |
Leather Basketry |
Tickled Pink |
Willow the Wisp |
Enscription 1A |
Enscription 1C |
Enscription 1D |
Enscription 1E |
Enscription 2A |
Cracking Codes |
Cross-wise |
Interference |
Ring Binders |
Stitch-work |
Top-spin |
To the Point |
Web of Intrigue |
Wheels Within Wheels |
Whirlpools |
Window Boxes |
Makeables |
Mirror Pillar |
Penrose Table |
Bracelets |