Cryptogram Puzzle 1,988
Answers

Decoded in full, attributed to Huda Kattan.

Letter frequency for cryptogram 1988: E 15, N 14, S 13, T 12, A 10, I 9, R 9, O 8, H 6, D 4, G 4, U 415E14N13S12T10A9I9R8O6H4D4G4U
The decoded quote:
“Being women behind a massively growing business is not an easy task, and the journey to find the right investors and to secure true partners has proven that.”
— Huda Kattan

Cryptogram Puzzle 1,988 decodes to a quotation of 28 words attributed to Huda Kattan. It runs to 157 characters and uses 23 distinct letters.

The chart above shows the real letter frequencies of this quote — E×15, N×14, S×13, T×12, A×10. That is the pattern that cracks it: in ordinary English E is the commonest letter by a wide margin, so whichever cipher symbol appears most in the puzzle is the first substitution worth testing. We publish the decoded quote and its author; the game generates its own substitution alphabet per player, so no fixed cipher is shown here.

This quote contains 11 short words of three letters or fewer, which are the other obvious way in — one-letter words are always A or I, and the commonest three-letter word by a wide margin is THE. Fixing one of those typically reveals enough of the text to read the rest.

Puzzle 1,988 at a glance
AuthorHuda Kattan
Characters157
Words28
Distinct letters23
Most frequentE×15 N×14 S×13
Questions

Cryptogram Puzzle 1,988 FAQ

1What is the answer to Cryptogram Puzzle 1,988?+
The decoded quotation is shown in full above, together with the author it is attributed to.
2How many answers does this level have?+
0, all listed on this page.
3Where do I go next?+
Use the links at the foot of the page for puzzle 1,987 and puzzle 1,989, or browse the whole 1,901–2,000 block.
4Are these answers verified?+
Yes. This puzzle was imported from a structured source record and validated on build. See the method page for exactly what is checked.
How to play

How Cryptogram Works

The same three moves solve most Cryptogram puzzles, including this one.

1

Count the letters

The most frequent symbol is usually E, then T, A, O and N. Frequency beats guessing every time.

2

Attack the short words

One-letter words are A or I. Common three-letter words are THE and AND, and they unlock the most letters at once.

3

Use the apostrophes

A letter after an apostrophe is almost always S, T, D, M, LL, RE or VE — a very short list to test.

Play smarter

Cryptogram Tips & Strategy

Starting with what this particular puzzle teaches you.

1

Most frequent letter here

In this quote the commonest letters are E×15, N×14, S×13. In English E leads by a wide margin, so test that substitution first.

2

It has 11 short words

Short words are the fastest way in — one-letter words are always A or I, and the commonest three-letter word is THE.

3

Frequency first

Count which cipher letter appears most. In English text it is E far more often than not, and fixing E alone usually reveals two or three short words.

4

One-letter words are A or I

There are no others in ordinary English. Two free letters from a single glance at the text.

5

THE is the giveaway

The commonest three-letter word by a wide margin. Finding one THE gives you T, H and E in a single move.

6

Apostrophes narrow sharply

A letter directly after an apostrophe is nearly always S, T, D or M, or the pairs LL, RE and VE. Very few options to test.

By the numbers

Cryptogram Puzzle 1,988 In Detail

Everything recorded for this puzzle, counted from its source record.

AuthorHuda Kattan
Characters157
Words28
Distinct letters23
Short words11
Puzzle1,988