Cryptogram Puzzle 806
Answers

Decoded in full, attributed to Nana Mouskouri.

Letter frequency for cryptogram 806: E 21, O 14, T 13, A 10, H 9, I 8, N 8, R 7, Y 7, L 6, C 5, B 421E14O13T10A9H8I8N7R7Y6L5C4B
The decoded quote:
“The secret is to cook the aubergines the day before and let them dry of all the oil they drank in cooking. When you cook aubergine, they eat a lot of oil. It can be very heavy.”
— Nana Mouskouri

Cryptogram Puzzle 806 decodes to a quotation of 37 words attributed to Nana Mouskouri. It runs to 176 characters and uses 21 distinct letters.

The chart above shows the real letter frequencies of this quote — E×21, O×14, T×13, A×10, H×9. 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 23 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.

This puzzle sits in the 801–900 block, with puzzle 805 and puzzle 807 linked at the foot of the page, so you can keep moving without returning to the index.

Puzzle 806 at a glance
AuthorNana Mouskouri
Characters176
Words37
Distinct letters21
Most frequentE×21 O×14 T×13
Questions

Cryptogram Puzzle 806 FAQ

1What is the answer to Cryptogram Puzzle 806?+
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 805 and puzzle 807, or browse the whole 801–900 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×21, O×14, T×13. In English E leads by a wide margin, so test that substitution first.

2

It has 23 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 806 In Detail

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

AuthorNana Mouskouri
Characters176
Words37
Distinct letters21
Short words23
Puzzle806