Cryptogram Puzzle 881
Answers
Decoded in full, attributed to George Eliot.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
— George Eliot
Cryptogram Puzzle 881 decodes to a quotation of 44 words attributed to George Eliot. It runs to 204 characters and uses 20 distinct letters.
The chart above shows the real letter frequencies of this quote — T×27, E×23, O×15, A×14, S×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.
Cryptogram Puzzle 881 FAQ
1What is the answer to Cryptogram Puzzle 881?+
2How many answers does this level have?+
3Where do I go next?+
4Are these answers verified?+
How Cryptogram Works
The same three moves solve most Cryptogram puzzles, including this one.
Count the letters
The most frequent symbol is usually E, then T, A, O and N. Frequency beats guessing every time.
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.
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.
Cryptogram Tips & Strategy
Starting with what this particular puzzle teaches you.
Most frequent letter here
In this quote the commonest letters are T×27, E×23, O×15. In English E leads by a wide margin, so test that substitution first.
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.
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.
One-letter words are A or I
There are no others in ordinary English. Two free letters from a single glance at the text.
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.
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.
Cryptogram Puzzle 881 In Detail
Everything recorded for this puzzle, counted from its source record.
| Author | George Eliot |
|---|---|
| Characters | 204 |
| Words | 44 |
| Distinct letters | 20 |
| Short words | 23 |
| Puzzle | 881 |
More From The Archive
Every other game we cover, each one complete.