Cryptogram Maker
Type a quote or sentence and turn it into a printable cryptogram, with letters, numbers or symbols, plus an answer key.
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Each symbol stands for one letter. The same symbol always means the same letter, and no letter stands for itself.
Code key
Made with Crossword Print · crosswordprint.com/cryptogram-maker/
Cryptogram Maker is a free, browser-based tool that turns a short quotation into a cryptogram puzzle. You type your text, choose a code style, and the tool builds a random substitution code that hides the message.
You can print the puzzle as a worksheet, print it with the answers filled in, or open it in the online solver. Everything runs in your browser, and the text you type is not uploaded or saved. Use it for a classroom activity, a family puzzle, or a quick brain teaser, and make a new code for the same text whenever you want a fresh challenge.
How to use the Cryptogram Maker
- Type a name in the Puzzle title box, or keep the default title “Cryptogram”.
- Type or paste your quote into the text box. It holds up to 600 characters and must include at least one letter.
- Optionally, add an author or hint line of up to 80 characters. It is printed as plain text under the puzzle and is not coded.
- Choose a Code style: Letters, Numbers or Symbols.
- Choose a number of Hint letters from 0 to 5. The default is 1.
- Click Make Cryptogram to build the puzzle.
- Click New Code to build a different code for the same text.
- Tick or untick Show answers to choose whether letters are filled in on screen.
- Click Print Puzzle, Print Answer Key, or Play It Online.
Not sure what to type? Click Try a Sample Quote to load one of 8 built-in quotes, with its author, chosen at random. Changing the code style or the hint count updates the puzzle and keeps the same code, so you can compare an easy and a hard version of one text. Print Puzzle leaves the answers off the sheet, and the code key at the bottom lists only the letters your text uses.
What is a cryptogram puzzle? Meaning and definition
A cryptogram is a short text, often a quotation, in which each plain letter is replaced by another letter, number or symbol. The same plain letter always gets the same substitute, so a solver works out the substitution to read the message.
What is a cryptoquote?
A cryptoquote is a cryptogram whose hidden text is a quotation. Many printed cryptograms are cryptoquotes, with the author named near the puzzle as a clue.
How do I make a cryptogram?
Type your text, pick a code style, and click Make Cryptogram. The tool keeps spaces and punctuation as you typed them, codes only the letters A to Z, and shows the text in capitals. For example, “Knowledge is power.” became JCPVSNXWN UI LPVNT. in one run of the Letters style, with E shown as the single hint letter because it is the most frequent letter. In the Numbers style the same code reads 10-3-16-22-19-14-24-23-14 21-9 12-16-22-14-20. Every press of New Code gives a different key.
Can I make a cryptogram with symbols or numbers?
Yes. In the Numbers style, each letter becomes a number from 1 to 26. In the Symbols style, each letter becomes one of 26 distinct symbols, such as spade, club, heart, diamond, star and circle. Digits already in your text stay as they are.
Can a letter stand for itself in a cryptogram?
No. The code is a random substitution, not a simple shift, and no letter stands for itself. So A is never shown as A, and A = 1, B = 2 will not appear in the Numbers style unless the random key happens to produce it.
What are hint letters?
Hint letters are letters filled in for you before you start. The tool chooses the most frequent letters in your text, with ties broken alphabetically. Choose 0 to 5 hints depending on how hard you want the puzzle to be.
How do I solve a cryptogram?
Start with patterns. One-letter words are usually A or I, and short common words like THE and AND are good first guesses. Look for double letters and apostrophe endings such as ‘S and ‘T. E, T and A are the most common letters in English, so the most frequent symbol is often one of them. Fill in a guess, check whether it makes other words work, and keep going.
Frequently asked questions
Can I print a cryptogram with an answer key?
Yes. Print Puzzle prints the sheet without answers, because it unticks Show answers. Print Answer Key prints the same page with every letter filled in. Both open your browser’s print dialog, and the sheet includes a Name/Date line and a Code key grid of the letters used.
Can I play the cryptogram online?
Yes. Play It Online opens the cryptogram solver page with your puzzle already loaded. You can fill in the key by hand or use Auto-solve. This option is hidden for the Symbols style.
Is my text saved or sent anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser, and your text is not uploaded or saved. When you use Play It Online, the puzzle is carried in the link’s hash and is not sent to a server.
Is the author’s name coded too?
No. The author or hint line is printed as plain text under the puzzle. Leave it empty if you want the solver to work out who said it.
Is the cryptogram maker free to use?
Yes. It is free, there is no sign-up, and it runs directly in your browser, so you can make as many cryptograms as you like.
Related tools
- Cryptogram Solver: use it to work through a cryptogram you have made or found, with help from Auto-solve.
- Cryptograms: use it to browse ready-made cryptogram puzzles to solve.
- Caesar Cipher: use it when you want a simple letter shift rather than a random substitution.
- Codeword Solver: use it for puzzles where numbers or letters are linked to a grid of clues.
- Hangman: use it for a word-guessing game that trains letter-by-letter reasoning.
- Word Ladder Maker: use it to build puzzles where you change one letter at a time to reach a new word.
- Crossword Maker: use it to create a printable crossword from your own word list.
- Word Search Maker: use it to build a printable word search for a class or game.
What is a cryptogram?
A cryptogram is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text. Generally the cipher used to encrypt the text is simple enough that the cryptogram can be solved by hand. Substitution ciphers where each letter is replaced by a different letter, number, or symbol are frequently used. To solve the puzzle, one must recover the original lettering. Though once used in more serious applications, they are now mainly printed for entertainment in newspapers and magazines.
Other types of classical ciphers are sometimes used to create cryptograms. An example is the book cipher, where a book or article is used to encrypt a message.
History
The ciphers used in cryptograms were created not for entertainment purposes, but for real encryption of military or personal secrets.
The first use of the cryptogram for entertainment purposes occurred during the Middle Ages by monks who had spare time for intellectual games. A manuscript found at Bamberg states that Irish visitors to the court of Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad (died 844), king of Gwynedd in Wales, were given a cryptogram which could only be solved by transposing the letters from Latin into Greek. Around the thirteenth century, the English monk Roger Bacon wrote a book in which he listed seven cipher methods, and stated that "a man is crazy who writes a secret in any other way than one which will conceal it from the vulgar." In the 19th century Edgar Allan Poe helped to popularize cryptograms with many newspaper and magazine articles.
Well-known examples of cryptograms in contemporary culture are the syndicated newspaper puzzles Cryptoquip and Cryptoquote, from King Features. Celebrity Cipher, distributed by Andrew McMeel, is another cipher game in contemporary culture, challenging the player to decrypt quotes from famous personalities.
A cryptoquip is a specific type of cryptogram that usually comes with a clue or a pun. The solution often involves a humorous or witty phrase.
In a public challenge, writer J.M. Appel announced on September 28, 2014, that the table of contents page of his short story collection, Scouting for the Reaper, doubled as a cryptogram, and he pledged an award for the first to solve it.
Solving a cryptogram
Cryptograms based on substitution ciphers can often be solved by frequency analysis and by recognizing letter patterns in words, such as one-letter words, which, in English, can only be "i" or "a" (and sometimes "o"). Double letters, apostrophes, and the fact that no letter can substitute for itself in the cipher also offer clues to the solution. Occasionally, cryptogram puzzle makers will start the solver off with a few letters.
A printed code key form (the alphabet with a blank under each letter to fill in the substituted letter) is usually not provided but can be drawn to use as a solving aid if needed. Skilled puzzle solvers should require neither a code key form nor starter clue letters.
Other crypto puzzles
While the cryptogram has remained popular, over time other puzzles similar to it have emerged. One of these is the Cryptoquote, which is a famous quote encrypted in the same way as a cryptogram. A more recent version, with a biblical twist, is CodedWord. This puzzle makes the solution available only online, where it provides a short exegesis on the biblical text. A third is the Cryptoquiz. The top of this puzzle has a category (unencrypted), such as "Flowers". Below this is a list of encrypted words which are related to the stated category. The person must then solve for the entire list to finish the puzzle. Yet another type involves using numbers as they relate to texting to solve the puzzle.
The Zodiac Killer sent four cryptograms to police while he was still active. Despite much research, only two of these have been translated, which was of no help in identifying the serial killer.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article “Cryptogram” (revision 1318154905, 2025-10-22), authors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Shortened: some sections and paragraphs were left out, and reference markers, images and templates were removed; wording is otherwise unchanged. This text remains available under the same licence.