| 10+ Tips for Solving Cryptograms Posted: Do cryptograms have you wanting to throw your pencil? Would you like to actually finish one? Here's some advice to get you started ... and hopefully finished! Steps - Look for one-letter words. Because cryptograms often use quotes from people, the word "I" is almost as common as the word "a," so be careful before plunging in. The trick to figuring out if it's "I" or "a" is to experiment with the letters in other words.
- If there is a three-letter word beginning with that same letter, the letter is almost certainly the word "a." There are a number of common three-letter words beginning with "a" and very few which start with "i."
- Try to identify the vowels. If you can find five letters with these properties, you have very likely identified the vowels (a, e, i, o, u).
- Vowels represent about 40% of the letters in English text.
- Vowels are present in almost every word. (Allow for rare exceptions like "my" or "NBC".)
- Vowels rarely come three in a row, and almost never four in a row.
- If you think an unidentified letter is a vowel, but you don't know which one, use the following tips.
- The only vowels that can form a one-letter word are "a" and "i".
- Unless the text is about skiing or vacuuming, a doubled vowel is probably "e" or "o".
- The most common vowel is "e"; the least common is "u".
- The word "the" is extremely common and can be measured against "that." For instance, if a sentence contains both "BGJB" and "BGD," you can be pretty confident that you're on the right track. In the same cryptogram, "BGDL" would most likely be "then" and "BGDZD" would be "there."
- Watch for apostrophes. One letter after an apostrophe is usually either "n't", "'s", or more rarely "'d" or "I'm". Two letters after an apostrophe is usually "'re", or "'ve" if the letters are different or "'ll" if it's a double letter.
- Look at the letter before the apostrophe. If it's always the same, you definitely have the "n't" combination. If not, then you're more likely dealing with the possessive.
- Use clues from punctuation. Conjunctions like "but" or "and" often follow commas. A question mark often implies a "wh" in the clause preceding it.
- Look for pairs of two-letter words, one beginning and the other ending with the same letter. That letter has a good chance of being "n," "o," "s," or "t," and the second letter of the word which starts with the shared letter is likely to be "f," "n," "o," "r," "s," or "t."
- If you find two two-letter words where the letters are reversed, you've got either "no" and "on." You just have to figure out which is which!
- A pattern of lots of repeating letters in a long word usually indicates vowels, like the "i" repeating in the word "civilization." However, if adjacent letters repeat, they're more likely to be consonants, like the "s" repeating in the word "possessions."
- Cryptoquotes end with the name of the author of the quote. Authors are usually identified as "firstname lastname", but some exceptions can be exploited.
- "Anonymous" wrote a lot of great quotes.
- A two-letter word at the beginning of the author's name is probably Dr.
- A two-letter word at the end of the author's name is probably a suffix like "Jr" or "Sr" or a Roman numeral as in "Pope Paul VI"
- A short word in the middle of a name might be a common nobiliary particle like "de" or "von."
- Look for the following relatively common words that have identifiable patterns.
- That (or high, says, else, dead, died)
- There/Where/These (in any case you've identified "h" and "e")
- People
- Everywhere
- Somewhere
- William or Kennedy (if a name, otherwise maybe million or letters)
- Never (or state, fewer, color)
Tips - If you can get "t," "h," "n," "e," and "a" solved, you're well on your way to finishing the puzzle.
- "E" is the most common letter in the English language. If you see a lot of a certain letter in a cryptogram, there is a good chance it's an "e." After "e," the most common letters tend to be "t," "a," "o," "n," "r," "i," and "s," in that order, depending on the subject matter.
- An unlikely expression often found in ciphers is "The magic words are squeamish ossifrage," a tribute to the famous solution to a 1977 encryption challenge.
- Most puzzle setters ensure that their cryptograms replace each letter with a different letter. So if the cyphertext has the word "A" and it could stand for either "A" or "I", it probably stands for "I".
Warnings - Looking at letter frequencies can be very helpful, but don't rely on it too much. A text about puzzles and quotes might have more "z"s and "q"s than expected.
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| How to Play Wheel of Fortune on the iPhone Posted: If you've been looking for an iPhone or iPod Touch game that's fun, easy to play and even educational, look no further than Sony's Wheel of Fortune, [1] based on the ever-popular television game show. This article will explain everything you need to know about the game, as well as tips and hints on winning. Steps - Log into your App Store account (via your iPhone or iPod Touch) and type "Wheel of Fortune" in the Search bar. A handful of search results will show up on-screen. Press the first option, select Install, and the game should begin to download. The current price for the game on the App Store is $4.99 (USD).
- Once the game is installed, press on the Wheel of Fortune icon to load the Main Menu. You should hear the theme music from the show as these options appear:
- Play: Begins gameplay.
- Career Stats: Shows records of your winnings and unlocked trophies from gameplay.
- Options: Customize your avatar (created at first gameplay), turn game sound on/off, reset the game or reset tips.
- Help: Information on how to play, controls, game modes, etc.
- About: Game credits.
- Select Play to begin the game. Upon doing so you should see this menu:
- Normal: Begins standard gameplay.
- Toss-Up Game: Begins a quick, single-player toss-up game.
- Select Normal Game. Choose the level of difficulty or if you wish to play a single-player game.
- The game will begin with a Toss-Up Round, worth $1,000. You will have several seconds to click Solve as the letters are filled in on the board. If another player solves before you, they are rewarded the $1,000, or vice versa.
- After a second Toss-Up Round (worth $2,000), the main portion of the game will begin. Either you or the player who solved the previous Toss-Up will get to spin first.
- On your turn, spin the wheel by dragging your finger across the on-screen arrow. After a few seconds, the wheel will stop on a monetary wedge, and you will be able to select a letter. If it stops on Bankrupt or Lose A Turn, you will not be able to call a letter. If the wheel stops on Free Spin, Wild Card or the Million Dollar Wedge, you will be able to "pick up" those wedges and use them for later in the game.
- Call a letter by selecting from the on-screen alphabet. Letters that have already been called will appear faded in the box. If you call a letter that the puzzle contains, you will receive the monetary value for it and it will appear on the board. If not, you will lose a turn.
- Repeat these steps as you complete the puzzle. There are several more rounds, including a Jackpot and Mystery Round.
- Try making it to the Bonus Round. This is the last part of the gameplay, and you can win up to a million dollars (if you have the Million Dollar wedge) by correctly solving the final puzzle.
- Spin the Bonus Wheel, then select your letters. As in the TV version, you will be able to select three consonants (four with the Wild Card) and one vowel.
- Try to correctly solve the final puzzle. You will have approximately two minutes to do so, and as many guesses as you like. Good luck!
- If you correctly solve the puzzle, the timer will stop and you will receive your bonus wedge winnings. If time runs out and you didn't solve, you won't receive the additional earnings, but will "take home" the amount you won in the previous rounds.
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Not the best scorecard - could you do better?
Video Tips - You will be asked to create a personalized avatar before playing your first game. If you want to customize them later, visit the Options menu and press "Avatar".
- This is a fun, educational game to keep you entertained for hours on your device. Just be sure to have a charger with you - the graphics of this game will drain your battery power.
- Check the Application Updates on your iPhone or iPod Touch regularly to see if the game developer (Sony) has released any updates.
- Don't be disappointed if you lose the game. Remember, you can always play again!
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