Cipher and Cryptogram: What is the Difference?
“I thought cipher and cryptogram were the same thing?”
So did I. Of course, that was before I did my own research on Google and educated myself on the topic (as many chronically online people do these days.)
You might have seen both words used interchangeably on the internet to describe the subject of Cryptography. Perhaps it made you confused—like me. Or maybe not? If not, you’re a genius.
After Googling the difference between both words, I learned that a cryptogram is a puzzle that consists of encrypted text. And it can only be decrypted with a substitution cipher based on the puzzle.
This gave me the idea to create the widely successful, free online cryptogram word puzzle—Tempo’s Alphabet!
For ages, human beings have gone to great efforts to find ways to share secret messages with each other. Since the moment we first learned how to communicate, we humans have felt the need to keep some things secret from others. Thus the creation of both ciphers and cryptograms to encode and share our secret messages with only our most trusted confidantes!
Here are just a couple of classic ciphers you’ll typically find when you first start Googling about ciphers online. Both are very popular, and also very old.
[To be perfectly honest, I was too lazy to provide you with more examples, other than the two below.]
If you’d like to see every cipher, please click on the button below the article. It links to the ACA (American Cryptogram Association). These guys and gals are super smart. And they’ve put together a phenomenal list of ciphers, just for you!
Pigpen
While the exact origin of the Pigpen cipher is unknown, the earliest examples include uses by Freemasons and Union prisoners captured during the Civil War. Although the Pigpen cipher is over 150 years old, it’s still not a piece of cake to use. Seriously.
Use the Pigpen cipher to decrypt this message:
2. Polybius Square
Ah. This one looks familiar right? He-he.
The “Polybius Square” cipher is named after its inventor—Polybius. Not as catchy as “Pigpen.” Polybius was a Greek historian who lived a very long time ago—in the 2nd century B.C.E.
Yet his cipher is still used today (Like in html 5 cryptogram puzzles, laden with contemporary pop-cultural references). That is how influential Polybius’ cipher still is in the cryptography community. Or at least in my puzzles.
Keep looking at the picture above (or below). The English alphabet characters are arranged in rows & columns—both of them numbered.
For example, the letter “A” will be encoded as number 11. The letter “B” will be encoded as number 12. The letter “C” will be encoded as number 13.
You get the message. Now, try to decrypt this one:
