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By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
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Solving Cryptograms
I've got a link to my favorite cryptograms site in the bar at the top of the page. For years and years these puzzles mystified me and I usually ignored them or skipped over to the next choice in the puzzle magazine. A little over a year ago I tried again - I can't really tell you why, and now I'm hooked. They're easier than I thought. I think it helps to be "tuned in" to words and turn of phrase, and it also helps to have a general knowledge of well known proper names, but that latter is probably not as necessary.
Jeff Parsley, the guy who does the "cryptogram corner" has an archive feature, so if you want a short lesson, open a second browser window, navigate to "cryptogram corner" using my link above and find 10-22-06. Jeff gives you a clue, which yields B=N. In the boxes just under the encrypted message, put those 2 letters in the appropriate box and click "change". Now in the third word in the author's name, it's clear that "G" is a vowel. Study the entire puzzle for a minute. The second word in the quote is a single letter, followed by a double letter. The three most common appearances of that pattern in English are "see," "too," and "all." The first letter in this word is "G" which we already are pretty sure is a vowel. So go with "all." Change "G" to "A" and "P" to "L" Now study the entire puzzle again. The author's name now has some interesting patterns.
The author of the famed Sherlock Holmes stories was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This fits, doesn't it? Not too many people have four words in their name, so the three letter honorific "sir" works here, also the first name of "arthur" and the kicker middle name of "conan" Go ahead and fill in the rest of the author's name.
Now the quote is shaping up, right? This puzzle was up on the net approaching Halloween, and the letter "G" completes two of the words still missing a first letter. The rest is pretty straightforward, and when you're done, you have a rather melancholy observation from the famed author. You can check your accuracy by bringing up the puzzle from October 23, where the previous day's solution is provided.
I picked this puzzle for my little tutorial because it was one that I found pretty easy. At the ballpark I've got a couple of friends who also solve cryptograms and we get to discussing them every once in awhile. First letter provided by the puzzle author - good or bad? I find that I can usually figure one out even without a starting clue, but not everyone agrees. If you need a starting point to get rolling, go for it! Even if you ask a family member or co-worker to "peek" at the solution and give you a hint.
Words like "that" occur pretty often in ordinary speech and have a unique letter pattern. The combination "th" is also common - so cruising the puzzle for those letters can help you get started. The two word phrase "it is" also occurs pretty often, and have the added advantage of giving you a vowel as well as two other letters which have a good frequency.
Happy puzzling!
Woodstock
Jeff Parsley, the guy who does the "cryptogram corner" has an archive feature, so if you want a short lesson, open a second browser window, navigate to "cryptogram corner" using my link above and find 10-22-06. Jeff gives you a clue, which yields B=N. In the boxes just under the encrypted message, put those 2 letters in the appropriate box and click "change". Now in the third word in the author's name, it's clear that "G" is a vowel. Study the entire puzzle for a minute. The second word in the quote is a single letter, followed by a double letter. The three most common appearances of that pattern in English are "see," "too," and "all." The first letter in this word is "G" which we already are pretty sure is a vowel. So go with "all." Change "G" to "A" and "P" to "L" Now study the entire puzzle again. The author's name now has some interesting patterns.
The author of the famed Sherlock Holmes stories was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This fits, doesn't it? Not too many people have four words in their name, so the three letter honorific "sir" works here, also the first name of "arthur" and the kicker middle name of "conan" Go ahead and fill in the rest of the author's name.
Now the quote is shaping up, right? This puzzle was up on the net approaching Halloween, and the letter "G" completes two of the words still missing a first letter. The rest is pretty straightforward, and when you're done, you have a rather melancholy observation from the famed author. You can check your accuracy by bringing up the puzzle from October 23, where the previous day's solution is provided.
I picked this puzzle for my little tutorial because it was one that I found pretty easy. At the ballpark I've got a couple of friends who also solve cryptograms and we get to discussing them every once in awhile. First letter provided by the puzzle author - good or bad? I find that I can usually figure one out even without a starting clue, but not everyone agrees. If you need a starting point to get rolling, go for it! Even if you ask a family member or co-worker to "peek" at the solution and give you a hint.
Words like "that" occur pretty often in ordinary speech and have a unique letter pattern. The combination "th" is also common - so cruising the puzzle for those letters can help you get started. The two word phrase "it is" also occurs pretty often, and have the added advantage of giving you a vowel as well as two other letters which have a good frequency.
Happy puzzling!
Woodstock
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