Hal’s Cryptogram Helper Copyright © 2005 by Hal Keen

Scripts on this page are working.

This page requires Javascript 1.2.

Sorry! If this warning didn’t go away, your browser didn’t run the scripts, and this page won’t work. Most browsers support the scripts, but your security settings might block them.

I don’t recommend weakening your security. Instead, you might try saving this Web page and running the saved copy. See the copy permissions.

What you get: The Start link reloads the page, with the contents (if any) of the text area translated into a table showing

• the cryptogram,
• two letter-frequency tables (ordered alphabetically and by frequency), and
• HTML selection lists so you can choose plaintext for any letter.

The selection lists behave like this:

• Each selection is copied to all instances of the same letter in the cryptogram, and
•   any previous uses of that same selection are cleared (replaced with blanks).
• To clear a previous selection, you can select a blank.
• If your plaintext selection matches the letter in the cryptogram, it’s treated as though you selected a blank.
• The Start Over button clears all the selections, without reloading the page.

Clicking any letter in the frequency tables highlights all instances of that letter in the cryptogram. The Clear Highlights button removes the highlights.

This page is based on a Turbo Pascal program written for my first personal computer, a Zenith Z-100. While writing my Sudoku solving grid, I realized how easily this idea could be implemented in HTML and JavaScript.

Note: This page is inherently visual and script-dependent. If improved accessibility would be useful to anyone, I will welcome suggestions on how to go about it.

top of page