Today's Cryptogram Challenge

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

GZK BRZY FZY W MOYMGN XDSMX QFS YFZOS GSMD? YSOO, QFWN QWVS W’V ZROG CZWRC QZ XDSMX ZRS XMG MQ M QWVS. -- PFMDOWS ADZYR

---

TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS:

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

👋 Hello,

Ready for a mental workout? 🧠 A Cryptogram is a classic quotation puzzle frequently featured in daily publications. I source the best and most challenging ones to help keep our minds sharp and boost cognitive health!

🧩 How the Cryptogram Works

In a Cryptogram, a single letter always stands for another letter.

(Example: AXYDLBAAXR might translate to LONGFELLOW. This is just an example and does not apply to today’s puzzle.)

If this is your first time, don’t be intimidated—the game is very addictive, and you will quickly master the technique! If you find yourself stumped, simply take a break and return to it later. ☕

📋 Instructions & Community Etiquette

Please follow these guidelines for the best experience for everyone:

• Solving: I suggest printing the puzzle 🖨️ and working on it with pen and paper. You can also copy and paste the text into the helper link below if you prefer a digital tool. (I recommend that you do NOT look at the letter counter in the Helper for a better challenge).
• Share Time, Not Answers: 🚫 DO NOT post the solution in the general comments. Please DO post your solving time ⏱️ and a brief note on how you made out.
• Solutions & Hints: Send your solution to me via private reply 📩 only. If you need a hint for today’s puzzle, feel free to ASK THE GROUP FOR HELP! 🙋

🔗 HAL’S CRYPTOGRAM HELPER

💡 Post a Clever Clue

Feel free to post a fun or clever clue—the more tangential to the quotation the better! Just remember that your clue must not contain the actual words of the solved quote.

Good luck, and enjoy the challenge! 🍀

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Previous puzzle New Year's Eve, Wednesday, December 31, 2025

HKL KHIF TAIR (YNZKXTGRL 1711)

TGHNKL HKL PBJNPXIOPIBR ZR VHMFHO,<
> PIL IRERM OGHNFGO NYHI;
OGR VKPDRT HV KHER RQOXIFNXTGRL,
PIL VNKKA YPTO PIL FHIR:
XT OGA TCRRO GRPMO IHC FMHCI TH BHKL,
OGPO KHEXIF ZMRPTO HV OGXIR;
OGPO OGHN BPITO IRERM HIBR MRVKRBO
HI HKL KHIF TAIR.

BGHMNT:
HI HKL KHIF TAIR DA WH,
HI HKL KHIF TAIR,
OGPO OGHN BPITO IRERM HIBR MRVKRBO,
HI HKL KHIF TAIR.

- WPDRT CPOTHI (B. 1664 – 1722)

Solution to previous Puzzle: (select the yellow text with your cursor to read):

OLD LONG SYNE (Published 1711)

Should Old Acquaintance be forgot,
and never thought upon;
The flames of Love extinguished,
and fully past and gone:
Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold,
that loving Breast of thine;
That thou canst never once reflect
On old long syne.

Chorus:
On old long syne my Jo,
On old long syne,
That thou canst never once reflect,
On old long syne.

-- James Watson (c. 1664- 1722)

HAL'S CRYPTOGRAM HELPER

[scrabblehack]

Valerie Bertinelli

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

feeling about 2026?

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

Easy one today. Start with the contraction, then a word used twice will pop out as obvious and give you the 2 most used letters, then it’s clear sailing for all the rest.

[grey_whiskers]

Matthew 6:34

[lefty-lie-spy]

As long as everything continues to be Trumpy, I’m looking forward to each and every one.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Yup; I’ve been thinking of ways to slightly increase the difficulty, but there are only a few ways to do so without increasing the difficulty exponentially. Then there’s always Grok and CrypTool, but that just takes the fun out of solving puzzles, but really increases one’s understanding of mathematics and cryptography and cryptanalysis.

For anyone that gets stuck, the letter frequency charts are helpful and not considered cheating, because though analysis of any cryptographic system you will eventually run into the breakthrough that was frequency analysis.

[Magnum44]

[ComputerGuy]

Didn’t need any covfefe for this one.

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

Here is an excellent list for tips and tricks to solve cryptograms:
https://www.wikihow.com/Solve-a-Cryptogram.
And of course the more you solve, the more your brain will begin to recognize the common word patterns.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Thanks. I’m beyond this level of study, but it will help the n00bs and the folks that want to learn more outside the puzzle aspect of substitution cryptography.

[BlueLancer]

Bonnie Franklin

This is it;
This is life...the one you get,
So go and have a ball.
This is it;
Straight ahead and, rest assured,
You can’t be sure at all.

[manna]

Thanks.