How do I get better at cryptograms?

[Fudi]

I would say, in that case, ChemEngineerMBA, you should practice here, but without signing on as a competitor. That way, you can ask for a hint whenever you need to. I bet that would improve your game. Then, once you worked up to solving a few here without hints, you could probably manage some pen and paper puzzles. Once you're solving successfully, you'll improve with more and more practice.

[cryptoharvesting]

One other thing: E, T, A, O , I, N are the most statistically likely letters.

[Synonymous]

Fudi nailed it. Excellent advice.

[maradnu]

Practice, even if you're logged in, most of us won't judge you. Just do the best you can.

[Quizzical]

It helps to be at least a semi-fast typist, which I am not, if you are trying to increase your overall speed. I am not the fastest solver, but after almost 10 years, I am "above average" about half the time. My goal is to solve every puzzle, so that results in slow solve times as does getting distracted. I started on cryptograms to try to keep my aging mind as sharp as possible. And I just find it amusing, the quotes and the comments. Lately I have started taking a quick glance at the whole puzzle to spot overall word patterns, such as "is a" or "but or "and" after a comma. I think the fastest solvers must just see the full or nearly complete quote in a glance or have seen the quote so many times. Realize that I am not the fastest, so my suggestion is worth what you paid for it.

[kb83]

I recently gave up on a cryptogram, because I had a meaningful sentence, with two phrases separated by a conjunction. I had the conjunction "but", and it turned out the correct one was "and." (after looking it up). With the conjunction unfilled, the letters a, n, d, and b, u, t, were all available!