Doing cryptograms entirely 'in your head'

[jwbuck]

Hello. Just found this web site and it looks great.

I've been doing cryptograms for many years and have gotten to the point of solving them purely visually - no writing of the letter substitutions.

I've sometimes wondered how common this ability is. Any ideas on that among the community?

Thanks and looking forward to enjoying the wealth of 'cryptos' on the site

Best regards.

[LLapp]

Hello jwbuck -

Welcome to the fray! I doubt the mental complete-solution ability is very common in the world in general, if only because it takes natural talent and inclination plus years of practice. But this site draws a self-selected crowd, and you have come to the right place if you're looking for crypto-peers. There are a few people here who seem to have that mental-solution ability, and I believe the rest of us may yet develop the Amazing Kreskin approach after, oh, a few thousand more hours of practice.

For myself, it happens once in a great while -- if I'm in the zone, and only when the puzzle has easy patterns (he who, there is, etc.). But so far that's been the exception to my usual "Hmmm, any THE's or AND's here?" approach.

My dad, who at 88 has been solving cryptograms on paper for many decades, recently told me with amazement that lately he doesn't even need a pen to solve the newspaper cryptograms. I told him about this website and put the link on his computer desktop, but I don't think I've seen him here yet. (Unless . . . Dad? Is that you?)

In any case, happy solving! Don't forget to step outside now and then. This site is addictive.

Lisa

[wvwoman]

Hello. Just found this web site and it looks great.

I've been doing cryptograms for many years and have gotten to the point of solving them purely visually - no writing of the letter substitutions.

I've sometimes wondered how common this ability is. Any ideas on that among the community?

Thanks and looking forward to enjoying the wealth of 'cryptos' on the site

Best regards.

holy smokes, really?!!!! i can't even imagine! (and no, "smokes" was not my first thought!)

[abra]

I'm with wvwoman, that's an incredible talent. I suppose some of the best solvers probably do it with or without realizing it. I do not. I've never been near that zone, except for "there is no such thing as". After that nuthin'

[Altoid701]

I don't think I could do this. To me, cryptograms are all about recognizing patterns, and I couldn't do that without visualizing my progress so far.

[gryhnd51]

I can pretty often solve a cryto in my head before entering the letters. However, this is due to long years of playing here and NOT from any special talent. I do wonder about Nanrich, though. She, like Bansai, seems to have a rather superior aptitude for the spatial relationship of letters.

[abra]

I think there is definitely something about special about nanrich. I always think that about you too, gryhnd.

[gryhnd51]

Welcome to the site JWBUCK! I sincerely hope you have fun here and stay long enough to enjoy this wonderful community of folks! One of the greatest pleasures of being here is reading the comments that are made on many of the quotes. They sometimes get carried away by passion, but more often they are witty and fun and hilarious.

[GtrZan]

Hello. Just found this web site and it looks great.

I've been doing cryptograms for many years and have gotten to the point of solving them purely visually - no writing of the letter substitutions.

I've sometimes wondered how common this ability is. Any ideas on that among the community?

Thanks and looking forward to enjoying the wealth of 'cryptos' on the site

Best regards.

I used to do this all the time with the newspaper cryptograms when I was younger (20's, 30's). I lived with my folks for awhile going to school and would always fight over the daily crypto with my mom. This way I wouldn't ruin it for her, but it did drive her nuts that I could do it

I haven't tried it in a long time but I doubt I can still do it. Not sure I could even concentrate that long any more!

[Knightime]

Doing cryptograms in your head

I have been doing cryptograms for about six years. For the past year, I have been solving cryptograms without using a pen or pencil. I find this method a lot more fun and rewarding. I surmise that the average person could do this - not as hard as it seems. Like anything in life, the more you do something, the easier the task becomes. I’m able to solve very long puzzles as where a year ago - just short ones. I hope this post inspirers more people to try this method and see how rewarding solving cryptograms becomes without using a pen or pencil. Good luck!

[TimmyTee]

You guys should be thankful for me. I'm one of the ones with the 189 seconds (and more) solving times that makes you all look good!

[imported_skeeter]

I do the newspaper cryptos in my head all the time, but that's because I'm using a library's copy of the paper and don't feel comfortable marking their copy.

[maradnu]

Solving in your head

Back when I used to do the cryptos in the newspapers, I could sometimes do them in my head, though not always. That blew the mind of one of my co-workers at the time.

Given the nature of this site, I never try to do them in my head, though often as I start, I work them through with little effort. Seriously, if you are doing a puzzle in under 15 seconds, you're reading it almost like it was straight text.

I am not as good or as fast as some of the really speedy solvers, and don't ever expect to be.

[ReeseDuck]

Hello. Just found this web site and it looks great.

I've been doing cryptograms for many years and have gotten to the point of solving them purely visually - no writing of the letter substitutions.

I've sometimes wondered how common this ability is. Any ideas on that among the community?

Thanks and looking forward to enjoying the wealth of 'cryptos' on the site

Best regards.

I've been wondering this same thing. My father-in-law does the Daily Cryptoquote in the newspaper and got me interested in the late 90s. I would have one of my kids copy it for me so I could do them too (we live with my father-in-law). Since right around 2000, I've been doing them in my head. I haven't used a pencil nor have I been stumped since.

I agree that it's satisfying. Even after two decades I find it stimulating. (I joke that if Nike had an Air Crypto shoe I could sign on and make good money, but alas! they do not.)

BTW the Arkansas Democrat Gazette (arkansasonline.com) publishes the same Daily Cryptoquote online that's in our local paper here in Oregon if anyone is interested.