Cipher Challenge
The Telegraph Table
Introduction
Before encryption became electronic, a clerk could protect a dispatch with nothing more than a pencil, a key, and a ruled sheet. In keyed columnar transposition, the message is written across successive rows and the completed columns are copied according to the ordering imposed by the key. No symbol is replaced, so the original inventory of letters and punctuation survives. The puzzle lies in restoring the transmitted vertical strips to their original positions and reading the rows they once formed.
Live gridCurrent
Live column keyUnavailable
| Rows | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e | b | y | p | r | a | c | s | |
| h | e | a | n | o | e | s | s | |
| a | d | e | p | i | a | i | e | |
| e | e | h | t | c | i | i | V | |
| n | r | c | w | e | r | y | g | |
| n | e | w | o | c | w | h | e | |
| y | n | o | h | c | s | i | t | |
| t | t | s | t | s | a | b | s | |
| r | i | a | w | e | i | h | s | |
| y | t | e | s | l | o | e | w | |
| a | b | o | o | o | d | e | e | |
| r | l | s | e | a | t | s | e |
Read
ebypracsheanoessadepiaieeehtciiVnrcwerygnewocwheynohcsitttstsabsriaweihsytesloewabooodeerlseatseeb he ad ee nr ne yn tt ri yt ab rl1
ebypr acshe anoes sadep iaiee
26
e,htc iiVnr cwery gnewo c,whe
51
ynohc sittt stsab sriaw eihsy
76
teslo ewabo oo.de erlse atsed
101
tsloe rrirs ienbo rfeed giieh
126
frvsl ptuir saido oddoa edwyd
151
ge.ru maoeo gsarn lco.e anust
176
nliow iucaw irdio tauiw elier
201
nhrsl elsst carnt a.wia atwee
226
raeyt dunhd ecasd eitre ot.sr
251
rlnnf sleat geaae laah. slaem
276
tpenl .heer nptpt rus,t ,tnbo
301
lanle rreve aowis lener rlslv
326
odhWo hdiao aamvl iogho hatfS
351
alcgt ssiea rcfya anoua eta,l
376
pt.fn esaie vdeti .rant rrmsa
401
aeeat apeur tlots dohae iegoe
426
tylag ienhh cepre eiere a.ngf
451
nilnr hhtat wioan iocgd myeio
476
rtnai tatne olrro eieee s,eel
501
aenue olwws Tinoe cimto sevre
526
obttf rosei ciedr eireo hatsv
551
Eelre tlato tlowh psdif tt.ue
576
edrat swhtc eddtn bacde swiiu
601
oeljf nyaie lstir aduut gohed
626
ntter iau,l gsirn pabct euDet
651
criaf eirpo Amttt eeoal magre
676
llsnc reni, rrone nmeos scfnr
701
narea orbdg roqes iPtte ddsno
726
eeeri inpt, lltsf otaer gptnf
751
srein nyosl vesrc allro ntege
776
rahae hmofz rneip eaiao siihu
801
ewcxn uv,se Adrks enkoe scvpp
826
eanad acrla rsaas uvoot sohai
851
wr,na ltahe aptua ret.h tea,r
876
emenb hlnet tmie. rssnu etpSs
901
ddele dimt, kateo maefe pemvl
926
ryfnr senos eoeem slrln v,cte
951
nlcin ncsms lsrPr lalrw wsott
976
aduaR ntrir rtano ivaar tniva
1001
nhplo hcene olelt asach ihcut
1026
ilGes trihn sybvp ,rros tpetu
1051
.aste apiIt evigg piist urrnm
1076
,ttna
ebypr acshe anoes sadep iaiee e,htc iiVnr cwery gnewo c,whe ynohc sittt stsab sriaw eihsy teslo ewabo oo.de erlse atsed tsloe rrirs ienbo rfeed giieh frvsl ptuir saido oddoa edwyd ge.ru maoeo gsarn lco.e anust nliow iucaw irdio tauiw elier nhrsl elsst carnt a.wia atwee raeyt dunhd ecasd eitre ot.sr rlnnf sleat geaae laah. slaem tpenl .heer nptpt rus,t ,tnbo lanle rreve aowis lener rlslv odhWo hdiao aamvl iogho hatfS alcgt ssiea rcfya anoua eta,l pt.fn esaie vdeti .rant rrmsa aeeat apeur tlots dohae iegoe tylag ienhh cepre eiere a.ngf nilnr hhtat wioan iocgd myeio rtnai tatne olrro eieee s,eel aenue olwws Tinoe cimto sevre obttf rosei ciedr eireo hatsv Eelre tlato tlowh psdif tt.ue edrat swhtc eddtn bacde swiiu oeljf nyaie lstir aduut gohed ntter iau,l gsirn pabct euDet criaf eirpo Amttt eeoal magre llsnc reni, rrone nmeos scfnr narea orbdg roqes iPtte ddsno eeeri inpt, lltsf otaer gptnf srein nyosl vesrc allro ntege rahae hmofz rneip eaiao siihu ewcxn uv,se Adrks enkoe scvpp eanad acrla rsaas uvoot sohai wr,na ltahe aptua ret.h tea,r emenb hlnet tmie. rssnu etpSs ddele dimt, kateo maefe pemvl ryfnr senos eoeem slrln v,cte nlcin ncsms lsrPr lalrw wsott aduaR ntrir rtano ivaar tniva nhplo hcene olelt asach ihcut ilGes trihn sybvp ,rros tpetu .aste apiIt evigg piist urrnm ,ttna—Live output1,079 adjacent pairs
| Pair | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
EE | 17 | 1.6% |
EA | 16 | 1.5% |
RE | 14 | 1.3% |
ER | 13 | 1.2% |
IE | 13 | 1.2% |
EN | 12 | 1.1% |
AE | 11 | 1.0% |
AT | 11 | 1.0% |
EI | 11 | 1.0% |
EO | 11 | 1.0% |
OE | 11 | 1.0% |
SL | 11 | 1.0% |
Count overlapping units and compare their distributions.
Live output1,050 overlapping units
| Unit | Count | Share | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| E | 146 | 13.9% | 1 |
| A | 100 | 9.5% | 2 |
| T | 93 | 8.9% | 3 |
| R | 87 | 8.3% | 4 |
| S | 76 | 7.2% | 5 |
| I | 74 | 7.0% | 6 |
| N | 68 | 6.5% | 7 |
| O | 68 | 6.5% | 8 |
| L | 57 | 5.4% | 9 |
| D | 36 | 3.4% | 10 |
| H | 35 | 3.3% | 11 |
| C | 31 | 3.0% | 12 |
Data sources
| Rank | Item | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | E | 12.21% |
| 2 | T | 9.14% |
| 3 | A | 8.23% |
| 4 | I | 7.71% |
| 5 | O | 7.38% |
| 6 | N | 7.27% |
| 7 | S | 6.90% |
| 8 | R | 6.31% |
| 9 | H | 4.32% |
| 10 | L | 4.25% |
| 11 | D | 3.72% |
| 12 | C | 3.59% |
| 13 | U | 2.73% |
| 14 | M | 2.59% |
| 15 | P | 2.33% |
| 16 | F | 2.26% |
| 17 | G | 2.01% |
| 18 | Y | 1.65% |
| 19 | B | 1.54% |
| 20 | W | 1.51% |
| 21 | V | 1.07% |
| 22 | K | 0.581% |
| 23 | X | 0.270% |
| 24 | J | 0.159% |
| 25 | Q | 0.142% |
| 26 | Z | 0.130% |
A columnar keyword must contain 2–25 ASCII letters only.