cryptogram

Noun

cryptogram (plural cryptograms)

1. Encrypted text.
   • It's a big help in solving cryptograms if you know how a cryptogram is constructed. The constructor normally uses two alphabets, one for plaintext, one for the substitute cipher letters.1981, Norma Gleason, Cryptograms and Spygrams, Courier Corporation, →ISBN, page 7
   • To anyone who does not know the key, the five characters of the cryptogram are different but the genuine receiver is in no danger of confusion.2002, Fred Piper, Sean Murphy, Cryptography: A Very Short Introduction, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 35
2. A type of word puzzle in which text encoded by a simple cipher is to be decoded.
   • You already know this if you are an amateur codebreaker. On the comics pages of many newspapers, you will find a little puzzle known as a cryptogram. It's usually a famous quotation that has been encrypted in a very straightforward way […]2007, Charles Seife, Decoding the Universe, Penguin, →ISBN