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Cryptle #61 · Mon 2 Nov 2026

This one is from the archive. Play it for practice — past puzzles never count toward a streak. Today’s cipher is here.

3 guesses to crack the cipher. One cipher each day.

How to play Cryptle

The block on the page is an ordinary English sentence with a cipher laid over it. Every letter is still in there. Your job is to read it.

  • We tell you which cipher it is Today it’s Polybius Square, and the key is 5×5 · I=J. The work is the decoding, not guessing what you’re looking at.
  • Type the decoded message Capitals, spaces and punctuation are all ignored — the third stone and THETHIRDSTONE both count.
  • 3 guesses, then the day is done A wrong guess tells you whether your answer is even the right length, and which part of your method to doubt.
  • Solve it and your streak grows Miss a day, or run out of guesses, and it goes back to zero. That’s the whole prize — there’s nothing to win but the run itself.
  • A new one lands at midnight Past days stay playable in the archive, but practice never counts toward a streak.

Never solved one before? The guides walk through every cipher we use, one at a time.

Polybius Square

5×5 · I=J

43 15 51 15 33 / 12 15 31 31 43 / 42 11 33 22

A B C D E
F G H I K
L M N O P
Q R S T U
V W X Y Z
Need a nudge?

Each pair of digits is a row then a column in the square. I and J share a cell.

Learn the method: how to solve polybius square

The answer

SEVEN BELLS RANG

How it works

The alphabet sits in a square, and every letter is described by where it lives. Get the square right and the rest is bookkeeping. This one is Polybius Square. The key: 5×5 · I=J. Each pair of digits is a row then a column in the square. I and J share a cell. Look the first pieces up in the square and they come out S E V. The answer was SEVEN BELLS RANG.

Next time, check your work with the Polybius Square.

Today’s cipher →

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