Cryptology I.0 Cryptology as Entertainment

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Contents

Around the middle of the 19th century cryptology became popular as an important part of »recreational mathematics«—although the mathematical aspect in most cases is only implicit. Newspapers contained private advertisements written in simple ciphers. Authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, Karl May, Arthur Conan Doyle used cryptograms and their solutions as fascinating elements of their novels and stories. Cryptograms explicitly appear in the puzzle corners of journals. But also some other types of puzzles are of cryptologic kind, even if not explicitly labelled as such.

Today we find cryptologic motives mainly in thriller fiction where the protagonists have to decipher a mysterious message from a lost or strange world in order to save the planet. Or we find them in children's books where children communicate in simple ciphers hiding important secrets, or as detectives they crack malefactors' secret messages that the police was unable to read.

1. Cryptology in Novels and Stories
2. Cryptology in Children's Books
3. Cryptology in Movies, TV, and Radio
4. Cryptology in Art and Comics
5. Cryptology in Nonfiction Books
6. Cryptology in Puzzle Corners [Sorry, only German puzzles]
7. Cryptology in Games

External Links

Here are some online cryptogram collections of varying levels of difficulty:

• Mystery Twister C3 – The new Crypto Cipher Contest
• American Cryptogram Association (ACA)
• Hacker.org
• Project Euler

See also Klaus Schmeh's List of Encrypted Books.