Code Puzzles And Letter Frequencies
You will no doubt know that some letters appear a lot more often in English than other letters. Trivially you can see just by reading this page that the letter E appears a lot more times than the letter Q.
So how can you use this to help you solve codewords? Well, the way that many people start solving codewords, when the E isn't given, is by trying to work out which number represents the E. The best way to do this is to look at which number appears the most times in the codeword puzzle - and this is often, although of course not always, the E.
For those who play games such as Scrabble, you'll know that some letters have a higher score than others - this is because they are harder to play, and the reason they are harder to play is because they appear in less words - they have a lower occurrence frequency in English.
So what are the overall frequencies of letters in English? One way to find this out is to take a large amount of text from a variety of sources in English, and then simply count how many times each letter occurs. Of course, over time some letters may come in and out of fashion, and it may also vary depending on which version of English you look at: most people in England use -ise and -ising forms of words, whereas in the US it might be -ize and -izing, making 'z' more frequent than in British English.
As a guide to the overall letter frequencies, here is a list of them, with the most common letter (E) in pole position - NB some positions may vary a little depending on what your sample source is and how many words it contains, but generally this is directionally correct:
E, T, A, O, I, N, S, R, H, D, L, U, C, M, F, Y, W, G, P, B, V, K, X, Q, J, Z.
If you can work out where the 'E' is in a codeword, then often that is all you need to break the back of the puzzle and to solve it. This is why codewords where the E is given - and more generally a vowel - are often a little easier than those where they are not given, or where there are of course less given letters at the start of the puzzle.
Date written: 17 Mar 2015
Comment on this post
You must be logged in to comment - please Register or Login
Deconstructing Cryptic Crossword Clues
In order to solve a cryptic crossword, you need to be able to break the clue down into its separate parts. In most cases, this requires successful analysis as to which part of the clue is the straight definition, and which is the cryptic part.
Then...
Added: 22 Apr 2015
The Benefits Of Solving Word Puzzles
There are many benefits to solving word puzzles. First and foremost, doing so is a very inexpensive hobby, puzzles are fun and satisfying to solve, and word puzzles provide a very effective form of 'brain training'.
As opposed to solving logic puzzles...
Added: 26 Apr 2015
Computers And Cryptic Crosswords
One of the debates that pops up from time to time is around cryptic crosswords and computers - and specifically whether a computer program can be written to create a good cryptic crossword.
Now, in this debate it is generally assumed that what is...
Added: 19 Mar 2015
How Much Can You Sell Crosswords For?
One of the most common questions that people have when they start writing crosswords, is what the going rate is.
However there is no clear answer, as it varies on so many different factors. These include:
- The grid size: generally the larger the...
Added: 24 May 2015
Homophone Clues In Cryptic Crosswords
Cryptic crossword clues, as you'll have seen through this series of blog posts, come in various distinct types, and the list we've covered is not even exhaustive!
One of the clue types that people often struggle with is the homophone clue, or...
Added: 13 Apr 2015
Back to Puzzle Blog