Here's the second cryptogram. This one is a toughie. I worked on it, off and on, for a day-and-a-half while we were riding on the bus in Nova Scotia. See what you can do with it.

DW GC FHOZ VHCG WIFL GANS LFSDUCQ FBI YIFWFBHPCQS XFHUDXSDFHQ ANUC QYIBHT!

--HFILNH PFBTONQ



As before, the last line is the author of the quotation. Hint: The important thing is to decide what the first two words are. Notice, of course, that they are two-letter words.

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[ Hints, and eventually the Solution, follow ]







































































============================================================================= The 2nd two-letter word is placed in a peculiar situation, because the letters must be capable of reversing their order in the 4th word. Very few two-letter words can do this and still form a proper word: IN cannot create an English word ending in NI, and ON cannot create an English word ending in NO, and IT cannot create an English word ending in TI. WE, however, can create several four-letter words ending in EW: knew, grew, blew, stew, et cetera. And the only possible two-letter word that can come before WE is IF.

IF WE

> if we FHOZ VHew WIFL wANS LFSiUeQ FBI YIFfFBHPeQS XFHUiXSiFHQ
> ANUe QYIBHT!


Drawing upon one's knowledge of everyday speech, the most likely two four-letter words to follow "IF WE" are "ONLY KNEW." People are all the time saying that phrase. It is a "stock" phrase.

if we only knew WIoL wANS LoSiUeQ oBI YIofoBnPeQS XonUiXSionQ ANUe QYIBnT!

The 5th word seems mysterious, but the 6th word has limited possibilities since it begins with "w". It is probably "what," because "o" and "e" are impossible at this point (those letters have already been discovered). To verify this hypothesis, we can analyze the next combination of "AN" which occurs in the next-to-last word, "ANUe" which would become "haUe" with U possibly = "v" to make "have". That would make sense.

"if we only knew WIoL what LotiUeQ...."

Immediately, "motives" suggests itself for the seventh word. These quotations from famous writers are always discussing things like motives, thoughts, ideas, and feelings. That's what writers work with, after all. It is only natural a writer will say something about "motives," perhaps having to do with the motives of the characters in his novel.

Q also terminates another word in the sentence, and "S" is often a terminating letter. Furthermore if U=v then the next-to-last four-letter word becomes, happily, "have".

For the sentence to continue making sense, WIoL must now = "from". There is no other possibility!

"if we only knew from what motives oBr...."

B must equal u!

"if we only knew from what motives our YrofounPest XonviXtions have sYrunT!"

With such a strange combination of letters ("ofo") in the first remaining encrypted word, there are very few possibilities.

X=c to make "convictions"; Y=P to make "profoundest"

"if we only knew from what motives our profoundest convictions have sprung!"

> --HFILNH PFBTONQ

-Norman Douglas