Bill Bryson once wrote in The Mother Tongue that “The varieties of wordplay available in English are almost without number.” He’s definitely right: crosswords, puns, palindromes—the possibilities are endless.
One of my favorite forms of wordplay is the cryptogram. A cryptogram, according to Dictionary.com, is “a message or writing in code or cipher.” Cryptograms can be created through a variety of methods; rearranging letters in the alphabet, using special code words, or substituting numbers. According to a study titled “DNA Security using Symmetric and Asymmetric Cryptography”, there are even encryptions based off DNA algorithms that are used for security.
The interesting thing about cryptograms in today’s society is that they seem to be making a bit of a comeback, at least in the geek community. This is largely due to the show Gravity Falls, which was created in 2012 by Alex Hirsch.
Gravity Falls is a show about a twin sister and brother who are sent away to spend the summer with their Great Uncle (or “Grunkle”) Stan who runs an oddities shop in the strange town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. Despite the fact that the shop itself is full of hoaxes, the siblings discover that there’s more to Gravity Falls than meets the eye.
This is also true for anyone watching the show. Gravity Falls includes a variety of hidden cryptograms and ciphers hidden in the backgrounds of episodes, as well as those displayed during the end credits. The most commonly used cipher in the show is the Caesar cipher, as seen in this picture:
However, the Caesar cipher is not the only code used throughout Gravity Falls. According to the Gravity Falls Wiki, there are at least eight different ciphers used in the show, with multiple examples of each. The following is a list of the different cryptograms used on Gravity Falls, as well as examples of the codes as used on the show.
- Caesar Cipher—substitutes the original letter for the third letter before it; E=B. (Ex: PV. FDHVDULDQ ZLOO EH RXW QHAW ZHHN. PV. DWEDVK ZLOO VXEVWLWXWH=MS. CAESARIAN WILL BE OUT NEXT WEEK. MS. ATBASH WILL SUBSTITUTE.)
- Atbash Cipher—reversing the order of the letters in the alphabet; A=Z and Z=A. (Ex: KFIV VMVITB, MLG HPRM ZMW YLMV, IRHRMT ORPV GSV HSVKZIW GLMV=PURE ENERGY, NOT SKIN AND BONE, RISING LIKE THE SHEPARD TONE.)
- A1Z26 Cipher- this is substituting a letter for a number based on its place in the alphabet; A=1, Z=26. (Ex: 8-1-16-16-25 14-15-23, 1-18-9-5-12?=HAPPY NOW, ARIEL?)
- Number codes- Codes solvable by taking the number beside a parenthesis as an episode number, and the other numbers beside them represents a letter in that episode's credits cryptogram. (Ex: [1)14] [2)5,24 3)3] [5)7,9] [6)33,40,46 9)1,18] [10)32,33][39 11)4,12,13] [12)8,9][17,13] [13) 8,9,10] [14,17,22 14)21,30,32 15)13,20][22 16)20 [17)6,12 20) 3,4]=I WAS SO BLIND. HE LIED TO ME. THE DARKNESS IS NEAR.)
- Vigenère cipher: a series of Caesar ciphers where each letter shift depends on a key word. In the second season of Gravity Falls, the backwards message at the end of theme song is changed so it says “Key Vigenère.” (Ex: The keyword is CIPHER. YM’KL ECN PPK WFOM UBR KQVXNLK, DCI SIK’U VDA JFTOTA AYQ BWL VVCT "EBTGGB BHWKGZH" HVV: TMEASZFA LOS YCDT PRWKTIYEKGL DBV XQDTYRDGVI=WE’VE ALL HAD SOME FUN TONIGHT, BUT LET’S NOT FORGET WHO THE REAL "PUPPET MASTERS" ARE: REPTOIDS WHO HAVE INFILTRATED OUR GOVERNMENT.)
- Combined cipher: a combined cipher is a mix of ciphers used to decipher a message. (Ex: Solve the following by converting to letters using the A1Z26 cipher, then flipping the letters with the Atbash cipher, and finally by using the Caesar cipher. 5-19-23-6-21-16 18-9-6 4-16-19 22-12-15-10-20-19-25-19=SEARCH FOR THE BLINDEYE.
- Symbol substitution cipher #1: This cipher is used by the author of three mysterious journals in the show. It substitutes symbols for letters. Ex:
- Symbol Substitution cipher #2: used in the promotional book Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun! This cryptogram also substitutes symbols for letters. Ex:
I think the reason I enjoy cryptograms so much is because they're a way of hiding information in a way that most people wouldn't take the time to decipher. I enjoy cracking them and I hope to use them in the future when I write fictional stories. The hidden use of cryptograms in Gravity Falls has really inspired me.
Cryptograms may be a form of wordplay, but they’re certainly on another level. Or, to put it another way: DQBRQH UHDGLQJ WKLV LV HLWKHU UHDOOB VPDUW RU VLPSOB KDV WRR PXFK WLPH RQ WKHLU KDQGV.