Part I: Code and Cryptogram Strategies
14
We offer you three examples, one from the First World War
and two from the Second. Both wars began in Europe, with
the entry of the United States following sometime afterward.
The Zimmerman telegram
By early 1917, the First World War had been raging on the
continent of Europe for two and a half years, but the U.S.
was officially neutral. The question on everyone’s mind was
whether the U.S. would enter the war, and if so, when. On
January 16, 1917, the German Foreign Secretary (equivalent
to the American Secretary of State), Arthur Zimmerman, sent
a ciphered telegram to the German ambassador to Mexico.
The British intelligence services intercepted the telegram,
which consisted of hundreds of groups of digits, each group
up to 5 digits long (“13042 13401 8501 115” and so forth). The
British had captured some German code books that described
an earlier version of the cipher and so were able to decode
the message.
The Zimmerman telegram described a plot in which the
Germans would begin “unrestricted submarine warfare” on
February 1. If America entered the war, Germany proposed to
help Mexico reconquer territories in Texas, New Mexico, and
Arizona from the U.S.! A way was found to leak this telegram
to the U.S. government without revealing that the British
had broken the German cipher. The telegram’s message was
printed in American newspapers on March 1, 1917, and the
U.S. entered the war just over a month later. The entry of the
U.S. decisively tipped the balance of power in the war away
from Germany. The deciphering of the Zimmerman telegram
thus changed the course of history.
The Enigma code
In the Second World War, German U-boats were destroying a
large fraction of the Allied shipping in the Atlantic Ocean. The
Germans used a coding machine, code-named the Enigma,
which used a collection of cipher wheels and switches to
apply a different cipher to every single letter of a message. The
British applied an immense amount of effort to breaking this
code, which they finally did. The breaking of the Enigma code
turned the tide of the war in the Atlantic and made the D-Day
invasion that much more possible.
Chapter 1: Clueing You In about Codes and Cryptograms
15
The Navajo code talkers
In the Pacific theatre of the Second World War, the American
armed forces used Native American speakers of the Navajo
language. The Navajo code talkers used words from the natu-
ral world to represent military objects: different types of birds
were different types of aircraft, different types of fish were
different types of ships, and so on. The Navajo code talkers
were used to communicate among different American mili-
tary units, with great success. After the war, it was revealed
that the Japanese had broken several American codes but
had made no progress with breaking Navajo. Much of the
American success in the Pacific theatre can be attributed to
the contribution of the Navajo code talkers.
Uncovering Masonic Codes
and Ciphers
Not everyone who uses codes and ciphers is involved in mili-
tary or political activity. Groups with a spiritual orientation
have long used ciphers and codes to conceal their teachings.
This isn’t so much for fear of their being discovered (although
sometimes this has been a concern, when persecution is an
issue). Rather, the issue is to keep certain types of spiritual
knowledge or teachings from those who aren’t ready or aren’t
qualified to receive them.
The future of cryptography
Beginning in the 1960s, cryptogra-
phers used higher mathematics to
make more and more complicated
ciphers. These ciphers involve the
use of enormously long prime num-
bers to create ciphers of such com-
plexity that they can only be broken,
if at all, with immensely powerful
computers. We don’t use those
ciphers in this book. However, if
you’re interested in cryptography,
you should know that this is where a
large part of the future of cryptogra-
phy is headed. If you’re still in school
and interested in cryptography, work
hard at those math courses!
Part I: Code and Cryptogram Strategies
16
The Freemasons (or Masons), a fraternal organization that
has been public about its existence since 1717, has long used
codes of different sorts. The primary purpose of using codes
has been to keep the Masonic ceremonies of initiation secure.
These ceremonies are complex and must be performed from
memory. Masons put hours of study into the effort to learn
their ceremonies. In some areas, Masons possess small books
with the text of these ceremonies. To keep the ceremonies
confidential even if the books fall into the wrong hands, the
books are written in an initial-letter cipher, that is, a code in
which each word of the text is represented by its initial letter.
This code allows someone who already knows the ceremony
to use the cipher to practice the ceremony until the person
memorizes it to perfection.
In earlier generations, Freemasons sometimes used symbols
instead of letters to encipher their ceremonies. Coauthor
Mark has in his possession a couple of book lover’s treasures,
small old ritual books with ceremonies enciphered by symbol,
a sort of American hieroglyphic extravaganza. If you come
upon any of these books in an old bookstore or yard sale,
treasure them — they become rarer every year.
Masons have also made great use of the Pigpen Cipher, so
called because, to people of an earlier age, its tic-tac-toe-
board structure resembled the layout of pigpens. The Pigpen
Cipher has many versions and has come to be known as
the Freemasons’ Cipher. The version in this book isn’t “the”
correct one because a single correct version doesn’t exist.
Masons in different areas learned different versions. However,
the version we present in Chapter 8 shows the exotic, mysteri-
ous character of the cipher, where letters are represented by
a few angular symbols and dots.
On the continent of Europe, where Freemasonry developed
in ways that were a bit different from English Masonry, there
was more of an interest in exotic ciphers. You can find some
of those ciphers in Chapter 8, as well. They’re elaborate sym-
bolic inventions dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. In
that era, all ciphers had to be written out by hand, so it didn’t
matter that the ciphers used unique symbols that can’t easily
be represented in computer-readable form.
Enjoy these ciphers as a glimpse into a different age, when the
creation of cryptograms was a bit more leisurely than it is today.
Chapter 1: Clueing You In about Codes and Cryptograms
17
Continuing Your Crypto
Education
In this section, we include some reading suggestions for
those of you who are hooked on codes, cryptograms, and
conspiracies!
Consider these additional resources if you seek to solve more
puzzles:
✓ Word Searches For Dummies by Denise Sutherland
(Wiley): This book, by one of the authors of the book
you hold in your hands, shows you how to approach
word search puzzles of different types and levels of
difficulty. The book includes 250 puzzles to solve, with
hints and answers.
✓ The Mammoth Book of Secret Codes and Cryptograms
by Elonka Dunin (Running Press): This book includes a
huge collection of codes and ciphers, as well as real-life
unsolved codes and undeciphered scripts.
If you want to gain additional knowledge about codes, ciphers,
and cryptography, give these books a try:
✓ Codebreaker: The History of Codes and Ciphers by Stephen
Pinnock (Walker & Company): This brief and lavishly
illustrated book may be the best place to go next if you
want to dive further into the subject, especially from a
historical point of view.
✓ The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary,
Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh
(Doubleday): As the subtitle indicates, the focus in this
book is on the last four centuries or so. You can find
extensive examples of different ciphers in this fascinating
book.
✓ The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing by David
Kahn (Macmillan): This is the big daddy of all books
on cryptography, a highly readable yet comprehensive
description of the entire history of the field. It gives a
great deal of emphasis to the period of World War II and
the Cold War, but it also includes much about codemak-
ing and codebreaking during earlier periods of history.
Part I: Code and Cryptogram Strategies
18
✓ Kahn on Codes: Secrets of the New Cryptology by David
Kahn (Macmillan): For the true crypto fan, this is a col-
lection of essays, largely focused on the World War II
period and thereafter.
If you want more information about codes in the Kabbalah, we
suggest Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem (Meridian/Penguin).
For cryptographers, the chapter on gematria is particularly
interesting!
If you want information on cryptography and its use in the
American Revolutionary War and the Civil War, turn to these
texts:
✓ George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans
Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by
Thomas B. Allen (National Geographic): This book for
young adults has a great deal about true codes and other
secret writing techniques used during the Revolutionary
War. For example, the book reproduces the nine-page
codebook created by Major Benjamin Tallmadge, who was
General Washington’s spy chief — and who appears as a
character in our first conspiracy story (see Chapter 3).
✓ Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring by
Alexander Rose (Bantam): This groundbreaking history of
the subject has a lot to say about ciphers and codes.
✓ Secret Missions of the Civil War: First-Hand Accounts by
Men and Women Who Risked Their Lives in Underground
Activities for the North and the South by Philip Van Doren
Stern (Bonanza Books): The final chapter of this book
includes info on codes and ciphers in the Civil War.
And if you’re looking for information about Freemasonry and
its ciphers, consider the following:
✓ Freemasons For Dummies by Christopher Hodapp (Wiley):
This book is an excellent introduction to the general subject
of Freemasonry. It tells you how Freemasonry operates,
what the Masonic “degrees” or rituals of initiation are like,
and how to tell the difference between truth and fantasy
in the many stories you can read about Freemasonry in
literature and on the Internet.
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