Today's coded proverb

Checks:

How to play Cryptly

Cryptly is a free daily code-breaking word puzzle. Everyone gets the same coded proverb each day, and your job is to crack the code and reveal the saying. If you enjoy letter puzzles and a bit of detective work, this one's for you.

How the puzzle works

Every letter of a well-known proverb has been swapped for a different letter, and the same swap is used all the way through. The small letters under each box show the code. Tap a box, then a key, to decide what that code letter really stands for, and every matching box fills in at once. A few letters are given to start you off: three from Monday to Wednesday, and two from Thursday to Sunday. When every box is filled, press Check. Each Check is one attempt: letters you got right lock in with a tick, and letters you got wrong are crossed out so you can fix them.

Scoring and the helper

You have six checks. Cracking it on your first check earns 12 points, then 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 for checks two to six. Stuck early on? The helper reveals one more letter, but it halves the day's score and is only available during your first three checks.

Streaks and badges

Your play streak counts the days in a row you've played, and your solved streak counts the days in a row you've solved the puzzle. Play seven days running and you earn a 7-point bonus, or 14 points if you solved all seven. Miss a day and the streaks start again. A new puzzle arrives every day at midnight UTC.

Tips

Start with short words: one-letter words are usually A or I, and common three-letter words include THE and AND.

Look for apostrophes: a single letter after one is often S or T, as in IT'S or DON'T.

Fill in your best guess for every letter before you check. Each check tells you exactly which letters are right.

What Cryptly trains

Codebreaking. Using letter frequency and short words to crack a substitution cipher.

Pattern spotting. Repeated letters and apostrophes give big hints.

Language knowledge. Recognising a proverb from a few decoded words.

Did you know?

Julius Caesar used a simple cipher that shifted every letter three places along the alphabet.

Frequency analysis, the codebreaker's trick of counting letters, was first described by the Arab scholar al-Kindi in the 9th century.

Your checks