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All lessons8 min · Trainee Codebreaker

Transposition

Same letters, new order.

Introduction

Write the message into a grid, then read it out down the columns in an order set by a keyword. Nothing has been substituted — only moved.

Because the letters are untouched, a frequency count looks like ordinary English. The attack is anagramming the columns instead.

Key ideaTransposition rearranges letters instead of replacing them, so frequency analysis alone stalls.