The solution to the cryptogram “een droom is bedrog” is “de waarheid is goud“.
Here’s how we can solve it:
- Frequency Analysis: Look for the most frequent letters in the cryptogram. In this case, “e” is the most frequent letter. In Dutch, the most frequent letter is usually “e”.
- Common Words: Consider common Dutch words that start with “e”. A common two-letter word is “en” (and).
- Pattern Matching: Look for patterns of repeated letters. Here, “d” is repeated twice. A common two-letter word ending in “d” is “de” (the).
- Substitution: Try substituting “en” for the first two “e”s and “de” for the second “d” and “e”. This gives us “den droom is bedrog”.
- Continue the Process: Now focus on the remaining letters. “d” appears three times, so it might represent a vowel like “a” which is another common letter. Substitute “a” for remaining “d”s. This gives us “de waarheid is bedrog”.
- Solve the remaining letters: “b” might represent a “u” since “bedrog” doesn’t make sense. Substituting “u” gives us “de waarheid is goud” which translates to “the truth is gold”.
This solution makes sense in Dutch and follows the pattern of a dream being deceitful and the truth being valuable.