The Secret Keyword Scramble

Shifting letters a few spaces is easy, but if you want to really scramble the alphabet, you need a key. Instead of memorizing twenty-six random letters, all you need to remember is one secret word. Let's use the word SHADOW.

To build your cipher, write your keyword first. If your word has repeating letters, cross out the extras—so APPLE becomes APLE. SHADOW has no repeating letters, so write the whole word down. These form the start of your secret alphabet.

Next, write out the rest of the alphabet in normal order right after your keyword. The only rule? You have to skip any letters you already used in your word. Once you reach the letter Z, you will have a completely scrambled row.

Check out the demo panel to see the SHADOW alphabet in action. To write a message, find your real letter in a normal alphabet and swap it for the secret letter hiding directly below it.