Cipher #221 hints — Sunday, 9 August 2026
Stuck on today's wheel? Here are three nudges that get harder, then the answer at the very bottom. Nothing above the last section spoils the word.
Standard band — A midweek puzzle: ordinary letters, no tricks.
The ciphertext
This is what the board shows you before any guess. Repeated symbols mean repeated letters.
Hint 1 — The shape of it
Today's word has 5 different letters across six positions, so one letter appears twice — look at the ciphertext and you can see exactly where. The vowels sit at positions 2 and 4 and 6.
Hint 2 — Where to start
It begins with P and ends with E. If you can place either of those, the wheel hands you that mapping and the ciphertext starts reading back at you.
Hint 3 — Narrowing it down
The word contains more than one vowel and its letters are all fairly ordinary. First three letters: PAL…
Show the answer to Cipher #221
The word was PALACE.
Which means the wheel mapped P→M, A→Q, L→V, C→Y, E→D.
Want to try this one yourself instead? Play #221 as practice — no hints, and it won't touch your streak.