Dancing Men Cipher Encoder/Decoder

The Dancing Men Cipher is a substitution cipher featured in the Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Dancing Men”. Each letter of the alphabet is replaced by a stick figure of a dancing man. To encode, you replace each letter of your message with its corresponding dancing man symbol. For decryption, you replace these symbols to get the original plain message. Click on letters or symbols below to encode or decode your message.

Dancing Men Cipher Decoder

Decoded Text:

Clear Copy Text

Click symbols to decode

Space

Dancing Men Cipher Character Mapping

Download

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

q

r

s

t

u

v

w

x

y

z

52 characters | Complete cipher alphabet

About the Dancing Men Cipher

The Dancing Men Cipher is a fictional cipher created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his Sherlock Holmes story. It’s a simple substitution cipher where each letter of the alphabet is replaced by a unique stick figure symbol. The figures’ positions and the presence of a flag can distinguish them. This tool can be useful for solving CTF (Capture The Flag) challenges involving cryptography and decoding classic ciphers.

The cipher is solved through frequency analysis, a technique Sherlock Holmes uses in the story to crack the code.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Dancing Men Cipher?

The Dancing Men Cipher is a fictional substitution cipher from the Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Dancing Men.” It uses a unique set of stick figure symbols to represent letters of the alphabet.

How does the Dancing Men Cipher work?

Each letter of the English alphabet (A-Z) is mapped to a specific stick figure. To encode a message, you replace each letter with its corresponding symbol. To decode, you do the reverse: replace each symbol with its corresponding letter.

Is the Dancing Men Cipher a strong encryption method?

No, the Dancing Men Cipher is a very simple substitution cipher and is not considered a strong encryption method. It’s primarily used for recreational purposes and as a plot device in the Sherlock Holmes story. It is susceptible to frequency analysis.

Where can I find the key for the Dancing Men Cipher?

The key for the Dancing Men Cipher, which shows which symbol corresponds to which letter, is revealed in the story “The Adventure of the Dancing Men.” This tool provides the mapping directly for your convenience.