Compass Cipher - A Method for Alphabet Substitution
The compass cipher makes use of a well known pattern, the directions of north, south,
east, and west. There are lots of ways to create a compass cipher key. One way,
as shown below, is to make a cross in the center of your paper and write out the
letters of the alphabet along each line, spiraling outwards.
The arrows show the direction used to fill in the compass lines. You can mix up your
compass by making the cipher with a counter-clockwise rotation, random assignment,
or unique patterns that you find useful.
Once you have all the letters written into your compass write out the letters, from
outside in and then combine all of the letters into a long line. Finally, write
out the plain alphabet below it to come up with an alphabet substitution cipher!
NORTH
YUQMIEA
EAST
ZVRNJFB
SOUTH
WSOKGC
WEST
XTPLHD
Compass Key: YUQMIEAZVRNJFBWSOKGCXTPLHD (NESW order)
Alphabet: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
To make a new key try putting the letters together in a different order (SNEW?).