When the CSA starts up, it presents three windows. The first contains a sample ciphergram, the second its attribution (author), and the third is empty.

Unless you want to decipher the sample, clear the contents of the top two windows.

Then, enter the ciphergram you want to decipher in the top window, or paste it in from another application. Be sure you do NOT include the attribution, which is the part of a newspaper puzzle that follows the dash near the end (it's the author's name, or some other credit).

Enter the attribution in the second window. You do not have to do that; it's optional.

You should leave the Initial Key window empty, at least for the first attempt. Click the Solve button.

The deciphered result and the derived key should soon display in the browser.

If quite a long time elapses without any result displayed (a minute or so), there might be some error in the entry of the ciphergram. If the solution takes too long, or it seems to be nonsense, check that:

• The cipher text is entered in the top window correctly.

• The attribution (signature or author) is NOT included in the ciphergram, but is entered in its proper window (the second from the top), or not at all.

Last updated 2002 September 17