Question

cryptologists looked for cribs, which are repeated expressions in messages. sloppy operators would repeat phrases like
othing to report\ or \weather forecast\ (wettervorhersage), which served as clues. if there were no cribs to be found, the british would send out false information about, say, british mines planted in a given area. the germans might then send messages with the name of that area, which would provide clues about deciphering that code. which is the meaning of the word cryptologists? people who study codes people who study marine life people who study weapons people who study ships

Explanation:

The text describes cryptologists looking for clues in coded messages, which implies they study codes.

Answer:

people who study codes