diff --git a/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/Cargo-example.toml b/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/Cargo-example.toml
deleted file mode 100644
index 5c7303093..000000000
--- a/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/Cargo-example.toml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-[package]
-edition = "2021"
-name = "crypto-square"
-version = "0.1.0"
-
-[dependencies]
-itertools = "0.6.1"
diff --git a/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/example.rs b/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/example.rs
index 5a7619006..5d5feb4b0 100644
--- a/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/example.rs
+++ b/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/example.rs
@@ -1,117 +1,40 @@
-extern crate itertools;
-use itertools::Itertools;
-
-/// Encrypt the input string using square cryptography
 pub fn encrypt(input: &str) -> String {
-    let prepared = prepare(input);
-    if prepared.is_empty() {
+    let mut input: Vec<_> = input
+        .to_ascii_lowercase()
+        .chars()
+        .filter(char::is_ascii_alphanumeric)
+        .collect();
+    if input.is_empty() {
         return String::new();
     }
 
-    let (cols, rows) = dimensions(prepared.len());
-
-    let mut output = String::with_capacity(input.len());
-    for chunk_iterator in SquareIndexer::new(rows, cols).chunks(cols).into_iter() {
-        for ch_idx in chunk_iterator {
-            if ch_idx < prepared.len() {
-                output.push(prepared[ch_idx]);
-            }
-        }
-        output.push(' ');
-    }
-
-    // we know there's one extra space at the end
-    output.pop();
-
-    output
-}
-
-/// Construct a vector of characters from the given input.
-///
-/// Constrain it to the allowed chars: lowercase ascii letters.
-/// We construct a vector here because the length of the input
-/// matters when constructing the output, so we need to know
-/// how many input chars there are. We could treat it as a stream
-/// and just stream twice, but collecting it into a vector works
-/// equally well and might be a bit faster.
-fn prepare(input: &str) -> Vec<char> {
-    let mut output = Vec::with_capacity(input.len());
-
-    output.extend(
-        input
-            .chars()
-            .filter(|&c| c.is_ascii() && !c.is_whitespace() && !c.is_ascii_punctuation())
-            .map(|c| c.to_ascii_lowercase()),
-    );
-
-    // add space padding to the end such that the actual string returned
-    // forms a perfect rectangle
-    let (r, c) = dimensions(output.len());
-    output.resize(r * c, ' ');
+    let width = (input.len() as f64).sqrt().ceil() as usize;
+    let size = width * width;
 
-    output.shrink_to_fit();
-
-    output
-}
-
-/// Get the dimensions of the appropriate bounding rectangle for this encryption
-///
-/// To find `(rows, cols)` such that `cols >= rows && cols - rows <= 1`, we find
-/// the least square greater than or equal to the message length. Its square root
-/// is the cols. If the message length is a perfect square, `rows` is the same.
-/// Otherwise, it is one less.
-fn dimensions(length: usize) -> (usize, usize) {
-    let cols = (length as f64).sqrt().ceil() as usize;
-    let rows = if cols * cols == length {
-        cols
+    // skip last row if already empty
+    let last_row = if input.len() + width > size {
+        width
     } else {
-        cols - 1
+        width - 1
     };
-    (rows, cols)
-}
 
-/// Iterator over the indices of the appropriate chars of the output.
-///
-/// For a (2, 3) (r, c) grid, yields (0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5).
-/// Does no bounds checking or space insertion: that's handled elsewhere.
-#[derive(Debug)]
-struct SquareIndexer {
-    rows: usize,
-    cols: usize,
-    cur_row: usize,
-    cur_col: usize,
-    max_value: usize,
-}
+    // padding
+    input.resize(size, ' ');
 
-impl SquareIndexer {
-    fn new(rows: usize, cols: usize) -> SquareIndexer {
-        SquareIndexer {
-            rows,
-            cols,
-            cur_row: 0,
-            cur_col: 0,
-            max_value: rows * cols,
-        }
-    }
-}
+    // prevent input from being moved into closure below
+    let input = &input;
 
-impl Iterator for SquareIndexer {
-    type Item = usize;
-    fn next(&mut self) -> Option<usize> {
-        let value = self.cur_row + (self.cur_col * self.rows);
-        let output = if value < self.max_value && self.cur_row < self.rows {
-            Some(value)
-        } else {
-            None
-        };
+    // transpose
+    let mut res: String = (0..width)
+        .flat_map(|col| {
+            (0..last_row)
+                .map(move |row| input[row * width + col])
+                .chain(std::iter::once(' '))
+        })
+        .collect();
 
-        // now increment internal state to next value
-        self.cur_col += 1;
-        if self.cur_col >= self.cols {
-            self.cur_col = 0;
-            self.cur_row += 1;
-        }
+    // trailing space separator
+    res.pop();
 
-        output
-    }
+    res
 }
diff --git a/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/test_template.tera b/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/test_template.tera
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a2468871
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/test_template.tera
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+use crypto_square::*;
+
+{% for test in cases %}
+#[test]
+#[ignore]
+fn {{ test.description | make_ident }}() {
+    let actual = encrypt({{ test.input.plaintext | json_encode() }});
+    let expected = {{ test.expected | json_encode() }};
+    assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
+}
+{% endfor -%}
diff --git a/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/tests.toml b/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/tests.toml
index be690e975..085d142ea 100644
--- a/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/tests.toml
+++ b/exercises/practice/crypto-square/.meta/tests.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,34 @@
-# This is an auto-generated file. Regular comments will be removed when this
-# file is regenerated. Regenerating will not touch any manually added keys,
-# so comments can be added in a "comment" key.
+# This is an auto-generated file.
+#
+# Regenerating this file via `configlet sync` will:
+# - Recreate every `description` key/value pair
+# - Recreate every `reimplements` key/value pair, where they exist in problem-specifications
+# - Remove any `include = true` key/value pair (an omitted `include` key implies inclusion)
+# - Preserve any other key/value pair
+#
+# As user-added comments (using the # character) will be removed when this file
+# is regenerated, comments can be added via a `comment` key.
+
+[407c3837-9aa7-4111-ab63-ec54b58e8e9f]
+description = "empty plaintext results in an empty ciphertext"
+
+[aad04a25-b8bb-4304-888b-581bea8e0040]
+description = "normalization results in empty plaintext"
+
+[64131d65-6fd9-4f58-bdd8-4a2370fb481d]
+description = "Lowercase"
+
+[63a4b0ed-1e3c-41ea-a999-f6f26ba447d6]
+description = "Remove spaces"
+
+[1b5348a1-7893-44c1-8197-42d48d18756c]
+description = "Remove punctuation"
+
+[8574a1d3-4a08-4cec-a7c7-de93a164f41a]
+description = "9 character plaintext results in 3 chunks of 3 characters"
+
+[a65d3fa1-9e09-43f9-bcec-7a672aec3eae]
+description = "8 character plaintext results in 3 chunks, the last one with a trailing space"
+
+[fbcb0c6d-4c39-4a31-83f6-c473baa6af80]
+description = "54 character plaintext results in 7 chunks, the last two with trailing spaces"
diff --git a/exercises/practice/crypto-square/tests/crypto-square.rs b/exercises/practice/crypto-square/tests/crypto-square.rs
index ebe67f3a9..7fac9531f 100644
--- a/exercises/practice/crypto-square/tests/crypto-square.rs
+++ b/exercises/practice/crypto-square/tests/crypto-square.rs
@@ -1,79 +1,64 @@
-use crypto_square::encrypt;
+use crypto_square::*;
 
-fn test(input: &str, output: &str) {
-    assert_eq!(&encrypt(input), output);
+#[test]
+fn empty_plaintext_results_in_an_empty_ciphertext() {
+    let actual = encrypt("");
+    let expected = "";
+    assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
 }
 
 #[test]
-fn empty_input() {
-    test("", "")
+#[ignore]
+fn normalization_results_in_empty_plaintext() {
+    let actual = encrypt("... --- ...");
+    let expected = "";
+    assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
 }
 
 #[test]
 #[ignore]
-fn encrypt_also_decrypts_square() {
-    // note that you only get the exact input back if:
-    // 1. no punctuation
-    // 2. even spacing
-    // 3. all lowercase
-    // 4. square input
-    let example = "lime anda coco anut";
-    assert_eq!(example, &encrypt(&encrypt(example)));
+fn lowercase() {
+    let actual = encrypt("A");
+    let expected = "a";
+    assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
 }
 
 #[test]
 #[ignore]
-fn example() {
-    test(
-        "If man was meant to stay on the ground, god would have given us roots.",
-        "imtgdvs fearwer mayoogo anouuio ntnnlvt wttddes aohghn  sseoau ",
-    )
+fn remove_spaces() {
+    let actual = encrypt("  b ");
+    let expected = "b";
+    assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
 }
 
 #[test]
 #[ignore]
-fn empty_last_line() {
-    test("congratulate", "crl oaa ntt gue")
+fn remove_punctuation() {
+    let actual = encrypt("@1,%!");
+    let expected = "1";
+    assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
 }
 
 #[test]
 #[ignore]
-fn spaces_are_reorganized() {
-    test("abet", "ae bt");
-    test("a bet", "ae bt");
-    test("     a  b     e      t             ", "ae bt");
+fn test_9_character_plaintext_results_in_3_chunks_of_3_characters() {
+    let actual = encrypt("This is fun!");
+    let expected = "tsf hiu isn";
+    assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
 }
 
 #[test]
 #[ignore]
-fn everything_becomes_lowercase() {
-    test("caSe", "cs ae");
-    test("cAsE", "cs ae");
-    test("CASE", "cs ae");
+fn test_8_character_plaintext_results_in_3_chunks_the_last_one_with_a_trailing_space() {
+    let actual = encrypt("Chill out.");
+    let expected = "clu hlt io ";
+    assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
 }
 
 #[test]
 #[ignore]
-fn long() {
-    test(
-        r#"
-We choose to go to the moon.
-
-We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things,
-not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that
-goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and
-skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept,
-one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win,
-and the others, too.
-
--- John F. Kennedy, 12 September 1962
-        "#,
-        &(String::from("womdbudlmecsgwdwob enooetbsenaotioihe ")
-            + "cwotcbeeaeunolnnnr henhaecrsrsealeaf1 ocieucavugetciwnk9 "
-            + "ohnosauerithcnhde6 sotteusteehaegitn2 eohhtseotsatptchn  "
-            + "tsiehetohatwtohee  oesrethrenceopwod  gtdtyhagbdhanoety  "
-            + "ooehaetaesaresih1  tgcirygnsklewtne2  ooaneaoitilweptrs  "
-            + "ttdgerazoleiaoese  hoesaeleflnlrnntp  etanshwaosgleedot  "
-            + "mhnoyainubeiuatoe  oedtbrldreinnnojm "),
-    )
+fn test_54_character_plaintext_results_in_7_chunks_the_last_two_with_trailing_spaces() {
+    let actual = encrypt("If man was meant to stay on the ground, god would have given us roots.");
+    let expected = "imtgdvs fearwer mayoogo anouuio ntnnlvt wttddes aohghn  sseoau ";
+    assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
 }