Action Cryptograms
Quotes about action, encoded as substitution ciphers and laid out for paper — big type, a blank under every letter, answers on their own page.
Thirteen quotations about doing the thing rather than intending to. Twain appears three times, Aesop once on small kindnesses, Goethe once, Durant once — that last one summarising Aristotle rather than quoting him, which is noted on the answer page because the line is almost always misattributed. The proverbs in this group are the plain imperative kind: do not count them, do not put it off, do not speak unless you can improve on the silence.
Imperatives make for an unusual letter mix. Sentences that open with a verb skip the article that normally hands you THE in the first three words, and negations pack in a lot of short function words — do, not, no, off, till — that look alike once encoded. The reliable opening here is the doubled letter rather than the short word.
A set with a bite to it. Fits a New Year session, a classroom on procrastination, or anybody who likes their puzzle to nag them slightly while they solve it.
This section: 315 quotations, written between 431 BC and 1945, 40 to 139 letters long, graded easy / medium / hard / expert. Voices you will meet: Abraham Cowley, Abraham Lincoln, Aesop, Alexander Pope, Alfred Tennyson, Beaumont and Fletcher and 77 more.
The 53 sheets
Set 1
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard
Set 2
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 3
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard
Set 4
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 5
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 6
6 puzzles · Medium, Expert
Set 7
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard
Set 8
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 9
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 10
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 11
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 12
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 13
6 puzzles · Medium, Expert
Set 14
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 15
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 16
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 17
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard
Set 18
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard
Set 19
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard
Set 20
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 21
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard
Set 22
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 23
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 24
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 25
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 26
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Expert
Set 27
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 28
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Expert
Set 29
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard
Set 30
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 31
6 puzzles · Medium, Hard
Set 32
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert
Set 33
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard
Set 34
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 35
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 36
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard
Set 37
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard
Set 38
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 39
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 40
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard
Set 41
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 42
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 43
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard
Set 44
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 45
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard
Set 46
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 47
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 48
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard
Set 49
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 50
6 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 51
5 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 52
5 puzzles · Easy, Medium
Set 53
5 puzzles · Easy, Medium, Hard
Every sheet prints on US Letter with half-inch margins, gives you a blank line under each cipher letter, and keeps the answer key on its own page so nothing is spoiled while you work.