Puzzle 1
Starter clue: N = T
HWKHFPSIXLUDN.NDLPKLWWUXHNLYFPIEVJVIJWVHZSHPNIZLPDNDVXVPN.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
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- X
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- Z
Action Cryptograms Set 19
6 cryptograms to solve with a pencil. Each letter of the quote has been swapped for another letter, and the same swap holds all the way through.
20 pt ciphertext — the size a newspaper puzzle page never gives you. 26 pt ciphertext with wide letter spacing and room to write. Both sizes print on US Letter with the answer key on its own page.
Printing this web page instead? Press Ctrl+P (⌘+P on a Mac). The navigation and buttons drop away, and the answer key prints on its own page — open it below first if you want it included.
The puzzles
Puzzle 2
Starter clue: K = E
NKEWKNIECNKWKSKECKMULMP.KBTKUUKXTK,CIKX,ZFXPCEXETC,AYCEIEAZC.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
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- M
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: W = E
YWJMKMPCWWYLPTPTWCFBWWUWCYTFPJMWCFKJYTFPJMWCKMPEWRFPWPMOC.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: Y = T
XPUOXLTUXTIGOUPEPCTYPWPKLYIFGZZGUYCAYIGULYIGOKLYIQPZLYLXO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: L = E
[JVLBNYV]CBLNMRLLRBCJVLBIGKKLKKLREOJVLNBAGMLOJVCMIGKKLKKGBK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: J = E
ZJGBFEDSJJSAZJYCBFFGZJTJEDAZJDVQCJWVIAZSESSTJFFAZJLFJCPJF.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- N
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Solver's cheat sheet
- Most common letters
- E T A O I N S H R D L U
- Most common 1-letter words
- A I
- Most common 2-letter words
- OF TO IN IT IS BE AS AT SO WE HE BY OR ON DO IF ME MY UP AN GO NO US AM
- Most common 3-letter words
- THE AND FOR ARE BUT NOT YOU ALL ANY CAN HER WAS ONE OUR OUT DAY GET HAS HIM HIS HOW MAN NEW NOW OLD SEE TWO WAY WHO BOY DID ITS LET PUT SAY SHE TOO USE
- Common double letters
- LL EE SS OO TT FF RR NN PP CC
- Common word endings
- -ING -ION -ENT -TION -LY -ED -ER -EST
- After an apostrophe
- T (don't) S (it's) RE (we're) VE (I've) LL (we'll) D (I'd)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (6 solutions)
- “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”— Mark Twain, 1901, Note to the Young People's SocietyCipher key: A=J B=V C=X D=H E=M F=Y G=U H=A I=O J=P K=W L=I M=B N=T O=Q P=S Q=K R=C S=D T=Z U=G V=E W=L X=R Y=F Z=N
- “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”— Will Durant (Will Durant, summarising Aristotle. Often quoted as Aristotle’s own words; it is not.), 1926, The Story of PhilosophyCipher key: A=B B=X C=T D=G E=A F=S G=Q H=Z I=H J=F K=E L=Y M=D N=W O=K P=O Q=V R=M S=P T=C U=L V=J W=R X=N Y=U Z=I
- “We do not see with the same eyes what does and what does not relate to us.”— Francois de La Rochefoucauld, 1871, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (J. Hain Friswell translation, 1871)Cipher key: A=X B=M C=S D=Z E=R F=A G=V H=C I=J J=D K=N L=I M=O N=B O=U P=T Q=P R=L S=Q T=H U=Y V=F W=E X=G Y=W Z=K
- “Conscience has no more to do with gallantry than it has with politics.”— Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1775, The Duenna, Act II. Sc. 4 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Y B=V C=R D=Z E=M F=G G=A H=U I=H J=K K=W L=I M=X N=J O=S P=O Q=P R=B S=F T=E U=N V=Q W=D X=C Y=T Z=L
- “[The rich] are indeed rather possessed by their money than possessors.”— Robert Burton, 1621, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Part I. Sect. 2, Memb. 3, Subsect. 12 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=R C=A D=K E=B F=L G=O H=Q I=P J=T K=S L=E M=N N=I O=Y P=G Q=W R=D S=J T=U U=F V=H W=X X=Z Y=C Z=V
- “He was indeed the glass Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves.”— William Shakespeare, 1598, King Henry IV, Part II, Act II. Sc. 3 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=A C=L D=N E=I F=S G=W H=Z I=U J=E K=C L=M M=J N=Q O=X P=V Q=B R=F S=D T=R U=K V=O W=Y X=P Y=G Z=H