Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Q = E
XQCIAJBAR,UKQOJBAUDAQITPQNT-ZILQJWCQWU,DPBAILQWBWUBCIWZTJQQCQWUIJQPOQAUUKQJDZKUPBWXNDGQJUDQPITUKQDJTQNNIHP.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Action Cryptograms Set 44
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: P = S
WAPZQQZPAMAVANUDXQ,XAOQNWQPQUNWUNPWRNPPNAXXUPANGLQP,UMZXQUKQPMGNTUINPMGTLTAMNPGYLTQIQZQMNYGTLGGTVQM'PYUINP.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: K = E
JIKXXKTYXRSKSKUIRSHAURLOK;YRYXRSKBWSKOKAR,XQKKRIHBW-WFKOURYPK,AWRYABWSKOKAR,XKIE-TYXROUBRYAD,XKIE-TKXROLBRYPKWAK!
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 4
Starter clue: L = N
ITKXLLNOFTLBOJXOUNITMSHXVXKONMSLINMZFUNZSOSKHXLBCNMTOJXLITKXLFTLBSOHTPSHOTLKTXHXVXKONMSLLXOSNLXZUNZSOSKH.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 5
Starter clue: N = O
UNKMNSXBNQEHXHYL,UNKMNSXBNQSYIGXB,EIUJIVYWTQNMIUZGNLLHUYHXBYMXBYUWJPYMNMXBYEBIMIEXYMNQXBYQIMJHUKTNTWGIXHNU.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 6
Starter clue: J = T
JXTUTBUTSTAJXBJHYQQSBFTMVWNVVFC,BAZJWUAJXTSQVVCTYAJVJXTHVUQZ,HYJXBCSWEXZYCOBJEXBCJXTMHVWQZZVBZYCXVKKUYJJTUC.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
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)
- “Democracy, the practice of self-government, is a covenant among free men to respect the rights and liberties of their fellows.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1939, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=C B=A C=M D=I E=U F=Z G=B H=W I=O J=R K=H L=V M=K N=L O=P P=S Q=E R=Y S=Q T=F U=T V=J W=N X=D Y=X Z=G
- “His deeds inimitable, like the sea that shuts still as it opes, and leaves no tracts nor prints of precedent for poor men's facts.”— George Chapman, 1607, Bussy D'Ambois, Act I. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=W C=X D=B E=Z F=J G=O H=Q I=C J=Y K=V L=P M=N N=T O=K P=S Q=E R=U S=G T=R U=A V=M W=H X=L Y=F Z=D
- “Blessed is the healthy nature; it is the coherent, sweetly co-operative, not incoherent, self-distracting, self-destructive one!”— Thomas Carlyle, 1838, Sir Walter Scott. London and Westminster Review, 1838 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=C C=Q D=G E=F F=P G=M H=Y I=L J=B K=E L=U M=Z N=J O=R P=V Q=W R=T S=H T=D U=A V=K W=O X=S Y=I Z=X
- “We cannot deny that power is a factor in world politics any more than we can deny its existence as a factor in national politics.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1945, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=K B=Y C=M D=U E=Q F=D G=J H=S I=W J=H K=C L=N M=R N=O O=T P=X Q=V R=Z S=I T=E U=P V=F W=B X=A Y=G Z=L
- “No growth of cities, no growth of wealth, can make up for any loss in either the number or the character of the farming population.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1907, Seventh Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=Z B=H C=D D=X E=C F=Q G=L H=I I=A J=M K=G L=S M=R N=O O=J P=B Q=F R=V S=W T=P U=N V=K W=U X=T Y=E Z=Y
- “There are men that will make you books, and turn them loose into the world, with as much dispatch as they would do a dish of fritters.”— Miguel de Cervantes, 1615, Don Quixote, Part II, Chap. III (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=A C=S D=V E=C F=K G=Z H=W I=G J=T K=F L=Q M=Y N=B O=P P=X Q=L R=J S=M T=E U=R V=O W=U X=H Y=I Z=D