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.
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)
“There are characters which are continually creating collisions and nodes for themselves in dramas which nobody is prepared to act with them.”— George Eliot, 1872, MiddlemarchCipher key: A=Z B=N C=R D=H E=U F=G G=P H=L I=S J=A K=D L=E M=T N=I O=C P=M Q=W R=Y S=J T=B U=X V=F W=Q X=K Y=O Z=V
“Men do what is called a good action, as some piece of courage or charity, much as they would pay a fine in expiation of daily non-appearance on parade.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=T B=N C=S D=O E=U F=B G=F H=D I=V J=X K=Q L=J M=W N=R O=E P=M Q=I R=Y S=A T=Z U=P V=L W=K X=G Y=H Z=C
“A long train of these practices has at length unwillingly convinced me that there is something behind the throne greater than the King himself.”— William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, 1770, Chatham Correspondence. Speech, March 2, 1770 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=D C=X D=M E=F F=K G=Q H=P I=H J=G K=E L=S M=R N=B O=L P=U Q=I R=J S=A T=N U=W V=C W=Z X=Y Y=V Z=O
“We can, however, do nothing of permanent value for peace unless we keep ever clearly in mind the ethical element which lies at the root of the problem.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1905, Fifth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=E B=K C=X D=Y E=D F=U G=P H=M I=V J=C K=H L=I M=J N=W O=G P=R Q=S R=A S=L T=F U=N V=Z W=B X=Q Y=T Z=O
“A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country can not do this.”— Abraham Lincoln, 1861, First Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=O B=Y C=L D=M E=P F=R G=I H=K I=Z J=A K=D L=G M=X N=W O=E P=S Q=U R=V S=F T=B U=H V=C W=T X=N Y=Q Z=J
“Our manufacturers are rapidly making us industrially independent, and are opening to capital and labor new and profitable fields of employment.”— James A. Garfield, 1881, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=D B=C C=E D=O E=A F=I G=S H=V I=X J=N K=G L=Y M=K N=B O=H P=Q Q=W R=Z S=U T=F U=J V=L W=M X=T Y=R Z=P