5 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)
“The perfection of moral character consists in this, in passing every day as the last, and in being neither violently excited nor torpid nor playing the hypocrite.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=V B=P C=Q D=W E=A F=B G=Y H=S I=L J=X K=M L=F M=H N=O O=N P=U Q=K R=T S=C T=G U=J V=E W=D X=R Y=Z Z=I
“Is not marriage an open question, when it is alleged, from the beginning of the world, that such as are in the institution wish to get out, and such as are out wish to get in?”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1850, Representative Men, Montaigne (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=V C=T D=K E=G F=N G=O H=S I=F J=I K=B L=D M=E N=H O=U P=C Q=L R=P S=W T=Y U=R V=M W=A X=J Y=Z Z=Q
“We owe it to future generations to keep alive the noble and beautiful creatures which by their presence add such distinctive character to the American wilderness.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1904, Fourth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=N B=V C=Q D=C E=G F=O G=E H=B I=S J=F K=D L=P M=Z N=W O=T P=A Q=J R=K S=I T=Y U=X V=R W=M X=L Y=H Z=U
“The uttered part of a man's life, let us always repeat, bears to the unuttered, unconscious part a small unknown proportion. He himself never knows it, much less do others.”— Thomas Carlyle, 1838, Sir Walter Scott. London and Westminster Review, 1838 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=E B=C C=T D=N E=K F=O G=X H=B I=A J=W K=Z L=I M=Q N=Y O=M P=V Q=U R=D S=H T=J U=R V=P W=G X=F Y=S Z=L
“The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what it is itself, that is its material, what the formal part; with all thy soul to do justice and to say the truth.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=O B=I C=F D=X E=L F=G G=Q H=U I=H J=S K=P L=K M=W N=V O=C P=E Q=R R=Y S=Z T=B U=N V=A W=M X=J Y=D Z=T