Puzzle 1
Starter clue: M = E
UMBJNUJZFIMBJKBMCQWIFAMEGQMZJUMFWUMZVXFIGBZOIMZZWBOUJZFFIATXDMYFFEMTGK.
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
Character Cryptograms Set 12
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: O = E
RXBFUQEOFRTRIOOESQBUXUDOFYTNFITUFXITRRXMFOUPFRZDXBORXYOSXVUDOMDTVTMUOV.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: U = N
ABAODUVUJVUKDBVUJTOVKDJIIPADU,VKZITDCOBIHHUPOMKZDUPAOZTDZTOVKKHYYVFVOUZ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: P = N
NVRCIJRXLPJXLPSCASNPVKSPSRLKZSILJLSP,NVRCIJOVMVPOSCASNPPXJLSPXQLPJVYALJG.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: C = E
HFHGQDVGDQCVDWZANVCINWCGFFNFCSSWNFIHWRFIDWFNXCGHSCWFLICWLCIDTCXCRPWFNFCSS.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: S = E
IPIOSQDQPHVDLQHSDVPSS;RVFTCQPSSILIHVMWSITDITSHDIHCUQWDFS,DXIDZVFTCPIDQPMJLS.
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)
- “Men of most renowned virtue have sometimes by transgressing most truly kept the law.”— John Milton, 1645, Tetrachordon (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=U B=N C=D D=K E=H F=T G=A H=J I=R J=O K=W L=X M=E N=F O=G P=C Q=V R=Q S=Z T=L U=M V=B W=I X=Y Y=P Z=S
- “Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character.”— James Russell Lowell, 1870, Among My Books, First Series. Dryden (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=P B=L C=B D=H E=D F=I G=J H=V I=N J=K K=Q L=X M=C N=G O=E P=Y Q=U R=S S=F T=A U=T V=R W=Z X=O Y=M Z=W
- “My meaning in saying he is a good man, is to have you understand me that he is sufficient.”— William Shakespeare, 1597, The Merchant of Venice, Act I. Sc. 3 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=Y C=V D=A E=Q F=C G=W H=U I=O J=G K=S L=K M=R N=P O=E P=D Q=B R=X S=L T=H U=N V=I W=J X=Z Y=F Z=T
- “We must maintain our own economic position, we must defend our own national integrity.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1924, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=R B=J C=U D=Z E=V F=K G=Y H=B I=S J=T K=C L=I M=F N=W O=D P=N Q=L R=M S=O T=H U=Q V=E W=X X=A Y=G Z=P
- “It is far safer and more honest to tell nothing than to be silent when we have begun to tell.”— Francois de La Rochefoucauld, 1871, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (J. Hain Friswell translation, 1871)Cipher key: A=M B=Y C=E D=A E=Z F=T G=S H=I I=H J=C K=P L=W M=Q N=O O=K P=U Q=F R=G S=L T=V U=X V=R W=N X=B Y=J Z=D
- “A sage it is not mine to see; could I see a man of real talent and virtue, that would satisfy me.”— Confucius, 1861, The Analects (James Legge translation, 1861)Cipher key: A=K B=P C=D D=T E=J F=U G=Q H=N I=A J=Y K=X L=M M=F N=Z O=G P=S Q=I R=C S=E T=L U=V V=O W=R X=H Y=B Z=W