Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Y = E
WZSYWJPSYYXYQXMYQAYVEJJQEJVYMPWDKJQWMMUWDBEDKDQJJQVEDBEDJQOYMXMYVVDYVVLYPQSYJOYXQAYSVQPYREM.
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
Easy Cryptograms Set 42
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: X = E
FUVVXV!ZJXZBQXZJBZUCXQBZXZJUVQXVVGAVXXFVZGDBCCK,-DJGGVXAGZBQGAXBNCGNXCFBZX,HSZNCGNXCZUFXZGFBCCK.
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: A = E
OQATDJLPXBBAZADSAMAOUAADOQARKXDOKDPOQARXDDAZXROQKOAWAZLRKXDOQKRKYKRO,KDPAWAZLRXDDAZQKRKBFOFZA.
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: E = A
SBSFEBUPBCPRSYLUFEOONEHVRMZOLWDLW,BCEBEFSRDOLIERSRGMFFLFFSMRMKEDMMWKMUBPRL,IPFBXLSRZERBMKEZSKL.
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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- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 5
Starter clue: V = E
LVDKVDIVDQVOFSIVCISVDHTQCJJMGGVTGCGNVBVGGSMHECOTMBIFGVBRADJMQDRSVDTWFBGJVHGKDGNVKGNDHRAOCKQV.
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: R = O
UYKBRFUO,ABRYGTHVIHYYGMRVMOSMB,UVIABRHYUYBUTGIREJUIKFRMBGYUVIJUIERRI,HYVRMEHMMRJGIHYKRSOYGIAHMB.
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)
- “A great free people owes it to itself and to all mankind not to sink into helplessness before the powers of evil.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1904, Fourth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=W B=K C=Y D=N E=I F=U G=J H=Q I=X J=T K=D L=B M=L N=C O=H P=F Q=O R=V S=R T=Z U=M V=S W=A X=P Y=E Z=G
- “Misses! the tale that I relate this lesson seems to carry, - Choose not alone a proper mate, But proper time to marry.”— William Cowper, 1795, Pairing Time Anticipated (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=A C=R D=C E=Z F=M G=O H=B I=F J=H K=Y L=K M=D N=P O=X P=Q Q=L R=V S=U T=G U=I V=S W=J X=E Y=W Z=T
- “The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”— Oscar Wilde, 1893, A Woman of No ImportanceCipher key: A=E B=F C=G D=N E=M F=U G=J H=Q I=Z J=L K=A L=Y M=B N=X O=T P=D Q=H R=S S=C T=O U=W V=K W=V X=I Y=P Z=R
- “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”— Jane Austen, 1813, Pride and PrejudiceCipher key: A=Q B=T C=H D=G E=A F=S G=P H=C I=M J=Z K=F L=E M=O N=Y O=L P=U Q=J R=N S=I T=X U=R V=K W=D X=B Y=V Z=W
- “We are a peaceful people and committed to the settling of disputes by amicable adjustment rather than by force.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1927, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=Y B=S C=O D=A E=G F=U G=T H=N I=P J=M K=R L=W M=I N=H O=F P=V Q=C R=B S=L T=D U=X V=E W=J X=Z Y=Q Z=K
- “A scholar, whose mind is set on truth, and who is ashamed of bad clothes and bad food, is not fit to be discoursed with.”— Confucius, 1861, The Analects (James Legge translation, 1861)Cipher key: A=W B=H C=G D=Y E=F F=L G=E H=I I=D J=B K=C L=Z M=T N=Q O=R P=K Q=V R=O S=U T=M U=A V=N W=P X=J Y=S Z=X