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)
“Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.”— Marcus Aurelius, 170, Meditations, IV. 51 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=A C=V D=P E=Q F=H G=O H=G I=S J=U K=M L=E M=X N=B O=F P=Y Q=R R=Z S=N T=L U=J V=W W=I X=C Y=D Z=K
“Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.”— James Russell Lowell, 1870, Among My Books, First Series. Rousseau and the Sentimentalists (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=D B=I C=J D=R E=L F=C G=Z H=Y I=G J=E K=S L=T M=W N=U O=A P=F Q=P R=V S=X T=O U=B V=K W=Q X=M Y=N Z=H
“Ours is a progressive people, but with a determination that progress must be based upon the foundation of experience.”— Herbert Hoover, 1929, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=P B=Q C=X D=M E=H F=I G=D H=R I=E J=N K=J L=F M=L N=Y O=U P=G Q=T R=O S=Z T=C U=K V=S W=V X=A Y=W Z=B
“All my old opinions were only stages on the way to the one I now hold, as itself is only a stage on the way to something else.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=J B=F C=O D=Q E=L F=N G=B H=A I=S J=Z K=W L=U M=P N=V O=T P=X Q=C R=K S=M T=Y U=H V=D W=G X=R Y=E Z=I
“The essential thing is that the work should go forward under the best possible plan, and with the least possible delay.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1908, Eighth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=Y B=U C=K D=J E=Z F=O G=S H=N I=A J=T K=I L=G M=L N=X O=W P=V Q=C R=E S=P T=B U=D V=H W=Q X=F Y=R Z=M
“We are responsible to our country and to the glorious cause of self-government for the preservation of so great a good.”— Andrew Jackson, 1829, First Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=P B=A C=H D=J E=L F=M G=U H=G I=Y J=T K=O L=Q M=F N=Z O=W P=R Q=E R=C S=X T=K U=I V=D W=V X=S Y=N Z=B