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)
“It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=S B=W C=B D=R E=D F=Z G=E H=I I=U J=X K=O L=J M=C N=T O=H P=Y Q=M R=A S=G T=N U=K V=P W=Q X=V Y=F Z=L
“I repeat . . . that all power is a trust; that we are accountable for its exercise; that from the people and for the people all springs, and all must exist.”— Benjamin Disraeli, 1826, Vivian Grey, Book VI. Chap. VII (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=P C=D D=M E=O F=X G=S H=R I=Y J=C K=A L=G M=U N=E O=L P=W Q=T R=F S=K T=N U=B V=I W=V X=H Y=Q Z=J
“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=J B=F C=L D=S E=M F=R G=A H=E I=B J=G K=O L=H M=U N=I O=W P=T Q=Y R=Q S=N T=Z U=V V=P W=C X=D Y=X Z=K
“Under our form of government voting is not merely a right but a duty, and, moreover, a fundamental and necessary duty if a man is to be a good citizen.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1907, Seventh Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=W B=E C=I D=O E=S F=P G=H H=M I=L J=N K=T L=R M=F N=V O=B P=A Q=U R=G S=Y T=D U=Q V=X W=C X=Z Y=K Z=J
“A man finds he has been wrong at every preceding stage of his career, only to deduce the astonishing conclusion that he is at last entirely right.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=X B=N C=K D=W E=G F=A G=H H=J I=L J=E K=T L=Y M=P N=I O=F P=S Q=Z R=U S=V T=R U=M V=D W=O X=Q Y=B Z=C
“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=G B=W C=B D=V E=N F=C G=M H=S I=F J=Z K=J L=U M=I N=P O=K P=D Q=X R=T S=E T=Q U=L V=A W=Y X=H Y=O Z=R