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 good point of cunning for a man to shape the answer he would have in his own words and propositions, for it makes the other party stick the less.”— Francis Bacon, 1625, Essays, Of Cunning (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=I C=S D=M E=L F=E G=C H=O I=U J=G K=V L=P M=D N=H O=T P=Z Q=N R=B S=W T=R U=X V=Q W=A X=Y Y=F Z=K
“The only faith that wears well and holds its color in all weathers, is that which is woven of conviction and set with the sharp mordant of experience.”— James Russell Lowell, 1871, My Study Windows, Abraham Lincoln, 1864 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=U C=T D=S E=L F=I G=C H=K I=X J=B K=V L=G M=E N=Y O=P P=Z Q=N R=A S=R T=W U=O V=D W=F X=H Y=Q Z=M
“Fairy elves, Whose midnight revels by a forest side or fountain some belated peasant sees, Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon Sits arbitress.”— John Milton, 1667, Paradise Lost, Book I. Line 781 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=L B=D C=G D=F E=R F=M G=X H=S I=W J=Y K=Q L=N M=T N=V O=Z P=A Q=C R=K S=U T=O U=B V=J W=H X=E Y=I Z=P
“Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the god he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=C B=Y C=H D=X E=Z F=D G=P H=K I=J J=F K=M L=R M=L N=E O=Q P=S Q=A R=T S=I T=B U=V V=U W=N X=G Y=W Z=O
“A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country can not do this.”— Abraham Lincoln, 1861, First Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=G B=H C=P D=M E=S F=D G=Y H=W I=O J=T K=Q L=R M=C N=X O=B P=L Q=N R=F S=A T=E U=J V=K W=I X=U Y=Z Z=V
“Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.”— Henry Clay, 1829, Speech at Ashland, Ky., March, 1829 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=E B=Y C=G D=F E=Z F=C G=I H=J I=K J=V K=B L=H M=L N=P O=A P=Q Q=T R=O S=W T=X U=M V=R W=N X=S Y=U Z=D