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)
“There is a cunning which we in England call "the turning of the cat in the pan;" which is, when that which a man says to another, he lays it as if another had said it to him.”— Francis Bacon, 1625, Essays, Of Cunning (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=C C=S D=V E=Q F=J G=D H=R I=U J=A K=E L=H M=K N=B O=T P=X Q=P R=O S=N T=Z U=F V=W W=G X=M Y=L Z=Y
“As the wisdom, strength, and beneficence of our free institutions are unfolded, every day adds fresh motives to contentment and fresh incentives to patriotism.”— James K. Polk, 1846, Second Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=X B=H C=S D=O E=T F=V G=L H=J I=P J=K K=N L=R M=D N=U O=I P=Q Q=Z R=C S=F T=W U=A V=E W=Y X=B Y=M Z=G
“It is natural that these things should be done by such persons, it is a matter of necessity; and if a man will not have it so, he will not allow the fig-tree to have juice.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=F B=M C=N D=V E=L F=W G=K H=G I=J J=S K=U L=A M=Q N=Y O=X P=Z Q=R R=P S=C T=O U=I V=E W=B X=T Y=H Z=D
“We do not confine our enthusiasm for individual liberty and free national development to the incidents and movements of affairs which affect only ourselves.”— Woodrow Wilson, 1915, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=Y B=M C=X D=H E=F F=P G=E H=B I=J J=T K=N L=K M=D N=O O=U P=R Q=W R=Q S=I T=C U=Z V=A W=G X=V Y=L Z=S
“There is always some levelling circumstance that puts down the overbearing, the strong, the rich, the fortunate, substantially on the same ground with all others.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=G B=M C=V D=R E=B F=T G=W H=C I=A J=L K=S L=J M=D N=X O=Y P=U Q=I R=O S=E T=Z U=N V=Q W=P X=F Y=K Z=H
“Our friendship can be accepted and is accepted without reservation, because it is offered in a spirit and for a purpose which no one need ever question or suspect.”— Woodrow Wilson, 1914, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=G B=U C=E D=Z E=R F=K G=M H=O I=H J=W K=J L=F M=A N=P O=T P=B Q=X R=V S=C T=D U=I V=N W=Q X=S Y=L Z=Y