5 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)
“We owe it to future generations to keep alive the noble and beautiful creatures which by their presence add such distinctive character to the American wilderness.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1904, Fourth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=M B=W C=Z D=J E=K F=Y G=C H=S I=P J=N K=L L=V M=U N=T O=Q P=I Q=A R=X S=E T=R U=O V=D W=H X=G Y=B Z=F
“The uttered part of a man's life, let us always repeat, bears to the unuttered, unconscious part a small unknown proportion. He himself never knows it, much less do others.”— Thomas Carlyle, 1838, Sir Walter Scott. London and Westminster Review, 1838 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=X C=S D=V E=N F=G G=C H=F I=O J=K K=A L=D M=W N=Z O=Q P=B Q=R R=E S=P T=Y U=L V=M W=J X=U Y=T Z=H
“On a fair prospect some have looked, And felt, as I have heard them say, As if the moving time had been a thing as steadfast as the scene on which they gazed themselves away.”— William Wordsworth, 1819, Peter Bell, Part I. Stanza 16 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=P B=V C=M D=G E=Z F=O G=S H=L I=N J=B K=T L=R M=Y N=E O=D P=J Q=H R=Q S=X T=K U=I V=W W=U X=A Y=C Z=F
“It is a base thing for the countenance to be obedient and to regulate and compose itself as the mind commands, and for the mind not to be regulated and composed by itself.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=K B=U C=S D=B E=G F=V G=I H=R I=C J=O K=L L=Z M=H N=D O=T P=X Q=A R=W S=P T=E U=F V=J W=Q X=M Y=N Z=Y
“I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose, - words in their best order; poetry, - the best words in their best order.”— Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1835, Table Talk (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=S C=N D=Y E=W F=K G=Z H=P I=L J=H K=I L=X M=U N=T O=F P=J Q=E R=G S=M T=V U=B V=Q W=D X=C Y=A Z=O