Puzzle 1
Starter clue: X = N
XWRPFXZOHRWXFHPAHNAXHWNCJPOHJWNNWX-HAXHAOXUYSOFXUAOSFXZ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Ralph Waldo Emerson Cryptograms Set 11
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.
The puzzles
Puzzle 2
Starter clue: X = I
JXICXALTOLZAUQXKVXKVJBCFSSLAXFKAJBLJRXASTFACJBCXQYLTDC.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: I = E
BITWNIFTILWKIPIIJFYAYKKWPJWNEIBYUFTISIHEQEYPYUFTIBYSHJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: D = E
FWUBEDXVEDTFUKWJAUBXXVFIIJOOQUWJKI,IDDLIXWOADEVFQDOWJAU.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: C = E
ZECNCOKCXCLVTCEAXOCCZRQ,ISCRUCVMINZOZIOAKRCPYMOCEAXUCZRQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: H = E
SHOKXBIHDHFAXKXZNYNRKXRUBCHWHYHZBNRGXRUBCHHQHOHGBRUBNOH.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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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)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (6 solutions)
- “Nothing astonishes men so much as common-sense and plain dealing.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=E B=Y C=U D=Q E=K F=I G=Z H=S I=W J=C K=F L=B M=V N=M O=A P=H Q=R R=T S=L T=J U=D V=X W=O X=N Y=P Z=G
- “Time is always bringing the occasions that disclose their value.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=S B=H C=E D=U E=Q F=O G=Z H=F I=M J=T K=N L=A M=P N=X O=W P=J Q=R R=D S=C T=L U=B V=G W=K X=I Y=V Z=Y
- “We have the same need to command a view of the religion of the world.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=C B=W C=B D=U E=I F=T G=Z H=L I=E J=D K=M L=S M=Y N=V O=P P=N Q=G R=K S=R T=H U=F V=X W=A X=Q Y=O Z=J
- “To have lived through all its sunny hours, seems longevity enough.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=G B=A C=Z D=E E=V F=T G=Q H=K I=S J=U K=R L=M M=J N=C O=N P=W Q=Y R=F S=P T=D U=H V=I W=O X=L Y=B Z=X
- “If eyes were made for seeing, Then Beauty is its own excuse for being.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1847, Poems, The Rhodora (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=O B=Z C=E D=K E=F F=V G=P H=L I=T J=Q K=W L=M M=U N=Y O=S P=X Q=G R=N S=H T=D U=B V=A W=J X=R Y=C Z=I
- “We must be very suspicious of the deceptions of the element of time.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=Y B=T C=H D=V E=Q F=R G=N H=E I=B J=A K=U L=K M=X N=I O=M P=J Q=L R=O S=W T=G U=F V=Z W=D X=S Y=C Z=P