Puzzle 1
Starter clue: U = T
JUJTCGLJQGUUNSGJHGHNWWNOIPUXHCOBLEXSLFFCUUCJO,UNTPVVLECOIUNICELSJUGTNFLWOJUX.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- M
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Ralph Waldo Emerson Cryptograms Set 21
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: J = H
WFCIFZZMQHEJQPVZABMCJMHJQFB,EJQPJVAQFHEZVCVWRFCBIJQWMHEZRHKHNQCBQBMCFEJVKXJE.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: S = I
VGVHFCRDSLRDSCIYLLSJSUSPFNDPSUEVSLJYHD;VGVHFPESDQSCIYLLSJUVNDPSUTVLVVRLNOOVLL.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: V = E
LDVXIWWIRVWEAWDIHVWXVIOVLDILSVPEWLXOTMVSVOVQVYVONBELVCBQLTZSTLDTQLDTWJVQLBOK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: A = S
IVMYJNGOEKPVITJAAMAKXHKAKREMIVYGCPVATJUMJXWGXENDVMXKIOJEEAGXJXGRZMUIKAKIAMMX.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: H = E
VOHWQEBKUUPTHAMBOTFQPHQJBVHPHQAMHVHPAQW,KUKAHEHZETVOVOHWQEBKUAQVJPHQAMKUYKPQWB.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
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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)
- “It is a height to which common duty can very well attain, to suffer and to dare with solemnity.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=Z B=V C=A D=B E=R F=L G=H H=C I=D J=I K=P L=E M=J N=O O=N P=U Q=G R=K S=W T=S U=T V=F W=M X=Y Y=X Z=Q
- “Man carries the world in his head, the whole astronomy and chemistry suspended in a thought.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=L B=D C=N D=X E=T F=A G=Z H=S I=C J=H K=U L=K M=I N=P O=Q P=W Q=E R=Y S=J T=F U=B V=O W=M X=G Y=V Z=R
- “Every man is an impossibility until he is born; every thing impossible until we see a success.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=Q B=Z C=M D=N E=H F=Y G=V H=R I=P J=B K=X L=S M=D N=U O=C P=T Q=G R=A S=I T=W U=L V=E W=K X=J Y=O Z=F
- “The passages of Shakespeare that we most prize were never quoted until within this century.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1876, Letters and Social Aims, Quotation and Originality (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=F B=U C=D D=H E=O F=B G=X H=K I=A J=C K=Y L=T M=Z N=Q O=R P=M Q=N R=G S=W T=I U=J V=E W=S X=P Y=V Z=L
- “The ray of light passes invisible through space and only when it falls on an object is it seen.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=S B=X C=U D=W E=L F=Q G=O H=V I=T J=A K=I L=Z M=E N=Y O=F P=G Q=M R=B S=K T=P U=C V=H W=D X=N Y=R Z=J
- “The laws of friendship are austere and eternal, of one web with the laws of nature and of morals.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=N B=S C=Y D=X E=W F=P G=J H=E I=V J=U K=O L=K M=D N=C O=H P=R Q=A R=G S=Z T=I U=F V=T W=L X=Q Y=M Z=B