Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Q = E
RQURGYQLPEWQGWIUYVFQRQFZQLUYLRDGFQLAVEYHGGTR.
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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- R
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- X
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- Z
Expert Cryptograms Set 25
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: S = E
DXATRSVQQXKSDSAMR,NGVYGMWHVUQDXUQXHSSFYSJUVXD.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: C = L
MHQUPKWITPNPQRHYCCTPKURVCLAYQAUJCPBQIRHCYNWK.
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: T = E
TSTADIGVFOMCYKVRBCMYW,TSTADKPTTIOMCYKVCHOVFIT.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: M = E
LMALSASRGBHFDLMZLSEMJPRQDKZFWMDLMQDUEHSNKMMQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: S = E
SZSQIBFSSKLSJTHFTBRSMPHFCHFAPHLPUFBMPSQXUHJT.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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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)
- “Seasoned life of man preserved and stored up in books.”— John Milton, 1644, Areopagitica (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=U B=Q C=J D=T E=I F=R G=O H=B I=M J=H K=Y L=D M=G N=W O=X P=L Q=E R=S S=Z T=K U=A V=P W=F X=C Y=N Z=V
- “No rule is so general, which admits not some exception.”— Robert Burton, 1621, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Part I. Sect. 2, Memb. 2, Subsect. 3 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=J C=F D=N E=K F=X G=H H=M I=V J=P K=G L=B M=A N=W O=Q P=Z Q=S R=L S=E T=U U=T V=I W=D X=O Y=C Z=Y
- “If the sky were to fall we should catch plenty of larks.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=C B=N C=L D=G E=B F=J G=V H=F I=Y J=P K=S L=D M=I N=R O=Q P=E Q=T R=O S=M T=W U=H V=U W=K X=Z Y=A Z=X
- “Every land its own custom, every wheel its own spindle.”— Portuguese proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=R B=U C=S D=Y E=X F=D G=A H=P I=L J=Z K=W L=K M=T N=F O=I P=H Q=B R=C S=V T=E U=G V=N W=M X=Q Y=O Z=J
- “He who would gather honey must brave the sting of bees.”— Dutch proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=W B=D C=K D=T E=N F=A G=L H=G I=X J=Y K=B L=H M=E N=F O=Q P=M Q=S R=U S=O T=C U=I V=J W=V X=Z Y=P Z=R
- “Every one excels in something in which another fails.”— Publilius Syrus, 42 BC, Sententiae (Maxims), 17 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=W B=O C=G D=Z E=D F=N G=B H=I I=Y J=L K=X L=C M=T N=Q O=J P=H Q=R R=M S=E T=S U=A V=K W=P X=F Y=U Z=V