Puzzle 1
Starter clue: H = R
QBHFQBIZHKJWZUNGQHVM;QBHFQBIZHKENIRHNRVVERIXJIM.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- M
- N
- O
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- X
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- Z
Expert Cryptograms Set 35
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: D = O
FWDODEUGADQOCFLLDHQNTDBNRFNKRULRNRGCIDQDNFONGB.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
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- M
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: J = H
JSJHLSWKQZJUKCKEJKJKACLUJSJHWCASKPUJSPTGOWZ-BHW.
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: Z = N
VCZESTTPCZCECNMEUNDITPTIGSZSWIIGPZJICPZZCVSZVO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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- K
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: U = H
GU,QYMZYSIXQUYUNHEUQXZNXVRIIKURKDIHYHSMFRQUVRSY.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: I = R
XTPICSTXIMBACYXTPIMBAMNOWYXCDPBEAMIAPIFZHIMDPYY.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- L
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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)
- “Our country is the world; our countrymen are all mankind.”— William Lloyd Garrison, 1837, Prospectus of the Liberator, Dec. 15, 1837 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=U C=X D=J E=M F=C G=W H=R I=N J=I K=Y L=G M=D N=E O=B P=Q Q=O R=A S=Z T=F U=H V=L W=S X=K Y=P Z=T
- “Apologies only account for that which they do not alter.”— Benjamin Disraeli, 1871, Speech, July 28, 1871 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=S B=R C=Y D=O E=G F=A G=E H=U I=D J=X K=W L=C M=Z N=T O=L P=M Q=N R=H S=V T=F U=I V=B W=P X=K Y=J Z=Q
- “He has enough to do who holds the handle of the frying-pan.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=L B=P C=D D=Z E=W F=X G=Y H=A I=C J=H K=O L=S M=V N=M O=I P=F Q=U R=K S=E T=R U=T V=B W=N X=Q Y=J Z=G
- “Confession of our faults is the next thing to innocency.”— Publilius Syrus, 42 BC, Sententiae (Maxims), 1060 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=Z C=O D=L E=F F=M G=H H=D I=T J=G K=W L=V M=R N=U O=Y P=I Q=K R=B S=E T=S U=A V=C W=X X=P Y=Q Z=N
- “Oh, tenderly the haughty day Fills his blue urn with fire.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1857, Ode Sung in the Town Hall, Concord, Ode, Concord, July 4, 1857 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=K C=P D=B E=G F=W G=O H=U I=L J=X K=S L=Q M=N N=A O=V P=C Q=T R=I S=R T=Z U=H V=F W=M X=Y Y=E Z=D
- “The right road is the road of justice and orderly process.”— Woodrow Wilson, 1919, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=D B=A C=I D=C E=N F=L G=Z H=P I=R J=K K=M L=Q M=O N=F O=J P=E Q=V R=W S=G T=H U=B V=X W=U X=T Y=S Z=Y