Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Q = A
FQHQOXANMAGOXANNPKKSZQHYJZQC;QOXANYZQOX,LAGFQHYNOGDHI.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Expert Cryptograms Set 52
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: F = I
WFQQERYBFBNXDFYPDEJXRYWVUFWVCFQNYFEOWJCOFBDEFPJNYDK.
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 3
Starter clue: N = E
KDTRNETLZXGTGLNGLLAMADTKVZTNJ,AOVAQNGZTDEZADZNKXRBLNK.
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: I = E
FIRFKDKAISMRFQSOIHKJTMSKQJKSFIUXIMIUAIXHLHKMIMFPMKRJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: A = E
IAJCRHADDAWHACWLQWDWLQHVAYHWCNAVTDJCGDWTDLAYMCOADJAK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: O = R
HOLROVYU,MLOYE-TVOIJZLDPVMFUO,RUOOGYHOLIWELRU'YZKOTLIWUO.
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)
- “Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong.”— Laozi, 1891, Tao Te Ching (James Legge translation, 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=C C=K D=O E=Y F=M G=R H=N I=G J=W K=P L=F M=B N=S O=T P=U Q=A R=Q S=L T=V U=X V=J W=Z X=H Y=D Z=E
- “Till morning fair Came forth with pilgrim steps in amice gray.”— John Milton, 1671, Paradise Regained, Book IV. Line 426 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=N C=P D=A E=M F=I G=Q H=X I=J J=E K=Y L=U M=V N=G O=S P=C Q=L R=O S=D T=K U=W V=H W=T X=F Y=R Z=B
- “Smile with an intent to do mischief, or cozen him whom he salutes.”— Robert Burton, 1621, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Democritus to the Reader (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=O B=U C=G D=M E=W F=V G=N H=B I=J J=F K=S L=T M=D N=E O=R P=Y Q=Z R=L S=P T=I U=X V=C W=K X=A Y=Q Z=H
- “He who covets what belongs to another deservedly loses his own.”— Phaedrus, 25, Fables, Book I. Fable 4, 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=J C=U D=C E=F F=H G=Q H=L I=E J=N K=O L=Y M=S N=Z O=B P=I Q=A R=W S=T T=G U=R V=M W=P X=D Y=K Z=X
- “We had better bear our troubles bravely than try to escape them.”— Aesop, 1867, Aesop's Fables (George Fyler Townsend translation, 1867)Cipher key: A=E B=G C=A D=T E=J F=Q G=N H=B I=W J=H K=M L=O M=C N=V O=P P=F Q=U R=D S=X T=Y U=K V=L W=R X=Z Y=S Z=I
- “Primrose, first-born child of Ver, Merry springtime's harbinger.”— Beaumont and Fletcher, 1634, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Act I. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=K B=Q C=Z D=L E=T F=V G=Y H=P I=N J=C K=A L=I M=F N=X O=R P=D Q=W R=M S=U T=B U=E V=O W=G X=J Y=S Z=H