Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Z = E
OLQJJSQKYUOPZJJEFNOFZTKZUYLZOLQBNZQGSUSZTYAMYUBIWGNYLZO.
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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- O
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Expert Cryptograms Set 61
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: I = O
BVBRIFKSRCZKKILDXIDKXLCIOXEGBOXSXZORVIJXVOBPINZFXQIVBIF.
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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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: V = E
QPVUVHUVTGNVGNBVKPGHUVYLXQVFGCLBZHUHFQPVGCVU-UVSXTVAGTVF.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: C = O
SECHGWCZZMXRMXEBCCVXTCEACYWTXTKCYZFJJOXRWCRMFWOQYRZLRXE.
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: O = E
ATOEYZOCBUTZDUGEXOCLYOMLUAJWLNYOOLSJO,SKAATOWLYOZCUOVKYO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: P = E
HPVSPVDCZVRIYPOHRYBVAPSPUPTTRDTPNKYBPXTNJPNIHBRDBHPTRLP.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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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)
- “Small habits well pursued betimes may reach the dignity of crimes.”— Hannah More, 1786, Florio, Part I (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=G B=Y C=J D=Q E=P F=U G=C H=K I=O J=L K=B L=M M=N N=R O=S P=W Q=A R=Z S=H T=D U=T V=X W=F X=V Y=I Z=E
- “It is only shallow people who require years to get rid of an emotion.”— Oscar Wilde, 1891, The Picture of Dorian GrayCipher key: A=X B=I C=H D=P E=Q F=N G=U H=B I=O J=G K=L L=W M=V N=F O=R P=D Q=M R=S S=Y T=Z U=J V=T W=C X=E Y=K Z=A
- “There are no people who are quite so vulgar as the over-refined ones.”— Mark Twain, 1897, Following the EquatorCipher key: A=D B=L C=V D=M E=Y F=S G=O H=A I=J J=Z K=W L=U M=B N=P O=K P=H Q=T R=X S=F T=N U=R V=E W=C X=I Y=Q Z=G
- “From snow whether cooked or pounded you will get nothing but water.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=P B=C C=O D=Z E=R F=I G=S H=M I=X J=L K=Y L=A M=H N=Q O=G P=V Q=B R=T S=F T=D U=J V=K W=N X=E Y=U Z=W
- “The friendships of men are vastly agreeable, but they are insecure.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=T B=D C=N D=P E=F F=Z G=O H=Q I=K J=L K=U L=A M=V N=G O=E P=X Q=W R=J S=B T=H U=S V=C W=Y X=M Y=R Z=I
- “We are acquainted with a mere pellicle of the globe on which we live.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=M B=H C=Q D=C E=Y F=S G=X H=W I=N J=B K=F L=V M=Z N=O O=D P=E Q=J R=I S=R T=L U=P V=A W=K X=G Y=T Z=U