Puzzle 1
Starter clue: M = O
BNMCWCXLSMMFZDNQNDWFSWFEMSESFZDUMNXHERRMWSIEMGRJMNBDWYDWRUDWND.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Expert Cryptograms Set 71
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: K = E
EFKJQSKUFQXFZEFKBPVMRJKEWPNKPEZU,MLCYQOKEZSMAKUFMEUKEZLMEWBKZUK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: E = T
ZEZPVYECJIUZEEJLEYEMJUYPEJGAZERNTJYSUJVEYNJRBALQJZVMZPYKVFRAPJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 4
Starter clue: R = O
YKWRCVYHSTRBSW,FXSBUWRCDFSEKAYPOYP,GBUURBRPTSDSEWGLGBURBYPPRPOST.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 5
Starter clue: T = E
MATRTZTNFJHWUZTZNBIATHABWHTPOCKRBEBZR;MATWBHTNAFUNSHABWHTPOXFFN.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 6
Starter clue: D = E
KCGDEFMEDODGDEXLEDHCSDMPUCXUDE,XUCRQUXUDWMKBMWFFVDMTCSXUDJFDKGDF.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
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)
- “Probably no other great nation in the world is so anxious for peace as we are.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1901, First Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=K B=P C=B D=E E=I F=T G=U H=D I=X J=F K=J L=Y M=O N=R O=Z P=V Q=G R=S S=N T=M U=W V=Q W=A X=L Y=C Z=H
- “The life which others pay let us bestow, And give to fame what we to nature owe.”— Alexander Pope, 1720, The Iliad of Homer (Pope's translation), Book XII. Line 393 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=R C=D D=J E=T F=H G=X H=Q I=K J=L K=E L=N M=A N=B O=V P=S Q=I R=Y S=F T=Z U=W V=P W=U X=C Y=G Z=O
- “It is not permitted to the most equitable of men to be a judge in his own cause.”— Blaise Pascal, 1670, Pensees (Thoughts), Chap. IV. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=U B=J C=P D=Z E=T F=C G=Q H=K I=R J=E K=W L=D M=H N=B O=V P=S Q=G R=A S=F T=L U=M V=N W=X X=Y Y=O Z=I
- “If you give money, spend yourself with it, and do not merely abandon it to them.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=W B=N C=U D=R E=L F=S G=A H=V I=K J=Z K=F L=B M=Q N=J O=H P=T Q=X R=O S=E T=M U=D V=G W=Y X=P Y=I Z=C
- “The generous man enriches himself by giving; the miser hoards himself poor.”— Dutch proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=H B=I C=B D=Q E=V F=O G=X H=S I=C J=U K=Y L=J M=T N=R O=F P=L Q=K R=G S=D T=E U=A V=Z W=M X=P Y=W Z=N
- “Lovers are never tired of each other, though they always speak of themselves.”— Francois de La Rochefoucauld, 1665, Maximes, 312 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=W C=O D=E E=R F=S G=V H=D I=X J=M K=L L=I M=A N=Z O=N P=C Q=G R=U S=F T=K U=H V=P W=Y X=T Y=Q Z=B