Puzzle 1
Starter clue: B = E
RUGQUJOBRUAZDGUSUNBXDVIYVRJJBSBRGPOKVGD;DVIVRGBPPBSGVIVYFXUFBXPOBCFUIBJ.
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 78
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: T = E
OYTEHRXTP'EOAKFY,YAGTSUKREROTVQDRWT!DTTVEIOTIFYOYPTIX,IWXVRLTEIVAWNOYTVRWT.
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: D = O
ZDPOEDUUOCDTC,DCZNUYAZDEXOYUCGCWBDQO,YCBQKGCSQKOVWUDTGPPDUQYXYZQKOVIHDQO.
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: G = E
MACXEFMGYGDFGZLIXCG,YMXDGYGATMFNDGLDGEOXYDALEAFYXZIDBLIMGBWGLONGOXJPGLKG.
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: Q = I
NHXZOJKQYQSJXGBLPQSW,YWBJKQYQSJXGBMYXF,EQGMHW,EQGMHW,EQGMHW,FTVSPXSEQGMHWEXF.
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: O = E
BIAHROIRDOEOWIBOEUYXGKRHHPGIKCPPUTZYCZYTOAHOQHIIPOUTZDLZYHPORGIAOIVDZVO.
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)
- “Not body enough to cover his mind decently with; his intellect is improperly exposed.”— Sydney Smith, 1855, Lady Holland's Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, Vol. I. p. 258 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=U B=E C=X D=H E=K F=P G=T H=Z I=S J=D K=W L=A M=J N=V O=Y P=L Q=B R=N S=C T=Q U=O V=I W=F X=R Y=M Z=G
- “The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.”— Alexander Pope, 1734, An Essay on Man, Epistle I. Line 217 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=O B=J C=B D=F E=S F=C G=W H=P I=A J=Z K=U L=V M=K N=G O=T P=R Q=Y R=I S=X T=E U=Q V=L W=N X=D Y=H Z=M
- “Some for renown, on scraps of learning dote, And think they grow immortal as they quote.”— Edward Young, 1728, Love of Fame, the Universal Passion, Satire I. Line 89 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=P B=D C=N D=O E=F F=V G=I H=U I=Q J=Z K=H L=J M=B N=C O=E P=M Q=T R=X S=K T=W U=R V=Y W=G X=L Y=A Z=S
- “Him of the western dome, whose weighty sense Flows in fit words and heavenly eloquence.”— John Dryden, 1681, Absalom and Achitophel, Part I. Line 868 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=A C=M D=S E=F F=T G=E H=Z I=D J=Q K=C L=N M=H N=Y O=L P=U Q=P R=K S=J T=G U=B V=X W=V X=O Y=W Z=R
- “Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray, Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may.”— Thomas Middleton, 1616, The Witch, Act V. Sc. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=D C=F D=V E=M F=Y G=N H=L I=J J=S K=P L=W M=G N=B O=K P=H Q=I R=Q S=T T=O U=Z V=U W=E X=A Y=R Z=C
- “Most people become bankrupt through having invested too heavily in the prose of life.”— Oscar Wilde, 1891, The Picture of Dorian GrayCipher key: A=S B=M C=G D=L E=B F=X G=R H=T I=O J=Q K=U L=Y M=J N=Z O=E P=H Q=D R=P S=W T=V U=A V=F W=C X=K Y=N Z=I