Puzzle 1
Starter clue: T = S
KMWLZCKAWZFQITKCWOAWTKZTSIFBICQZKD.TWVB-CWVZRFSWZTZKTRLWCTZIF.ZKVILWTFIKCWRVZKZWTRFYSCWRKICT,JAKFRQWTRFYSATKIQT.
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
Friendship Cryptograms Set 36
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: O = T
BOODVGHZAWPGXGQZDXKZAWPEPBGXK,CAPVBXNOANGOLGP,OALWPOZAWOAOLGLGDPO;OLGAXGOAHMDXKGPZAWDXKOLGAOLGPOANGOOLGXGCHOAZAW.
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: U = E
XOUISBU,RPBUNSBYXQXOUSNUY,XQNRGUXOUABUTX;RPBUNSBYXQWBRUPYT,XQTOQLXOUATRPMUBRXI;RPBUNSBYXQXOUIQHPN,XQXBUSXXOUAXUPYUBKI.
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 4
Starter clue: I = E
ILIXWDIPXHHDPHDPJGIPHJHXKTSPTQUDIIXYCZZWDPJZIYHPDKOIYCZFAOCZJIGIDFTQFHFTHDIEKXZQ,PTQGIHHIXIQHDIHXPQFHFKTKYAPTNFTQ.
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 5
Starter clue: N = A
PVBILPDQMTYQNVMLTQNVMIKQPKX,NJCPTEKCLTHPKNC,PNYKJL,NJCZAK;ZAVLPVBILPDXTJ,NJCZITML-PVEKCHNVJ,QTMYTJNMUIZZKPCTYZVBIVJENVJ.
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 6
Starter clue: L = A
LXLWKLOKLPHED,LWEOKLOPHEDFQMHWCFWTEOHLSZLMT;PNOVKTJTCJFTWEQKFSFQ,LZZHCCFMTQHCZFCTLJTLQFOVTJTRJLWOTEOHKFX,LWEKFQETSNOD.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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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)
- “The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First Series, Self-Reliance (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=U B=F C=R D=Y E=X F=N G=Z H=P I=O J=B K=T L=V M=H N=J O=Q P=W Q=M R=A S=C T=S U=G V=L W=E X=K Y=D Z=I
- “It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the heart; the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you.”— Mark Twain, 1897, Following the EquatorCipher key: A=O B=I C=W D=A E=F F=C G=E H=S I=P J=B K=D L=H M=L N=G O=T P=R Q=M R=V S=Q T=X U=J V=K W=U X=N Y=Z Z=Y
- “They are, in regard to the aged, to give them rest; in regard to friends, to show them sincerity; in regard to the young, to treat them tenderly.”— Confucius, 1861, The Analects (James Legge translation, 1861)Cipher key: A=M B=R C=B D=Q E=P F=X G=V H=U I=Y J=K K=L L=W M=C N=G O=H P=N Q=O R=I S=A T=S U=E V=Z W=F X=T Y=D Z=J
- “Every heart that has beat strong and cheerfully has left a hopeful impulse behind it in the world, and bettered the tradition of mankind.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=M B=Q C=U D=H E=W F=I G=B H=T I=E J=S K=O L=V M=X N=K O=P P=A Q=D R=J S=G T=N U=C V=Z W=Y X=R Y=F Z=L
- “Lightly from fair to fair he flew, And loved to plead, lament, and sue; Suit lightly won, and short-lived pain, For monarchs seldom sigh in vain.”— Sir Walter Scott, 1808, Marmion, Canto V. Stanza 9 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=U B=G C=D D=Y E=V F=J G=Z H=P I=H J=N K=E L=T M=R N=A O=B P=L Q=F R=Q S=X T=O U=C V=I W=K X=W Y=M Z=S
- “A man hath a body, and that body is confined to a place; but where friendship is, all offices of life are as it were granted to him, and his deputy.”— Francis Bacon, 1625, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and MoralCipher key: A=X B=Q C=F D=Y E=D F=I G=V H=O I=K J=R K=H L=A M=C N=U O=T P=B Q=S R=G S=P T=E U=J V=W W=N X=M Y=Z Z=L