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.
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)
“Refrain to-night, And that shall lend a kind of easiness to the next abstinence: the next more easy; For use almost can change the stamp of nature.”— William Shakespeare, 1601, Hamlet, Act III. Sc. 4 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=Y C=T D=M E=D F=P G=S H=C I=N J=A K=V L=K M=W N=B O=U P=O Q=X R=G S=E T=R U=L V=Q W=Z X=H Y=F Z=I
“Friendship requires that rare mean betwixt likeness and unlikeness that piques each with the presence of power and of consent in the other party.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=G B=S C=B D=V E=Q F=W G=Y H=F I=M J=N K=T L=P M=L N=J O=C P=R Q=I R=K S=A T=D U=H V=O W=X X=Z Y=U Z=E
“Most of the luxuries, and many of the so called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=Y B=D C=O D=M E=Z F=U G=P H=S I=K J=L K=N L=T M=W N=J O=X P=G Q=A R=V S=Q T=F U=E V=C W=I X=H Y=B Z=R
“Oh that the desert were my dwelling-place, With one fair spirit for my minister, That I might all forget the human race, And hating no one, love but only her!”— Lord Byron, 1818, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto IV, Stanza 177 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=L B=A C=B D=R E=T F=Y G=E H=O I=W J=H K=M L=K M=X N=U O=D P=V Q=S R=Q S=P T=J U=C V=Z W=F X=I Y=G Z=N
“Successful enterprise, of the type which benefits all mankind, can only exist if the conditions are such as to offer great prizes as the rewards of success.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1901, First Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=W B=T C=Y D=J E=L F=P G=O H=A I=N J=K K=B L=D M=U N=F O=I P=Q Q=S R=G S=V T=M U=Z V=R W=H X=C Y=E Z=X
“The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.”— Mark Twain, 1894, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead WilsonCipher key: A=Y B=T C=B D=E E=S F=R G=H H=W I=G J=F K=M L=K M=J N=A O=V P=N Q=X R=O S=P T=Z U=C V=I W=Q X=U Y=L Z=D