Puzzle 1
Starter clue: J = O
MVMPAJVHAJKELVJQAJDLJDVJPVHFW,JAHRKPVQAJDFWPJLJDVJTJATHFW.
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
Hard Cryptograms Set 104
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
OTLLTHLGVEDJOTDTZLILITVIGAJLIZDFGXQSTHYETATFTZQGDLITHGAJ.
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: I = E
SIXYTNEJVAKNYKJWITPZKPZVCZZNPIKPIPYBIDXZPISXZYCTIISADXMP.
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
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- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 4
Starter clue: X = E
NXWRUXTGRIZCMLTSXZ,TVIFPXFMCXTMFYLWRLXRZFYZOTFXNXWWYVFPXG.
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
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- T
- U
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- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 5
Starter clue: O = E
MQTDBHQSXQROSDWOBXQSOSFAQVSIQFFNOHDIFDGFNOAOSOBQMUOMGQBO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
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- R
- S
- T
- U
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- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 6
Starter clue: M = T
MQHWZMLIIAUEHBMZHFHGRYLEAIIPAMHBMZQAY,LEBIPAMIQAYMZAMIHWV.
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)
- “It is not enough to know how to steal, one must know also how to conceal.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=N B=J C=Y D=W E=G F=A G=Z H=E I=F J=O K=U L=H M=I N=Q O=D P=S Q=K R=M S=R T=C U=X V=T W=L X=B Y=P Z=V
- “Better to sink beneath the shock than moulder piecemeal on the rock.”— Lord Byron, 1813, The Giaour, Line 969 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=C B=F C=Y D=N E=I F=M G=O H=R I=H J=K K=W L=T M=G N=Q O=B P=J Q=L R=X S=D T=E U=Z V=S W=V X=U Y=P Z=A
- “We hardly find any persons of good sense save those who agree with us.”— Francois de La Rochefoucauld, 1665, Maximes, 347 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=V C=G D=T E=L F=K G=Z H=Q I=E J=Y K=N L=M M=U N=D O=B P=S Q=C R=J S=W T=R U=X V=F W=P X=H Y=A Z=O
- “We live amid surfaces, and the true art of life is to skate well on them.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=Y B=P C=U D=B E=G F=T G=M H=Q I=D J=Z K=X L=F M=R N=W O=K P=H Q=J R=I S=C T=A U=V V=N W=L X=E Y=O Z=S
- “Labor can make no permanent gains at the cost of the general welfare.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1925, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=G B=R C=Q D=O E=X F=T G=F H=C I=S J=Y K=V L=D M=L N=H O=E P=Z Q=A R=K S=N T=B U=W V=I W=P X=M Y=U Z=J
- “The lot assigned to every man is suited to him, and suits him to itself.”— Marcus Aurelius, 170, Meditations, III. 4 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=D C=Q D=B E=N F=V G=R H=E I=S J=K K=P L=A M=T N=J O=X P=U Q=H R=Y S=Z T=C U=G V=F W=L X=W Y=M Z=O