Puzzle 1
Starter clue: C = E
RMSCYFPVCYPNTPXFA,FACWFAMVRWLRDZCJDXC,PXZDLFDMVQCTCRYMVFACZDXZDVCF.
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
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- T
- U
- V
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- X
- Y
- Z
Hard Cryptograms Set 129
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: X = E
ZUERXDPQURJINEJOXIZYERXDPPIERXTXDPWQIRJAXLXXYYPRWXJYISTOJUEXTRZC.
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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- X
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: M = E
UJCZXGXTQLIUJVJGXTMUMCPFQLFXTZNM,-HMEJLZYMMKZCMFM,NXZQRRJLZYMIMACMM.
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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- X
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: K = E
YFKPKXFKXLJYFKOKYLJFKZDKOZTKMZTVK;JZTZEZTY,QHYMKYYCOVOLYFCOVKXWZEK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
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- X
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: J = I
GSHIZZVOJITJOBJYHQSJRSMJGSQJEEJZAYGD,VTQMHCAOGUJOHMJGSGSHIZZVOJIT.
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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- X
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: X = E
CKNVBXKEZMVYHJKIKMBE;DNMZQUMZXPXNKENKQPVXUXCXZDPXZYXZQNHZVVPXWXNN.
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)
- “Like stones of worth, they thinly placed are, Or captain jewels in the carcanet.”— William Shakespeare, 1609, Sonnets, LII (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=H B=M C=E D=A E=X F=T G=V H=U I=B J=D K=Z L=P M=I N=F O=Q P=O Q=J R=L S=K T=W U=G V=N W=Y X=R Y=S Z=C
- “If the wolf had stayed in the wood there would have been no hue and cry after him.”— German proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=V B=P C=M D=W E=T F=X G=J H=G I=D J=A K=Q L=B M=Z N=S O=Y P=O Q=L R=H S=C T=R U=F V=K W=U X=E Y=N Z=I
- “Virtuous and vicious every man must be, - Few in the extreme, but all in the degree.”— Alexander Pope, 1734, An Essay on Man, Epistle II. Line 231 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=G B=P C=R D=J E=W F=M G=O H=F I=D J=I K=X L=N M=E N=B O=K P=Y Q=A R=L S=Z T=S U=V V=C W=Q X=U Y=H Z=T
- “The meshes of the net of Heaven are large; far apart, but letting nothing escape.”— Laozi, 1891, Tao Te Ching (James Legge translation, 1891)Cipher key: A=Q B=K C=I D=V E=P F=H G=Y H=U I=X J=F K=E L=O M=L N=Z O=N P=M Q=B R=D S=W T=R U=J V=G W=C X=S Y=T Z=A
- “The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.”— Abraham Lincoln, 1862, Second Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=U B=P C=M D=Y E=F F=X G=T H=E I=O J=I K=J L=V M=W N=K O=S P=Q Q=D R=G S=H T=N U=R V=A W=Z X=B Y=L Z=C
- “Virtue is not malicious; wrong done her is righted even when men grant they err.”— George Chapman, 1606, Monsieur D'Olive, Act I. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=P B=U C=V D=W E=S F=Z G=Q H=A I=C J=L K=I L=X M=O N=R O=B P=H Q=G R=F S=K T=J U=D V=T W=Y X=E Y=M Z=N