Puzzle 1
Starter clue: H = O
LHVAJHVWKJEOOYPLHVPFPHZMJYZFBFATWHMFZTJHB.
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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- R
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- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Hard Cryptograms Set 20
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: U = A
RAAIXVUEYGEJXJUVQURIXVEONUYCJOAKOAGOJXUNI.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: W = T
NWNMJFGBQKMNQAWRHQGANWNGKSWBKYWRHQGRAAQGW.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: H = T
HMDLXLVIRKNBDCIHMDKRXTHFXAACIHMRTKAHCQCFD.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: O = E
MGTZNJHKOZQMHJMGOEHKO,RSMHJMGOEHKOKONHKPOP.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- N
- O
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: S = T
SRQCIXBTXQDTSSRQDSIKQ,KISTSREZSRTSSRBIADES.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
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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)
- “You should hammer your iron when it is glowing hot.”— Publilius Syrus, 42 BC, Sententiae (Maxims), 262 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=S B=T C=Q D=J E=A F=I G=C H=O I=K J=H K=D L=Y M=W N=F O=M P=R Q=X R=V S=B T=G U=Z V=U W=L X=P Y=E Z=N
- “Looked as if she had walked straight out of the ark.”— Sydney Smith, 1855, Lady Holland's Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, Vol. I. p. 157 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=O B=Z C=G D=J E=S F=B G=F H=M I=K J=H K=U L=X M=Y N=R O=T P=V Q=W R=L S=N T=Q U=A V=D W=C X=E Y=I Z=P
- “It is much easier to be critical than to be correct.”— Benjamin Disraeli, 1860, Speech, Jan. 24, 1860 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=H C=J D=Q E=K F=U G=C H=B I=Y J=M K=A L=W M=S N=I O=F P=V Q=E R=O S=L T=G U=D V=P W=T X=Z Y=N Z=X
- “The baby figure of the giant mass of things to come.”— William Shakespeare, 1602, Troilus and Cressida, Act I. Sc. 3 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=S B=R C=O D=E E=W F=M G=Q H=T I=F J=K K=G L=B M=H N=U O=D P=J Q=C R=I S=L T=N U=P V=Y W=V X=A Y=Z Z=X
- “Things are not as they are, but as they are regarded.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=X B=J C=V D=C E=Y F=W G=H H=A I=K J=S K=R L=F M=T N=G O=E P=D Q=O R=B S=U T=I U=P V=L W=Z X=M Y=Q Z=N
- “The dog rages at the stone, not at him that throws it.”— German proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=W B=R C=D D=S E=I F=U G=B H=V I=O J=K K=N L=F M=C N=J O=Y P=Z Q=E R=H S=T T=A U=Q V=X W=L X=G Y=P Z=M