Puzzle 1
Starter clue: L = T
LGOTBVXUCXLTHOLQJZTKCLOIALCLJTBJNLTXJOVZLTJL.
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
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- U
- V
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- X
- Y
- Z
Hard Cryptograms Set 41
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: C = A
COOPQCPUYQRJCKJRYPVXPVMZVCHXUNUPHMKMPCHLCKSX.
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: S = O
QZGZNUZFGZRMFRRVUURSDSNNSKKMVBMESIBFQASRSAFE.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: R = A
GWIJNDRFZRNRMJXALWJYOISRJXAFMPWVFILRZMXARJSW.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: V = E
OIVYPOIVBBVEWPGNJVCC,TQOOIVEIMCSBVEWPGNTVOOVB.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: I = T
JVJVXVIAVLNXEIIAZIVWVXYCXEINBIMIAZIENPVBIEVZ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- L
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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 only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”— Oscar Wilde, 1890, The Picture of Dorian GrayCipher key: A=P B=N C=A D=J E=V F=Z G=H H=G I=M J=I K=F L=T M=C N=S O=E P=K Q=R R=Q S=X T=O U=W V=L W=B X=Y Y=U Z=D
- “All that is human must retrograde if it do not advance.”— Edward Gibbon, 1776, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. LXXI (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=W C=A D=K E=Q F=P G=X H=D I=Y J=M K=N L=V M=O N=F O=L P=T Q=H R=U S=C T=B U=I V=R W=J X=E Y=S Z=G
- “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.”— Benjamin Franklin, 1742, Poor Richard's AlmanackCipher key: A=D B=C C=Z D=M E=Y F=A G=V H=K I=U J=P K=W L=G M=H N=R O=Q P=X Q=N R=T S=O T=J U=L V=I W=S X=F Y=B Z=E
- “Be on guard against men who can strike from a distance.”— Aesop, 1867, Aesop's Fables (George Fyler Townsend translation, 1867)Cipher key: A=T B=X C=J D=U E=Q F=R G=B H=Z I=O J=N K=Y L=M M=I N=G O=H P=K Q=V R=A S=C T=P U=L V=F W=E X=S Y=W Z=D
- “The mother reckons well, but the child reckons better.”— Spanish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=Q B=R C=L D=Y E=C F=P G=N H=Z I=H J=W K=F L=V M=I N=S O=T P=O Q=U R=X S=D T=B U=A V=E W=K X=G Y=M Z=J
- “We were the first that ever burst into that silent sea.”— Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1798, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Part II (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=H B=N C=U D=Z E=S F=M G=K H=Q I=T J=W K=D L=F M=O N=I O=X P=L Q=C R=J S=Y T=G U=P V=E W=V X=R Y=B Z=A