Puzzle 1
Starter clue: R = T
RLBWYQMYBPHYRDHYQRLBAESCBYOLBIREVSRVSSPLBLEPSYPRVR.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- H
- I
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Hard Cryptograms Set 78
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 = S
GABFIBKGBCGUEEKSXGC,JCAUSXYCKR,JCGUZBVUDCVJUSCUEDUDB.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: S = E
WNSMFMYKMAKFMQOCHKBXASFSSPHDFMENHSQOAKMQONBQOCBSSP.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: F = T
VFVQSBFVSFLOAVTBF'QABROZFBAZODOSFFLORVSEKZBWYTBRVSC.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: U = E
RQA'CEYINNGUSMCJCJUTQCCUB,NQBJUVKLUEVQAUWFWCJURKVKPU.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- I
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: H = T
YCHVKCRWYHQWHAUXHUKGWFOGXOCAWHCXVAQWAHZDXFHCFHUXFK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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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 cow does not know the value of her tail till she has lost it.”— Dutch proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=V B=E C=U D=K E=A F=B G=P H=N I=R J=X K=Z L=H M=D N=M O=F P=S Q=W R=T S=L T=Y U=J V=I W=C X=Q Y=O Z=G
- “The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.”— Thomas Carlyle, 1841, On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History, Heroes and Hero-Worship. The Hero as a Prophet (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=H B=E C=S D=N E=F F=G G=T H=W I=R J=I K=A L=P M=X N=V O=M P=Z Q=K R=Y S=U T=J U=O V=C W=Q X=L Y=D Z=B
- “Poets that lasting marble seek must come in Latin or in Greek.”— Edmund Waller, 1645, Poems, Of English Verse (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=L B=R C=G D=U E=C F=S G=V H=M I=J J=F K=A L=Y M=T N=O O=N P=K Q=I R=X S=E T=D U=Z V=Q W=P X=B Y=H Z=W
- “It is not in the pilot's power to prevent the wind from blowing.”— Spanish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=P B=O C=G D=V E=D F=T G=J H=U I=X J=K K=F L=H M=Q N=Y O=E P=C Q=S R=W S=N T=L U=A V=I W=M X=Z Y=B Z=R
- “Don't scuffle with the potter, for he makes money by the damage.”— Spanish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=N B=R C=T D=X E=S F=B G=L H=Z I=U J=H K=A L=K M=I N=F O=Q P=G Q=O R=D S=W T=P U=E V=M W=Y X=V Y=C Z=J
- “Let us exalt patriotism and moderate our party contentions.”— Benjamin Harrison, 1889, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=R B=Z C=E D=C E=W F=N G=M H=T I=V J=B K=S L=G M=J N=Q O=D P=F Q=P R=X S=K T=H U=I V=U W=A X=O Y=L Z=Y