Puzzle 1
Starter clue: O = T
LKNVWKEOUSYOKOUVRSZUOKWOUSYZF,RVOYDOPEVAVMKPEOVDLUVE.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- L
- M
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- O
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- X
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- Z
Hard Cryptograms Set 81
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: D = S
NHHDEVMDHLNJ:DYBLNBVQDEVMD,DYBLVZPELIYFD,DYBLVZPELEYHQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: C = E
XCHQBGJJCHQHQBKFSGUSGWCI,QWBSCDKXXLPZAKWDKHSYGHSXCJF.
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: A = I
XTFLAHHAXJAHJXBCTJAHULMJB,GTBBUMFMEBAKAEWBAXJXKYFXJI.
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: Z = L
VINNDXTUBHIJBUMTKDZAODTEIZZ-LZHSXFHVD,EZIVBAXJBAVLFHS.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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- O
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: D = L
XRSPGKPYWMUIGDVUHZHQYWISDDSXYVIZHQZKVISDDSXYVIZHQYW.
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)
- “Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher.”— William Wordsworth, 1798, Lyrical Ballads, The Tables Turned (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=B B=Z C=K D=A E=R F=S G=P H=J I=W J=X K=O L=C M=Y N=M O=T P=U Q=V R=L S=I T=Q U=H V=E W=F X=D Y=N Z=G
- “All ships leak: some amidships, some in the bows, some in the hold.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=X B=M C=Q D=S E=H F=W G=Y H=L I=B J=K K=R L=E M=P N=A O=G P=T Q=D R=C S=J T=U U=F V=I W=V X=Z Y=O Z=N
- “Let a dog get at a dish of honey, and he will jump in with both legs.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=P B=D C=E D=W E=X F=S G=O H=T I=Y J=G K=I L=J M=Z N=R O=V P=U Q=A R=C S=H T=Q U=F V=K W=N X=L Y=B Z=M
- “Our mission is not punishment, but the rectification of wrong.”— Grover Cleveland, 1893, Second Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=I B=T C=P D=X E=C F=R G=B H=S I=G J=N K=F L=M M=E N=Z O=Y P=Q Q=V R=D S=K T=U U=H V=J W=A X=O Y=W Z=L
- “Sudden a thought came like a full-blown rose, Flushing his brow.”— John Keats, 1820, Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, Stanza 16 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=H C=Z D=E E=F F=R G=J H=O I=U J=G K=M L=B M=C N=D O=K P=Y Q=P R=Q S=W T=A U=T V=S W=V X=N Y=X Z=L
- “Whom unmerciful disaster Followed fast and followed faster.”— Edgar Allan Poe, 1845, The Raven (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=G B=K C=Z D=L E=X F=B G=U H=S I=F J=Y K=N L=J M=C N=Q O=V P=M Q=T R=H S=O T=P U=I V=D W=R X=W Y=E Z=A