Puzzle 1
Starter clue: V = A
FVWGDYCABYSUVSUAFBHGBRWGA,VGXVSUAFVXVFPDKYHXVDKAVFBPE.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- E
- F
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- H
- I
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Hard Cryptograms Set 87
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: N = E
DNJDUJLPAMIKNDNUMJDCBAGJLNUHDTGLTEJNHVMPJDNGTEGABBNH.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: L = O
YNOKPLWCYQFCKQCLHLACYNZQHHLEF?ZOKUPLWYQFOSFLDWCN"FYODD"?
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- B
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- D
- E
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- I
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: P = T
MTSPJFSPAFESUPUTSDDZFSUPQU,DLXTPSJROTYLOF,YZSPPLOPSUPF?
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- D
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- I
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: C = L
DMGSKPYOFMQMCZSJDNEYVODMYCITCYJX,TLOODMYCITCYJXNOKMCV.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- D
- E
- F
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- H
- I
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: E = T
ENOFPEGNOMYROWWRRIEOUERENOAOXXENZEPEYOEWKMRQOUZEXZWE.
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)
- “Rain comes oft after sunshine, and after a dark cloud a clear sky.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=E B=S C=M D=C E=Y F=R G=N H=U I=Q J=V K=L L=Z M=X N=J O=W P=K Q=P R=H S=F T=G U=T V=A W=I X=D Y=O Z=B
- “He that would be healthy must wear his winter clothes in summer.”— Spanish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=U B=M C=Y D=H E=N F=G G=S H=R I=D J=T K=B L=W M=L N=E O=Q P=O Q=P R=F S=V T=I U=A V=C W=Z X=J Y=X Z=K
- “Hear you this Triton of the minnows? Mark you his absolute "shall"?”— William Shakespeare, 1608, Coriolanus, Act III. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=F B=X C=T D=L E=W F=S G=J H=N I=Q J=Z K=R L=O M=V N=E O=A P=Y Q=I R=P S=B T=C U=K V=G W=U X=D Y=H Z=M
- “What neat repast shall feast us, light and choice, Of Attic taste?”— John Milton, 1673, Sonnet: To Mr. Lawrence (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=K C=Q D=L E=P F=E G=M H=J I=V J=N K=B L=I M=W N=Y O=C P=T Q=U R=D S=A T=H U=S V=Z W=X X=G Y=O Z=F
- “He was not merely a chip of the old block, but the old block itself.”— Edmund Burke, 1781, On Pitt's First Speech, Feb. 26, 1781. From Wraxall's Memoirs, First Series, vol. I. p. 342 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=Q C=L D=H E=P F=M G=W H=G I=D J=C K=S L=U M=E N=I O=T P=N Q=R R=X S=A T=B U=V V=F W=Z X=K Y=O Z=Y
- “The pitcher goes so often to the well that it gets broken at last.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=W B=Q C=X D=V E=T F=P G=C H=Z I=F J=D K=B L=M M=R N=H O=E P=I Q=K R=O S=U T=Y U=N V=J W=S X=L Y=G Z=A