Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Z = E
YBZXAANLZXAMHNWYNWPHWIJLRUMYRQZJZZGJYXDZGZQZUCNWNYNHU.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- M
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- Y
- Z
Hard Cryptograms Set 92
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: Y = A
IYGGCKRLFYLDYIMUSZKTCKRXTXUVSJO?YBGYZRVRBKSORIFDYIMUSZ!
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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- Y
- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: F = T
FGIAQSBHAWVOQYLVFWKBYTXIHDIVXBVRFQFGIVWFLKIQZFGISIWHF.
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 4
Starter clue: Q = E
MDQCQHBQMRZPWZQWCXQOQBMRDSOQSXQARMWRXMDSMWCVXLQHRAWXJ.
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 5
Starter clue: V = E
NJVVPNBKVZGZNVYWHNJBPCZCVNZKVMKVZVPNVTBPVUVKGMOKNBIXV.
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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- Y
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: H = O
LYPFVHFPVLEHGLYPIHJTLVEWPUHTDNLHLYPFPHFUPHGLYPIHJTLVE.
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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- Y
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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 office of painting and sculpture seems to be merely initial.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=F B=H C=Y D=B E=V F=Q G=M H=A I=D J=S K=J L=C M=P N=I O=X P=G Q=R R=U S=W T=Z U=L V=K W=N X=O Y=T Z=E
- “Call you that backing of your friends? A plague upon such backing!”— William Shakespeare, 1597, King Henry IV, Part I, Act II. Sc. 4 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=P C=Y D=B E=M F=H G=L H=J I=C J=D K=O L=T M=K N=V O=S P=W Q=Z R=U S=N T=F U=I V=E W=Q X=R Y=A Z=G
- “The mob is man voluntarily descending to the nature of the beast.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=M B=I C=W D=C E=X F=T G=H H=S I=E J=P K=R L=U M=Z N=Q O=V P=K Q=O R=G S=B T=Y U=J V=N W=A X=D Y=L Z=F
- “The secret of life is never to have an emotion that is unbecoming.”— Oscar Wilde, 1893, A Woman of No ImportanceCipher key: A=M B=R C=S D=H E=J F=Y G=Z H=C I=K J=G K=X L=B M=T N=P O=V P=L Q=E R=O S=A T=W U=D V=U W=I X=N Y=Q Z=F
- “The entire system of things gets represented in every particle.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=Q B=I C=G D=U E=K F=W G=Y H=F I=C J=H K=R L=B M=P N=T O=A P=N Q=J R=Z S=X T=D U=V V=E W=O X=L Y=M Z=S
- “The property of the country belongs to the people of the country.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1925, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=Z B=K C=W D=G E=Y F=P G=F H=O I=C J=U K=V L=T M=Q N=S O=M P=E Q=J R=A S=X T=N U=L V=R W=B X=D Y=H Z=I