Puzzle 1
Starter clue: T = E
DPJCSTUUTUCLAT,QWVMTEJLKVCPS,MEKTVLKEHTLRDKQPYLRRVFEJYN.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Hard Cryptograms Set 93
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: M = E
IMYIFQQSPMGFVNMJEMSFQMJUQMA;OZIMYPMGFVNMJEMSFQMGVQUZVN.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
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- M
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: L = O
FKZJZYGZFBUJNBPPBUSBJFLXULNKLNFLFTXZYTGZLOELAGYDLFKZJ.
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 = O
MGOOBETQ,MAPAAU,MAPTUN,MARKZVYB,BYORKZETUAXBYOOTKBYTDEMHQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
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- H
- I
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: M = I
SLMUCMUPJGMVMJSLMUCMUPNPME,OMRGRGLFGPUFLTYSLMUCXZTOULX.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: S = E
VNSNWUGSHVCAWPFDSVSOS,VNWVKUCCYHWZYHRSSEHCZNDHCMZNSWUV.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
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- H
- I
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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)
- “Hail wedded love, mysterious law, true source of human offspring.”— John Milton, 1667, Paradise Lost, Book IV. Line 750 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=X C=L D=H E=R F=P G=Z H=C I=K J=I K=U L=O M=T N=G O=J P=A Q=M R=F S=W T=E U=D V=S W=Y X=Q Y=N Z=B
- “Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious.”— Oscar Wilde, 1893, A Woman of No ImportanceCipher key: A=D B=V C=X D=F E=H F=A G=C H=Z I=M J=T K=J L=K M=E N=S O=W P=B Q=R R=P S=Y T=G U=I V=U W=L X=Q Y=N Z=O
- “The secret in swimming is to know how to take care of your clothes.”— Spanish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=U B=I C=X D=L E=Y F=T G=R H=V I=D J=S K=H L=O M=Z N=W O=F P=M Q=J R=Q S=G T=A U=N V=P W=B X=K Y=C Z=E
- “Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, The bridal of the earth and sky.”— George Herbert, 1633, The Temple, Virtue (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=O B=T C=X D=N E=D F=Z G=W H=K I=V J=Q K=R L=U M=S N=M O=E P=C Q=Y R=B S=P T=A U=L V=G W=J X=F Y=H Z=I
- “Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.”— Samuel Johnson, 1791, Boswell, Life of Johnson, Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. II. Chap. III. 1759 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=M C=G D=K E=L F=C G=H H=X I=Z J=S K=Y L=E M=I N=J O=W P=A Q=U R=T S=B T=O U=N V=P W=Q X=D Y=F Z=R
- “The harvest of a quiet eye, That broods and sleeps on his own heart.”— William Wordsworth, 1800, Lyrical Ballads (1800), A Poet's Epitaph. Stanza 13 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=F B=J C=O D=I E=P F=U G=V H=S I=M J=X K=B L=G M=W N=H O=Y P=Q Q=K R=L S=E T=C U=R V=T W=A X=Z Y=D Z=N