5 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.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
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)
“How fleet is a glance of the mind! Compared with the speed of its flight the tempest itself lags behind, And the swift-winged, arrows of light.”— William Cowper, 1782, Poems (1782), Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=O C=N D=A E=C F=V G=T H=X I=G J=R K=W L=B M=P N=K O=D P=U Q=Y R=F S=Z T=L U=S V=H W=Q X=J Y=E Z=M
“We can no more halve things and get the sensual good, by itself, than we can get an inside that shall have no outside, or a light without a shadow.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=K B=E C=U D=I E=N F=Z G=T H=J I=L J=V K=W L=D M=X N=B O=G P=A Q=O R=F S=H T=Q U=Y V=C W=M X=P Y=S Z=R
“Distrust of the capacity, integrity, and high purposes of the American people will not be an inspiring theme for future political contests.”— William McKinley, 1901, Second Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=U B=P C=R D=B E=Q F=K G=A H=C I=T J=X K=M L=E M=J N=V O=F P=Y Q=D R=W S=N T=Z U=S V=I W=H X=L Y=O Z=G
“The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=K B=M C=Z D=V E=B F=S G=T H=F I=O J=Y K=L L=D M=U N=R O=Q P=A Q=P R=E S=G T=X U=W V=C W=N X=J Y=H Z=I
“The man who has seen the rising moon break out of the clouds at midnight, has been present like an archangel at the creation of light and of the world.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=Y B=J C=H D=B E=C F=I G=M H=T I=R J=U K=X L=K M=W N=G O=P P=A Q=D R=F S=L T=S U=V V=Z W=E X=N Y=O Z=Q