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)
“Fairy elves, Whose midnight revels by a forest side or fountain some belated peasant sees, Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon Sits arbitress.”— John Milton, 1667, Paradise Lost, Book I. Line 781 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=O B=A C=M D=X E=G F=E G=Z H=K I=F J=Q K=V L=T M=P N=C O=Y P=R Q=W R=S S=N T=I U=J V=D W=H X=B Y=L Z=U
“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1858, The Ladder of St. AugustineCipher key: A=X B=O C=B D=S E=G F=H G=Z H=I I=M J=L K=C L=J M=D N=R O=U P=E Q=W R=Q S=V T=F U=K V=A W=N X=Y Y=T Z=P
“We can not hope to succeed in directing this increasingly complex civilization unless we can draw all the talent of leadership from the whole people.”— Herbert Hoover, 1929, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=I B=C C=B D=V E=R F=A G=Y H=Q I=W J=F K=E L=T M=D N=K O=Z P=S Q=X R=O S=G T=N U=J V=U W=P X=L Y=H Z=M
“We Americans have always believed in freedom of opportunity, and equality of opportunity remains one of the principal objectives of our national life.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1945, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=X B=C C=L D=V E=J F=W G=I H=T I=F J=Q K=H L=D M=Z N=B O=P P=S Q=U R=G S=R T=K U=E V=M W=Y X=N Y=O Z=A
“Let not future things disturb thee, for thou wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, having with thee the same reason which now thou usest for present things.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=K B=Y C=P D=Q E=M F=H G=C H=Z I=O J=N K=W L=U M=R N=S O=D P=B Q=A R=T S=E T=L U=X V=J W=G X=V Y=I Z=F