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.
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)
“One writer, for instance, excels at a plan or a title-page, another works away the body of the book, and a third is a dab at an index.”— Oliver Goldsmith, 1759, The Bee, No. 1, Oct. 6, 1759 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=R C=I D=Q E=D F=W G=F H=A I=O J=K K=S L=M M=Y N=C O=G P=X Q=H R=L S=T T=N U=Z V=P W=B X=J Y=U Z=E
“Up! up! my friend, and quit your books, Or surely you'll grow double! Up! up! my friend, and clear your looks! Why all this toil and trouble?”— William Wordsworth, 1798, Lyrical Ballads, The Tables Turned (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=V C=E D=X E=B F=D G=F H=W I=O J=H K=N L=I M=Y N=Q O=J P=S Q=M R=A S=T T=L U=C V=R W=P X=U Y=G Z=K
“A regard for the requester would often make one readily yield to a request, without waiting for arguments to reason one into it.”— Jane Austen, 1813, Pride and PrejudiceCipher key: A=Y B=L C=P D=H E=S F=D G=J H=G I=T J=B K=U L=I M=X N=A O=F P=E Q=Z R=W S=O T=V U=N V=C W=K X=M Y=R Z=Q
“There are men that will make you books, and turn them loose into the world, with as much dispatch as they would do a dish of fritters.”— Miguel de Cervantes, 1615, Don Quixote, Part II, Chap. III (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=U B=A C=P D=B E=V F=C G=W H=N I=T J=L K=X L=K M=Y N=Z O=D P=H Q=O R=G S=I T=Q U=F V=S W=M X=R Y=E Z=J
“In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book, or goes to an American play, or looks at an American picture or statue?”— Sydney Smith, 1820, Review of Seybert's Annals of the United States, 1820 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=F B=R C=M D=O E=G F=L G=D H=C I=N J=E K=S L=W M=B N=T O=X P=J Q=Y R=H S=Q T=I U=P V=U W=V X=A Y=Z Z=K
“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.”— Benjamin Franklin, 1738, Poor Richard's AlmanackCipher key: A=V B=Y C=A D=Z E=M F=C G=U H=S I=R J=T K=E L=D M=I N=O O=L P=F Q=K R=H S=G T=W U=X V=J W=Q X=B Y=P Z=N