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)
“If I were asked what book is better than a cheap book, I should answer that there is one book better than a cheap book, - and that is a book honestly come by.”— James Russell Lowell, 1886, Before the U. S. Senate Committee on Patents, Jan. 29, 1886 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=D C=O D=H E=T F=J G=S H=Z I=L J=F K=P L=C M=G N=U O=X P=R Q=A R=M S=I T=W U=Y V=B W=K X=V Y=Q Z=E
“There is now less flogging in our great schools than formerly, - but then less is learned there; so that what the boys get at one end they lose at the other.”— Samuel Johnson, 1791, Boswell, Life of Johnson, Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. VI. Chap. I. 1775 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=D C=Z D=J E=N F=O G=V H=T I=C J=Q K=Y L=S M=H N=F O=E P=A Q=W R=U S=X T=G U=L V=I W=M X=P Y=K Z=B
“The English Bible, - a book which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.”— Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1828, On John Dryden. 1828 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=S B=C C=I D=K E=Q F=P G=M H=D I=Z J=X K=F L=A M=W N=B O=G P=H Q=R R=J S=N T=U U=T V=O W=E X=Y Y=L Z=V
“Every man's progress is through a succession of teachers, each of whom seems at the time to have a superlative influence, but it at last gives place to a new.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=L B=M C=N D=W E=U F=E G=F H=B I=A J=Y K=G L=K M=T N=V O=C P=O Q=X R=D S=Q T=Z U=I V=R W=H X=P Y=J Z=S
“The newspapers! Sir, they are the most villanous, licentious, abominable, infernal - Not that I ever read them! No, I make it a rule never to look into a newspaper.”— Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1779, The Critic, Act I. Sc. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=K B=W C=S D=G E=T F=J G=E H=M I=N J=A K=Y L=X M=Q N=U O=F P=C Q=H R=V S=D T=P U=O V=B W=L X=R Y=Z Z=I