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)
“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=D B=E C=H D=Y E=B F=P G=M H=O I=U J=K K=Z L=V M=F N=J O=X P=C Q=W R=A S=T T=Q U=L V=S W=G X=I Y=N Z=R
“All things are the same, - familiar in enterprise, momentary in endurance, coarse in substance. All things now are as they were in the day of those whom we have buried.”— Marcus Aurelius, 170, Meditations, IX. 14 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=T C=I D=U E=H F=Q G=B H=P I=K J=E K=O L=Y M=W N=V O=X P=Z Q=D R=S S=C T=L U=J V=G W=N X=M Y=A Z=F
“It is natural that these things should be done by such persons, it is a matter of necessity; and if a man will not have it so, he will not allow the fig-tree to have juice.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=M B=Z C=R D=W E=U F=N G=E H=T I=A J=F K=H L=V M=Y N=K O=D P=S Q=C R=P S=Q T=L U=I V=O W=G X=B Y=X Z=J
“The perfection of moral character consists in this, in passing every day as the last, and in being neither violently excited nor torpid nor playing the hypocrite.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=F B=S C=L D=O E=X F=N G=V H=C I=E J=I K=Q L=M M=A N=T O=D P=H Q=B R=J S=U T=Y U=G V=Z W=K X=W Y=P Z=R
“The art of life is more like the wrestler's art than the dancer's, in respect of this, that it should stand ready and firm to meet onsets which are sudden and unexpected.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=C B=V C=Q D=F E=G F=T G=Z H=E I=K J=O K=I L=Y M=L N=A O=R P=M Q=N R=P S=J T=H U=B V=X W=U X=S Y=W Z=D