Puzzle 1
Starter clue: U = T
XTVKLUVCDIUUVL,XLOXLSMFQUUSJKUUJQUKLSBKHBENXRE,UQJJRKJJKXDHVVB.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- B
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- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- O
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- Z
Medium Cryptograms Set 111
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.
The puzzles
Puzzle 2
Starter clue: T = E
ITIDYZMIRBKRUIIRMSYRUUTNRGSTVT,PGZYRMUTGMYRATPUINTTVTPNM'EIRYZ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: Z = E
IOZYHGIZVKVMZVGIOZYHW,IOZYHWKVMZVGIOZUHI,HWMIOZUHIKVMZVGOZVIHQX.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
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- H
- I
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: U = E
QRUGUEYMGUTMQENSPUQXUUSQRURNHGYNBNHGTEBUMSCQRUVUSQHGEUYNBQEWU.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
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- H
- I
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: Z = E
QXZHUSILZVYLRHCFWLQTZWKFWLQTZ;QXZHUSIVYIQHXYFZYCLWZURWKQHNZHUZ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: M = O
OAMGRMEOFVVMAV,SMRLMAV,XESZXJKFAV,SMEMLRMERFXZLQFLACLQMOKMCARXVF.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- L
- M
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- T
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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)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (6 solutions)
- “A joint of mutton, and any pretty little tiny kickshaws, tell William cook.”— William Shakespeare, 1598, King Henry IV, Part II, Act V. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=K C=F D=M E=S F=R G=B H=C I=U J=L K=I L=N M=P N=H O=D P=G Q=E R=W S=Y T=J U=T V=O W=V X=A Y=Q Z=X
- “He holds him with his glittering eye, And listens like a three years' child.”— Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1798, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Part I (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=K B=M C=Q D=O E=C F=X G=N H=U I=H J=F K=W L=Z M=S N=R O=V P=A Q=B R=I S=G T=E U=T V=Y W=J X=P Y=L Z=D
- “The master orders the man, the man orders the cat, and the cat orders her tail.”— Portuguese proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=P B=G C=J D=W E=Y F=Q G=S H=A I=T J=V K=O L=X M=D N=B O=H P=K Q=I R=F S=Z T=U U=C V=R W=N X=L Y=M Z=E
- “There is a relation between the hours of our life and the centuries of time.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=V B=F C=D D=J E=I F=Y G=R H=U I=P J=Q K=G L=K M=A N=O O=Z P=B Q=T R=H S=N T=L U=E V=C W=M X=W Y=S Z=X
- “The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=K B=C C=F D=Z E=J F=V G=P H=O I=Y J=M K=S L=R M=X N=B O=G P=Q Q=T R=D S=L T=U U=N V=W W=I X=H Y=A Z=E
- “From confessors, doctors, and lawyers, do not conceal the truth of your case.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=R B=I C=U D=J E=N F=E G=M H=B I=Q J=W K=Y L=T M=O N=P O=F P=Z Q=H R=C S=D T=G U=X V=S W=V X=A Y=K Z=L