Puzzle 1
Starter clue: S = E
SGXWEQWEMQGLLYDXSBBAYLSJSLBGEI,VWSLHISAYLSAGVWSLMYAVWSWGFBSVMBSSK.
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
Medium Cryptograms Set 126
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: L = T
LXGJXHLTXEXPOLITKENLDZNPLKLIJXNT,-WKDFXWHJJAWLIXLEINQIEXWLIJENPONH.
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
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: D = H
VTRBMDQMTIVUEDPKDDQXXBIOMTMDBBQILPOOXAIEPMDMDBMDNBQLTCMDULBOMPIU.
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
Puzzle 4
Starter clue: Q = E
QGQDVUAOMWKMRIQURSDQPNVOLQPQXOLWJOLQRQKOMIQKOJDWIZLMALMOXDWAQQPR.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
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- R
- S
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- U
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- X
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- Z
Puzzle 5
Starter clue: K = E
N'JKBQDIMSMW!-IXKOLNUVKFXQUQPBWVLNKS,XMSPKKUMUKGOKLQLFNIXQYIXNDVLQFU.
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
Puzzle 6
Starter clue: H = S
WQFFNBTHHLTFTBLH,QHBQMVXTHWSGH,PTHHSBTIMTXNSXMWNBCHMWQBASHMHVFFSHT.
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)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (6 solutions)
- “Each in his narrow cell forever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.”— Thomas Gray, 1751, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 4 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=F B=L C=J D=W E=I F=M G=A H=U I=D J=V K=P L=R M=S N=K O=Y P=Q Q=N R=B S=E T=Z U=X V=T W=H X=C Y=O Z=G
- “Take a straw and throw it up into the air, - you may see by that which way the wind is.”— John Selden, 1689, Table Talk, Libels (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=B B=V C=F D=U E=W F=M G=K H=S I=H J=E K=O L=T M=G N=I O=D P=N Q=C R=J S=Z T=R U=Q V=X W=Y X=A Y=L Z=P
- “Love that only which happens to thee and is spun with the thread of thy destiny.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=U B=E C=F D=H E=W F=G G=M H=K I=N J=B K=C L=D M=T N=R O=S P=I Q=A R=V S=Z T=O U=Y V=L W=J X=P Y=Q Z=X
- “Every action is measured by the depth of the sentiment from which it proceeds.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First Series, Spiritual Laws (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=C B=K C=Z D=R E=X F=J G=V H=G I=M J=F K=N L=H M=I N=B O=T P=D Q=E R=S S=U T=Q U=A V=Y W=O X=P Y=L Z=W
- “I've lost a day! - the prince who nobly cried, Had been an emperor without his crown.”— Edward Young, 1745, Night Thoughts, Night II. Line 99 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=L C=G D=S E=Q F=W G=M H=K I=T J=V K=E L=R M=A N=I O=P P=B Q=O R=J S=D T=Z U=N V=C W=Y X=H Y=U Z=F
- “Happiness depends, as Nature shows, Less on exterior things than most suppose.”— William Cowper, 1782, Poems (1782), Table Talk. Line 246 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=N C=G D=Y E=J F=P G=W H=S I=X J=C K=F L=D M=T N=I O=V P=L Q=A R=Z S=O T=E U=B V=U W=H X=R Y=Q Z=K