Puzzle 1
Starter clue: T = E
MPOTBITPMXYTNTHRTIXTMXYTHKOCQRGQS:PATHTVWXOPXXOTYKNNS,PRPIQWOCMKSYQAZWIY.
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 152
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: G = T
GTSPSQBIYIVGEPSFTQZTQBQICSPQYPGYVPG,CYPGTSVPGBQNQGVGSGTSIVGEPSBYCGTQIOB.
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
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: A = S
ORIAXFCTU-AITTMARJVQFRCTUA'MRVBJTADGVXBOM,FXSTARHMTAMLJAXZMRNMMTVQXVBTNUA!
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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- S
- T
- U
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: P = E
KHRNGSWPNKCKLPPWMSRGHGDPNTCINLCGNHLCKKHJNPGBNKZDHRPKHTPMHUGDPJDCUCJGPU.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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- T
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: T = E
SXWTDMFTMYXVYPTUTXUZT,AIYPTUTXUZT,VXDYPTUTXUZT,QPOZZMXYUTDCQPVDXFYPTTODYP.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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- T
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: I = E
EQIDWJBYPVKEQIYKIOGIK,VLEPRACPEQBAI,QBGIZLJALEEIREQIRBYIKLZEQIPJZLSRVIJK.
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
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- 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)
- “Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were but little happy, if I could say how much.”— William Shakespeare, 1599, Much Ado about Nothing, Act II. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=W B=N C=D D=G E=Z F=V G=J H=R I=C J=X K=A L=K M=S N=P O=L P=I Q=O R=F S=Y T=E U=Q V=B W=U X=T Y=H Z=M
- “There is no nature which is inferior to art, for the arts imitate the natures of things.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=L B=S C=F D=Y E=U F=W G=T H=X I=N J=Z K=Q L=V M=D N=M O=G P=R Q=I R=K S=E T=H U=J V=A W=P X=B Y=O Z=C
- “How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night, Like softest music to attending ears!”— William Shakespeare, 1595, Romeo and Juliet, Act II. Sc. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=S B=G C=V D=B E=X F=L G=Y H=F I=W J=U K=Q L=M M=T N=A O=H P=J Q=D R=O S=K T=E U=R V=N W=Z X=I Y=P Z=C
- “Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character.”— James Russell Lowell, 1870, Among My Books, First Series. Dryden (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=Y C=A D=H E=Q F=X G=T H=O I=G J=C K=S L=N M=F N=I O=P P=E Q=J R=L S=U T=M U=R V=Z W=D X=K Y=B Z=W
- “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”— Abraham Lincoln, 1863, Gettysburg AddressCipher key: A=B B=Q C=I D=R E=Z F=M G=J H=K I=Y J=D K=W L=C M=N N=U O=A P=H Q=S R=X S=G T=E U=P V=F W=V X=O Y=T Z=L
- “The Pyramids themselves, doting with age, have forgotten the names of their founders.”— Thomas Fuller, 1642, The Holy and Profane State, Of Tombs (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=G B=A C=W D=P E=T F=Z G=V H=X I=E J=R K=S L=O M=Q N=B O=L P=I Q=H R=N S=U T=C U=J V=D W=Y X=K Y=M Z=F