Puzzle 1
Starter clue: G = E
SWGPUVQACUMXEOMMEAUGS,IXUCDGPGEMXAXAGMHQUWCPDXQAJGAQPUJGRGEVAQDJUMHUJGAXSSWV.
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 165
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: A = I
MBWNBWKAXFWEIKYAKW,AXWEKNBIKEAK,NBWWPNKETEHEXNEXQWKKAXHFJAKANBAWFNIBAFLIXYAXW.
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: X = E
ZOXUOVXABUDXIVXFCCBXJKDZCJUDZVTXPXDLXZKXOGCCJDIJDSXUOZKTRCBXJKDZCJUDZVBUDUK.
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: A = E
CBAOVQPEWAAZAECVZATJYAQSAIXGWARVGOAQAJYJC,XYEHVVEYAWWZVQAQAXPSAIXGWARVGPJMAE.
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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- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 5
Starter clue: C = T
TJJDBBPB,XPCUDBDJVFDBATJ,GZTZCBPXIHTVPSZCTCGXICOTCCODQEBBDXCCBECOGZGXQPUWJDCD.
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: G = E
BGRSUEVIIVYXOPBGRSUUKGRIUVWGKCXOPGJGSBARB;RKIRUKKCGBUKGRIQUESVWVQSUGIJGURYRB.
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)
- “Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933, First Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=S B=J C=A D=G E=R F=C G=E H=F I=B J=H K=W L=X M=O N=Z O=D P=N Q=I R=V S=P T=M U=T V=Y W=L X=U Y=Q Z=K
- “Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, The extravagant and erring spirit hies to his confine.”— William Shakespeare, 1601, Hamlet, Act I. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=H C=Y D=Q E=A F=S G=K H=G I=O J=P K=R L=C M=W N=T O=L P=X Q=D R=B S=M T=V U=Z V=J W=E X=N Y=F Z=U
- “A people who neglect their national defense are putting in jeopardy their national honor.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1923, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=W B=H C=T D=N E=Z F=C G=U H=V I=G J=I K=R L=S M=K N=X O=P P=F Q=B R=Y S=J T=D U=O V=L W=Q X=E Y=M Z=A
- “The world seemed to me finer because you were in it, and goodness more real because you lived.”— Oscar Wilde, 1895, An Ideal HusbandCipher key: A=E B=H C=T D=K E=D F=J G=U H=G I=C J=I K=X L=Z M=V N=P O=W P=L Q=R R=Y S=B T=F U=Q V=O W=S X=A Y=N Z=M
- “All error, not merely verbal, is a strong way of stating that the current truth is incomplete.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=B B=R C=T D=E E=U F=V G=I H=W I=G J=L K=J L=X M=D N=Q O=H P=O Q=C R=K S=F T=A U=M V=Y W=P X=N Y=Z Z=S
- “Years following years steal something every day; At last they steal us from ourselves away.”— Alexander Pope, 1738, Imitations of Horace, Satires, Epistles, and Odes of Horace. Epistle II. Book II. Line 72 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=D B=Y C=H D=P E=F F=C G=E H=J I=L J=V K=T L=Q M=Z N=X O=N P=G Q=U R=A S=R T=K U=S V=O W=M X=I Y=W Z=B