Puzzle 1
Starter clue: R = T
VRVEZYKZJEFVHWRRWZRZGZXEWBIYSMDZMYDRBFDXSDFZFDZEBXOBFRWDOZVRWRWZRVEKVRWVXWVG.
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 170
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: C = E
HGCZY'ZMKVZMCKXYARXCZXIYFCCHKVBFXQYFHYFCHKZXY,ICPCKXIYFCYVIDECVBFXQYFHYQHWCZXY.
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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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: X = T
SMCJVWUHQXCMSZUQCXDJKHXMHLHDMJAXZKXCUHXCMTKUMXLHWEXUVVLUZJAWMVUQCXAKVEXKWUME.
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 4
Starter clue: H = A
HJPEEXVSZHSTHLPQWXJUCRAPUWIXTKHWN,HWGZHQHTUWGHQWHAAXVHQSZPWPILXJHOUWPCHA-IARPS.
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 5
Starter clue: W = E
RUNJNJRUWJKCQITQQHTQSWLBCWBR,MBHRUNJNJBWEWJJMLXRQEVQJWRUWENLEVWQIQKLIWVNENRNWJ.
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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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: D = E
JZDIFHYKRRAGDVOYZGLFADFPYJDADFVODJDAVFI,KRKVDHDQHGJZJZDIFHYKRVFJPADFVOKRUKAFIY.
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
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- T
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- X
- Y
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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)
- “It is always right that a man should be able to render a reason for the faith that is within him.”— Sydney Smith, 1855, Lady Holland's Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, Vol. I. p. 53 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=O C=V D=E E=S F=R G=M H=G I=U J=Y K=W L=X M=B N=Q O=F P=Z Q=P R=T S=D T=C U=K V=I W=H X=N Y=L Z=A
- “A jest's prosperity lies in the ear of him that hears it, never in the tongue of him that makes it.”— William Shakespeare, 1597, Love's Labour's Lost, Act V. Sc. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Y B=F C=E D=G E=U F=H G=J H=A I=N J=Z K=R L=W M=P N=C O=D P=V Q=M R=L S=Q T=X U=B V=O W=K X=I Y=T Z=S
- “Beholding the bright countenance of truth in the quiet and still air of delightful studies.”— John Milton, 1642, The Reason of Church Government, Introduction, Book II (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=F B=M C=H D=C E=S F=V G=Y H=N I=Z J=O K=U L=A M=E N=X O=K P=J Q=G R=P S=B T=Q U=I V=L W=D X=T Y=W Z=R
- “A fellow that makes no figure in company, and has a mind as narrow as the neck of a vinegar-cruet.”— Samuel Johnson, 1773, Tour to the Hebrides. Sept. 30, 1773 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=J C=G D=B E=L F=Z G=D H=A I=C J=F K=P L=K M=Q N=Y O=V P=E Q=S R=U S=T T=M U=I V=W W=N X=O Y=X Z=H
- “This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.”— Thomas Jefferson, 1801, First Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=K B=N C=M D=W E=C F=J G=Q H=D I=F J=S K=U L=R M=A N=I O=P P=X Q=O R=T S=V T=G U=H V=L W=E X=Y Y=Z Z=B
- “The laws of friendship are austere and eternal, of one web with the laws of nature and of morals.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=R B=Y C=K D=E E=C F=A G=I H=W I=L J=T K=O L=P M=Z N=G O=D P=U Q=B R=F S=Q T=J U=M V=N W=X X=V Y=S Z=H