Puzzle 1
Starter clue: W = A
ROQLCZGWNCUTJWNRL,ROQLCROQTLWAFFCNCANKCLROWRFWKJVUJQMUGQYWJJOCGMQGFLWAFWNRKQAL.
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 173
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: Z = O
QJQWJDBFZAAZYOZYIBNZMSTTABY,DZOSAZYPWZASYVAQTTQZYZMMSFBWJDBNBWDZLTIGBYZYBSTQRB.
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: K = E
YKSZNMJKI'YUPWKZIRIUQZRINRQEKY,SIONPIYROKZAMKFRYK,FMSAAMKBYMVISIOFMSAAMKBNEKSWKAP.
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: K = E
WZKMZECQEPDOFOOQKAPWZKNFCLHBKALHOCAASHJIEWNFNWAWZKNKBCKWALWZKIKBZHPEBNALWZKNSV.
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 5
Starter clue: Y = E
VITFOWYIODAFVOYWQLAYTAYDIWROFTAFOJLTKYNOJT.ZFXYAFVIVIOR,ITBAYLFWWDYWWUJMDAYDNMDA.
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: U = E
JRQ'ILBFIDWIKVRCFWXXCOWRQO.DKUQIKUVBFUERQUVRCNBVOIWXXUPWOIMCIVRCKBSUYUBOUJIRXWSU.
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)
- “Those graceful acts, Those thousand decencies that daily flow from all her words and actions.”— John Milton, 1667, Paradise Lost, Book VIII. Line 600 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=J C=E D=V E=X F=D G=R H=K I=B J=L K=I L=S M=W N=C O=H P=Z Q=O R=T S=Q T=U U=F V=Y W=A X=P Y=M Z=G
- “It is the common wonder of all men, how among so many million of faces there should be none alike.”— Sir Thomas Browne, 1643, Religio Medici, Part II. Sect. II (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=E C=V D=H E=Q F=C G=B H=X I=D J=T K=J L=U M=F N=R O=W P=G Q=I R=K S=A T=L U=P V=Y W=S X=Z Y=N Z=O
- “Search men's governing principles, and consider the wise, what they shun and what they cleave to.”— Marcus Aurelius, 170, Meditations, IV. 38 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=Y C=K D=X E=L F=W G=Q H=Z I=N J=M K=E L=F M=H N=C O=D P=O Q=P R=I S=A T=B U=G V=U W=V X=J Y=S Z=R
- “The whirling bubble on the surface of a brook admits us to the secret of the mechanics of the sky.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=O B=C C=R D=G E=I F=U G=X H=A I=M J=D K=E L=F M=W N=S O=B P=N Q=L R=Q S=K T=V U=Z V=Y W=T X=J Y=P Z=H
- “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”— Oscar Wilde, 1891, The Critic as ArtistCipher key: A=H B=D C=J D=T E=B F=I G=Q H=X I=A J=O K=P L=W M=U N=R O=S P=C Q=F R=K S=Z T=N U=Y V=M W=L X=V Y=E Z=G
- “Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist but you have ceased to live.”— Mark Twain, 1897, Following the EquatorCipher key: A=K B=A C=U D=W E=G F=R G=Q H=F I=T J=D K=H L=P M=B N=M O=S P=X Q=N R=O S=V T=Z U=E V=Y W=I X=L Y=C Z=J