Puzzle 1
Starter clue: R = H
LEQQYSRNLSRNU,CUVTMYRQFGD!HVMRYEVHHUQSGDYRQEUNTMLNATVMRY;LEQQYSRNLSRNU,CUVTMYRQFGD!
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 174
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: I = E
VRCDIQIDWIPKVIDKETRDNIDEKNBDIINRJBDRJIKZDREZMJIKVPQVMIBPDQVCSDCRQIRBHRWIDKJIKV.
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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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: J = E
JXJKDFQCLYCLLUFOKJNHLFUCLWUSSFQJGHMJKWHBLUFOKJ.JXJKDFQCLYCWRUAJHBHLJQCAAJLWFOBB.
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 4
Starter clue: D = T
DIZTYNEEZRHLNMZEFQEZDDFTYNEEZRNLHDLDNPVL;UZLICYRVCPRFLQCHRHDOFDEFHPWDCZJQRNHPHD.
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 5
Starter clue: C = E
BJKRKCVOKPUCOPZWCICPVOCDPJCWJKWVCOKWFZHC,XORBJKUCOPZWCVPKKFZLJHKVCVJKWVCXORFZHC.
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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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: U = E
RUCKUZSMBIWUKHUMYUETZEETUIHZCCFEAURDHTFWWKUVVUSAIZSUAELTMHTETUIFLUEFETURVUBYUV.
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)
- “Sweet Phosphor, bring the day! Light will repay the wrongs of night; Sweet Phosphor, bring the day!”— Francis Quarles, 1635, Emblems, Book I. Emblem 14 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=F B=V C=B D=Y E=W F=D G=A H=L I=Q J=K K=J L=S M=G N=O O=M P=X Q=E R=H S=P T=N U=R V=I W=Z X=U Y=T Z=C
- “To preserve internal order and freedom from encroachment is the first purpose of government.”— Herbert Hoover, 1929, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=Y B=F C=P D=R E=A F=J G=K H=G I=E J=M K=N L=Q M=H N=D O=X P=I Q=S R=O S=U T=L U=B V=T W=V X=Z Y=W Z=C
- “Everything in Nature contains all the powers of Nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First Series, Compensation (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=D B=F C=I D=Y E=Z F=T G=P H=O I=B J=E K=R L=N M=W N=C O=U P=K Q=H R=M S=L T=J U=A V=X W=S X=V Y=G Z=Q
- “The quarrel is a very pretty quarrel as it stands; we should only spoil it by trying to explain it.”— Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1775, The Rivals, Act IV. Sc. 3 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=K B=M C=O D=T E=R F=Y G=C H=I I=H J=X K=Z L=S M=V N=A O=B P=N Q=P R=L S=J T=Q U=W V=D W=G X=F Y=U Z=E
- “Who does not venture gets neither horse nor mule, and who ventures too much loses horse and mule.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=X B=W C=E D=I E=Z F=M G=K H=L I=G J=H K=O L=C M=J N=P O=N P=T Q=F R=D S=B T=Y U=V V=S W=R X=A Y=Q Z=U
- “Men readily perceive that they can not be much oppressed by a debt which they owe to themselves.”— Abraham Lincoln, 1864, Fourth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=B B=L C=N D=U E=T F=O G=Z H=C I=Y J=X K=R L=W M=I N=G O=Q P=J Q=K R=M S=D T=H U=E V=S W=P X=F Y=V Z=A