Puzzle 1
Starter clue: B = E
ILDXBOBWLDCCBMJXRBOBWUQDM,XLAJAJGRWXLBAMXBWBJXRGXLBVMAOBWJDK:XLAJQANLXEBJVGGAYABMX.
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 180
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: V = E
MIUCLSMZMIUVUVDVSPIZUCL,UCLXPASHNVVXCOVZVHOMEHPCIMHUCLOSVVGNHSMIRCOHLIVNDVRCOVUCL.
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: H = E
QPHIHMYFV,KHAQSHVQXHBNVFMXNZR,JPFPNYVFQIXHNYCMHAVNSFFZVFLHX,BCYQKHAVQFXHMNKXRYQCIAZ.
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: O = E
ZOCQSQDWTOYYDQ-CVXDIOUQQC,DIOAMOVYTEO,DIOAQZOEQNDQ-UQEEQZ,ZIOSZOVEOFTRMCRSWTAQTEFORSW.
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: G = T
GYRNIHMARZGQYPBYYNLZUGEUQRIGUIRNBYAWUQZEINBGPBR,PANWQRKKOUMSGQPKKTNPKGUIRNBYWUMIL.
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: X = E
XUXJGMPWXSXTDWNJDSPWCZXFDWNZDFXIAJXFFPRW;DWNCZXJXPFWRKRNGSPCZRECPCFFAPJPCRJVXWPEF.
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)
- “Whatever happens to every man, this is for the interest of the universal: this might be sufficient.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=I B=E C=P D=A E=B F=K G=F H=J I=W J=S K=L L=H M=N N=G O=V P=Q Q=M R=O S=X T=Z U=Y V=U W=R X=T Y=C Z=D
- “An you had any eye behind you, you might see more detraction at your heels than fortunes before you.”— William Shakespeare, 1601, Twelfth Night, Act II. Sc. 5 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=G B=J C=O D=B E=C F=X G=L H=T I=N J=K K=V L=U M=A N=S O=R P=I Q=P R=F S=H T=W U=Y V=E W=Q X=M Y=Z Z=D
- “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”— Jane Austen, 1817, Northanger AbbeyCipher key: A=I B=M C=U D=F E=X F=O G=Q H=E I=P J=W K=B L=V M=R N=A O=C P=H Q=T R=Y S=G T=J U=K V=N W=Z X=L Y=S Z=D
- “We do not guess to-day the mood, the pleasure, the power of to-morrow, when we are building up our being.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=P B=C C=D D=T E=R F=B G=Z H=K I=H J=Q K=J L=X M=L N=F O=E P=V Q=O R=I S=N T=U U=M V=A W=G X=Y Y=S Z=W
- “The argument which has not power to reach my own practice, I may well doubt will fail to reach yours.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=M B=C C=V D=X E=P F=Q G=T H=G I=R J=Z K=L L=S M=U N=A O=D P=I Q=W R=E S=B T=F U=O V=K W=Y X=J Y=H Z=N
- “Every line we can draw in the sand has expression; and there is no body without its spirit or genius.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=P B=M C=T D=A E=U F=S G=Y H=Z I=X J=R K=B L=J M=L N=D O=K P=I Q=F R=O S=W T=C U=V V=G W=N X=E Y=Q Z=H