Puzzle 1
Starter clue: J = E
AMJTHQYJWPDAZPJ,CHHEZQBUJNHWJDQSDNAJW,SWDIYNWHFJDTMTHQAJFXCDAZHQAMJFDAAJWNHWTHQAJQA.
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 181
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: T = E
DCKFJVTFAUTYDTSPVTAVPYBTYQSFCLCTFVZIZJVCSN:FUTZBTPVSQSKOHHTVQSNJUPFFUTZFTPAUQSKCSN.
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: Z = S
LAFQHHCLABLLHAGVUHEGZBZTIZXGHIZBZTHXIZLZ,ZABTTYFLHAGVZAHNLTKBZYGLLFNBZXHTHMIGULGCB.
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: D = E
MCDMCSPFZRTMUDXBPDPBV,UDKORTDMCDBYYBGMRPSMNSTCDGDOPXZONDTKOYDRTSJVDCDTSMOMDBGXDHON.
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: S = E
KAALDKLLDZUFMVBLIHCSUZISUZULMUSSLDSBSZWDOMIZBWFMVBLIZSUULKOAS,MICSIAH,KBCYIMUYSIMVU.
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: L = E
ULDLGIBICUIUFBFRXVLYYRQRPLCGQZUM,OZRRPLGLFAAQBLPLIGRRQCGLLRIUMIKKLJRFRZULNJLKRLMYX.
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)
- “The conservative, looking before and after, draws from each contemplation the matter for content.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=T B=G C=L D=A E=K F=M G=X H=O I=W J=E K=Q L=J M=H N=F O=Z P=V Q=N R=Y S=D T=C U=B V=U W=R X=P Y=S Z=I
- “Most wretched men are cradled into poetry by wrong: They learn in suffering what they teach in song.”— Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1824, Julian and Maddalo, Line 544 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=C B=L C=O D=M E=X F=T G=Z H=F I=B J=W K=S L=P M=K N=G O=U P=A Q=I R=V S=N T=E U=H V=R W=Q X=J Y=D Z=Y
- “The food that to him now is as luscious as locusts, shall be to him shortly as bitter as coloquintida.”— William Shakespeare, 1604, Othello, Act I. Sc. 3 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=H B=A C=D D=J E=W F=E G=I H=O I=U J=P K=Y L=T M=Q N=R O=V P=K Q=F R=Z S=G T=L U=N V=M W=X X=C Y=B Z=S
- “The thing must be done now, because the opportunity is here and may escape us if we hesitate or delay.”— Woodrow Wilson, 1916, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=Q B=O C=H D=E E=K F=G G=R H=L I=Z J=F K=C L=J M=T N=Y O=A P=N Q=V R=U S=I T=S U=B V=W W=X X=D Y=P Z=M
- “All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1904, Fourth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=L B=N C=D D=H E=Z F=C G=V H=Y I=R J=Q K=A L=T M=O N=F O=B P=W Q=X R=M S=E T=J U=S V=U W=G X=K Y=P Z=I
- “Never a magnanimity fell to the ground, but there is some heart to greet and accept it unexpectedly.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=S B=M C=G D=V E=K F=I G=R H=W I=A J=P K=C L=E M=D N=X O=B P=H Q=O R=T S=J T=Z U=N V=F W=Q X=Y Y=L Z=U