Puzzle 1
Starter clue: S = E
GXSVPRJJSHTSDXIBRD,GXSVPRJJSHNMZPTIB,DIBYSVGYSDMTSVCDXYAGSDXBRDIJRBHCVGZRIJSHCDIGRMB.
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 183
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: Y = T
YGNUNHEBLYUNYCUVTBCUVFW,INUNWKYMMLLBDBFYNWBZGYUMCVTYGBHMRFDMCHNFUYG,YGBHRCVDYCFWHRMY.
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
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- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: Q = A
MQKZXLYQJLTKILWNEZTKUSKIQMQAALKSKLDNXEXNAT;YQMUNZWFIQOLYQFLISYUSKIQMQAALKSKLDNXTQMF.
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
- S
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- U
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- Y
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: H = E
MIHWHBETQIYVOHBHQBHQTLQEDQVLNBCUNBPHDVOQVYBMWHFHIQKQBVQIYUNBPHDVOQVYBQLFHIVNRHVOHB.
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
- S
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- Y
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: W = E
KTWUWCUWKODKHNHJWFWCRKDMFDGYMIIMFKMNWRGKG;NOKIWIMCH,IWCDK,RFVFMNQWLMCXG,RCWUCMUWCKMIWF.
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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- S
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- Y
- Z
Puzzle 6
Starter clue: H = E
QJHDRKKWOHRGQJHSKWBHQCYJRBJQJHZCWXGQHPX,WGCZQCAHFSWPGRCPCAQJHJROJYWV,WGWKWEHCAWZRDHZ.
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 skilled mechanic, the skilled workman, can best become such by technical industrial education.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1906, Sixth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=Y B=N C=U D=C E=J F=Q G=T H=D I=A J=L K=G L=Z M=O N=W O=V P=K Q=X R=I S=E T=M U=P V=S W=F X=H Y=B Z=R
- “There swift return Diurnal, merely to officiate light Round this opacous earth, this punctual spot.”— John Milton, 1667, Paradise Lost, Book VIII. Line 21 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=I C=U D=C E=W F=A G=H H=S I=M J=K K=Y L=F M=O N=E O=Z P=V Q=J R=P S=B T=D U=R V=N W=L X=Q Y=T Z=G
- “Nature makes the locust with an appetite for crops; man would have made him with an appetite for sand.”— Mark Twain, 1897, Following the EquatorCipher key: A=P B=Z C=X D=F E=C F=D G=Y H=J I=H J=K K=T L=E M=N N=O O=V P=G Q=A R=Q S=I T=S U=W V=B W=L X=R Y=M Z=U
- “In every land there are always at work forces that drive men apart and forces that draw men together.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1937, Second Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=X B=R C=K D=S E=Y F=M G=J H=E I=N J=Z K=P L=W M=I N=O O=H P=C Q=A R=G S=B T=L U=F V=T W=V X=Q Y=D Z=U
- “The perpetuity by generation is common to beasts; but memory, merit, and noble works, are proper to men.”— Francis Bacon, 1625, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and MoralCipher key: A=Z B=J C=R D=I E=V F=N G=S H=Y I=M J=G K=T L=W M=O N=B O=U P=F Q=L R=A S=Q T=H U=P V=D W=E X=K Y=C Z=X
- “The village is the place to which the roads tend, a sort of expansion of the highway, as a lake of a river.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1862, WalkingCipher key: A=F B=C C=O D=V E=K F=X G=S H=E I=M J=H K=L L=Q M=B N=Z O=G P=N Q=T R=I S=P T=U U=J V=Y W=A X=D Y=W Z=R