Puzzle 1
Starter clue: K = I
KWKBCSBWOKGFDXT'BNXTKWIXTJKDZFUWKTFTPFWVPXOOXTXTKDXOJSDLLFPXSBFKWKBJSDLWVYKBJSOOZFUPFZWKVTB.
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 197
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: H = T
BLHZR,HULX,ALZMSXNNPCXW,YCHUSULSGHKPGSXDKSHL;RHCBBSFUCLJCXW,RHCBBMZGRZCXW,BLSGXHPBSAPZGSXNHPYSCH.
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
QJRCRXIHHGMFVHAQMVQXUVQMZYWIXZEYHWUH,MZRMFZXBQXSRYYOBZTHRFKSQAQXUXHE,VHCROTHRBHRFVHAZJZBVHAM.
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: M = E
JVMQDKBCOMNBJVMMCKJVWQQNBJCLXWYEKMQQWSGMSHJVMBMMJNBYML;CLXQNFWJVJVMECJVQFVWOVJVMYWLXJKCIMGQ.
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: N = E
BXYNHRJXJWNLIEANR,YITA,CXEJWNVDIBMVIJ,RHLWJ,WIOCDXFR;BXYNHRJXJWNLIEANR,YITA,HIYWNENIJJWNLIJNIDXRN.
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
RQTCSXHWQXATLXUMYXWPXCADFMOTXH,ZYTSYSWKHXVMMOMQXPTAUTBXH,WCOZYTSYYWPXBKSYPXCXQWUTMCFKUCMQXHU.
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)
- “It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.”— Mark Twain, 1906, What Is Man? and Other EssaysCipher key: A=Z B=S C=J D=M E=F F=E G=K H=Q I=Y J=D K=I L=B M=X N=V O=L P=C Q=G R=W S=U T=N U=R V=O W=T X=A Y=H Z=P
- “Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labour and to wait.”— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1841, Ballads and Other Poems, A Psalm of Life (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=B B=L C=I D=Y E=K F=C G=R H=T I=M J=V K=F L=E M=P N=D O=Q P=O Q=X R=S S=A T=Z U=H V=J W=G X=N Y=W Z=U
- “If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others.”— Confucius, 1861, The Analects (James Legge translation, 1861)Cipher key: A=R B=T C=M D=Z E=W F=C G=P H=E I=K J=F K=Q L=V M=S N=X O=Y P=J Q=I R=A S=U T=B U=G V=H W=D X=N Y=L Z=O
- “The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=K B=F C=A D=U E=P F=W G=L H=Y I=V J=T K=R L=N M=E N=O O=C P=Z Q=S R=G S=B T=J U=X V=H W=I X=D Y=M Z=Q
- “Come into the garden, Maud, For the black bat, night, has flown; Come into the garden, Maud, I am here at the gate alone.”— Alfred Tennyson, 1855, Maud, Part I. XXII. Stanza 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=D B=C C=F D=L E=R F=W G=Z H=I I=A J=T K=V L=G M=K N=E O=S P=X Q=J R=N S=P T=U U=Y V=B W=H X=O Y=M Z=Q
- “Princes are like to heavenly bodies, which cause good or evil times, and which have much veneration but no rest.”— Francis Bacon, 1625, Essays, Of Empire (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=L B=M C=N D=Y E=X F=B G=J H=S I=Z J=Q K=U L=K M=O N=F O=D P=V Q=R R=P S=C T=I U=T V=G W=A X=E Y=H Z=W