Puzzle 1
Starter clue: F = E
SOQZOYAIFPBFGAVFCFBUKGVVAIOQPY;IESGQAIUEPIAOYAIFMBUHFYYJLXIOHIIESGQFQZYGBFEVAOSGAFVLGQYXFBFZ.
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 199
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 = A
HGHTAZHVVAXXNHSXA,WZHWUNOPYXMHGUTXWZXGLHKWDOLHKW,OPYAZHVVNUTRTXEXKHBPPR;HTROXWHVWPBXWZXKRPCXVV.
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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- T
- U
- V
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- X
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- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: T = A
FXCFYHYJHTVKCTLVZGRLGDMMUTMDCTVJTZAZTFCVFX.FXCQRMJHTVZFLYACZGRLJRDQMCUTMDCTVJWRHOLRHYZCZRVOTL.
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: A = T
AOCZDERS,AOCAKCC,AOCARKN,AOCGHKSYKCUEAAOCHKX,OYMCUEAOHUVENAOCT;AOCFEKDSHXEUDQAOCHKDESVHUVYUSAYGDC.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: A = T
BABKAOHZBAAZHUBTADBAOBGAOHZSAHAOEAWPEGNWPDBZZJELHAOHJSKBVJSAH,EGNHQHUDBNHGBGXKZIDZPKBZHGVHEZZ.
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 6
Starter clue: Q = E
OWQAXZPSQBOSZJPUGVUAESHQBQE,BQEVFCWQSBGXHWCF'ZWSAEJPUGUMCUJJUPQXHABSAE,CWQHPQSCZQSVQWQBESAEJBQE.
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
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- T
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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)
- “Mind is the great lever of all things; human thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately answered.”— Daniel Webster, 1825, Address on laying the Corner-Stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, 1825. Vol. I. p. 71 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=R C=V D=K E=U F=E G=A H=C I=H J=B K=F L=Y M=P N=Q O=I P=G Q=N R=Z S=M T=X U=O V=L W=J X=W Y=S Z=D
- “A man shall see faces, that if you examine them part by part, you shall find never a good; and yet altogether do well.”— Francis Bacon, 1625, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and MoralCipher key: A=S B=G C=W D=B E=V F=Q G=M H=A I=J J=K K=R L=P M=X N=F O=Y P=O Q=Z R=D S=C T=N U=I V=L W=T X=E Y=U Z=H
- “The timid man yearns for full value and asks a tenth. The bold man strikes for double value and compromises on par.”— Mark Twain, 1897, Following the EquatorCipher key: A=K B=G C=E D=U E=Z F=T G=F H=M I=Q J=D K=Y L=R M=L N=W O=P P=X Q=B R=O S=J T=A U=V V=N W=C X=H Y=I Z=S
- “The cloud, the tree, the turf, the bird are not theirs, have nothing of them; the world is only their lodging and table.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=T B=P C=E D=L E=O F=W G=B H=I I=K J=Z K=R L=X M=V N=F O=H P=J Q=Y R=U S=D T=M U=N V=G W=Q X=S Y=A Z=C
- “It is the little rift within the lute that by and by will make the music mute, And ever widening slowly silence all.”— Alfred Tennyson, 1859, Idylls of the King, Merlin and Vivien (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=I C=J D=W E=A F=Q G=N H=E I=O J=M K=S L=K M=X N=D O=H P=Y Q=V R=P S=U T=F U=R V=C W=B X=G Y=Z Z=L
- “When Israel was from bondage led, Led by the Almighty's hand from out of foreign land, The great sea beheld and fled.”— Abraham Cowley, 1656, Davideis, Book I. Line 41 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=L C=T D=X E=D F=Y G=M H=G I=V J=F K=Q L=J M=U N=K O=W P=R Q=E R=P S=A T=C U=O V=B W=H X=I Y=Z Z=S