Puzzle 1
Starter clue: O = T
WJJNUXISGRJSOISBGSUOOIUONUXXTOGSUNIOISYAUJJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- F
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- H
- I
- J
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Medium Cryptograms Set 22
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: E = T
JOEEJPCEOYGCGOFVJPSZOHP,NQEKHPSELFPCBQEOELQE.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- H
- I
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: O = E
XYNGZXEJYXOOPJMOSYMCZXEBJYNGOMFOYFRO'JGBKZNJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: E = S
RKOIOERMSROSRMTSEUMBBSTRGBUGQEOSEHAOEHFFOEE.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: C = N
HCXNFCCHAIMCUARXKXJJEFCOVFJPMCARXWIHNXEEMHC.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- B
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- D
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: W = A
WEUFGCKOOFGXUWOCWVAKJF,SGVWJTOFWGJRAWJEWPKJF.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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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)
- “Ill can he rule the great that cannot reach the small.”— Edmund Spenser, 1590, The Faerie Queene, Book V. Canto II. St. 43 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=G C=Q D=K E=F F=W G=R H=Z I=H J=L K=D L=Y M=B N=C O=T P=V Q=X R=U S=E T=O U=A V=P W=I X=N Y=S Z=J
- “Little sticks kindle a fire, but great ones put it out.”— English proverb, 1859, Recorded in Walter K. Kelly, Proverbs of All Nations, Compared, Explained, and Illustrated (London, 1859)Cipher key: A=V B=P C=S D=H E=T F=N G=K H=R I=J J=L K=G L=O M=Y N=B O=I P=E Q=U R=W S=A T=Q U=M V=D W=X X=Z Y=C Z=F
- “Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.”— Mark Twain, 1894, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead WilsonCipher key: A=J B=A C=M D=Z E=G F=P G=H H=V I=U J=S K=B L=W M=R N=T O=E P=D Q=Y R=L S=F T=Q U=C V=X W=K X=N Y=O Z=I
- “The best intentions will not always ensure success.”— Aesop, 1867, Aesop's Fables (George Fyler Townsend translation, 1867)Cipher key: A=R B=L C=M D=P E=S F=C G=A H=U I=B J=Z K=H L=K M=I N=X O=E P=Q Q=Y R=T S=N T=O U=W V=D W=V X=F Y=G Z=J
- “One cannot ring the bells and walk in the procession.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=T B=J C=N D=M E=S F=A G=Y H=O I=R J=L K=B L=V M=I N=C O=D P=K Q=F R=H S=Z T=U U=G V=W W=P X=E Y=X Z=Q
- “After dinner stand a while, or walk nearly half a mile.”— German proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=H B=V C=D D=J E=F F=E G=R H=Z I=G J=L K=I L=P M=C N=B O=N P=M Q=U R=Y S=O T=K U=T V=W W=A X=S Y=Q Z=X