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.
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)
“There is but such a quantity of merit between them; just enough to make one good sort of man; and of late it has been shifting about pretty much.”— Jane Austen, 1813, Pride and PrejudiceCipher key: A=E B=K C=Z D=U E=G F=B G=T H=A I=N J=H K=R L=S M=Y N=D O=X P=W Q=L R=V S=I T=O U=M V=J W=C X=P Y=Q Z=F
“Come live with me, and be my love; And we will all the pleasures prove that hills and valleys, dales and fields, Woods or steepy mountain yields.”— Christopher Marlowe, 1599, The Passionate Shepherd to his Love, to his Love (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=H B=U C=D D=S E=R F=T G=F H=X I=O J=Q K=E L=A M=B N=V O=I P=C Q=P R=G S=M T=W U=K V=J W=Z X=Y Y=L Z=N
“It is his human environment which influences his mind and his feelings, furnishes him his ideals, and sets him on his road and keeps him in it.”— Mark Twain, 1906, What Is Man? and Other EssaysCipher key: A=H B=X C=D D=P E=U F=J G=F H=V I=C J=E K=Y L=Q M=N N=G O=T P=R Q=W R=I S=L T=M U=O V=B W=S X=Z Y=K Z=A
“Distrust of the capacity, integrity, and high purposes of the American people will not be an inspiring theme for future political contests.”— William McKinley, 1901, Second Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=Y B=L C=P D=Z E=X F=W G=B H=G I=H J=S K=J L=K M=N N=T O=R P=Q Q=U R=A S=V T=I U=C V=E W=O X=F Y=D Z=M
“The reason why the ancients did not readily give utterance to their words, was that they feared lest their actions should not come up to them.”— Confucius, 1861, The Analects (James Legge translation, 1861)Cipher key: A=X B=O C=J D=H E=I F=Z G=C H=T I=E J=L K=W L=B M=A N=G O=Q P=S Q=U R=M S=N T=Y U=V V=R W=K X=F Y=P Z=D
“If you go in a company, or even in pairs, it is no longer a walking tour in anything but name; it is something else and more in the nature of a picnic.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=V B=C C=K D=O E=H F=X G=A H=T I=N J=I K=Y L=W M=E N=S O=B P=U Q=P R=F S=M T=L U=Q V=J W=R X=Z Y=G Z=D