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)
“The poor must be wisely visited and liberally cared for, so that mendicity shall not be tempted into mendacity, nor want exasperated into crime.”— Robert C. Winthrop, 1881, Yorktown Oration in 1881 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=D C=S D=A E=J F=N G=F H=R I=M J=Y K=U L=Z M=O N=Q O=B P=C Q=G R=I S=X T=W U=T V=H W=K X=L Y=P Z=E
“The policy has been not to inquire into the wisdom of laws already enacted, but to learn their spirit and intent and to enforce them accordingly.”— Ulysses S. Grant, 1871, Third Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=W B=T C=Q D=X E=G F=U G=N H=K I=D J=O K=P L=I M=Y N=M O=Z P=V Q=S R=H S=E T=C U=J V=F W=R X=B Y=L Z=A
“When we mean to build, We first survey the plot, then draw the model; And when we see the figure of the house, Then must we rate the cost of the erection.”— William Shakespeare, 1598, King Henry IV, Part II, Act I. Sc. 3 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=O C=S D=E E=N F=L G=V H=R I=J J=F K=C L=X M=Y N=U O=B P=K Q=H R=Q S=A T=Z U=W V=M W=D X=P Y=I Z=G
“Seamen have a custom, when they meet a whale, to fling him out an empty tub by way of amusement, to divert him from laying violent hands upon the ship.”— Jonathan Swift, 1704, A Tale of a Tub, Preface (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=K C=Z D=A E=G F=C G=P H=X I=H J=F K=E L=M M=D N=O O=Y P=B Q=U R=S S=V T=R U=W V=I W=T X=Q Y=J Z=L
“The discretion of the first years becomes the settled habit of the last; and so, with wisdom and patience, two lives may grow indissolubly into one.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=Y B=O C=B D=F E=K F=S G=E H=P I=C J=T K=Q L=Z M=N N=R O=W P=G Q=J R=L S=V T=D U=M V=H W=A X=I Y=U Z=X
“A long train of these practices has at length unwillingly convinced me that there is something behind the throne greater than the King himself.”— William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, 1770, Chatham Correspondence. Speech, March 2, 1770 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=G B=D C=K D=A E=R F=Q G=C H=L I=T J=Z K=I L=O M=F N=P O=H P=J Q=V R=X S=N T=E U=Y V=B W=M X=S Y=U Z=W