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)
“We shall be wise if we realize that we are financially ill and that our restoration to health may require heroic treatment and unpleasant remedies.”— Grover Cleveland, 1895, Seventh Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=Y B=Q C=Z D=X E=O F=V G=E H=J I=T J=W K=D L=C M=G N=U O=B P=I Q=M R=S S=P T=F U=H V=A W=R X=K Y=L Z=N
“The English Bible, - a book which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.”— Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1828, On John Dryden. 1828 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=T C=I D=R E=P F=D G=S H=X I=K J=M K=Z L=E M=F N=G O=C P=L Q=N R=B S=U T=V U=Y V=W W=O X=A Y=Q Z=H
“Oh that the desert were my dwelling-place, With one fair spirit for my minister, That I might all forget the human race, And hating no one, love but only her!”— Lord Byron, 1818, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto IV, Stanza 177 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=L B=F C=I D=P E=W F=G G=N H=U I=R J=V K=Z L=T M=A N=D O=S P=B Q=O R=Y S=H T=E U=J V=X W=Q X=C Y=M Z=K
“Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life, - there, if one must speak out, the real man.”— Marcus Aurelius, 170, Meditations, X. 38 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=L B=X C=J D=S E=F F=Z G=D H=C I=A J=P K=Y L=W M=Q N=U O=R P=K Q=B R=I S=E T=O U=M V=H W=N X=T Y=G Z=V
“We can not hope to succeed in directing this increasingly complex civilization unless we can draw all the talent of leadership from the whole people.”— Herbert Hoover, 1929, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=S B=M C=Z D=R E=D F=A G=I H=L I=O J=Y K=P L=K M=H N=T O=Q P=B Q=X R=W S=E T=V U=F V=U W=N X=G Y=J Z=C
“In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold, Alike fantastic if too new or old: Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.”— Alexander Pope, 1711, An Essay on Criticism, Part II. Line 133 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=C B=R C=I D=L E=Q F=U G=J H=S I=X J=M K=P L=V M=K N=Z O=T P=A Q=W R=G S=H T=D U=F V=Y W=E X=B Y=O Z=N