5 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 make to ourselves day by day, out of history, and gossip, and economical speculations, and God knows what, a medium in which we walk and through which we look abroad.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=O B=W C=M D=Z E=U F=V G=Y H=S I=D J=R K=B L=H M=F N=I O=Q P=N Q=X R=G S=K T=C U=L V=E W=J X=P Y=T Z=A
“Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=W B=I C=P D=A E=K F=Y G=D H=X I=Q J=T K=E L=F M=Z N=O O=H P=U Q=R R=S S=N T=C U=V V=B W=L X=J Y=M Z=G
“The triumph of the people, whose verdict is carried into effect today, is not the triumph of one section, nor wholly of one party, but of all sections and all the people.”— William McKinley, 1897, First Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=W B=L C=Q D=P E=A F=C G=S H=V I=D J=U K=F L=Z M=N N=K O=B P=H Q=R R=E S=J T=O U=I V=X W=G X=M Y=T Z=Y
“We study shop windows with other eyes than in our childhood, never to wonder, not always to admire, but to make and modify our little incongruous theories about life.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=D B=K C=J D=W E=V F=Y G=H H=T I=N J=R K=M L=S M=I N=U O=A P=Q Q=Z R=P S=F T=B U=O V=E W=L X=G Y=C Z=X
“Little drops of water, little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land. So the little minutes, humble though they be, Make the mighty ages of eternity.”— Julia A. Fletcher, 1845, Little Things, 1845 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=F C=X D=V E=T F=D G=E H=P I=S J=B K=G L=R M=C N=W O=J P=H Q=M R=Y S=O T=U U=A V=N W=K X=L Y=Q Z=I