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)
“It is a great deal more natural than one could wish, that a young man, brought up by those who are proud, luxurious, and selfish, should be proud, luxurious, and selfish too.”— Jane Austen, 1815, EmmaCipher key: A=L B=G C=D D=O E=W F=Z G=U H=P I=A J=B K=M L=N M=C N=X O=R P=Q Q=J R=T S=K T=I U=F V=E W=S X=H Y=V Z=Y
“Whatever correction of our popular views we make from insight, nature will be sure to bear us out in, and though it seem to rob us of some joy, will repay us with a greater.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=X B=E C=K D=I E=F F=O G=C H=W I=H J=Y K=N L=Z M=D N=T O=J P=B Q=G R=S S=U T=V U=P V=A W=M X=Q Y=R Z=L
“No political party can long pursue advantage at the expense of public honor or by rude and indecent methods without protest and fatal disaffection in its own body.”— Benjamin Harrison, 1889, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=P B=D C=H D=E E=T F=R G=L H=S I=Z J=G K=F L=V M=Q N=M O=J P=O Q=X R=K S=C T=Y U=W V=B W=A X=N Y=U Z=I
“You meaner beauties of the night, That poorly satisfy our eyes more by your number than your light; You common people of the skies, - What are you when the moon shall rise?”— Sir Henry Wotton, 1651, Reliquiae Wottonianae, On his Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=H B=S C=O D=K E=Q F=J G=E H=D I=U J=N K=Y L=W M=C N=L O=R P=B Q=T R=P S=V T=A U=X V=Z W=F X=M Y=G Z=I
“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=V B=F C=K D=G E=D F=Q G=L H=U I=P J=O K=A L=I M=X N=T O=E P=C Q=B R=N S=Z T=R U=J V=S W=Y X=W Y=M Z=H