Puzzle 1
Starter clue: J = E
MLFKJQJQVJKHTHGFWRJUHKN,-HTLRJKJHVFIWPRJLDJSSP.
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
Medium Cryptograms Set 26
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.
The puzzles
Puzzle 2
Starter clue: J = E
PMJRKIIJWCJJCXSPGIIPMJZGPJWPMGPBSJCVQMKCRKII.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: K = E
CVKWPKKCKWCCVBAJCVNCKUKOJOKPEKWBZKNVFINAZMMO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: F = E
OGPNSZHLARPUVFW;ELUSGGVLHNWPDDRF;GRVLDFLWFDWFN.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
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- Y
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: A = T
IBTVPAOBBZWPIWQZJKKO-KVAXIKXKVJUPZBWOAIBAQVAI.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 6
Starter clue: Z = A
YDVVDSYDVXDXDZILKZONJZSIVXZGVXDVZNOLKZISZFLG.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
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- X
- Y
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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)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (6 solutions)
- “I do remember an apothecary, - And hereabouts he dwells.”— William Shakespeare, 1595, Romeo and Juliet, Act V. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=V C=X D=W E=G F=O G=P H=A I=U J=E K=R L=D M=I N=Y O=Z P=S Q=M R=H S=L T=N U=C V=B W=T X=F Y=K Z=Q
- “The miller sees not all the water that goes by his mill.”— Robert Burton, 1621, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Part III. Sect. 3, Memb. 4, Subsect. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=G C=S D=Z E=J F=V G=A H=F I=L J=E K=I L=C M=H N=U O=P P=T Q=Y R=M S=O T=Q U=D V=B W=R X=N Y=K Z=W
- “The sweetest thing that ever grew beside a human door.”— William Wordsworth, 1800, Lyrical Ballads (1800), Lucy Gray. Stanza 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=I C=T D=Q E=B F=U G=J H=K I=M J=G K=E L=F M=O N=A O=R P=W Q=Z R=L S=C T=P U=V V=H W=S X=Y Y=X Z=D
- “Youth is a blunder; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.”— Benjamin Disraeli, 1844, Coningsby, Book III. Chap. I (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=B B=Z C=X D=G E=M F=E G=O H=S I=W J=F K=P L=A M=J N=T O=Y P=U Q=C R=L S=H T=K U=N V=D W=R X=Q Y=V Z=I
- “He must keep a sharp look-out who would speak the truth.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=T B=E C=G D=Q E=V F=B G=Y H=J I=H J=L K=O L=F M=Z N=C O=K P=S Q=R R=I S=N T=M U=D V=U W=A X=W Y=X Z=P
- “Better be the head of a lizard than the tail of a dragon.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=U B=W C=K D=E E=M F=G G=N H=Q I=D J=Z K=F L=O M=V N=I O=L P=X Q=S R=Y S=R T=J U=P V=T W=C X=H Y=B Z=A