Puzzle 1
Starter clue: E = I
QFGPGIIMFURDCGUVR,DCVEREQQCPGSEIIGNKEQFSUEVKCVNR.
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 45
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: F = E
OWFRFULOKVLNZFEOEQIOWFVQLIYUOKQIEQVOWFIFGFEEUZA.
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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- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: I = S
ZOJVSAZBORRLRVINIAZFF,JKZFEZBIIRRGIZYRIKNPJKINEY.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: Q = T
RXZVPIFMFVVECRZUIEPJQ,ZXKJUQDRQDJLXRVWQDRQRUFVJQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: S = T
PSBPKKRIPYEYVYXHSHSMYMYCIS,SMCSPXMCKKQIJVJYJYXHNS.
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 6
Starter clue: N = T
KSZNUPPKDDNUXNSDBERNSUPXENZQKZIPOEELUXNSDPNEBZFS.
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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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)
- “The belly has no ears, nor is it to be filled with fair words.”— Francois Rabelais, 1552, Works, Book IV, Chap. LXII (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=C B=U C=O D=N E=I F=H G=E H=J I=L J=M K=W L=Z M=Y N=D O=K P=B Q=T R=S S=F T=G U=A V=R W=Q X=P Y=X Z=V
- “The beautiful rests on the foundations of the necessary.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=Y B=W C=X D=V E=S F=E G=C H=M I=N J=P K=I L=U M=Z N=L O=T P=Q Q=O R=B S=K T=G U=A V=F W=H X=J Y=D Z=R
- “A bird may be ever so small, it always seeks a nest of its own.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=M B=Y C=H D=Q E=W F=L G=K H=P I=S J=I K=T L=V M=X N=O O=B P=F Q=C R=E S=D T=U U=Z V=R W=J X=G Y=N Z=A
- “A single penny fairly got, is worth a thousand that are not.”— German proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=J B=X C=F D=H E=Y F=E G=M H=B I=L J=O K=W L=U M=P N=K O=C P=G Q=T R=A S=Z T=Q U=R V=N W=D X=S Y=V Z=I
- “It will grieve me so to the heart, that I shall cry my eyes out.”— Miguel de Cervantes, 1605, Don Quixote, Part I, Book III. Chap. XI (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=K B=W C=A D=X E=V F=B G=N H=O I=R J=Y K=L L=F M=H N=U O=D P=I Q=C R=G S=T T=Z U=J V=M W=Q X=S Y=E Z=P
- “What is sweet in the mouth is not always good in the stomach.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=X B=M C=R D=E E=O F=C G=B H=P I=Y J=F K=W L=D M=Q N=T O=G P=S Q=L R=U S=H T=K U=I V=Z W=J X=N Y=V Z=A