Puzzle 1
Starter clue: F = O
WPWOXIWUPFGWOZQWPZFKPIZFFA,FBETIBUPFBTIHQWPZFKPILFFA.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
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- U
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- X
- Y
- Z
Medium Cryptograms Set 66
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: C = T
CNZNHVS,CNZNHVS,CNZOKWCDNHVSBWSHCYCNBSMCHOYKMNCHWLHVS.
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 3
Starter clue: G = T
ROFBYNEFBOXPYGRPGEFWWLJFGPIOAGPFYGVCNAPYJYIOAGPFYGV.
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: O = N
TCTXXDFNJVVFWZJOKFOPPJNJYYROK,ROKKJYLWZTVTPTOEEFOPXL.
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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- O
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: C = A
QZIDRRSCN'WRSCN,CIBSCUMCXRCLWNCZMIPCHMDVNSMGCQIPSCIPM.
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: V = N
KOEGXVOVNPTUUOPPMSOPSVMYUXM,EXNWOENWXVVXNSYVXMXUNSYV.
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)
- “It is vain to fish without a hook, or learn to read without a book.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=K B=R C=Q D=M E=L F=O G=F H=D I=A J=X K=U L=B M=J N=P O=S P=T Q=W R=Z S=G T=E U=N V=Y W=I X=V Y=C Z=H
- “The horn, the horn, the lusty horn is not a thing to laugh to scorn.”— William Shakespeare, 1600, As You Like It, Act IV. Sc. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=W B=I C=T D=Y E=V F=K G=Q H=O I=J J=B K=U L=C M=G N=H O=L P=M Q=P R=F S=N T=Z U=X V=R W=S X=D Y=A Z=E
- “He is no wise man that will quit a certainty for an uncertainty.”— Samuel Johnson, 1760, The Idler, No. 57 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=S C=F D=P E=W F=I G=T H=V I=C J=U K=B L=Q M=G N=O O=E P=A Q=Z R=H S=X T=J U=D V=Y W=L X=M Y=N Z=K
- “I will be correspondent to command, And do my spiriting gently.”— William Shakespeare, 1611, The Tempest, Act I. Sc. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Q B=U C=W D=B E=G F=E G=J H=K I=F J=O K=D L=Y M=Z N=C O=N P=T Q=H R=A S=V T=I U=X V=R W=S X=L Y=M Z=P
- “I know what's what, and have always taken care of the main chance.”— Miguel de Cervantes, 1605, Don Quixote, Part I, Book III. Chap. IX (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=D C=A D=O E=G F=Q G=M H=R I=N J=B K=U L=Y M=E N=T O=X P=C Q=I R=W S=H T=P U=V V=F W=S X=L Y=J Z=K
- “Permanent success lies in local, rather than national action.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1926, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=X B=J C=W D=Y E=R F=V G=M H=K I=Z J=B K=P L=F M=L N=T O=E P=S Q=G R=D S=I T=U U=C V=N W=H X=A Y=O Z=Q