Puzzle 1
Starter clue: F = O
PFVBESFPLSFPEUCWLS'YWFSUN,RFCPEUWFYPEFSUYPSUMUCLXXUXPFJP.
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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- X
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- Z
Medium Cryptograms Set 78
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
BDXWJSJCFWFYJ?XWJDBNIKTCDTBM;XWJDBQJCXMFNXFSDWFFIWBDWJTM.
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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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: G = A
GYGHHRZGXPVQPZGXUTGCMNNMVNYUXANPKUXFNYGXGKUOM-HPLXFXPNM.
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: G = A
RXDTGX'CSGNCTGNQDGCIRRPGCGXRKLDO'C,QBKSDGMMMHFDRBORSXQDCK.
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 5
Starter clue: V = I
UCECKPWL,BSGZVPNWGCKVNVQQUBGRKVUO,BSGZVPHKCWRVNVQQUBGCWG.
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: G = E
JBGTGMBGTGZRHNJVHMNXJZDD,MBGTGJZDDQGHNJVHMNXNWWNTMKHZMP.
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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- X
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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)
- “Touch not another man's money, for the most honest never added to it.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=W B=C C=R D=P E=H F=O G=J H=L I=B J=I K=X L=A M=V N=Y O=K P=T Q=Z R=F S=N T=G U=E V=U W=M X=D Y=S Z=Q
- “Is there no hope? the sick man said; The silent doctor shook his head.”— John Gay, 1727, Fables, Part I. The Sick Man and the Angel (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Y B=I C=N D=S E=V F=O G=U H=Z I=K J=E K=M L=G M=D N=C O=F P=J Q=L R=Q S=R T=A U=B V=X W=H X=T Y=P Z=W
- “A happy man or woman is a better thing to find than a five-pound note.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=G B=J C=B D=C E=Q F=D G=A H=P I=K J=L K=F L=U M=E N=T O=V P=O Q=W R=Y S=X T=S U=I V=R W=Z X=N Y=H Z=M
- “One man's ways may be as good as another's, but we all like our own best.”— Jane Austen, 1817, PersuasionCipher key: A=P B=U C=S D=E E=F F=K G=A H=I I=G J=Z K=T L=H M=L N=Y O=R P=D Q=B R=O S=W T=M U=X V=J W=C X=N Y=Q Z=V
- “Never say, of this water I will not drink, of this bread I will not eat.”— Portuguese proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=C B=O C=E D=U E=V F=P G=T H=B I=Z J=Q K=R L=Y M=X N=W O=K P=S Q=L R=D S=F T=G U=N V=I W=A X=J Y=M Z=H
- “Where there is no want of will, there will be no want of opportunity.”— Spanish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=X B=H C=Q D=L E=M F=V G=E H=N I=C J=W K=U L=Z M=T N=O O=D P=Y Q=B R=S S=J T=R U=K V=A W=P X=F Y=G Z=I