Puzzle 1
Starter clue: T = E
DIFHTQTTAYITXFRULKBUAMYIBUSMIYITWDYYWTIUWTULXDQVBTYDUA.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
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- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Medium Cryptograms Set 79
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: K = T
HPUWKPUKJUUOGQLHWUTUJBLWUJEWGKLOKHOKPMPMKVPUKKLVEKHLLQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: Z = T
BVK'ZAGZZVVODKQNAVDKZZVPVGCTDZOVCOQNCDZYLVGJBMQZRJGKZQB.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: V = N
VGOZYVANPOGVYPZHPFHVPGFISZNPSGFFGV-PHVPHNVERQNYVEHNQYVA.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: Q = I
NQPAQJKRUKGJYVQWOQWONBALIIKJQLWJNBKNZQJIRLJANBAQVHKRTA.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: D = T
DVEDQVAFVVETRYYGYEDYGBIDBSDVYLBDFEGGBDRYLIDAGDBDVYMATV.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
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- H
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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 have seen the day of wrong through the little hole of discretion.”— William Shakespeare, 1597, Love's Labour's Lost, Act V. Sc. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=R C=X D=I E=P F=A G=Z H=V I=H J=K K=W L=F M=G N=M O=J P=Q Q=S R=Y S=U T=E U=O V=C W=L X=D Y=T Z=B
- “When the tree is down every one runs to it with a hatchet to cut wood.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=G B=Y C=P D=X E=U F=Q G=S H=W I=K J=R K=T L=O M=A N=M O=I P=H Q=D R=Z S=B T=V U=E V=C W=N X=F Y=J Z=L
- “Don't put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get blunted.”— Miguel de Cervantes, 1613, La Gitanilla (Exemplary Novels), The Little Gypsy (La Gitanilla) (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=P B=D C=R D=I E=C F=M G=U H=V I=J J=L K=N L=H M=G N=A O=F P=Y Q=E R=B S=Q T=W U=X V=O W=Z X=K Y=S Z=T
- “Nothing astonishes men so much as common-sense and plain dealing.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=G B=X C=W D=J E=D F=M G=O H=E I=U J=Y K=R L=V M=Z N=A O=T P=S Q=L R=P S=C T=K U=F V=N W=B X=Q Y=I Z=H
- “Time is always bringing the occasions that disclose their value.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=E B=H C=J D=F E=X F=Q G=Y H=V I=C J=S K=A L=O M=P N=T O=G P=M Q=I R=L S=K T=U U=W V=R W=N X=Z Y=B Z=D
- “That which has been eaten out of the pot cannot be put into the dish.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=I B=O C=R D=T E=A F=C G=N H=K I=U J=M K=J L=P M=D N=G O=L P=V Q=W R=B S=F T=S U=Y V=H W=Q X=Z Y=E Z=X