Puzzle 1
Starter clue: B = E
GMECOMVSTXSMXSRZBMBFBZJOJLBSZXQSTBTBXZSSTXSKEFBJTBZ.
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
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- Z
Nature Cryptograms Set 17
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: L = O
XRQMVHGHQCNHPULDRSDXJARADZMALELBHALADHSQLJVMCLQCLLM.
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: D = N
DEASGVYSAJDLNSVJAKLDEDZEDJBVGJDLDVBPKXPBVHLGAEUJEJW.
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: K = E
XJGQPAWUJHKKI,UCKDKJVKPUQGGJUWHK,AWUCKQPJUCQGVQGYHKKI.
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: M = N
ZUQDVMGULNJDPNXHPHVAZGILNMHPHRVNDVMPMXVWLDNUYPMLNMH.
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 6
Starter clue: M = E
NWMMYUCNWUCNMKWDOMGMWLKJJZJDLEMYRDGBNWMMYUCNWUCRKLG.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- L
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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)
- “Knowing that Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.”— William Wordsworth, 1798, Lyrical Ballads, Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=E C=W D=C E=O F=V G=K H=F I=P J=D K=L L=B M=N N=M O=I P=S Q=Y R=U S=T T=H U=J V=G W=Z X=A Y=Q Z=R
- “Bird never flew so high but it had to come to the ground for food.”— Dutch proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=T B=M C=F D=H E=C F=Y G=V H=E I=J J=U K=Q L=O M=D N=L O=X P=W Q=R R=I S=G T=P U=S V=N W=Z X=B Y=K Z=A
- “Nature puts no question and answers none which we mortals ask.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=T B=W C=J D=N E=A F=V G=R H=M I=G J=S K=I L=O M=F N=Q O=X P=H Q=Y R=B S=U T=Z U=L V=E W=K X=C Y=P Z=D
- “Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed.”— Blaise Pascal, 1670, Pensees (Thoughts), Chap. II. 10 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=B B=O C=H D=W E=F F=V G=N H=R I=D J=A K=E L=C M=Q N=Y O=L P=S Q=I R=Z S=X T=P U=T V=K W=U X=M Y=G Z=J
- “Love in your hearts as idly burns as fire in antique Roman urns.”— Samuel Butler, 1664, Hudibras, Part II, Canto I. Line 309 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=D B=Z C=K D=E E=J F=C G=Y H=S I=B J=H K=X L=U M=N N=R O=W P=A Q=V R=F S=P T=G U=O V=I W=Q X=T Y=M Z=L
- “Freedom from fear is eternally linked with freedom from want.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1944, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=V B=H C=M D=I E=K F=B G=T H=X I=U J=L K=A L=N M=E N=F O=S P=Z Q=J R=W S=C T=P U=O V=Q W=R X=G Y=D Z=Y