Puzzle 1
Starter clue: S = E
SJSTZVUSCSSLCFVDWUXKWCYOSPCATSPUXKWCPXJPUFPQSPFFKSSEYSUCSVDVFKSTC.
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
Nature Cryptograms Set 32
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: Q = I
DLQT,DHOFDLQT,WFBHLOFKHLOPYESGQTNEYLEJZQKKBYQPYSTZFPHTEOHKQTEYHWQTN.
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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- S
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- U
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- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: E = T
MQERVJEERXLCQBXHGVCYWGEQWBDXWJENMVS,VRMRWEMXGXCWS?-WMVGBTMQERVJEWLJS.
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 4
Starter clue: F = E
IPYXFUEBECNJUAFYZGMBCJIFNILUEIUNBFN,-YEFYLIJFLMFNJ,UEOYLIJFNVBGBIYEF.
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: G = R
QUEGEQMXGOYMUOYSTGEFTGWXGYXXKMUGTPIUMUXSXWOPSTDEKOKWOAOWPEFKEMPGX.
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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- S
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: L = S
LHOLQTVVMTKOUMFH,LRXLMTVCDNMFHQCLH;FBUTTMLMTTVHOQMN,FBWOXTSBMNHLZCHL.
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
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)
- “Everyone seeks to find his pleasure and his advantage at the expense of others.”— Francois de La Rochefoucauld, 1871, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (J. Hain Friswell translation, 1871)Cipher key: A=U B=Z C=S D=F E=X F=T G=Q H=W I=M J=V K=H L=K M=B N=J O=L P=A Q=G R=C S=E T=R U=N V=O W=I X=D Y=P Z=Y
- “Vain, very vain, my weary search to find that bliss which only centres in the mind.”— Oliver Goldsmith, 1764, The Traveller, Line 423 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=U B=W C=P D=V E=T F=Y G=F H=E I=G J=B K=S L=A M=X N=D O=R P=C Q=I R=Z S=O T=N U=J V=K W=M X=Q Y=H Z=L
- “Without the smile from partial beauty won, Oh what were man? - a world without a sun.”— Thomas Campbell, 1799, The Pleasures of Hope, Part II. Line 21 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=C B=L C=M D=B E=T F=Z G=R H=F I=G J=U K=Q L=S M=W N=Y O=V P=J Q=I R=H S=N T=D U=K V=O W=A X=E Y=P Z=X
- “Two meanings have our lightest fantasies, - One of the flesh, and of the spirit one.”— James Russell Lowell, 1844, Sonnet XXXIV. (Ed. 1844) (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=I C=G D=C E=N F=E G=R H=B I=T J=H K=J L=F M=L N=S O=D P=W Q=Y R=K S=Q T=X U=A V=P W=Z X=M Y=O Z=U
- “Character is this moral order seen through the medium of an individual nature.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=V B=P C=X D=F E=A F=L G=R H=Z I=G J=Q K=N L=B M=T N=K O=I P=U Q=C R=W S=M T=O U=H V=J W=D X=E Y=S Z=Y
- “Seas roll to waft me, suns to light me rise; My footstool earth, my canopy the skies.”— Alexander Pope, 1734, An Essay on Man, Epistle I. Line 139 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=Y C=I D=G E=Q F=M G=X H=E I=B J=D K=W L=S M=T N=H O=A P=Z Q=R R=U S=P T=O U=F V=L W=C X=N Y=J Z=K