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.
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)
“The poor must be wisely visited and liberally cared for, so that mendicity shall not be tempted into mendacity, nor want exasperated into crime.”— Robert C. Winthrop, 1881, Yorktown Oration in 1881 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=L B=V C=J D=W E=A F=B G=R H=T I=D J=P K=X L=O M=Q N=S O=N P=Z Q=I R=E S=C T=G U=F V=K W=M X=Y Y=U Z=H
“Seamen have a custom, when they meet a whale, to fling him out an empty tub by way of amusement, to divert him from laying violent hands upon the ship.”— Jonathan Swift, 1704, A Tale of a Tub, Preface (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=D B=Y C=O D=P E=Q F=Z G=U H=M I=V J=A K=T L=E M=N N=G O=X P=C Q=S R=B S=I T=K U=H V=J W=R X=L Y=F Z=W
“It is almost as if the millennium were arrived, when we shall throw our clocks and watches over the housetop, and remember time and seasons no more.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=U B=A C=O D=K E=Q F=W G=F H=V I=G J=T K=S L=P M=B N=R O=N P=C Q=Z R=D S=X T=H U=M V=Y W=I X=J Y=E Z=L
“Exceeding fair she was not; and yet fair in that she never studied to be fairer than Nature made her; beauty cost her nothing, Her virtues were so rare.”— George Chapman, 1605, All Fools, Act I. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=H B=P C=L D=X E=G F=C G=R H=T I=J J=O K=V L=N M=D N=B O=Z P=S Q=K R=A S=Q T=M U=Y V=W W=F X=U Y=I Z=E
“A little neglect may breed mischief: for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost.”— Benjamin Franklin, 1757, The Way to Wealth (Poor Richard, 1758), Maxims prefixed to Poor Richard's Almanac, 1757 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=H B=F C=Y D=V E=C F=I G=K H=Z I=P J=Q K=W L=A M=B N=S O=T P=G Q=J R=X S=L T=R U=N V=E W=U X=O Y=M Z=D
“The thirsty earth soaks up the rain, And drinks, and gapes for drink again; The plants suck in the earth, and are with constant drinking fresh and fair.”— Abraham Cowley, 1656, Poems, From Anacreon, II. Drinking (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=E B=W C=Y D=P E=L F=G G=U H=J I=F J=A K=M L=B M=C N=T O=R P=K Q=D R=I S=X T=V U=N V=H W=O X=S Y=Z Z=Q