5 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)
“Little drops of water, little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land. So the little minutes, humble though they be, Make the mighty ages of eternity.”— Julia A. Fletcher, 1845, Little Things, 1845 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=Z C=F D=Q E=J F=M G=C H=I I=A J=G K=O L=B M=W N=D O=X P=S Q=T R=P S=K T=U U=N V=H W=L X=E Y=R Z=Y
“Whatever correction of our popular views we make from insight, nature will be sure to bear us out in, and though it seem to rob us of some joy, will repay us with a greater.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=G B=P C=V D=I E=L F=Y G=D H=S I=F J=E K=Z L=T M=H N=B O=X P=N Q=J R=W S=A T=U U=K V=Q W=R X=O Y=M Z=C
“No political party can long pursue advantage at the expense of public honor or by rude and indecent methods without protest and fatal disaffection in its own body.”— Benjamin Harrison, 1889, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=V B=X C=R D=J E=S F=Z G=B H=Q I=H J=N K=D L=A M=U N=W O=M P=O Q=G R=I S=L T=Y U=P V=T W=C X=F Y=E Z=K
“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.”— William Shakespeare, 1595, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=H C=Y D=I E=O F=D G=A H=L I=B J=C K=Q L=G M=K N=M O=V P=N Q=X R=P S=E T=U U=F V=R W=T X=S Y=Z Z=W
“Sir, I think all Christians, whether Papists or Protestants, agree in the essential articles, and that their differences are trivial, and rather political than religious.”— Samuel Johnson, 1791, Boswell, Life of Johnson, Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. II. Chap. V. 1763 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=C C=I D=Y E=K F=X G=Q H=U I=H J=G K=M L=J M=O N=R O=W P=L Q=V R=B S=F T=E U=Z V=S W=P X=T Y=D Z=A