Puzzle 1
Starter clue: C = E
IQUHUCVFCAFHBIUJMAEIFMEECKCUYVBBMEH,XQFMEUMAMEHCKCUJFMSCLCYVBB.
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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Oliver Goldsmith Cryptograms Set 2
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 = E
IUQIWHQHJQMOJEQQFUBJKMIJMSHFUIMQTEWQJJMHWZRKIJRJIMFMKFQRNIUQS.
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: J = A
JWJORSXJZNPJQQNRSTPVONYEISJY,JOIAJZZDOLYDTRXDNRUPYNEAPVOIZJESJY.
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: Q = E
LDKYQKFOPQKDLUDO,YQGKWFAQKFOPQKDQEQ,KZQQOPQCUDYZUGPNVWFSKFYLWZZHE.
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: B = I
WPBT,WLVNWPBT,INZLPVNULPVFDQEHBTKQDPQYCBUUZDBFDETCNFLTQVLUBTQDLIBTK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: S = A
RLXDDSKFWLXTZDZWLJXDSAZZCLZGDFXVRLFDRSOTF,OBRSVSGGSVRUSCFZVSUZBGVFJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
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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)
- “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”— Oliver Goldsmith, 1762, The Citizen of the World, Letter VIICipher key: A=S B=L C=E D=X E=N F=T G=D H=G I=O J=Y K=V L=W M=I N=C O=P P=Z Q=U R=K S=M T=H U=R V=A W=J X=B Y=F Z=Q
- “The true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.”— Oliver Goldsmith, 1759, The Bee, No. III. Oct. 20, 1759 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=G B=I C=V D=J E=P F=C G=D H=U I=T J=S K=N L=Q M=O N=L O=F P=B Q=E R=A S=M T=X U=H V=Z W=R X=Y Y=K Z=W
- “A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year.”— Oliver Goldsmith, 1770, The Deserted Village, Line 141 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=P B=Q C=J D=I E=Y F=V G=B H=X I=D J=A K=Z L=G M=K N=T O=N P=O Q=L R=H S=E T=C U=F V=U W=M X=W Y=R Z=S
- “Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, I see the lords of humankind pass by.”— Oliver Goldsmith, 1764, The Traveller, Line 327 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=C B=W C=L D=R E=Y F=N G=F H=B I=X J=V K=I L=P M=Z N=U O=T P=H Q=E R=G S=K T=Q U=O V=M W=A X=J Y=D Z=S
- “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=G B=I C=L D=H E=O F=C G=Q H=F I=M J=Z K=D L=E M=J N=Y O=K P=A Q=T R=U S=X T=N U=S V=R W=V X=P Y=B Z=W
- “This same philosophy is a good horse in the stable, but an arrant jade on a journey.”— Oliver Goldsmith, 1768, The Good-Natur'd Man, The Good-Natured Man. Act I (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=G B=U C=D D=S E=X F=E G=R H=F I=W J=Y K=M L=H M=Q N=Z O=B P=C Q=K R=T S=A T=L U=J V=N W=P X=I Y=V Z=O