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)
“If you go in a company, or even in pairs, it is no longer a walking tour in anything but name; it is something else and more in the nature of a picnic.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=X B=M C=Z D=A E=W F=Q G=H H=Y I=B J=T K=N L=P M=C N=L O=V P=K Q=I R=O S=D T=R U=E V=S W=G X=F Y=U Z=J
“A man finds he has been wrong at every preceding stage of his career, only to deduce the astonishing conclusion that he is at last entirely right.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=Q B=C C=V D=L E=G F=P G=D H=T I=U J=Y K=S L=W M=I N=A O=Z P=N Q=O R=M S=K T=E U=X V=H W=B X=J Y=R Z=F
“The discretion of the first years becomes the settled habit of the last; and so, with wisdom and patience, two lives may grow indissolubly into one.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=G B=H C=B D=I E=Y F=V G=L H=J I=M J=R K=D L=N M=E N=K O=Z P=C Q=S R=U S=T T=A U=F V=X W=Q X=P Y=O 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=L B=S C=Z D=E E=Q F=N G=A H=K I=Y J=P K=H L=C M=D N=V O=F P=R Q=G R=W S=X T=I U=M V=B W=U X=O Y=J Z=T
“Whatever he does is not only a reward in itself, but will be further rewarded in the sequel; and so pleasure leads on to pleasure in an endless chain.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=S B=E C=V D=F E=G F=M G=P H=Z I=B J=Y K=I L=U M=W N=L O=C P=J Q=N R=O S=K T=X U=D V=Q W=T X=A Y=R Z=H