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)
“We study shop windows with other eyes than in our childhood, never to wonder, not always to admire, but to make and modify our little incongruous theories about life.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=R B=C C=N D=F E=U F=K G=Q H=V I=G J=O K=W L=Z M=L N=H O=X P=M Q=S R=I S=Y T=D U=B V=T W=E X=P Y=J Z=A
“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=P C=I D=C E=S F=B G=Y H=J I=W J=D K=R L=K M=X N=O O=Q P=U Q=N R=H S=G T=Z U=F V=M W=T X=E Y=A Z=L
“The uttered part of a man's life, let us always repeat, bears to the unuttered, unconscious part a small unknown proportion. He himself never knows it, much less do others.”— Thomas Carlyle, 1838, Sir Walter Scott. London and Westminster Review, 1838 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=X C=D D=T E=W F=K G=E H=L I=S J=H K=N L=C M=B N=G O=Q P=Z Q=M R=P S=A T=F U=O V=U W=V X=J Y=I Z=Y
“Blessings be with them, and eternal praise, Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares! - The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs of truth and pure delight by heavenly lays.”— William Wordsworth, 1807, Poems in Two Volumes, Personal Talk. Stanza 4 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=D B=V C=M D=O E=P F=H G=L H=U I=T J=K K=B L=Z M=E N=A O=X P=R Q=Y R=S S=C T=I U=N V=W W=Q X=F Y=G Z=J
“To be in company, nicely dressed herself and seeing others nicely dressed, to sit and smile and look pretty, and say nothing, was enough for the happiness of the present hour.”— Jane Austen, 1815, EmmaCipher key: A=Q B=Y C=S D=U E=T F=K G=V H=B I=L J=D K=H L=Z M=W N=J O=M P=C Q=P R=I S=E T=R U=G V=X W=A X=N Y=F Z=O