Puzzle 1
Starter clue: C = E
RQCGJNRQGKCWCBQSPSKISBJG,SKPQSWCNKWSBNSMFIGCSFCPRQCNBFCRRCBGYNRQRQCNBRQDJMG.
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
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- X
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- Z
Sydney Smith Cryptograms Set 2
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.
The puzzles
Puzzle 2
Starter clue: P = A
ZBTDFDIHDIBQWCNMDWKUPNNQRPWQJLQRLMKUPB,LMPLDLUPNPSLJPTTBLUKTFKZDTKNRWQZPTKZQI.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: A = T
XAXYFRLFZYPXDGAAGFAFIFEYGBHRVSWFSRWABPWEVWPFPWFYBEKBPAGWKFXAGAGFAXYLXAGXEGXI.
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 4
Starter clue: J = A
XQNIOKPSZRSJZNOZLPKNIOBTPAO,GIPZOJMLJQJDOZXVJQAPPH,PZBPOLNPJQJDOZXVJQFTJW,PZTPPHLJNJQJDOZXVJQFXVNSZOPZLNJNSO?
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: B = I
KTKCYYHTJMCGGKBYGBUTBJGTMMBJDFPQJTAHMSIZERTMYBJMPTAHMSQTGGY;CJFKTBYUOBMMTOBJDCQCSKBYCDTBJMOSBJDMPFOCQMKTAZHCDCBJ.
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
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- W
- X
- Y
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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 (5 solutions)
- “The Smiths never had any arms, and have invariably sealed their letters with their thumbs.”— Sydney Smith, 1855, Lady Holland's Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, Vol. I. p. 244 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=F B=R C=E D=U E=C F=L G=S H=X I=Y J=M K=N L=Z M=B N=I O=K P=D Q=H R=T S=A T=P U=J V=O W=V X=G Y=W Z=Q
- “My living in Yorkshire was so far out of the way, that it was actually twelve miles from a lemon.”— Sydney Smith, 1855, Lady Holland's Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, Vol. I. p. 262 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=Y C=K D=I E=P F=V G=X H=G I=N J=U K=E L=T M=H N=S O=Q P=A Q=O R=F S=C T=L U=W V=Z W=R X=B Y=D Z=M
- “It is always right that a man should be able to render a reason for the faith that is within him.”— Sydney Smith, 1855, Lady Holland's Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, Vol. I. p. 53 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=O C=J D=G E=N F=A G=H H=U I=M J=C K=F L=W M=V N=K O=Z P=R Q=X R=L S=B T=Q U=P V=D W=E X=I Y=S Z=Y
- “In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book, or goes to an American play, or looks at an American picture or statue?”— Sydney Smith, 1820, Review of Seybert's Annals of the United States, 1820 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=B B=G C=J D=M E=V F=P G=W H=K I=H J=A K=F L=S M=D N=T O=E P=O Q=N R=Q S=U T=L U=X V=C W=Y X=I Y=Z Z=R
- “He has spent all his life in letting down empty buckets into empty wells; and he is frittering away his age in trying to draw them up again.”— Sydney Smith, 1855, Lady Holland's Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, Vol. I. p. 259 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=I C=A D=G E=C F=D G=L H=P I=B J=N K=H L=Z M=T N=Q O=R P=O Q=W R=K S=Y T=E U=F V=X W=V X=J Y=S Z=U