Puzzle 1
Starter clue: J = A
VLZJASQSSMOSNNQFLRCZVRXHPJCFSJVGFJOQJBUMLOJGJTP.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- M
- N
- O
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- V
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- X
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- Z
Time Cryptograms Set 7
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: P = E
PAPYRDPAPLWPYVVZXPHNXPVDKQHWPNLPTTVKXZYTYPHHDPV.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: X = N
LXMYZPKQEWYOCPCEYFLXFUHXSCXYF,WHEBCXZLUYLXFCXECPY.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: A = E
NABNGBLAADL,ZYKRL,GKRLJFABYFALQNGBNAQJXERPGBNAPKJB.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
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- H
- I
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: C = R
PNMCMDCMPCWPNJHNVRNDCMTSPISCDXXUMT,TSCISCDXXPVUMJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: Q = O
LAPQNIQKDCLTUBOEQYJIOZQIJWPLALTJLIQKEQAYJIOLWBQA.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
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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)
- “To have been well brought up is a great drawback nowadays.”— Oscar Wilde, 1893, A Woman of No ImportanceCipher key: A=V B=C C=G D=J E=X F=R G=D H=I I=M J=A K=Q L=O M=N N=L O=W P=S Q=B R=U S=E T=Y U=K V=T W=Z X=P Y=F Z=H
- “Even clever hens sometimes lay their eggs among nettles.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=V B=Z C=D D=L E=J F=U G=Q H=T I=P J=K K=A L=R M=F N=I O=X P=E Q=Y R=C S=B T=G U=W V=S W=H X=M Y=N Z=O
- “Anger must be limited and confined, both in race and in time.”— Francis Bacon, 1625, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and MoralCipher key: A=W B=H C=I D=Z E=T F=D G=J H=O I=X J=V K=U L=A M=G N=Q O=L P=M Q=S R=K S=F T=P U=C V=Y W=B X=N Y=E Z=R
- “He that seeks, finds, and sometimes what he would rather not.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=E B=T C=B D=K E=L F=M G=A H=P I=Q J=O K=N L=S M=V N=H O=X P=R Q=W R=D S=G T=Z U=Y V=C W=J X=U Y=I Z=F
- “There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.”— Voltaire, 1761, Letter to Cardinal de Bernis, April 23, 1761 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Q B=Y C=R D=A E=V F=B G=K H=W I=F J=S K=Z L=P M=E N=H O=X P=T Q=J R=C S=O T=N U=M V=I W=U X=L Y=D Z=G
- “An hour of play discovers more than a year of conversation.”— Portuguese proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=N B=I C=L D=P E=C F=K G=B H=X I=R J=E K=F L=A M=Q N=U O=S P=H Q=O R=W S=J T=Y U=D V=G W=T X=Z Y=V Z=M