Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Z = E
ROHNDPHOZAMZPATHOVZHNZVGCSZIIUCZPESZMLVZQPQOCXBLRA.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- I
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Time Cryptograms Set 10
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: A = I
OKOWKOTMYALDOLOWTLAKDASVDMAUUNDLVAKNDUSIFBBDIUTLFAL.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: I = T
PKVIZVIRJCRYKFZOKIIFOIZLZKCWOCVNIFZMZNIWOCVJIFZCZOK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: Z = R
KZTPZHFM,QTZFR-YHZDLWTSXHQBMZ,PMZZGFKZTDIRTPM'FWVZYTDIMZ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: J = O
JZGKWEXUWUOJJKWUDNJBJHCXSNCJKJGUGAGHEDCXZOXZXDURPWFG.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- E
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: P = E
VAVQGPHPPAHTMIGPPEMLSRPHWPEZVRHVQZITQMUZPQWWT-ATEETJH.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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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)
- “With patience and time the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.”— German proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=N B=G C=L D=P E=F F=X G=U H=T I=R J=Q K=J L=O M=C N=H O=I P=A Q=S R=W S=B T=D U=Y V=M W=V X=K Y=Z Z=E
- “A man may write at any time if he will set himself doggedly to it.”— Samuel Johnson, 1791, Boswell, Life of Johnson, Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. IV. Chap. II. 1773 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=I B=G C=X D=E E=Q F=O G=J H=P I=D J=K K=M L=T M=W N=S O=A P=U Q=B R=Z S=F T=Y U=L V=H W=N X=V Y=R Z=C
- “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1870, Society and Solitude, Works and DaysCipher key: A=P B=F C=Y D=L E=X F=H G=K H=M I=T J=N K=R L=V M=B N=S O=A P=W Q=J R=O S=Z T=C U=Q V=I W=D X=G Y=U Z=E
- “Primrose, first-born child of Ver, Merry springtime's harbinger.”— Beaumont and Fletcher, 1634, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Act I. Sc. 1 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=V C=W D=N E=X F=S G=Y H=O I=G J=Q K=P L=C M=E N=U O=Z P=M Q=F R=T S=L T=I U=K V=A W=H X=D Y=B Z=R
- “One day is as good as two for him who does everything in its place.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=V B=F C=H D=T E=Y F=C G=E H=R I=Z J=O K=D L=X M=B N=W O=G P=L Q=K R=P S=M T=U U=S V=J W=A X=I Y=Q Z=N
- “A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays and confident to-morrows.”— William Wordsworth, 1814, The Excursion, Book VII (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=K C=V D=B E=R F=G G=H H=S I=C J=W K=Z L=U M=F N=P O=X P=E Q=N R=Y S=L T=O U=I V=A W=T X=J Y=Q Z=D