Puzzle 1
Starter clue: X = O
NPFKIPFQGLLXUFNKUFLLXMKNNMFNPQNNPFIFKLZXIXXUDXITKN;LXUFNKUFLLXMXZYNPQNNPFIFKLZXTKNDXILXUJRPIXXU.
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
Time Cryptograms Set 30
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: O = E
ISONOWICOGHYWJSYUSJHIOGDVZFOHWDHWBTOORDVOYWISOSKXDOIK-BHZYDWKIBGOHGHWBVOCHWUSKCZ,FXINKKBEKGVOIKK.
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
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: R = I
RMTAECRIRKTAEOMORPSN,LGTSPPNTAEHYAZAVRWPMAOSAKGHCRSVCRIRKPNGRF,HSNLHIKPGRIKRFPHSNNPMHJPTAEOALSHJK?
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
Puzzle 4
Starter clue: Q = E
JEQHSNPHBEJBWUMQPRCFRQ,JEQMEQUAZQRQSMQPRSUJFPSD,JEQSHWDQPRIUSCODQSJFIQSJUSZEQWPFMQSJQWAWFDQFDBPSQ.
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
Puzzle 5
Starter clue: C = E
STCWCVNQAJTRNQDCJHVWWOVICNVWCTVMMRONGCLVZNCRQZAIFVEOCNNMCAESTCOWSOHCOAHVYOAIACSN,AQSOAHVYOAILVICN.
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
Puzzle 6
Starter clue: B = E
BZBEVOKMYBBDQPMQIPMUIPZBDVIJKIKDDIJBHBKAIPYADQBMIPOBMIQPMIJBXREDFXBPSJDBQQIJKMKQPMSDBDRZBDVKUIPRM.
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)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (6 solutions)
- “Their heads sometimes so little that there is no room for wit; sometimes so long that there is no wit for so much room.”— Thomas Fuller, 1642, The Holy and Profane State, Of Natural Fools (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=P C=Y D=F E=Q F=E G=D H=V I=R J=U K=I L=S M=L N=T O=J P=H Q=A R=C S=B T=W U=M V=Z W=K X=O Y=G Z=N
- “The gentle rain which waters my beans and keeps me in the house to-day is not drear and melancholy, but good for me too.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=Q B=D C=L D=S E=F F=B G=R H=A I=T J=W K=O L=Z M=J N=G O=E P=V Q=X R=P S=H T=K U=C V=M W=N X=U Y=I Z=Y
- “If you visit your friend, why need you apologize for not having visited him, and waste his time and deface your own act?”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=O B=J C=V D=B E=U F=M G=H H=A I=S J=C K=T L=W M=F N=D O=R P=E Q=K R=I S=N T=Y U=X V=G W=Z X=Q Y=P Z=L
- “The unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise is gone.”— Edmund Burke, 1790, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Vol. III. p. 331 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=P B=G C=L D=S E=H F=I G=J H=U I=M J=T K=X L=Z M=C N=B O=Y P=O Q=E R=F S=N T=V U=A V=Q W=R X=W Y=K Z=D
- “The reason why so few marriages are happy is because young ladies spend their time in making nets, not in making cages.”— Jonathan Swift, 1706, Thoughts on Various Subjects (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=X C=E D=F E=D F=L G=B H=M I=G J=W K=Z L=C M=P N=S O=I P=V Q=O R=Y S=T T=H U=J V=A W=R X=Q Y=K Z=U
- “Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.”— James Russell Lowell, 1870, Among My Books, First Series. Rousseau and the Sentimentalists (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=U B=E C=P D=L E=R F=D G=Q H=B I=T J=H K=A L=Z M=N N=X O=M P=I Q=S R=O S=G T=J U=C V=Y W=K X=W Y=F Z=V