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 should meet each morning as from foreign countries, and, spending the day together, should depart at night, as into foreign countries.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=S B=G C=Z D=K E=T F=H G=D H=L I=U J=X K=B L=E M=Y N=F O=A P=N Q=I R=P S=W T=M U=R V=J W=V X=O Y=Q Z=C
“Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife! To all the sensual world proclaim, One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name.”— Sir Walter Scott, 1816, Old Mortality, Chap. XXXIV (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=H B=Q C=R D=S E=A F=U G=Z H=E I=J J=K K=C L=Y M=V N=T O=G P=X Q=L R=I S=M T=D U=O V=W W=B X=F Y=P Z=N
“My lungs began to crow like chanticleer, That fools should be so deep-contemplative; And I did laugh sans intermission an hour by his dial.”— William Shakespeare, 1600, As You Like It, Act II. Sc. 7 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=O C=N D=B E=M F=E G=A H=R I=G J=P K=S L=H M=C N=F O=I P=V Q=W R=Q S=J T=X U=D V=U W=T X=Y Y=K Z=L
“Make it a point to do something every day that you don't want to do. This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.”— Mark Twain, 1897, Following the EquatorCipher key: A=B B=W C=D D=N E=I F=Y G=T H=A I=H J=E K=X L=M M=F N=J O=Z P=K Q=G R=V S=C T=O U=P V=Q W=U X=S Y=L Z=R
“It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about, nowadays, saying things against one behind one's back that are absolutely and entirely true.”— Oscar Wilde, 1893, A Woman of No ImportanceCipher key: A=J B=Y C=P D=Z E=R F=A G=N H=S I=U J=Q K=B L=C M=V N=K O=M P=W Q=T R=G S=I T=F U=E V=D W=H X=O Y=X Z=L