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)
“It is almost as if the millennium were arrived, when we shall throw our clocks and watches over the housetop, and remember time and seasons no more.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=S B=F C=I D=W E=R F=A G=P H=B I=Z J=T K=L L=K M=H N=E O=X P=Q Q=D R=G S=C T=O U=V V=U W=N X=Y Y=M Z=J
“Considering the extraordinary character of the times in which we live, our attention should unremittingly be fixed on the safety of our country.”— Thomas Jefferson, 1808, Eighth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=C B=R C=K D=G E=Q F=Z G=U H=A I=D J=M K=T L=P M=Y N=O O=J P=N Q=X R=F S=L T=S U=H V=I W=V X=E Y=W Z=B
“It can be said of him, when he departed he took a Man's life with him. No sounder piece of British manhood was put together in that eighteenth century of Time.”— Thomas Carlyle, 1838, Sir Walter Scott. London and Westminster Review, 1838 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=O B=H C=W D=I E=J F=U G=V H=S I=K J=Y K=X L=A M=F N=Z O=P P=L Q=R R=G S=C T=E U=N V=D W=Q X=M Y=B Z=T
“Every man's progress is through a succession of teachers, each of whom seems at the time to have a superlative influence, but it at last gives place to a new.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=Y B=D C=L D=J E=X F=U G=W H=F I=M J=V K=T L=Z M=R N=I O=K P=S Q=P R=E S=O T=H U=A V=N W=C X=B Y=Q Z=G
“The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.”— Mark Twain, 1894, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead WilsonCipher key: A=D B=R C=S D=W E=B F=M G=F H=E I=K J=Q K=G L=J M=I N=A O=T P=U Q=N R=V S=C T=O U=H V=Y W=Z X=L Y=P Z=X