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 takes a good deal of time to eat or to sleep, or to earn a hundred dollars, and a very little time to entertain a hope and an insight which becomes the light of our life.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844, Essays: Second SeriesCipher key: A=Z B=E C=U D=F E=A F=R G=Y H=T I=D J=L K=N L=J M=Q N=P O=V P=M Q=B R=H S=K T=O U=C V=X W=I X=W Y=G Z=S
“The triumph of the people, whose verdict is carried into effect today, is not the triumph of one section, nor wholly of one party, but of all sections and all the people.”— William McKinley, 1897, First Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=M B=A C=G D=N E=K F=B G=Z H=L I=H J=V K=F L=S M=D N=W O=X P=J Q=E R=Y S=C T=P U=T V=O W=Q X=U Y=I Z=R
“On a fair prospect some have looked, And felt, as I have heard them say, As if the moving time had been a thing as steadfast as the scene on which they gazed themselves away.”— William Wordsworth, 1819, Peter Bell, Part I. Stanza 16 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=V C=R D=U E=X F=G G=Z H=Q I=O J=T K=H L=D M=E N=F O=N P=I Q=K R=M S=Y T=A U=P V=S W=B X=L Y=W Z=C
“You think they are crusaders sent from some infernal clime, To pluck the eyes of sentiment and dock the tail of Rhyme, To crack the voice of Melody and break the legs of Time.”— Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1836, Poems (1836), The Music-Grinders (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=O C=I D=K E=Y F=X G=B H=Q I=S J=G K=C L=E M=P N=T O=Z P=D Q=L R=A S=M T=F U=W V=U W=V X=J Y=N Z=H
“To be in company, nicely dressed herself and seeing others nicely dressed, to sit and smile and look pretty, and say nothing, was enough for the happiness of the present hour.”— Jane Austen, 1815, EmmaCipher key: A=M B=Y C=K D=G E=C F=N G=F H=L I=E J=D K=W L=H M=S N=V O=B P=I Q=X R=Z S=J T=U U=P V=A W=R X=T Y=O Z=Q