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.
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)
“If I were asked what book is better than a cheap book, I should answer that there is one book better than a cheap book, - and that is a book honestly come by.”— James Russell Lowell, 1886, Before the U. S. Senate Committee on Patents, Jan. 29, 1886 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=I C=X D=G E=U F=T G=L H=Z I=A J=K K=J L=S M=Q N=D O=W P=F Q=E R=V S=C T=O U=N V=B W=R X=Y Y=H Z=P
“Our manufacturers are rapidly making us industrially independent, and are opening to capital and labor new and profitable fields of employment.”— James A. Garfield, 1881, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=R B=D C=L D=H E=O F=W G=S H=T I=V J=P K=Z L=Q M=X N=J O=F P=I Q=E R=U S=C T=A U=G V=M W=K X=Y Y=B Z=N
“The Retort Courteous; . . . the Quip Modest; . . . the Reply Churlish; . . . the Reproof Valiant; . . . the Countercheck Quarrelsome; . . . the Lie with Circumstance; . . . the Lie Direct.”— William Shakespeare, 1600, As You Like It, Act V. Sc. 4 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=D B=R C=Q D=P E=Z F=I G=A H=O I=G J=V K=B L=J M=U N=T O=N P=X Q=H R=L S=F T=Y U=W V=C W=S X=K Y=M Z=E
“Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life, - there, if one must speak out, the real man.”— Marcus Aurelius, 170, Meditations, X. 38 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=D C=G D=K E=Z F=U G=X H=P I=W J=F K=R L=J M=S N=I O=L P=O Q=C R=Y S=A T=Q U=E V=T W=V X=N Y=H Z=B
“Every man supposes himself not to be fully understood; and if there is any truth in him, if he rests at last on the divine soul, I see not how it can be otherwise.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=N B=G C=Y D=F E=Z F=X G=M H=S I=C J=W K=O L=Q M=L N=A O=B P=H Q=D R=V S=R T=J U=K V=P W=I X=U Y=T Z=E
“We Americans have always believed in freedom of opportunity, and equality of opportunity remains one of the principal objectives of our national life.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1945, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=C B=E C=V D=X E=I F=P G=S H=Y I=J J=O K=G L=M M=H N=A O=K P=T Q=F R=W S=R T=B U=D V=L W=N X=Z Y=U Z=Q