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)
“Contemplating the internal situation as well as the external relations of the United States, we discover equal cause for contentment and satisfaction.”— George Washington, 1795, Seventh Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=V B=C C=S D=X E=D F=K G=R H=E I=M J=T K=I L=U M=W N=P O=J P=O Q=N R=Q S=F T=G U=Z V=B W=Y X=H Y=L Z=A
“If we are not stupid or insincere when we say that the good or ill of man lies within his own will, and that all beside is nothing to us, why are we still troubled?”— Epictetus, 108, Discourses (recorded by Arrian), Chap. XXV (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=F C=V D=T E=Q F=S G=A H=L I=U J=E K=G L=X M=P N=I O=N P=C Q=B R=M S=O T=W U=K V=Y W=R X=H Y=Z Z=D
“Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the four pillars of our prosperity, are then most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise.”— Thomas Jefferson, 1801, First Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=X B=P C=E D=J E=N F=M G=I H=K I=Q J=F K=W L=G M=Y N=D O=U P=L Q=Z R=B S=O T=S U=A V=H W=C X=R Y=V Z=T
“Blessings be with them, and eternal praise, Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares! - The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs of truth and pure delight by heavenly lays.”— William Wordsworth, 1807, Poems in Two Volumes, Personal Talk. Stanza 4 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Y B=O C=H D=S E=K F=Z G=V H=P I=B J=N K=C L=M M=X N=L O=I P=Q Q=W R=E S=T T=J U=A V=R W=F X=D Y=U Z=G
“The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what it is itself, that is its material, what the formal part; with all thy soul to do justice and to say the truth.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=U B=C C=Z D=L E=T F=Y G=N H=I I=E J=A K=B L=O M=Q N=V O=S P=X Q=H R=J S=G T=P U=W V=M W=F X=R Y=D Z=K
“The United States fully accepts the profound truth that our own progress, prosperity, and peace are interlocked with the progress, prosperity, and peace of all humanity.”— Herbert Hoover, 1929, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=N B=Q C=O D=H E=U F=Y G=C H=A I=M J=W K=X L=R M=G N=B O=L P=J Q=K R=E S=Z T=V U=S V=I W=P X=D Y=F Z=T