Puzzle 1
Starter clue: N = O
VNANVHQNLABYHQYVNKLLNKDS-YUWOVFUANLCASQXOASNIFKACBOUASQBOCANDWNLC.
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
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- T
- U
- V
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- X
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- Z
Winter Cryptograms Set 13
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.
The puzzles
Puzzle 2
Starter clue: K = E
UKBYHDKHMSHRRSK,JTEMFTORHJKNRUKWK;RTKJTHVUHXKJJOCKJRHMOSHRRSKJRUKOW.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: Z = E
PZLBFH,DFLVPWEZLEPFXEPZRLWTZXYXJV,ZUAKZUYLWSPEUZZEJDRZBZXBCRJZYCWZKR.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: O = E
JOJNHACQPETPWKOCAOIONBWQYFVHCNKOPWEIOPHQWCQJPIECAOODCNWKCNQWQYYQIKO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: A = I
IFOVPAHOCGMZDMVGOAGZAYOMBAPIOCINCCOPI:AIDMCCAOGOHOCTIFAPSMZNPSBAIFAI.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: A = E
BYNGYRCSUQYAWAKRQOALDLQEAKQZRKJEUAKZAEKQYACSQEHLQAVCGQEZARJQYADARDSA?
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)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (6 solutions)
- “Not once or twice in our rough-island story the path of duty was the way to glory.”— Alfred Tennyson, 1852, Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington, Stanza 8 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=W C=Y D=G E=B F=D G=V H=C I=F J=M K=U L=R M=K N=O O=A P=Q Q=E R=X S=H T=Z U=S V=N W=L X=P Y=I Z=J
- “Rejoice in little, shun what is extreme; the ship rides safest in a little stream.”— Dutch proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=Y B=J C=F D=C E=U F=W G=V H=I I=G J=S K=E L=K M=N N=X O=A P=Q Q=Z R=T S=L T=H U=R V=P W=M X=D Y=O Z=B
- “Her cap, far whiter than the driven snow, Emblems right meet of decency does yield.”— William Shenstone, 1742, The Schoolmistress, Stanza 6 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=B B=C C=Y D=F E=T F=A G=X H=P I=Z J=O K=L L=R M=U N=K O=Q P=H Q=J R=D S=G T=V U=M V=W W=I X=N Y=S Z=E
- “We wish to advance the reign of justice and reason toward the extinction of force.”— Herbert Hoover, 1929, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=H B=G C=T D=X E=D F=J G=L H=S I=R J=W K=C L=Z M=Q N=I O=E P=A Q=O R=M S=B T=V U=K V=U W=N X=P Y=F Z=Y
- “The universal cause is like a winter torrent: it carries everything along with it.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=I B=W C=R D=C E=D F=H G=S H=V I=T J=Z K=P L=X M=A N=O O=E P=N Q=B R=J S=G T=Y U=Q V=U W=F X=M Y=K Z=L
- “Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people?”— Abraham Lincoln, 1861, First Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=E B=W C=U D=P E=I F=V G=S H=M I=K J=F K=N L=A M=X N=Y O=B P=Z Q=T R=O S=L T=Q U=D V=J W=R X=G Y=H Z=C