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)
“When your watch gets out of order you have choice of two things to do: throw it in the fire or take it to the watch-tinker. The former is the quickest.”— Mark Twain, 1897, Following the EquatorCipher key: A=F B=D C=Q D=S E=C F=N G=I H=Z I=J J=U K=V L=W M=X N=P O=B P=Y Q=T R=E S=A T=O U=R V=L W=G X=M Y=K Z=H
“A long train of these practices has at length unwillingly convinced me that there is something behind the throne greater than the King himself.”— William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, 1770, Chatham Correspondence. Speech, March 2, 1770 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=O B=D C=Y D=X E=W F=S G=A H=P I=C J=L K=F L=R M=G N=T O=I P=H Q=M R=V S=J T=U U=Q V=B W=K X=N Y=Z Z=E
“Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.”— Henry Clay, 1829, Speech at Ashland, Ky., March, 1829 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=I C=W D=V E=C F=L G=N H=T I=K J=X K=P L=S M=Y N=H O=R P=E Q=A R=M S=Q T=J U=B V=F W=O X=U Y=G Z=D
“In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another.”— Andrew Jackson, 1829, First Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=T B=R C=G D=U E=F F=O G=B H=S I=C J=Y K=X L=V M=L N=K O=E P=W Q=A R=P S=I T=M U=J V=Z W=N X=Q Y=H Z=D
“The English Bible, - a book which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.”— Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1828, On John Dryden. 1828 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=J C=V D=G E=X F=A G=O H=W I=K J=P K=M L=U M=T N=C O=Z P=B Q=D R=L S=H T=E U=I V=Q W=Y X=S Y=R Z=F
“The newspapers! Sir, they are the most villanous, licentious, abominable, infernal - Not that I ever read them! No, I make it a rule never to look into a newspaper.”— Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1779, The Critic, Act I. Sc. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=E C=B D=A E=L F=G G=J H=D I=S J=U K=Y L=Z M=N N=Q O=C P=M Q=R R=T S=H T=O U=I V=K W=V X=F Y=W Z=P