Puzzle 1
Starter clue: R = E
NRBNSVGPNREQLGRSJNVGSBKHVGJSFPLKRHQIMRBQVUVPNVHGRUJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- F
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- I
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Wisdom Cryptograms Set 111
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: C = E
FIOYCHGYIZCNYXCITCHQPJJYEIYXFAFGITCOPGNCYKITCNJPGCH.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: K = N
EKDQAMZKPEDXKEBHZRRBUDQAMKMAC,SJBZBUDRIXZBXNEOIMKZEK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: Z = T
LXZUBLSBOOXFBKKBRWVZMWZZUYZBZTYHMJKXWLFXWZMHOJJGBLS.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: D = N
HJDQVLVDRKHJDHJRDCUJJLEVHHT,VDQTRXDJJQDRCSDHCAXPCUSL.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- E
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: V = E
YOVZXHUXCENV,YOLYQJOJNDVLDFCNV,ZYWVYZYOBJNV,PCHHFFTYHV.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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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)
- “He who is the cause of his own misfortune may bewail it himself.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=K B=W C=G D=Z E=C F=R G=S H=M I=Y J=F K=N L=U M=B N=H O=P P=T Q=A R=E S=O T=Q U=L V=I W=J X=V Y=X Z=D
- “It does not become the sparrow to mix in the dance of the cranes.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=X B=U C=E D=K E=W F=I G=N H=S I=T J=R K=F L=V M=J N=C O=D P=A Q=P R=L S=G T=H U=Y V=Q W=Z X=M Y=O Z=B
- “One grain does not fill the granary, but it helps its companion.”— Portuguese proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=R B=T C=Y D=E E=O F=J G=X H=F I=P J=U K=N L=Z M=A N=C O=M P=D Q=G R=L S=B T=V U=H V=W W=K X=S Y=Q Z=I
- “Nothing is so difficult but that it may be found out by seeking.”— Terence, 163 BC, Heautontimoroumenos (Heauton Timorumenos), Act IV. Sc. 2, 8. (675) (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=I C=Z D=V E=P F=D G=K H=Y I=Q J=E K=F L=N M=B N=R O=S P=W Q=X R=C S=G T=M U=H V=L W=U X=O Y=A Z=T
- “Send a man of sense on the embassy, and you need not instruct him.”— Portuguese proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=R B=J C=T D=N E=B F=X G=W H=S I=L J=E K=F L=M M=Z N=G O=V P=C Q=D R=O S=I T=Y U=H V=A W=Q X=U Y=K Z=P
- “An empty purse, and a finished house, make a man wise, but too late.”— Portuguese proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=V B=W C=U D=H E=R F=O G=C H=T I=X J=I K=Q L=D M=G N=S O=N P=B Q=F R=Z S=J T=L U=Y V=E W=K X=P Y=A Z=M