Puzzle 1
Starter clue: I = E
BDIBLIBERNIBQQIBOVCQHXFPGFVFIJ,BJVFQQBGXTMFIVLRGJLFIGLI.
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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- U
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- X
- Y
- Z
Wisdom Cryptograms Set 127
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: U = N
KCUHJWCCRBUHLUMJWVLEVUBUHVUMRBUFSNBUHUCYWBUH,CXFLMDLXVR.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: K = T
EHVKKLKSHLJONOECKLJLWCNLLUQHEKHEDHOQKSHWOJQKIZLKHJLWOK.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: X = E
GNGQIDGCPHOTXCKSXNNUNGMXIEXYSXXQYVXLHXNIOFLYSFECFYVXCO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: U = O
WUUTWUPXUKTRP,WUUTWUPXUKTRP;ZJRG'CCWBCCIXBZILKRCCILERZZRP.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: L = T
DKWANXLIEJQRQJZHLGFLGXVLKFV,RZUTFTXKKLRNFXLJIISJWEGRZUV.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
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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)
- “A peace above all earthly dignities, A still and quiet conscience.”— William Shakespeare, 1592, King Henry VI, II. Act III. Sc. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Z B=A C=H D=P E=B F=I G=N H=Y I=E J=S K=X L=C M=U N=V O=R P=G Q=L R=O S=M T=Q U=W V=T W=F X=D Y=K Z=J
- “Long choosing and cheapening ends in buying nothing, or bad wares.”— German proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=M B=I C=O D=W E=P F=B G=V H=G I=Z J=C K=L L=A M=D N=Y O=J P=K Q=F R=S S=U T=Q U=N V=E W=H X=R Y=T Z=X
- “Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1876, Letters and Social Aims, Quotation and Originality (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=W C=A D=C E=N F=V G=B H=E I=Q J=R K=T L=O M=J N=G O=I P=L Q=S R=Z S=H T=Y U=D V=X W=F X=K Y=P Z=U
- “A landmark is very well placed between the fields of two brothers.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=J B=Z C=R D=M E=B F=O G=A H=I I=D J=Q K=Y L=F M=C N=L O=S P=K Q=N R=X S=W T=V U=P V=H W=U X=E Y=T Z=G
- “Food for powder, food for powder; they'll fill a pit as well as better.”— William Shakespeare, 1597, King Henry IV, Part I, Act IV. 2 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=I C=L D=V E=B F=M G=Y H=C I=A J=H K=W L=S M=Z N=J O=N P=R Q=K R=E S=G T=D U=O V=U W=F X=P Y=Q Z=T
- “Pluck it from among the thistles, and we will take it off your hands.”— Spanish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=C B=Q C=V D=P E=R F=E G=H H=G I=F J=O K=L L=T M=J N=K O=B P=Z Q=M R=A S=Y T=W U=D V=S W=U X=I Y=X Z=N