Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Z = E
PZUCZURIDUHSGZOPHGBUQZCZMZEEHREZJNGBZVEJTZJSPBHRBPZEHFZ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- M
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- Z
Wisdom Cryptograms Set 137
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
QDHCVKLCCKCVDXMQVFCROOVCCHRZTCACYXZCXDUDHCGCDHCDKDXKURD.
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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- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: F = E
XACMOUFHMOVFFUREOUNJTODF,IAOIHVFOLHCPXPYIFHGCPVQJTYMGODF?
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 4
Starter clue: P = O
DPYYPEDPVBFIALRFHKPRAHFQGFHRDEDPVD,YUFQPVFHYPNKPRAYUAPDL.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
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- M
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: P = E
BGJVEWSECZWZL'JJPKSGJ,GLWZLRYCZLINPJONPCPES,ZVPMCZAPVONGLF.
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: B = T
BIXOMZSCUJPNMDXCGBMBIMJXBIPBBIUER,PBZPFXCGBMBIMJXOIMHXXS.
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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- 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)
- “We are acquainted with a mere pellicle of the globe on which we live.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1854, WaldenCipher key: A=Z B=H C=R D=U E=L F=V G=T H=I I=Q J=O K=Y L=J M=P N=F O=D P=W Q=M R=C S=N T=B U=A V=G W=K X=S Y=X Z=E
- “Under the eternal urge of freedom we became an independent Nation.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1925, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=B B=Z C=E D=N E=J F=G G=P H=D I=S J=X K=T L=H M=L N=Y O=F P=V Q=U R=O S=Q T=W U=I V=R W=K X=A Y=C Z=M
- “Who can escape envy and blame, that speaks or writes for public fame?”— Dutch proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=H B=Z C=O D=M E=Y F=E G=F H=S I=T J=B K=G L=K M=C N=D O=A P=R Q=U R=V S=X T=L U=N V=P W=J X=W Y=I Z=Q
- “Not to know me argues yourselves unknown, The lowest of your throng.”— John Milton, 1667, Paradise Lost, Book IV. Line 830 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=R B=M C=I D=N E=K F=E G=V H=S I=A J=P K=Y L=G M=B N=F O=D P=O Q=L R=U S=C T=Z U=H V=W W=J X=Q Y=T Z=X
- “Wisdom for a man's self is, in many branches thereof, a depraved thing.”— Francis Bacon, 1625, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and MoralCipher key: A=V B=W C=R D=X E=O F=G G=I H=U I=C J=S K=L L=N M=P N=H O=T P=E Q=K R=Y S=F T=J U=Z V=D W=M X=Q Y=B Z=A
- “The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those who feel.”— Horace Walpole, 1770, Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 1770 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=J B=T C=D D=M E=N F=G G=Y H=F I=H J=S K=P L=X M=O N=C O=W P=A Q=Z R=K S=L T=V U=I V=Q W=B X=E Y=U Z=R