Puzzle 1
Starter clue: X = O
QFXXMMJLAZQVDHJZXLZBLA;QFXDZXMMJLAJA,XLUBVRPJ.
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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- O
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- X
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Wisdom Cryptograms Set 42
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 = A
RUCODCHUZDIZCOFM,CGOICLHUZXFFG,HUCGPWKUCDFXCG.
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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- O
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: E = T
TPETVENEVSNZXETPBVWWPSRZWWXMEHPEMBPDETPTZWW.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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- O
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: K = E
QDCKETYWYRRUTKIJQXTKW,UTKIJPGRWOKPDUKEAGQEKW.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- O
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: A = H
ILBAKHESABRIPHNDLIROLISAIRSABISABPAKHEHCFBO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- O
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: Q = E
JTGAFMZQHAKUMSSG,GAFYFXKUMNQMHQNJVOAHXOJQHOQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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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)
- “Who offends writes on sand; who is offended, on marble.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=D B=A C=Q D=I E=J F=H G=K H=T I=Z J=E K=V L=N M=F N=C O=X P=L Q=W R=B S=U T=Y U=M V=R W=P X=O Y=G Z=S
- “I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, Than such a Roman.”— William Shakespeare, 1599, Julius Caesar, Act IV. Sc. 3 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=P B=V C=A D=R E=Q F=O G=N H=T I=B J=Z K=C L=Y M=G N=X O=D P=S Q=W R=I S=J T=K U=H V=L W=U X=M Y=F Z=E
- “He that stays in the valley will not get over the hill.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=P B=V C=D D=R E=T F=B G=J H=G I=X J=M K=F L=U M=O N=S O=K P=E Q=C R=W S=Y T=H U=Q V=A W=L X=N Y=Z Z=I
- “If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined.”— Aesop, 1867, Aesop's Fables (George Fyler Townsend translation, 1867)Cipher key: A=R B=Z C=M D=F E=N F=P G=U H=C I=Y J=W K=E L=G M=Q N=V O=B P=O Q=I R=L S=K T=H U=T V=J W=D X=S Y=A Z=X
- “One half the world knows not how the other half lives.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=H B=E C=I D=K E=F F=V G=B H=L I=O J=Y K=A L=N M=Q N=D O=S P=R Q=X R=W S=T T=P U=G V=Z W=C X=M Y=J Z=U
- “If you are not happy, you must have an evil conscience.”— Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881, Virginibus Puerisque and Other PapersCipher key: A=O B=X C=B D=K E=Z F=U G=Y H=N I=G J=I K=T L=Q M=A N=V O=C P=W Q=E R=D S=P T=F U=H V=L W=J X=S Y=M Z=R