Puzzle 1
Starter clue: G = T
WALGRLGBRLGJDGYASFPAGDNULRPRBRLGACYUQQDLRNN.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- F
- G
- H
- I
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Wisdom Cryptograms Set 44
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: Q = A
RQNKPLBQFJHQTFOPLBEQFBXXFESQFWPNSTOPOXURQED.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- B
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- D
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- H
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: G = S
QEEWJGBGWBGKEPSGL,GBALTKLBGMLNNLS,JTWGXJVLGBN.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: J = E
GCJD'QJOFNQFJRBVJMOGCNGOSJNZLTTRBGCJLQARGCJQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
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- E
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: P = L
VHFVUKMPDXBXBSPVIXLGPGFMG'PPPDBSMVHAVKDFRGBT.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
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- D
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- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: A = S
NVZWZNFZBYRAMTSTZJNNWWZTAA,DVJBKLBHAJNBAARAJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
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- D
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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)
- “Contentment with our lot is an element of happiness.”— Aesop, 1867, Aesop's Fables (George Fyler Townsend translation, 1867)Cipher key: A=O B=M C=F D=I E=Z F=R G=T H=X I=Q J=W K=J L=N M=Y N=S O=K P=L Q=P R=E S=U T=V U=A V=B W=C X=D Y=H Z=G
- “Lawyers and painters can soon change white to black.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=X B=S C=F D=K E=C F=N G=J H=P I=U J=D K=Y L=R M=Z N=W O=T P=E Q=A R=L S=H T=I U=B V=Q W=G X=O Y=V Z=M
- “Good as is discourse, silence is better, and shames it.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=L B=I C=Z D=V E=O F=Q G=S H=P I=K J=A K=C L=E M=B N=T O=X P=U Q=G R=F S=R T=N U=Y V=M W=D X=H Y=W Z=J
- “They're scarce of news that speak ill of their mother.”— Irish proverb, 1859, Recorded in Walter K. Kelly, Proverbs of All Nations, Compared, Explained, and Illustrated (London, 1859)Cipher key: A=M B=F C=H D=Y E=G F=C G=T H=J I=Z J=E K=X L=I M=W N=A O=S P=U Q=R R=O S=P T=L U=Q V=N W=D X=B Y=V Z=K
- “Out of my lean and low ability I'll lend you something.”— William Shakespeare, 1601, Twelfth Night, Act III. Sc. 4 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=S B=N C=R D=E E=K F=T G=I H=U I=W J=Q K=M L=B M=Y N=C O=V P=L Q=Z R=H S=D T=G U=F V=O W=P X=A Y=X Z=J
- “Our program is never to oppress, but always to assist.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1925, Inaugural AddressCipher key: A=S B=A C=F D=B E=D F=G G=Q H=Y I=C J=T K=L L=W M=N N=O O=X P=J Q=K R=I S=V T=E U=Z V=U W=P X=H Y=M Z=R