Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Y = T
YKHUGVLPKZROYUHUHLYHVGMCYKVYBOYXZVNHVFXXAPGXXN.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
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- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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- X
- Y
- Z
Wisdom Cryptograms Set 71
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: G = E
YPGKGAFBUKGWAFNSYAEQDXUSYYPGFPGOOYPDEYPGTGKEGO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: Y = E
DYRDUIELYOPYDEBLCBUSDYILUYOBUSOCLLQYRDYBDYREQQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- D
- E
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- H
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: X = T
EXERXAGRCGDXZXNY,ZBPBNXOEWG,XAZXZYXYGZOOTVEYYNYR.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: W = E
ZYSIWNMKWNWVJFWQWZBNWZBNRM,JSFCJSFMQWZBNWRSYPWM.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
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- H
- I
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: I = T
OMU'IIEBMPFPFQQMDBOXBIQPFIVBIXRRQMDEFHVLMIKRVFU.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
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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)
- “The branch must be bent early that is to make a good crook.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=D B=I C=Y D=X E=Z F=G G=R H=E I=W J=V K=H L=N M=L N=K O=S P=C Q=J R=U S=F T=P U=B V=A W=Q X=O Y=T Z=M
- “There is more disputing about the shell than the kernel.”— German proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=I B=M C=X D=A E=N F=S G=E H=Z I=Q J=F K=R L=V M=W N=P O=L P=H Q=G R=C S=U T=K U=O V=Y W=D X=B Y=T Z=J
- “He who rides behind another does not saddle when he will.”— Spanish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=P B=N C=A D=H E=I F=X G=J H=K I=R J=Q K=G L=D M=U N=Z O=S P=B Q=L R=W S=T T=M U=O V=Y W=C X=V Y=E Z=F
- “It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.”— Oscar Wilde, 1891, The Picture of Dorian GrayCipher key: A=H B=N C=P D=C E=I F=Z G=E H=B I=U J=G K=W L=J M=K N=O O=L P=D Q=X R=S S=Q T=Y U=V V=M W=F X=T Y=R Z=A
- “Fingers were made before forks, and hands before knives.”— Jonathan Swift, 1738, Polite Conversation, Dialogue II (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=Y B=O C=H D=T E=J F=D G=Q H=P I=G J=A K=W L=X M=S N=R O=C P=V Q=B R=K S=N T=Z U=L V=M W=E X=U Y=I Z=F
- “Don't throw away your dirty water till you have got clean.”— German proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=J B=R C=M D=U E=H F=A G=Q H=V I=T J=Z K=C L=G M=O N=X O=D P=W Q=Y R=L S=F T=B U=N V=E W=P X=I Y=S Z=K