Puzzle 1
Starter clue: Q = E
DHLAGJQUQXBQMXUIXSMMHKQWHHLHVQJAHRHKQXAXLQKQWS.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
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- Z
Wisdom Cryptograms Set 72
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: F = E
MHQOQTPQXHZBBCMTPMXXBFFSF,MKAMBBVFXYDFKZGFFGZYK.
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: F = S
ICHRHQFCEVFQSLEFETQXNTQFJ,ICHFQTWFEFETWELLQNQTJ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
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- D
- E
- F
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- I
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: C = E
UMBCYX,YLYCENXQLTXMKUGC;JHCBCYX,YLYCENXQLTXCFATBC.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
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- D
- E
- F
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- I
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: J = T
JFCULEJRCMHPRIPLHPULEJRC,JFXVTFMJGCPUXWTWCJJRCH.
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: Z = T
KZOCZZIYDWEZMBCZVESCYIZBESQBZZELI,LSZMBCZVESCYI.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
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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)
- “Fortune leaves always some door open to come at a remedy.”— Miguel de Cervantes, 1605, Don Quixote, Part I, Book III. Chap. I (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=T B=V C=B D=F E=X F=H G=U H=O I=W J=N K=M L=R M=S N=Z O=K P=J Q=E R=C S=Y T=G U=L V=P W=D X=A Y=Q Z=I
- “If a man has folly in his sleeve, it will be sure to peep out.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=W B=L C=Y D=R E=X F=E G=P H=F I=C J=D K=T L=J M=I N=G O=M P=H Q=A R=Q S=V T=N U=Z V=B W=K X=S Y=U Z=O
- “Who goes himself is in earnest, who sends is indifferent.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=Y B=Q C=H D=U E=I F=S G=Z H=O I=W J=T K=V L=F M=X N=R O=B P=J Q=E R=G S=L T=N U=C V=M W=D X=A Y=K Z=P
- “Absent, none without blame; present, none without excuse.”— French proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=C B=S C=E D=Y E=W F=X G=M H=R I=Z J=P K=L L=O M=B N=I O=F P=J Q=H R=Q S=G T=U U=A V=D W=V X=T Y=N Z=K
- “The myrtle is always a myrtle, though it be among nettles.”— Italian proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=D B=K C=E D=V E=R F=H G=B H=S I=W J=T K=Z L=Y M=I N=C O=F P=A Q=J R=L S=P T=G U=M V=U W=N X=O Y=Q Z=X
- “It matters not what you are thought to be, but what you are.”— Publilius Syrus, 42 BC, Sententiae (Maxims), 785 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=H C=A D=S E=O F=P G=Z H=J I=E J=C K=I L=B M=W N=X O=M P=F Q=G R=K S=U T=Q U=D V=Y W=N X=L Y=R Z=T