Printable Cryptogram Puzzles (Free PDF)
Four short sentences in a substitution cipher, each with a writing line under every letter and an A to Z bank to record what you have worked out.
Free · no watermark · no sign-up for your first 20 downloads a day
Every puzzle on this page is a short sentence written in its own substitution alphabet: one letter always stands for the same letter, and no letter ever stands for itself. The coded text is printed in spaced capitals with a writing line under each letter, and a full A to Z strip sits under each puzzle so you can record a letter the moment you are sure of it and spot the clashes that prove you wrong.
Four puzzles fit on a page. The sentences are plain English written for this sheet, not quotations, so nothing depends on recognising a famous line. Each cipher alphabet is generated and then checked to be a derangement, which is what keeps a letter from standing for itself and keeps the puzzle honest. Choose the starter option and three letters are filled in for you throughout a puzzle, which is enough to open a sentence without giving it away.
Page two prints the same four puzzles with the plain text written under the code and the A to Z strip completed, so it serves as a key and as a worked example for anyone learning the method. The writing line under each coded letter is wide enough for a pencilled letter and a rubbed-out mistake, which matters because the first idea is rarely right. The sheet is plain vector artwork with nothing to type into, so a teacher or a quiz host can print a stack of them and keep the key back.
