Action Cryptograms

Quotes about action, encoded as substitution ciphers and laid out for paper — big type, a blank under every letter, answers on their own page.

Thirteen quotations about doing the thing rather than intending to. Twain appears three times, Aesop once on small kindnesses, Goethe once, Durant once — that last one summarising Aristotle rather than quoting him, which is noted on the answer page because the line is almost always misattributed. The proverbs in this group are the plain imperative kind: do not count them, do not put it off, do not speak unless you can improve on the silence.

Imperatives make for an unusual letter mix. Sentences that open with a verb skip the article that normally hands you THE in the first three words, and negations pack in a lot of short function words — do, not, no, off, till — that look alike once encoded. The reliable opening here is the doubled letter rather than the short word.

A set with a bite to it. Fits a New Year session, a classroom on procrastination, or anybody who likes their puzzle to nag them slightly while they solve it.

This section: 13 quotations, written between 560 BC and 1926, 41 to 70 letters long, graded medium / hard / expert. Voices you will meet: Aesop, Benjamin Franklin, Henry David Thoreau, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Mark Twain, Proverb and 1 more.

The 3 sheets

• Set 1

  5 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert

• Set 2

  4 puzzles · Medium, Hard, Expert

• Set 3

  4 puzzles · Medium, Hard

Every sheet prints on US Letter with half-inch margins, gives you a blank line under each cipher letter, and keeps the answer key on its own page so nothing is spoiled while you work.