Beginner Cryptograms

A short line in code with three letters already filled in, to solve on screen or print with its key.

Beginner Cryptograms

Name Date

Every letter stands for another letter, and no letter stands for itself. Work out the code to read the message.

3 of 11 letters filled in

.

Solve it to see who said it.

Type a guess in any box and every box with the same code letter fills in. Arrow keys move between boxes.

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Letters given at the start

0 of 78 quotes solved

Keep track of the code here:

CodeABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Letter

Answer key

Money does not grow on trees.

Traditional English proverb. Money takes work to get, so spend it with care.

CodeCDHIJLOPSTX
LetterGSNEYWMDTRO

Next step Put your own message in code

All 78 lines

Rhymes you know by heart 18

  • Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool? Traditional nursery rhyme: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.
  • The cow jumped over the moon. Traditional nursery rhyme: Hey, Diddle, Diddle, third line.
  • Here we go round the mulberry bush. Traditional nursery rhyme: The Mulberry Bush, a circle game song.
  • Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Traditional nursery rhyme: Humpty Dumpty, first line.
  • Jack and Jill went up the hill. Traditional nursery rhyme: Jack and Jill, first line.
  • Jack be nimble, Jack be quick. Traditional nursery rhyme: Jack Be Nimble, first line.
  • Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep. Traditional nursery rhyme: Little Bo-Peep, first line.
  • Little Boy Blue, come, blow your horn! Traditional nursery rhyme: Little Boy Blue, first line.
  • Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet. Traditional nursery rhyme: Little Miss Muffet. A tuffet is a low seat or a small grassy mound.
  • The mouse ran up the clock. Traditional nursery rhyme: Hickory, Dickory, Dock, second line.
  • Old King Cole was a merry old soul. Traditional nursery rhyme: Old King Cole.
  • One, two, buckle my shoe. Traditional nursery rhyme: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, a counting rhyme.
  • Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold. Traditional nursery rhyme: Pease Porridge Hot.
  • Polly, put the kettle on. Traditional nursery rhyme: Polly, Put the Kettle On.
  • Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. Traditional nursery rhyme: Rain, Rain, Go Away.
  • This little pig went to market. Traditional nursery rhyme: This Little Pig, said while counting five toes.
  • Three blind mice! See how they run! Traditional nursery rhyme: Three Blind Mice.
  • To market, to market, to buy a fat pig. Traditional nursery rhyme: To Market, to Market.
Show all 78 lines (60 more)

Short proverbs 26

  • A penny saved is a penny earned. Traditional English proverb. Money you do not spend is as good as money you make.
  • A picture is worth a thousand words. Traditional English proverb. One picture can explain what would take many sentences.
  • All roads lead to Rome. Traditional English proverb. Different ways can reach the same end.
  • Bad news travels fast. Traditional English proverb. People pass on bad news quickly.
  • The best things in life are free. Traditional English proverb. What matters most cannot be bought.
  • Better safe than sorry. Traditional English proverb. A little care now beats regret later.
  • Do not judge a book by its cover. Traditional English proverb. Do not decide what something is like from its outside.
  • First things first. Traditional English proverb. Do the most important job before the others.
  • Haste makes waste. Traditional English proverb. Rushing leads to mistakes that cost more time.
  • If the shoe fits, wear it. Traditional English proverb. If a remark is true of you, accept it.
  • Like father, like son. Traditional English proverb. Children often take after their parents.
  • Money does not grow on trees. Traditional English proverb. Money takes work to get, so spend it with care.
  • No news is good news. Traditional English proverb. If nobody has told you of trouble, things are probably fine.
  • Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Traditional English proverb. You cannot win anything without taking a chance.
  • Out of sight, out of mind. Traditional English proverb. We soon forget what we no longer see.
  • Patience is a virtue. Traditional English proverb. Being able to wait calmly is a good quality.
  • Practice what you preach. Traditional English proverb. Do yourself what you tell others to do.
  • Seeing is believing. Traditional English proverb. People trust what they see for themselves.
  • Time and tide wait for no man. Traditional English proverb. Time keeps moving whether you are ready or not.
  • Tomorrow is another day. Traditional English proverb. A bad day ends, and you can start again.
  • Two is company, but three is a crowd. Traditional English proverb. Two people get along easily. A third can change that.
  • United we stand, divided we fall. Traditional English proverb. A group is strong together and weak apart.
  • What goes up must come down. Traditional English proverb. Nothing stays up forever.
  • When the cat is away, the mice will play. Traditional English proverb. People relax the rules when nobody is in charge.
  • Where there is a will there is a way. Traditional English proverb. If you want something enough, you find how to do it.
  • You are never too old to learn. Traditional English proverb. Learning does not stop when school does.

Morals from old fables 11

  • A man is known by the company he keeps. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Ass and His Purchaser, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • Don't make much ado about nothing. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Mountain in Labor, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • Every tale is not to be believed. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Thief and the Innkeeper, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • Fair weather friends are not worth much. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Swallow and the Crow, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • Like will draw like. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • The memory of a good deed lives. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • One story is good, till another is told. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Man and the Lion, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • Straws show how the wind blows. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Man and His Wife, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • Try before you trust. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Lion and the Eagle, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • Union is strength. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Lion and the Three Bulls, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.
  • The value is in the worth, not in the number. Aesop's Fables, the moral of The Lioness, in George Fyler Townsend's English translation.

Old sayings on work and money 4

  • A word to the wise is enough. Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth.
  • Handle your tools without mittens. Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth. Do real work with bare hands.
  • He that goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing. Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth.
  • Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee. Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth. Thy and thee are old words for your and you.

Lines from old plays 10

  • A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 5, Scene 4.
  • Better a witty fool than a foolish wit. William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 5.
  • The better part of valour is discretion. William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5, Scene 4. Valour is the British spelling of valor.
  • I have not slept one wink. William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act 3, Scene 4.
  • Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, Act 1, Scene 1.
  • Neither a borrower nor a lender be. William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3.
  • Parting is such sweet sorrow. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2.
  • To be, or not to be, that is the question. William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1.
  • We have seen better days. William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act 4, Scene 2.
  • What's done is done. William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 2.

Stories and poems 9

  • A birdie with a yellow bill. Robert Louis Stevenson, Time to Rise, in A Child's Garden of Verses.
  • I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).
  • I saw you toss the kites on high. Robert Louis Stevenson, The Wind, in A Child's Garden of Verses.
  • Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late! Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Said by the White Rabbit.
  • Simplify, simplify. Henry David Thoreau, Walden.
  • Things do not change; we change. Henry David Thoreau, Walden.
  • What a curious feeling! Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice, as she shrinks.
  • Who in the world am I? Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice asks herself this.
  • Why is a raven like a writing-desk? Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Hatter's riddle.

How this list was compiled: Every line was matched word for word on 2026-10-09 against the text it comes from. Project Gutenberg plain-text editions (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/N, where N is): 10607 The Real Mother Goose (1916) for the nursery rhymes; 21 Aesop's Fables in G. F. Townsend's translation; 43855 Franklin, The Way to Wealth; 100 Shakespeare, Complete Works; 11 Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; 55 Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; 205 Thoreau, Walden; 25609 Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses. The proverbs were matched the same day against the English Wikipedia article List of proverbial phrases (https://en.wikipedia.org/), the solving facts on the page against the articles Cryptogram, Letter frequency and Most common words in English, and the notes on four rhymes against the articles Little Miss Muffet, This Little Piggy, One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. Verse is printed as running text with line-opening capitals lowered. Every named author or translator died before 1929. The one-line meanings are our own. Licence: own work

How it works

These beginner cryptograms are short on purpose. Every line is ten words or fewer, and many are rhymes and sayings you half know. Three letters are filled in before your first guess, so there is always a place to begin.

Read the full guide

Start with the one-letter word

A code letter that stands alone is A or I. Of the 78 lines here, 26 have such a word. Fill it in, then read the short words around it.

Look for a word that comes twice

In 29 lines a word repeats: Jack be nimble, Jack be quick. Two words with the same code letters in the same order are the same word. A three-letter word that keeps coming back is probably THE, the most common word in English.

Let memory finish the line

More than half the lines are nursery rhymes and proverbs. When half the words show, say the line aloud and the rest often comes back.

  • E is the most common letter in English. In a longer line, the code letter you see most is often E.
  • No letter stands for itself. A code letter K is never K, which rules out one guess for every box.

Questions and answers

Can I print beginner cryptograms with answers?

Yes. Print puzzle gives a sheet with a name and date line, the coded line and an A to Z grid for notes. The answer key prints on a second page.

Where do the lines come from?

Nursery rhymes as printed in The Real Mother Goose of 1916, traditional proverbs, Aesop, Franklin, Shakespeare and four old books. Each was matched word for word on 9 October 2026 against its Project Gutenberg text or, for proverbs, Wikipedia's list of proverbial phrases.

What comes after cryptograms for beginners?

Longer lines with fewer letters given. The seasonal pages, such as the fall cryptogram, give two letters and run to full sentences. Aristocrat cipher practice gives none.

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