A substitution cipher swaps every letter for another letter and keeps that swap for the whole message. The text still looks like text — same word lengths, same spacing, same doubled letters — it just isn't in English yet.
Word shapes survive. If you can see one- and two-letter words, an apostrophe, or the same letter doubled in the middle of a word, you are almost certainly looking at a substitution.
Caesar Shift Every letter has slid 3 places down the alphabet. Slide them back.
TREASURE MAP
shift 3
WUHDVXUH PDS
Every letter has been swapped for another one, and the same swap is used all the way through. Letter shapes stay put — word lengths and spacing are still real clues. This one is Caesar Shift. The key: shift 3. Every letter has slid 3 places down the alphabet. Slide them back. Take the first letter, W, and walk it back 3 places: it lands on T. Do that to every letter and the message reads T R E… The answer was TREASURE MAP.
Start with the short words and the most common letter. In English that letter is usually E, and a lone letter is usually A or I. Two or three correct guesses tend to collapse the rest of the message on their own.
These have closed, so each one carries the full solution. Play them for practice — archive days never touch a streak.
Every letter has been swapped for another one, and the same swap is used all the way through. Letter shapes stay put — word lengths and spacing are still real clues. This one is Caesar Shift. The key: shift 3. Every letter has slid 3 places down the alphabet. Slide them back. Take the first letter, F, and walk it back 3 places: it lands on C. Do that to every letter and the message reads C O U… The answer was COUNT BACK FROM THE GATE.
One a day, three guesses, and a streak that breaks the moment you miss one. Today’s is cipher #12.