Free Printable Riddles and Puzzles Cryptogram - Free Printable

Explanation:
We are given a cryptogram puzzle where each letter is replaced by another letter (a substitution cipher), and we must decode the 8 riddles using the key table at the top (A–Z in order). The goal is to find what each encrypted word stands for — but notice: the riddles themselves give clues to real-world objects or concepts, and the encrypted words are *already* the ciphertext. We need to figure out the plaintext answer for each riddle, then verify that it matches the pattern of letters in the ciphertext (i.e., same number of letters, same repeated letters in same positions).

But here’s the key insight: This is not a standard substitution cipher where we deduce the mapping from frequency or context. Instead, the riddles are classic riddles, and the encrypted words are just red herrings — or rather, the encryption is *consistent* across all items, and we’re supposed to use the key table to substitute letters.

Wait — re-reading the instructions:

> To solve the cryptogram, replace one letter for another in each of the encrypted words. Use the key table at the top of the page to keep track of the letter substitutions.

The key table is shown as:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
[blank row] — meaning initially no substitutions are filled in. So we need to deduce the substitution mapping by solving the riddles: each riddle has a known answer (e.g., “What gets wetter the more it dries?” → a towel), and the encrypted word must map to that answer via a consistent substitution cipher.

So let’s list each riddle and its well-known answer, then see if we can find a consistent substitution.

1. “What gets wetter the more it dries?”
Answer: TOWEL
Encrypted: I Z M X U → 5 letters
T O W E L → 5 letters
So:
I → T
Z → O
M → W
X → E
U → L

2. “What has a face and two hands, but no arms or legs?”
Answer: CLOCK
Encrypted: C U Z C F → 5 letters
C L O C K
So:
C → C
U → L
Z → O
C → C (again — matches)
F → K

From #1: U → L, Z → O — matches #2! Good.
Also C → C (so C maps to itself), F → K.

3. “What has to be broken before you can use it?”
Answer: EGG
Encrypted: X B B → 3 letters
E G G
So:
X → E
B → G

From #1: X → E — matches! Great.
So B → G.

4. “What belongs to you but is used more by others?”
Answer: NAME
Encrypted: O Z L N and W A H X → two words: 4 letters and 4 letters
“NAME” is 4 letters — but here we have two 4-letter groups. Hmm. Maybe the answer is “YOUR NAME”? No — classic answer is NAME. Let’s hold.

Wait — maybe the two groups are separate words? The riddle says “What belongs to you but is used more by others?” → Answer: NAME (people say your name more than you do). So likely the encrypted form is one word: but it's written as two groups: “O Z L N” and “W A H X” — maybe a formatting issue? Or perhaps the answer is two words: e.g., “MY NAME”? That’s 2+4 = 6 letters, not 8.

Let’s count letters: O Z L N (4) + W A H X (4) = 8 letters. Could the answer be “USERNAME”? No. Classic riddle answer is NAME, so maybe the encryption includes a space, but we should focus on consistency with earlier mappings.

From earlier:
I→T, Z→O, M→W, X→E, U→L, C→C, F→K, B→G

Now try to decode #4 using these:
O ? L N | W A H X
We know X→E, so last letter is E.
W is unknown, but from #1: M→W, so W is the ciphertext for M (plaintext M). So ciphertext W corresponds to plaintext M. So if W appears, it decodes to M.

So W → M
Then “W A H X” → M ? ? E

And “O Z L N”: Z→O, so second letter is O. So: O ? O N

Hmm.

Let’s instead solve riddles first using common answers, then match patterns.

List standard answers:

1. What gets wetter the more it dries? → TOWEL
2. What has a face and two hands, but no arms or legs? → CLOCK
3. What has to be broken before you can use it? → EGG
4. What belongs to you but is used more by others? → NAME
5. I’m full of keys but I can’t open any door. What am I? → KEYBOARD (or PIANO — both have keys; piano is more classic for this riddle)
Actually: “full of keys but can’t open any door” → PIANO (8 letters) or KEYBOARD (8 letters). Encrypted: Q G A W Z (5) and ? Wait #5 is:
Q G A W Z → 5 letters. So likely PIANO (5 letters). Yes! Piano has “keys”, can’t open doors. So answer = PIANO.

6. What has a thumb and four fingers but is not alive? → GLOVE
Encrypted: B U Z V X → 5 letters
G L O V E → 5
So B→G (matches #3: B→G), U→L (matches #1 & #2), Z→O (matches), V→V? Wait — V in ciphertext → O? No: Z→O, so third letter Z→O → matches O in GLOVE (3rd letter is O). Then V→V? GLOVE: positions:
1: G ← B
2: L ← U
3: O ← Z
4: V ← V
5: E ← X
So V→V (identity), X→E (matches #1). Perfect.

7. What is full of holes but can still hold water? → SPONGE
Encrypted: T Q Z W B X → 6 letters
S P O N G E
Let’s map:
T → S
Q → P
Z → O (yes)
W → N? But earlier we had M→W (from #1: M→W), so W is ciphertext for M → plaintext M. Conflict? Wait — in #1: M → W means ciphertext W corresponds to plaintext M. So if W appears in ciphertext, it decodes to M. But SPONGE needs 4th letter = N, not M.

Alternative: maybe our assumption about direction is reversed.

Important: In cryptograms, usually the top row is plaintext A–Z, bottom row is ciphertext. But here the instruction says:
> replace one letter for another in each of the encrypted words. Use the key table...

And the table shows A B C ... Z on top, blank below — meaning we fill in what each plaintext letter becomes (ciphertext), or vice versa?

Standard practice: In such worksheets, the top row is alphabet (A=0, B=1…), and you write the substitution below — i.e., under A write what A is encoded as.

But the encrypted words are given (e.g., I Z M X U), so those are ciphertext. We need to find plaintext.

So mapping: ciphertext letter → plaintext letter.

Let’s define: For a ciphertext letter C, we want plaintext P = decode(C).

From riddle 1: ciphertext I Z M X U → plaintext T O W E L
So:
decode(I) = T
decode(Z) = O
decode(M) = W
decode(X) = E
decode(U) = L

Riddle 2: C U Z C F → C L O C K
So:
decode(C) = C
decode(U) = L (✓)
decode(Z) = O (✓)
decode(F) = K

Riddle 3: X B B → E G G
decode(X) = E (✓)
decode(B) = G

Riddle 6: B U Z V X → G L O V E
decode(B)=G (✓)
decode(U)=L (✓)
decode(Z)=O (✓)
decode(V)=V
decode(X)=E (✓)
→ So V→V (identity)

Riddle 5: Q G A W Z → ?
We think answer is PIANO (5 letters): P I A N O
So:
Q → P
G → I
A → A
W → N
Z → O (✓)

So W → N. But earlier from riddle 1: M → W (i.e., decode(M)=W) — that was wrong direction.

Let’s clarify: In riddle 1, ciphertext = I Z M X U
If plaintext = T O W E L, then:
I (cipher) → T (plain)
Z → O
M → W
X → E
U → L

So decode(M) = W. That means when we see ciphertext M, it stands for plaintext W.

Now in riddle 5, ciphertext W appears, and if answer is PIANO, 4th letter is N, so decode(W) = N.

That’s fine — different letters decode to different things; no conflict yet. M→W and W→N are fine (M and W are different ciphertext letters).

So far mappings:
I→T
Z→O
M→W
X→E
U→L
C→C
F→K
B→G
V→V
Q→P
G→I
A→A
W→N

Check riddle 4: O Z L N W A H X
We have:
O → ?
Z → O
L → ?
N → ?
W → N
A → A
H → ?
X → E

So second word: W A H X → N A ? E
If answer is “NAME”, that’s N A M E — so H→M.

Then first word: O Z L N → ? O ? ?
If the full answer is “NAME”, why two words? Maybe the riddle expects “YOUR NAME”, but that’s 8 letters: Y O U R N A M E — 8 letters! Yes! Y O U R N A M E = 8 letters.

Ciphertext: O Z L N W A H X → 8 letters.

Try mapping:
Plaintext: Y O U R N A M E
Ciphertext: O Z L N W A H X

So:
O → Y
Z → O ✓
L → U
N → R
W → N ✓
A → A ✓
H → M
X → E ✓

Now check consistency:
L → U — do we have any other use of L? Not yet.
N → R — new.
O → Y - new.
H → M - new.

Now riddle 7: T Q Z W B X → plaintext ? ? O N G E (since likely SPONGE)

SPONGE = S P O N G E (6 letters)

Ciphertext: T Q Z W B X
Map:
T → S
Q → P (we had Q→P from riddle 5 — ✓)
Z → O (✓)
W → N (✓)
B → G (✓)
X → E (✓)
Perfect! So T→S.

Riddle 8: I N Z L R U X
7 letters. Riddle: “What is easy to get into, but hard to get out of?”
Answer: TROUBLE (7 letters) — yes! Classic.

T R O U B L E

Ciphertext: I N Z L R U X
Map:
I → T (✓ from riddle 1)
N → R (from riddle 4: N→R — ✓)
Z → O (✓)
L → U (from riddle 4: L→U — ✓)
R → B? Wait plaintext 5th letter is B, ciphertext 5th is R → so decode(R) = B
U → L (✓)
X → E (✓)

So R → B.

Now let’s compile full decode mapping (ciphertext → plaintext):

A → A
B → G
C → C
F → K
G → I
H → M
I → T
L → U
M → W
N → R
O → Y
Q → P
R → B
T → S
U → L
V → V
W → N
X → E
Z → O

Unused: D, E, J, K, P, S, Y — not needed.

Now verify all riddles decode correctly:

1. I Z M X U = T O W E L → TOWEL ✓
2. C U Z C F = C L O C K → CLOCK ✓
3. X B B = E G G → EGG ✓
4. O Z L N W A H X = Y O U R N A M E → YOUR NAME ✓
5. Q G A W Z = P I A N O → PIANO ✓
6. B U Z V X = G L O V E → GLOVE ✓
7. T Q Z W B X = S P O N G E → SPONGE ✓
8. I N Z L R U X = T R O U B L E → TROUBLE ✓

All match perfectly.

So the answers are:
1. TOWEL
2. CLOCK
3. EGG
4. YOUR NAME
5. PIANO
6. GLOVE
7. SPONGE
8. TROUBLE

The question asks: “Solve the problem accurately.” Since it’s a cryptogram with riddles, the expected output is the decoded answers.

Final Answer:
1. TOWEL
2. CLOCK
3. EGG
4. YOUR NAME
5. PIANO
6. GLOVE
7. SPONGE
8. TROUBLE