One of Alice Jones’ favorite pastimes is doing the Cryptic Quip in the Philadelphia Daily News (where her dad is the top Crime Reporter). I made up the name of the newspaper and the puzzle, but it is based on the Cryptoquote from the Philadelphia Inquirer. In the summers, I used to try to sneak the paper so I could get to it before my dad (although crosswords are my real favorite).

In honor of Alice, here is a Cryptic Quip for you to try your hand at:

“JAGM’L DU PGKVCRMF MARBI MV WV? R XREF LVXKRBI NYTTXFL, FLNFHRGXXU DGMAFDGMRHGX VBFL. MAFU’CF MAF QFLM!” – GXRHF OVBFL

The puzzle is based on a replacement cipher. I’ve taken the alphabet and scrambled it, assigning each letter in the alphabet a new random replacement letter.  I’ve given you two letters to get you started (A=G and M=D). Your job is to crack the code and unscramble the message.

If you get stuck, check out Puzzle Corner for some tips and tricks for solving Cryptic Quips. OR if you get really stuck, click here for a walkthrough…

Happy sleuthing!