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The Demon Championship, Dmitri A. Borgmann
The Demon Championship, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
The most conspicuous attribute of our language, one of which all its students and practitioners are keenly aware, a characteristic that is an endearing frailty from the logological point of view, is the tremendous disparity between sound and sight in English words. Put succinctly, spelling English words correctly is unreasonably difficult, yet provides logolgoys with much of its fodder.
Front Cover, Publication Information
Front Cover, Publication Information
Word Ways
Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents
Very Long Rebi, P. M. Cohen
Very Long Rebi, P. M. Cohen
Word Ways
A rebus is a puzzle in which a letter or group of letters, called the rubric, represents the word or phrase to be guessed. An example is TLARH = 'labrynth' (LA by R in TH). In a phonetic rebus, the sounds of the rubric play a part; for example, PK = 'puck' (P: you see K) or QT = 'cutie' (cu tie). In an enigmatic rebus, the letters as they stand are insufficient to give the answer, and something not shown must be assumed; for example, Q = 'one-tenth square mile', where the not-shown SUAREMILE plays a part in the …
I Have A Pet Name For You, Leonard R. N. Ashley
I Have A Pet Name For You, Leonard R. N. Ashley
Word Ways
Onomastics is the mouth-filling word for the study of names, but it can be much more interesting than that forbidding Greek-derived word suggests. Take, for example, the names of pets. All across the United States, there are millions of little creatures (and some not so little) who are part of the family circle: Al (Gator), Pussy (Cat), and generations of dogs named Rover or Spot. I knew an English professor who took his dog's name from Lady Macbeth's famous sleep-walking scene, so that he could cry "Out, out damned Spot!" I'm an English professor, too, but my old English sheep …
Calendar Acrostics, Willard R. Espy
Calendar Acrostics, Willard R. Espy
Word Ways
The February 1969 issue of Word Ways quoted a very old acrostic poem of twelve lines in which each word at the beginning of a line started off with the abbreviation of a month.
Colloquy
Word Ways
Webster's Dictionary defines colloquy as mutual discourse. Readers are encouraged to submit additions, corrections and comments about earlier articles appearing in Word Ways. Comments received up to a month prior to publication of an issue will appear in that issue.
The Poet's Corner
Word Ways
From time to time, Word Ways receives a variety of short poems related to recreational linguistics, some original, others published. As poetic output cannot be easily predicted, these will be presented on an irregular basis.
No-Dictionary Scrabble, Ralph G. Beaman
No-Dictionary Scrabble, Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
In the August 1974 Kickshaws, Dave Silverman suggested a number of Scrabble variants for jaded players. One that he neglected to mention does away with the dictionary entirely, allowing any combination of letters to count as a "word". In this version, Scrabble is reduced to a purely mathematical game, one in which players alternately place one to seven numbered tiles on the board in such a fashion as to maximize their own score and minimize their opponent's opportunities.
Letter-Distributions Of Words, A. Ross Eckler
Letter-Distributions Of Words, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
For many years, computational linguists have studied the statistical behavior of language -- the distribution of the number of letters in words, the distribution of the number of words in sentences, etc., in English-language texts. Similarly, cryptanalysts have long been interested in the distribution of the different letters as they occur in English-language text, in order to aid them in decoding substitution ciphers. Claude Shannon and others, in developing the science of information theory during the 1940s, attempted to find out to what extent the properties of English-language text can be modeled by a random process in which the choice …
Balanced Word Division, Merlin X. Houdini Iv
Balanced Word Division, Merlin X. Houdini Iv
Word Ways
Since solving Dave Silverman's problem of dividing a 6-letter word into two 3-letter words in all possible ways -- a total of ten word pairs -- I have toyed with the idea of doing the same thing to an 8-letter word, dividing it into pairs of 4-letter words. The number of possible combinations here is 35, and Silverman implied that finding more than half a dozen pairs was impossible if one sticks to the Second and Third Editions of Webster's Unabridged.
Harmonious Opposites, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Harmonious Opposites, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
1973 Word Ways articles by Mary J. Youngquist and R. Robinson Rowe have taken pairs of words opposite in meaning and scrambled them into phrases or sentences unrelated to the original words in meaning. The problem presented to solvers has been to unscramble them and find the original pairs.
Early American Word Puzzles (Part 2), William F. Shortz
Early American Word Puzzles (Part 2), William F. Shortz
Word Ways
With the close of the Revolutionary War in 1783, both American literature and American puzzledom experienced tremendous growth. Scores of new magazines and newspapers were started, and people began to show more interest in puzzles and all of the arts.
Alphabetical Circumambulations, Willard R. Espy
Alphabetical Circumambulations, Willard R. Espy
Word Ways
I recently ran across the following generation-gap misunderstanding in a column written by Earl Wilson.
Kickshaws, David L. Silverman
Kickshaws, David L. Silverman
Word Ways
Readers are encouraged to send their own favorite linguistic kickshaws to the Associate Editor. All answers appear in the Answers and Solutions at the end of this issue.
Two-Letter Words, Darryl Francis
Two-Letter Words, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
In the November 1972 Word Ways, we presented an article entitled "One-Letter Words" which demonstrated that every letter of the alphabet could be used as a word or name. Unfortunately, no similar study has ever been made for two-letter words, the simplest group of words after the single-letter ones. Such a study would prove invaluable to Scrabble-players, crossword-puzzlers and other word enthusiasts, who often find it necessary to use words of this type.
Secret Language, Maxey Brooke
Secret Language, Maxey Brooke
Word Ways
When I was quite young, I was frequently mystified by the older kids speaking a secret language. It didn't take me too long to unravel the secret, and soon I was speaking Pig Latin (or Igpay Atinlay) with the best of them.
A New High-Scoring Scrabble Game, Ralph G. Beaman
A New High-Scoring Scrabble Game, Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
In the August 1974 Word Ways, Ron Jerome presented a Scrabble game in which two players cooperate with each other to produce the astonishing score of 4,047 points. However, his solution contained a minor flaw -- no true Scrabble game could have used all 100 tiles, for the game ends when one player uses all his tiles and has no more to draw. Further examination of the details of play revealed that much of the score depended upon the formation of the high-valued words BENZOXYCAMPHORS and SESQUIDUPLICATE. The former word is worth 59 points before its 27-fold multiplication, but the …
Answers And Solutions
Word Ways
Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.
Instructions To Authors
Word Ways
Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.
Front Cover, Publication Information
Front Cover, Publication Information
Word Ways
Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents
Vowel Tetragrams, Darryl Francis
Vowel Tetragrams, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
We were recently fortunate enough to come by an extensive listing of tetragrams existing in the Second Edition of Webster's New International Dictionary. The listing is a straight computer printout of the tetragrams involved -- no attempt whatsoever has been made to link words with the tetragrams. So, given that a certain tetragram is included in the listing, one has to either rack one's brains to think of a corresponding word, or search Webster's Second carefully.
Early American Word Puzzles (Part 1), William F. Shortz
Early American Word Puzzles (Part 1), William F. Shortz
Word Ways
For the millions of puzzle fans in the United States today, puzzles serve as a unique form of mental recreation. They amuse, they intrigue, and they pass the time. People like puzzles because words themselves are fascinating and most people like to be challenged.
The Ham Gram, Hamilton V. Huster
The Ham Gram, Hamilton V. Huster
Word Ways
A Ham Gram is an American-style pun-anagram crossword puzzle. Each clue sentence (of nine words or less) contains a concealed answer, as well as its overt synonym. In the examples below, the synonym is underlined, and the letters of the covert answer are capitalized; the answer is then given in parenthesis. Several varieties of clues can be distinguished.
A Revised Spelling Rule, A. Ross Eckler
A Revised Spelling Rule, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
In the February 1974 issue of Word Ways, Ramona J. Quincunx examined in some detail the ability of the venerable rule "Place I before E except after C, or when sounded like A as in neighbor or weight" to predict correctly the spelling of a myriad of IE- or EI-diphthong words in English. She concluded that a new jingle, probably longer than the original one, was needed to more accurately describe the vagaries of English orthography. It is the purpose of this article to present such a jingle, and to compare its performance to the original one in a …
Colloquy
Word Ways
Webster's Dictionary defines colloquy as mutual discourse. Readers are encouraged to submit additions, corrections and comments about earlier articles appearing in Word Ways. Comments received up to a month prior to publication of an issue will appear in that issue.
The Palindromic Astronaut, John M. Meyer
The Palindromic Astronaut, John M. Meyer
Word Ways
Few recent events captured man's interest and imagination as much as the Apollo program culminating in the landing of astronauts on the moon. This interest was in great part stimulated by the extensive TV coverage, particularly during the later moon walks; never before has it been possible to look over the shoulder of an explorer of an utterly strange land. Many writers, including the astronauts themselves, have searched for words to describe their transcendent experience.
A Note On Translation, John Mcclellan
A Note On Translation, John Mcclellan
Word Ways
Most people are not very translation-conscious. If a book is enjoyable and reads smoothly and understandably we do not care if it is a translation or not. If on the other hand its prose seems stilted and lacking in clarity, or contains obvious errors, we may come to suspect that the piece is not in its original form; and a hasty glance at the title page immediately confirms this suspicion. It is a translation from another tongue, and perhaps not a very good one at that.
The Language Game, Philip M. Cohen
The Language Game, Philip M. Cohen
Word Ways
Everybody knows of English English, American English, and Pidgin English. Many know of dialects of other languages, such as High and Low German, or Lake and Bodega Miwok. However, certain obscurer dialects are harder to find in the literature: Alto Saxon, for instance, or Super Yuman. The Cornell Linguistics Circle has prepared a list of some of these lesser-known dialects, and Word Ways has been granted permission to reproduce it for the benefit of its readers. Further contributions from readers would be welcome.
An Acrogemalic Apologia, Willard R. Espy
An Acrogemalic Apologia, Willard R. Espy
Word Ways
The conventional journalistic wisdom anathematizes any mouthful of a word like anathematizes. Write clearly, write crisply, say the commandments; be positive, not negative; active, not passive; concise, not prolix. Never use two syllables where one will do.
My Last Words, Dmitri A. Borgmann
My Last Words, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
In the August 1972 issue of Word Ways, Darryl H. Francis shook the world of logology to its very foundations by publishing a list of the alphabetically last words and names beginning with each of the 26 letters of the alphabet. This had been a hitherto secret list, jealously guarded by the priests of logology as their Holy of Holies, and passed on from one generation to the next only by word of mouth, with eternal damnation as the inexorable penalty for anyone who violated his oath of silence by divulging that list to the uninitiated.