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Answers And Solutions

Word Ways

Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.

Kickshaws, Dave Morice

Word Ways

A "Kickshaw" is defined either in a neutral manner as "a bauble, trifle, or knicknack" or more flatteringly as "a fancy tidbit; a delicacy". The purpose of this feature is to satisfy both definitions by presenting linguistic items of light weight and vast diversity, designed to appeal to the tastes of all recreational "linguisticians".

Shakespearean Line-By-Line Acrostics, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

In Act 1, Scene 1 of "The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth", the Duke of Gloucester says:

Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham
Brave York, Salisbury, and victorious Warwick,
Receiv'd deep scars in France and Normandy?
Or hath mine uncle Beaufort and myself
With all the learned Council of the realm
Studied so long, sat in the Council House,
Early and late, debating to and fro
How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe?

Back Cover

Word Ways

Back cover of this issue.

Personal Encounter, A. Anil

Word Ways

I can only 'second' the much deserved praise and appreciation expressed elsewhere in this special issue to Ross and Faith for their unique, brilliant and indefatigable contribution to recreational linguistics. As well, probably unknown to most readers, they have personally subsidised the mag for years and refused to raise the price adequately to cover costs. (I hope I don't embarrass them by revealing this. I think it's wonderful. But I do willingly pave the way for any price rise the new management might choose to introduce. Nor would I expect any readers to balk if they did.)

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 at least one month prior to publication of an issue will appear in that issue.

Linguistic Catches, Martin Gardner

Word Ways

This is an excerpt from Gardner's new book Colossal Book of Word Play, to be published later this year. The book will be dedicated to Ross Eckler.

Remote Pager, Max Maven

Word Ways

The following routine was published in the October, 1987 issue of The Linking Ring, the trade journal of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

The Ceo Of Word Ways, Darryl Francis

Word Ways

A poem.

Eckler Sudoku, Christopher Mcmanus

Word Ways

The following sudoku puzzle honors Ross and Faith Eckler. It contains each of their names twice. Curiously, it also contains the name of a Word Ways contributor, (Will) Shortz.

Dictionary Limericks 2, Max Gutmann

Word Ways

Limericks defining words.

Word Ways, Colloquy And Kickshaws, Susan Thorpe

Word Ways

COLLOQUY and KICKSHAWS each have two repeated letters. Even WORD WAYS has one repeated letter. This makes them ideal candidates for which to find isomorphs, words with the same letter pattern and no crashing letters. Here, I attempt to find an A-Z of isomorphs for each of them.

Ramps And Rhombs, Christopher Mcmanus

Word Ways

Students of wordplay have long recognized a cornucopia of variant word-set arrangements. Pyramids, half-squares and diamonds have been themes in Word Ways from early issues on. Windmills, hollow diamonds, and hollow-cross forms are among other forms examined in this magazine's pages. My own past forays have tracked such shapes as hollow squares, compass roses, and word lattices.

New York Times Crossword Goofs, Will Shortz

Word Ways

It would be wonderful to declare that as crossword editor I never let an error get into a published puzzle in the New York Times.

Wonderful, but, sadly, not true.

Despite careful checking of every puzzle, and testing and rechecking by a crack backup team (currently six people - Frank Longo, Nancy Schuster, David Rosen, Evie Eysenburg, Ellen Ripstein, and Martin Herbach), sharp-eyed Times readers catch me in about a dozen mistakes a year. And they aren't bashful about letting me know.

Instructions To Authors, Subscribers

Word Ways

Instructions to authors interested in contributing and readers interested in subscribing.

O Ye Of Little, Susan Thorpe

Word Ways

FAITH ECKLER has a FICKLE HEART. In isolation, however, FAITH is not the easiest of names when it comes to indulging in word play. Like her husband, she is monosyllabic. The very first thing that struck me about FAITH is that she is made of straight line letters, unlike ROSS who is 'curvy almost to a T' (oxymoron?).

Editorial

Word Ways

This issue of Word Ways is a festschrift in honor of our venerable editor, A. Ross Eckler and his wife Faith who, after 37 years, have decided to turn over the editorial reins to me. All the authors contained herein (with the exception of Ross himself of course to whom this was supposed to be a surprise) dedicate their articles to both of them.

Rosswords, Susan Thorpe

Word Ways

The ROSS CROWD likes a CROSSWORD. An apposite transposal. Let us begin by discovering what Ross's name offers by way of transposals.

A Twelve-Square?, Rex Gooch

Word Ways

Happy enough to have found 10- and 11-squares, I then heard with a sense of foreboding that Ross Eckler was retiring as editor. With more time at his disposal, perhaps he would pre-empt my discovery of the twelve square, an object which I can scarcely believe is possible (It requires about four million 12-letter words). I fear to lose my reputation as the guru of large squares.

Transposals And Transadditions, Darryl Francis

Word Ways

For the uninitiated, searching for Ross Eckler may be simply a matter of using Wikipedia, the free internet encyclopedia. Go to Wikipedia, type in Ross Eckler, and you will be directed to a short item on Ross Eckler (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Eckler). Perhaps now that he's stepped down as editor of Word Ways, Ross may have plenty of spare time on his hands and might wish to expand the Wikipedia article bearing his name. It certainly needs considerable expansion to do justice to Ross' sterling work with Word Ways over the last four decades.

Look Back!, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

Over the years Word Ways has displayed a varied logological corpus. In this column I revisit forgotten ideas, connect seemingly-disparate concepts, and suggest further investigations.

Front Cover And Publication Information, Volume 39 Issue 4

Word Ways

Front cover and publication information for this issue.

Editorial

Word Ways

Thirty-seven years... hundreds of authors... thousands of articles. It's been a glorious adventure, and I've enjoyed every moment of it, but nothing lasts forever. It's time to give someone else a chance to experience these pleasures. Starting with the Feb 2007 issue, Jeremiah Farrell, an emeritus professor of mathematics at Butler University and a Word Ways author since Aug 1983, will take over the editorship with his wife Karen. I plan to continue writing Word Ways articles.

The Great Dog Mystery, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

Former Kickshaws editor Dave Silverman alluded to the Great Dog Mystery in several letters to the editor from 1972 to 1975.

Half-Alphabet Nursery Rhymes, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

Well, no, I can't - because no such place exists. In the Aug 1969 Word Ways I wrote "Mary Had a Lipogram" which featured her minus the letters A,E,T,H,S in turn, and as a lagniappe I wrote of her using only half the alphabet. It's time to validate these Internet claims and provide readers with such a collection. Single-letter lipograms are not of a challenge, so I have written half-alphabet ones for a variety of nursery rhymes. To keep the job from becoming inordinately difficult, I have tailored the half-alphabets to the individual stories.

Contrary Cognomina, John Holgate

Word Ways

Many of our surnames have origins in the nomenclature of trades and professions. Once upon a time Smiths were smiths, Butchers were butchers and Carpenters were carpenters. Holgate, for example, derives from the common noun tollgate. Back in the eleventh century my ancestors were rewarded for collecting tolls and swelling the royal coffers with a Norman castle in Shropshire. Nowadays a profession-based patronym does not oblige its owner to continue in the cognominal business. Just as well - I have no desire to work as a toll collector on the motorway or an assessor in the Tax Office.

Signature Puns

Word Ways

In the style of "edifice Wrecks" (Bullwinkle). "Mousey Dung" (Kliban), "You rippa dese, you menna dese!", and David Morice's presidential puns in WW92-171, here's abbrev history of the western world in the form of more or less homophonic puns and phonetic charades on famous names. This style of word play is also known as Anguish Languish and is analysed by the editor in the November 1997 Word Ways (02-276).

Generalised Fibonacci Sums In Words, Rex Gooch

Word Ways

In the November 2004 Kickshaws, Dave Morice noted that, in the word HOW, the sum of the ordinal values of H and O equaled that of W (8+15=23); and similarly for subtraction in WHO 23-8=15.

Colloquy

Word Ways

A collection of responses to previously published articles.

Attractive Opposites, Richard Lederer

Word Ways

Opposites attract. Opposites also attract people who love to mess around with word meanings and letters. Here's a brief logological taxonomy of 15 yin-yanging patterns.