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Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
In-Famous Classics, Mary J. Youngquist
In-Famous Classics, Mary J. Youngquist
Word Ways
How good are you at recognizing famous works of literature, music or movies from their plots? The plots sketched in the following paragraphs should give you enough clues to fill in the blanks with the name of each work, thus completing the sketch.
Answers And Solutions
Word Ways
Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.
A Hyperhypercube Of Side Two, Delphi Knoxjaqzonville
A Hyperhypercube Of Side Two, Delphi Knoxjaqzonville
Word Ways
In the August 1971 Word Ways, Darryl Francis challenged the reader to produce a hyperhypercube (a word cube in five dimensions) out of 80 suitably-chosen two-letter words. This array on the right represents the best solution I have been able to obtain. 73 of the words are found in Webster's Second or Third Editions (one, OP, is found in the Addenda to the Third); 5 words from Webster's First Edition; 2 (UA, UK) are found in the Times Index-Gazetteer.
Enivo?, Ralph G. Beaman
Enivo?, Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
Oldtime crossword puzzle fans know a puzzle may be made as difficult as desired by using (1) unusual or cryptic definitions or (2) strange or rare words.
The puzzle which follows sometimes employs either or both of these devices. But it is not just for the expert. It can also be solved by the persistent beginner.
Hey, Look What I Can Do, Mary J. Youngquist
Hey, Look What I Can Do, Mary J. Youngquist
Word Ways
Take a word like FLING, add the letter I, and you have filing. Described below are other word-pairs in which one becomes the other merely by the addition of I. Answers are found in Answers and Solutions at the end of this issue.
Principia Websteriana, Ralph G. Beaman
Principia Websteriana, Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
Hey, you mathematicians! Isn't it about time you stopped sulking because the longest words come from chemistry (Word Ways, February 1971)? You can show those chemists a thing or 2.71828, if you want to.
Our Move, Darryl Francis
Our Move, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
Kickshaws editor David Silverman's book Your Move (McGraw-Hill, 1971) consists of 100 problems "designed to challenge your insight" in bridge, checkers, chess, tic-tac-toe and other games, some well-known and some not so well-known. Though only four of the puzzles are called word games, these provide an amazing amount of recreation for the word puzzle enthusiast. We discuss below two of these word puzzles -- Ghost and The Last Word.
Logomachy
Word Ways
This column is devoted to various word games in which readers can match their wits against each other. Rules of play, if not given below, can be found in earlier Logomachy columns.
The Perils Of Literal Translation, M. H. Greenblatt
The Perils Of Literal Translation, M. H. Greenblatt
Word Ways
It is well known that all languages have their own peculiar idioms. Reckless translation into foreign languages can sometimes have unfortunate, and sometimes funny, consequences. This fact is amply illustrated by the following story. An engineer had once devised a program which would enable him to translate between any two languages on earth. He described his program at a technical meeting, and in order to demonstrate its power, he had a computer loaded with the new program. After describing the program, he asked the audience to suggest a phrase for him to ask the computer to translate. Someone suggested the …
A Chemistry Lesson, Darryl Francis
A Chemistry Lesson, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
Following the monumental success of our article "A Geography Lesson" which appeared in the August 1970 Word Ways, we have decided to offer the reader a further episode of logological instruction. The previous article concerned itself with various aspects of geographicologology (the logology of placenames); this article will deal with one particular facet of chemicologology (the logology of chemical names).
A Proposal For An Isomorph Dictionary, A. Ross Eckler
A Proposal For An Isomorph Dictionary, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
Specialized dictionaries are becoming an increasingly important tool for the serious logologist. Martin Gardner, in his "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American for November 1965, cited Nicholas Temperley's proposal that devotees of wordplay produce an anagram dictionary. (Apparently he was unaware of Charles Haertzen's Vest-Pocket Anagram Dictionary, published by Follett in 1964.) A second dictionary of logological value is one that lists words in reverse-alphabetical order. Several of these exist, the most readily available being John Walker's The Rhyming Dictionary of the English Language, first published nearly 200 years ago (I have the Dutton 1936 edition), and the …
Probing The Rebus, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Probing The Rebus, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
Reproduced below is an easy rebus puzzle, using dictionary definitions (exact synonyms) instead of pictures.
Stately Forms, Palmer C. Peterson
Stately Forms, Palmer C. Peterson
Word Ways
The construction of forms (solid crossword puzzles having simple geometric shapes) is a rapidly-vanishing art. I have been able to incorporate the names of nearly 40 states with their nicknames in the following collection of triangle and diamond forms. (The Art of the State would have been a more apt title, but this was earlier used by Darryl Francis.) Several of the less-familiar nicknames can be found in the American Thesaurus of Slang. Although many of the words look odd, all can be found in standard references (however, all citations have been omitted for brevity). Perhaps the two …
Palindromic And Acrostic Poems, J. A. Lindon
Instructions To Authors
Word Ways
Instructions to authors interested in contributing to the publication.
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.
A Bouquet Of Christmas Anagrams, L. E. Card
A Bouquet Of Christmas Anagrams, L. E. Card
Word Ways
Each line is an anagram of the Christmas message spelled out diagonally in capital letters. Furthermore, the capitalized letters in each line remain in the same positions if the line is re-anagrammed back to the original Christmas message.
Front Cover, Publication Information
Front Cover, Publication Information
Word Ways
Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents
Front Cover, Publication Information
Front Cover, Publication Information
Word Ways
Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents
What Will They Think Of Us?, M. H. Greenblatt
What Will They Think Of Us?, M. H. Greenblatt
Word Ways
One day, hopefully in the far-distant future, an archaeologist may come across the ruins of our American civilization that it had been. In order to do this, he may attempt to analyze the words and phrases that we used. For example, he may discover that George Dewey, an admiral in the U.S. Navy, is reputed to have said at Manila Bay, "You may fire when ready, Gridley." And he may also discover that William Prescott, a Revolutionary soldier, said at Bunker Hill, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." As these two quotations are clearly at variance …
A Fourteen-Letter Pair Isogram
A Fourteen-Letter Pair Isogram
Word Ways
Can the impossible be done? Can anyone outdo the careful and tedious work by legions of logologists? Is there nothing left in logology that can be improved upon? Must one examine increasingly obscure references to reach new heights in logology?
Superl, Charles Elliott
Superl, Charles Elliott
Word Ways
Word Ways readers may be interested in the contents of the following letter recently received from the Division of Unusual Languages of the United States Coast Guard at Varna, N.Y.
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.
From Square To Hyperhypercube, Darryl Francis
From Square To Hyperhypercube, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
Directions for creation of a word square, a word cube, a word hypercube, and a word hyperhypercube.
The New Typewriter, Ralph G. Beaman
The New Typewriter, Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
These are our latest models in electric typewriters. They will do just about anything. Certainly, anything you may want.
Alphabet Soup, Mary J. Youngquist
Alphabet Soup, Mary J. Youngquist
Word Ways
A few weeks ago I accidentally ran into an old friend, a logophilic gourmet by the name of Ambrose Ziegfield. Hadn't seen Old Ziggy in ages, and I wondered what he was up to. He excitedly told me of his new venture -- he was about to open a restaurant exclusively for word-loving gluttons. His excitement was contagious: I drooled at the thought of combining two favorite pastimes, words and eating. The A-Z Diner (he rejected my suggested name of Ziegfield's Folly) would open soon, he said, and he gave me a quick run-down of the plans.
Logomachy
Word Ways
This column is devoted to various word games in which readers can match their wits against each other. Rules of play, if not given below, can be found in earlier Logomachy columns.
False Plurals, Darryl Francis
False Plurals, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
A number of words in English are more commonly found in their classical plural form than in their classical singular form. Because of this dominant usage of the plural form, many people remain unaware that each of the words is already a plural and they treat them as if they were singular forms. For example, the word APOCRYPHA (writings of doubtful authorship) is the plural of APOCRYPHON. But as APOCRYPHA is often regarded as the singular, the erroneous plural APOCRYPHAS is sometimes encountered.
Note On Repeated Letter-Shuffling, J. A. Lindon
Note On Repeated Letter-Shuffling, J. A. Lindon
Word Ways
In the February 1970 Word Ways, Walter Penney's cryptographic Puzzle 1 asked the reader to determine the order of a set of cards bearing letters after a single shuffle, if the original order and the new order resulting from two identical shuffles were given. The solution, with its reference to trial-and-error, was rather unsatisfactory. In this short note, we suggest a more systematic approach to such problems.
The Lost Word, Ralph G. Beaman
The Lost Word, Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
Logologists everywhere were long enamored of the word SUBBOOKKEEPER. For, in simple compact form, it was not only unique in having four double letters, but also these pairs appeared one after another in magnificent progression. Unfortunately, Webster's Second, where the word appeared, has been superseded by Webster's Third, where the word is not. And so SUBBOOKKEEPER has been tossed on the junkpile of obsolete words.