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Articles 4711 - 4740 of 4911
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The Baleful Tale Of Hale And Gale, Scott Hattie
The Baleful Tale Of Hale And Gale, Scott Hattie
Word Ways
Whenever I see a palindrome I am touched by sadness, for it reminds me of the tragic fate of my former colleague, Mr. Gale, and his boss, Mr. Hale. From the first, their behavior in each other's company struck me as most unnatural. Like an electron and a positron, they lived peaceably enough in different universes, but as soon as they came together each threatened to annihilate the other.
A Repeat Performance, Darryl Francis
A Repeat Performance, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
We expect that most readers are familiar with the story concerning the two typesetters, Archimedes and Had. But, for those that do not know the story or only vaguely remember it, we shall briefly repeat it.
Syllabilities, Ralph G. Beaman
Syllabilities, Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
The August 1969 and February 1970 issues of Word Ways contained several comments on word lengths as measured by the number of letters and the number of syllables. Obviously, it is high time to examine these problems in detail. Before we start, we establish ground rules. Our authority shall be Webster's New International Dictionary, Third Edition; only if this is exhausted, or some special case arises, may a different authority be used.
The Mystery Of Black Island, Dmitri A. Borgmann
The Mystery Of Black Island, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
You have entered a prize contest that requires you to identify small map sections. You are presented with several dozen such sections, photographed from miscellaneous maps of different parts of the United States. Each section is 1" x 1" in size, or even smaller, and shows one or two very minor place names. Your problem is to determine in which state each section is located.
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.
More Viae, Darryl Francis
More Viae, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
In the November 1968 Word Ways there appeared a small article on street designations that are current in the United States. Some thirty in all were listed. To an English eye many of these were strange and certainly could not be found in England. For example, freeway and expressway are alien.
Anagramming One Poem Into Another, A. Ross Eckler
Anagramming One Poem Into Another, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
In the February 1969 issue of Word Ways, Howard Bergerson dissected a poem into an alphabetical list of 478 words and invited readers to construct a new poem out of this raw material. One reader -- J. A. Lindon of Weybridge, Surrey, England -- took up the challenge, and in the next issue of Word Ways the original poem and the reconstruction were presented simultaneously.
The Saddest Word, Nohan Lal Sharma
The Saddest Word, Nohan Lal Sharma
Word Ways
Sir James Barrie describes in his autobiography that he was once travelling on the Scotch Express -- it was not then called the Flying Scotsman -- from Edinburgh to London, and further describes how five young ladies boarded his compartment at Carlisle and had an animated discussion on the topic: Which is the saddest word in the English language?
French Homophones, Guy Lapalme
French Homophones, Guy Lapalme
Word Ways
In the August 1969 issue of Word Ways, J. A. Lindon introduced the concept of a homophone -- a sentence whose sound is such that it can be written down and interpreted as regards meaning in two distinct ways. The following French homophones were proposed by Alphonse Allais.
What's In A Name?, Leonard R. N. Ashley
What's In A Name?, Leonard R. N. Ashley
Word Ways
A few years ago, when I was writing a regular column for Pageant magazine, I discovered that letters came in from many places (even far-off India and Australia) after I pointed out the obvious fact that Logan created the loganberry, Machiavelli was immortalized by the adjective machiavellian, Gage grew the greengage, and Sinclair Lewis's George Babbitt epitomized Babbittry.
Webster's Zones, Ralph G. Beaman
Webster's Zones, Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
The inclination of the earth's equatorial plane to the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun, termed the obliquity of the ecliptic by astronomer's, is approximately equal to 23º27' of arc. If this inclination were 0º the sun would remain directly overhead the Equator throughout the year and there would be no seasons. In reality, the directly overhead point of the sun moves north and south with the seasons.
Some Mathematical Anagrams, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Some Mathematical Anagrams, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
If astrologists believe that one's future is determined by the positions of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth, then by analogy logologists must believe that one's future is determined by the name one is given at birth. One can ignore the surname, as this is already given; but how should the baby's first name be selected? Clearly, a clue to his (or her) future occupation can be obtained by examining an anagram of the name.
Alphametics For Ten-Digit Squares, Leslie E. Card
Alphametics For Ten-Digit Squares, Leslie E. Card
Word Ways
Among the nearly 70,000 ten-digit numbers representing the squres of 31, 501 to 99,381, inclusive, only 87 consist of unique digits, i.e., contain all ten digits 0 through 9. A list of these 87 squares is given by T. Charles Jones in the article "Squares with 9 and 10 Distinct Digits" published on pp. 62-63 of the Journal of Recreational Mathematics 1 (1968). Only 27 of these 87 numbers are the squares of five-digit numbers which likewise consist of unique digits.
The Art Of The State, Darryl Francis
The Art Of The State, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
In this article we shall discuss two areas of logological interest in which the fifty state-names play a prominent part. No doubt the reader will be able to discover further areas for himself.
Kickshaws, David L. Silverman
Kickshaws, David L. Silverman
Word Ways
Readers are encouraged to send their own favorite linguistic kickshaws to the Kickshaws Editor. All answers known to the editor appear in the Answers and Solutions at the end of this issue.
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.
Editorial
Word Ways
Welcome, once again, to Word Ways -- with a new editor, a new publisher, a new format, and a new subscription price. The only constant in this shifting pattern is the purpose of Word Ways.
Front Cover, Publication Information
Front Cover, Publication Information
Word Ways
Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents
The Evolution Of A Palindrome, Dmitri A. Borgmann
The Evolution Of A Palindrome, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
A word such as CIVIC, ROTATOR, or SEMITIMES, that is spelled exactly the same way backward as it is forward, is called a palindrome. There are many short palindromes, but the number decreases sharply with increase in word length.
Numerical Tautonyms, Darryl Francis
Numerical Tautonyms, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
A tautonym is a word, name or term which consists of two or more identical parts. Examples are DODO, PAPA, TARTAR, WOGGA WOGGA, CHA-CHA-CAH and KUKUKUKU.
Colloquy
Word Ways
Websters 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.
Some Cryptographic Puzzles, Walter Penney
Indian Words In English, Mohan Lal Sharma
Indian Words In English, Mohan Lal Sharma
Word Ways
Thumb through an English dictionary and you will be surprised to see the number of words that are derived from Hindi and other Indian languages. Most have been so acclimatized all over the English-speaking world that nobody thinks of their origin.
What's Yours, Fella?, Leonard R. N. Ashley
What's Yours, Fella?, Leonard R. N. Ashley
Word Ways
Here is the lingo of the hash-house, the beanery, the diner and the short-order cook. What would you have ordered if each of the following pithy phrases were yelled back at the cook by the waiter or waitress?
An Anagram Classification System, A. Ross Eckler
An Anagram Classification System, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
Anagramming -- the transformation of one word into another by rearrangement of its letters -- is one of the oldest forms of word play, dating back hundreds of years. It is somewhat surprising that no one has attempted a systematic classification of anagrams.
Specialty Definitions: For Jet Age Compartmentalized Society, Or Picking Neu Roses Along The Psycho Path, Louis B. Delpino
Specialty Definitions: For Jet Age Compartmentalized Society, Or Picking Neu Roses Along The Psycho Path, Louis B. Delpino
Word Ways
There exists in America an awesome, albeit subtle, linguistic poverty which is the logical by-product of our society's obsession for expressing itself through the advanced medium of the S. S. S. (i.e., Systematically Sacculated Statement). While scientists are secure behind their Geneva Nomenclature, while politicians are comfortably ensconced in Congressional incongruities, while hippies and housewives huddle in the happy hibernation of their respective jargons -- while all this is going on there is, simultaneously, untold suffering by an incalculable number of citizens who are grammatically deprived because of their occupational anonymity.
Word Chains, Darryl Francis
Word Chains, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
In the August 1968 Word Ways Henry E. Dudeney's book 300 Best Word Puzzles was reviewed and highly recommended to readers. After no little confusion on the part of one particular bookseller in New York we eventually managed to obtain a copy of this book.
More Word Chess, Jean C. Sabine
More Word Chess, Jean C. Sabine
Word Ways
It was shown in the November 1968 Word Ways that 110 words of five or more letters (no letters repeated) can be traced out in the word square to the right using only the King's Move in chess: up and down, right and left, or diagonally. In the August 1969 issue, Donald Drury pointed out eleven more such words. The following list gives 163 words of four or fewer letters obtainable from the same square.
Telanagrams, Don Laycock
Telanagrams, Don Laycock
Word Ways
To play Telanagrams, one must, like the inventor of the game, have a mind addicted to anagramitising. The game was devised at a time when no other amusements were available: while being paddled down the Sepik (Pike's kepi's spike) River in the heart of New Guinea's (we sanguine!) least explored and most tropical (part coil, carp toil) area.