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Crossword

Word Ways

A crossword puzzle.

Front Cover, Publication Information

Word Ways

Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents

Colloquy

Word Ways

This March was the eighth Gathering 4 Gardner held every two years in Atlanta to honor Martin Gardner. Gardner was instrumental in the start-up of Word Ways and most readers will be aware of the 93 year-old's long time interest in word play (His book on Word Play is due to be published later this year).

Answers And Solutions

Word Ways

Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.

Instructions To Authors, Subscribers

Word Ways

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

Crossword

Word Ways

A crossword.

Back Cover

Word Ways

Back cover of the issue.

Language And Story: An Argument For The Right Reading Of Tolkien’S Legendarium, Lucas D. Jarmin

Senior Honors Theses

Current views on the translation of Tolkien are that his works are completely translatable and understandable. The Lord of the Rings has been translated into many languages, and has sold millions the world over.

While an argument cannot be made for the non-translation of Tolkien’s works, his tales should be experienced in English whenever possible. J.R.R. Tolkien was by profession a philologist, and by hobby a creator of languages and story. His life work was the creation of a unifying legendarium, spanning thousands of years and dozens of languages. These languages and Tolkien’s use of English form the backbone for …

Pairindromes, A. Anil

Word Ways

The May Kickshaws (07-128) gave us "Pairagrams", single word anagram-pair couplets. I felt this called for some reversal-pair couplets (phrases or sentences), drawing on William Sunners' little pamphlet "The Puzzle Lover's Book of Reversals" (c. 1982, National Library Publications).

An Oasis From The Stasis: More Linguistic Observations, Paradoxes, And Miscellanea, Don Hauptman

Word Ways

It's time for another roundup of entertaining language-related trivia that couldn't find a logical place in my usual articles. I compiled this sort of potpourri for the November 2006 issue of Word Ways.

What's In? A Name! - Part Ii, Steve Kahan

Word Ways

Some readers may have been disappointed when their appellations were not among the fifty that appeared in What's In? A Name! (Word Ways, Volume 40, Number 3). To assuage hurt feelings, fifty more are now offered, divided evenly between the sexes for political correctness.

Albuquerque Words, Steve Kahan

Word Ways

Miami words are those which exhibit the letter pattern a b c a b, reverberate being one such. Let us now meet their southwestern cousins. An Albuquerque word is one in which two identical triads appear that are separated by at least one letter. For example, the formal name for a thirty-second note in music, DEMISEMIQUAVER, is an Albuquerque word due to the appearance of the italicized triad EMI in two locations.

Transcendental Wordplay, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

The title of this book by Michael West, an English professor at the University of Pittsburgh, suggested that it might be of interest to Word Ways readers. This was confirmed by a letter from the author, who asserted that "[the book] has much to say about the historical background of many varieties of language play in which your journal specializes. When the book received the 2001 Phi Beta Kappa book award, the publicity release noted that "West ... tries to determine where and how Thoreau, Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson, Melville and others got their proclivity for extravagant puns, riddles, acrostics, anagrams …

Tourmaline Magic, Oscar Thumpbindle

Word Ways

The pale beige mineral-gem Tourmaline happens to be my birthstone and possesses unexpected magical properties as we will soon see. It is also of great interest logologically since as an isogram it splits nicely into five two-letter words TO-UR-MA-LI-NE all of which may be found in standard dictionaries. Other splits are possible, making this gem very special.

Front Cover, Publication Information

Word Ways

Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents

Crossword

Word Ways

A crossword.

Exotic Varieties Of Four-Square, Rex Gooch

Word Ways

Firstly, a definition: a "pop" word is one which occurs in the most-used 87,000 according to the British National Corpus. All rows in this article are pop words, which naturally include initialisms.

What's In A Name (Powhatan?), A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

The presidential primary season is in full swing; the various candidates have been analyzed to death. Yet, one aspect of this competition has been ignored - the subliminal message lurking in their names. Names don't lie! Here's an onomastic tour of the leaders as 2008 begins.

Kickshaws, David Morice

Word Ways

Readers are encouraged to send their favorite linguistic kickshaws to the Kickshaws editor at [email protected]. Answers can be found in Answers and Solutions at the end of this issue.

Revenge, Win Emmons

Word Ways

A poem.

Hail Mary, Full Of Constraints, A. Anil

Word Ways

Cheer on poor Mary and her lamb as they suffer yet more pastiches in various constrained forms.

Exercise Your Brain With Bananagrams, Matthew M. Maurer

Word Ways

During the last holiday season I stopped by the local game store looking for a few good board games for my teen age sons. The first clerk to help me was a seasonal worker and I was soon convinced that she was not even much of a game player. When I finally got the regular clerk, an obvious game geek, he recommended Bananagrams.

Word Perfect, Dick Wolfsie

Word Ways

During my sons high school years, I lectured him constantly about spending too much time playing video games. I didn't make any progress. Maybe I should have wiated until he took his headset off.

World Champ's Analysis, Jeff Grant

Word Ways

Nigel Richards of New Zealand won the 9th World Scrabble Championship in Mumbai, India, becoming the ninth different World Champion since the event began in 1991. The fact that no-one has won twice seems to suggest an element of chance is involved. As Nigel modestly put it when interviewed in Mumbai, 'This is a game independent of other games. You win some, you lose some - it depends on the luck of the draw.'

Book Reviews, Philip M. Cohen

Word Ways

Recently two new word books showed up the same day in the new books at the library, both small-format hardbacks: Word Refugees: In Pursuit of Wanted Words by Barbara Wallraff (HarperCollins 2006), $14.95; and The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World by Adam Jacot de Boinod (Penguin 2006), $19.95. I recommend the former.

Generic Limericks, Oscar Thumpbindle

Word Ways

In the August and November 2007 issues of Word Ways, we were entertained by a plethora of Limericks. Here, I offer a few more with a range of generic twists.

Answers And Solutions

Word Ways

Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.

Instructions To Authors, Subscribers

Word Ways

Instructions to authors wishing to contribute and readers wishing to subscribe.

Crossword

Word Ways

A crossword puzzle.

Back Cover

Word Ways

Back cover of this issue, including a crossword puzzle.