Word-Type Puzzles

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It's Greek to Me

1. The Vicar Eli Gible was wandering across the City Square when he saw a bench bearing the following inscription:
   ORE STABIT FORTIS ARARE PLACET ORE STAT
   Although Eli had read all the Latin authors he came across, he was literally stumped by this strange, yet familiar, quotation. What was written?

2. As Eli sat on the bench and pondered over the above quotation, he remembered a strange connection that some letters of the Greek alphabet seem to have with the English language. They all have something in common:

Can you help him out with this Latin and Greek problem?

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Alphabet Soup

Ogopogics

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Vowelless Language

"There are languages which don't use vowels, such as Arabic", Paridaan remarked. "What would happen if we omitted to write all the vowels?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea", Glynis replied. "Just think of all the CNFSN it would cause, not being able to tell the difference between Bread and Beard. And although TWLV would be unambiguously TWELVE and TWNT would be TWENTY, there are NMBRS that would be MBGS."

Wht s th smllst whl nmbr tht cld b mstkn fr nthr whl nmbr?

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Special Words

1. Each row contains words that have a common, identifiable characteristic.

   1. FIRES - LIAR - PLUG - DESSERTS - DOG - DEVIL - REVILED
   2. HIJACK - STUN - FIRST - DEFT - SIGHING - CALMNESS - CANOPY
   3. JOY - CHINTZ - ACCENT - GNU - BILLOW - FLOPPY

   Can you find the common characteristic in a, b and c?

2. Many of the words we use in English have a preponderance of one vowel: ABRACADABRA has five A's.

   1. Can you think of a word with 5 O's
   2. Can you think of a word with 6 E's
   3. Can you think of a word with 6 I's
   4. Can you think of a word with 6 A's

3. Can you find the word or words that:
   1. -has 7 letters that has all letters in alphabetical order?
   2. -has/have none of the six vowels (A,E,I,O,U,Y)?
   3. -has/have six consonants in a row?
   4. -has/have five consonants in a row?
   5. -contains/contain all six vowels in sequence?
   6. -contains/contain five vowels in sequence (A,E,I,O,U)?
   7. -contains/contain five vowels in sequence in reverse order (U,O,I,E,A)?
   8. -is/are five letters long and has one consonant?
   9. -is/are nine letters long and has one vowel?
   10. -has/have five vowels in a row (only A,E,I,O,U)?
   11. -has/have six vowels in a row?
   12. -is/are a monosyllable word with 9 or more letters?
   13. -is/are an English word, 15 letters long, where no letter appears more than once?
   14. -is/are a 6 letter word with 4 U's
   15. -is/are a 7 letter word with 4 Z's
   16. -is/are of a 10 letter word with 4 K's
   
   
4. Can you think of a word or words that becomes plural when you add an S, and becomes singular when you add another S.
5. Can you think of a word which has the most anagrams.
6. What special property has the word Therein and also the word Thereon?
7. Find a one-syllable word, which, when two letters are removed from it, becomes a two-syllable word?
8. What common English verb becomes its own past tense when the letters are rearranged?

Do you know of such words in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8?

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Anagrams

Anagram: transposition of the letters of a word or phrase to form a new word or phrase. For instance, William Shakespeare - I am a weakish speller.

The medieval philosophic doctrine of cabbalism attached great importance to anagrams, asserting some relation between them and the character or destiny of the persons from whose names they were formed. In post-Renaissance Europe it was commonplace to devise laudatory anagrams from the names of famous or noble people. Louis XIII even had an official anagrammatist as part of his court.

See if there's an anagrammatist hiding in you...

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Pictureless Rebuses

A rebus uses pictures, numbers, and letters of the alphabet to make words and sentences. The name "Rebus" can be derived from certain tracts issued annually by the priests of Picardy, about Carnival time, for the purpose of exposing misdemeanours which had been committed in their neighbourhood. These pamphlets were entitled De Rebus quae geruntur ('about things which are going on'), and the breakings and joinings of the words were filled in with pictures.

1. EEE & xxxx UR XXI, XXXX & eee.
2. YY U R, YY U B, I C U R YY 4 me.
3. 2B\/~2B->=?
4. AQAQAQIC, I82QB4IP.
5. "Have U810? Yes I8MNXB4T - rather 2XSI fear."
6. We will import oil again from Q8, just U8&C.
7. NME, XLNC,XPDNC.
8. It's EZ4NE12C that a well-disposed dog can be a B9K9. (in American accent)
9. If the B mt put :      If the B. putting :
   Never put : a -der      You'd be an * it.

10. I have to      _because       paid     ₌

         ^{work                          I am}

C if U can H&LE these 111 ?

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Too Hot to Hoot

Human ingenuity has sometimes found an outlet in composing writings. The first verse is a perfect example of a Univocal rhyme. Can you see what is unusual about the second verse and what it's called?

1. The Approach of Evening (C.C. Bombaugh)

   • Idling, I sit in this mild twilight dim,
   • Whilst birds, in wild, swift vigils, circling skim.
   • Light winds in sighing sink, till, rising bright,
   • Night's Virgin Pilgrim swims in vivid light!