Design a combination lock with *letters* instead of digits, with the added restriction that each...
language/english/spelling/sets.of.words/garble.groups New
New entry, edited from material collected for the archive and not yet in a released version.
Problem
Design a combination lock with *letters* instead of digits, with the added restriction that each combination of letters forms a valid English word. For example: [bgjlmnpsvwy][e][t] = 11 -- Risto Lankinen <ristol@xerver.icl.fi>
Show solution
In article <2vbr9n$595@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>, Gareth Rees replied: >Even more obscure words from Chambers 1988 give > > [bghmprs][a][dmnpsty] = 49 Sorry, Gareth, but Chambers has no words `han' and `sas'. The nearest it gets is `Han', which is out because it's a name, and `SAS', which is out because it's an initialism *and* a name. `Word Ways' carried an investigation into such sets of words, which are called `garble groups'. This was reprinted in `Word Recreations', ed. Ross Eckler. Unfortunately, the dictionary used was an edition of the Pocket Webster, which limited the vocabulary unduly & produced no garble group of more than 30 words. My contribution, using Chambers 93: [bghlmrstw][a][dgpty] = 45 -- Richard Sabey <rsa@swindon.gpsemi.com> (July 1994) [ Editor: the replies that preceded Richard Sabey's, July 1994. ] Risto Lankinen (ristol@xerver.icl.fi) writes: > [bgjlmnpsvwy][e][t] = 11 Torben AEgidius Mogensen (torbenm@diku.dk) writes: > [lnpsw][eio][t] = 15 [bcfhmprstw][a][dnt] = 30 (Chambers 1988) -- Gareth Rees <gdr11@cl.cam.ac.uk> Even more obscure words from Chambers 1988 give [bghmprs][a][dmnpsty] = 49 -- Gareth Rees <gdr11@cl.cam.ac.uk>