rec.puzzles Archive

What are the word records for unusual spelling?

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New entry, edited from material collected for the archive and not yet in a released version.

Problem

What are the word records for unusual spelling?
(Spelling / Structure / Subset of Word)

  a.  to spell, most difficult
  b.  exceptions to I before E [23-71]
  i.  E before I
  c.  American word ending "our" but pronounced like "or," multisyllabic
  d.  variant spellings of a non-foreign word, most

[ Editor: question framed by the editor from the headings of the Taxonomy of Wordplay. ]
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[ Editor: from the Taxonomy of Wordplay, www.questrel.com, retrieved 28 Oct 2026. Classes (common, uncommon, hyphenated words, phrases), scores, ties (-t) and the source codes in brackets are explained in language/english/word.records.introduction. ]

a.  to spell, most difficult
        common word: dumbbell [see "Misspelling" article]
        uncommon word: desiccate [see "Misspelling" article]
b.  exceptions to I before E [23-71]
        i.  E before I
                see list "Word Spelled with E Before I, Beginning with Each Letter" below
        ii.  I before E after C
                see list "Word Spelled with I Before E after C, Beginning with Each Letter" below
c.  American word ending "our" but pronounced like "or," multisyllabic
        common words: glamour, troubadour
d.  variant spellings of a non-foreign word, most
        uncommon words: catercorner : cater-corner & cater-cornered & catacorner & cata-cornered & catty-corner & catty-cornered & kitty-corner & kitty-cornered (9)

Word Spelled with E Before I, Beginning with Each Letter
--------------------------------------------------------
a       albeit
b       being
c       counterfeit
d       deity
e       either
f       feisty
g       geiger
h       height
i       isocheim
j       jangadeiro
k       kaleidoscope
l       leisure
m       murein
n       neither
o       obeisance
p       protein
q       quisqueite
r       reveille
s       seize
t       their
u       ureic
v       verein
w       weird
x       xylindein
y       yankeeism
z       zeitgeist

Word Spelled with I Before E after C, Beginning with Each Letter
----------------------------------------------------------------
a       ancient
b       boccie
c       concierge
d       deficient
e       efficient
f       financier
g       glacier
h       hacienda
i       inefficient
j       juicier
k       kakistocracies
l       liquefacient
m       mutafacient
n       nescience
o       omniscient
p       proficient
q       quiescencies
r       rubefacient
s       species
t       theocracies
u       unscientific
v       valenciennes
w       wardencies
x       xylomancies
y       ?
z       zincier

-- Taxonomy of Wordplay, www.questrel.com