I know that many of you like word puzzles. Here is one found in an 1837 copy of The Phoenix newspaper. Can you solve it? (The answer was not published with the puzzle. I may find it in coming weeks. I may not.)
“Enigma
I am a word of twenty two letters.
My 17, 5, 10 and 11 is a dirty slut.
My 9, 2, 16, 3 and 15, is a foreign Earl.
My 11, 5, 4, 19, 17, 8, 5, 2 and 3 is an offensive weapon.
My 1, 4, 19 and 15 is a sportsman.
My 7, 4 and 1 is a particle denoting disdain.
My 7, 16, 9, 10, 15, 18, 4 and 3 is a painting.
My 12, 3, 1, 20, 11, 14, 21, 18, 4 and 19 is a term in law for a certain writ.
My 6, 15, 10, 13 and 22 is the name of a kingdom on the eastern continent.
My whole is what every person ought to possess.
A solution is requested.”
Ideas?
Anyone get any of these?
It seems like we should be able to solve this…. but it is 1837.
Alan Turing...
…couldn’t figure this out.
backwards?
One way might be to work backwards. There aren’t -that- many 22 letter words, of something that everyone should possess.
I’m wondering if any of the letters are used twice, or if they are each unique for the code. That last clue might be something like “China”, but might also be “India” or something else entirely, if the same letter can be applied to two numbers. I think for now I’ll assume each one is unique.
My whole is what every person ought to possess.
Okay.
I used Chris's suggestion
And came up with this almost immediately:
h 1
o 2
n 3
o 4
r 5
i 6
f 7
i 8
c 9
a 10
b 11
i 12
l 13
i 14
t 15
u 16
d 17
i 18
n 19
i 20
t 21
y 22
drab
My 17, 5, 10 and 11 is a dirty slut.
count
My 9, 2, 16, 3 and 15, is a foreign Earl.
brondiron (might this be brandiron? or perhaps that is old spelling?)
My 11, 5, 4, 19, 17, 8, 5, 2 and 3 is an offensive weapon.
hont
My 1, 4, 19 and 15 is a sportsman.
foh
My 7, 4 and 1 is a particle denoting disdain.
fucation
My 7, 16, 9, 10, 15, 18, 4 and 3 is a painting.
inhibition
My 12, 3, 1, 20, 11, 14, 21, 18, 4 and 19 is a term in law for a certain writ.
italy
My 6, 15, 10, 13 and 22 is the name of a kingdom on the eastern continent.
See.
What’d I tell you. Alan Turing couldn’t figure this out.
not sure what you nean?
Are you saying you disagree with my solution? Here is the second page I checked from my search for “22 letter words”: http://www.english-for-students.com/Longest-Words.html
Granted some of the smaller words for the puzzle are old, but except for brondiron, they did exist, from what I found online with a cursory search. I did not yet do a thorough documentation. I found enough to feel comfortable posting my discovery, nonetheless. Anyone have an OED online subscription they’ll let me use? I can’t afford the subscription.
Or am I totally misreading your comment?
Impressive job Andie, actually
I was just kidding with the Alan Turing comment, although, don’t know why it appeared twice. I was actually impressed and should have said that and not play around.
and a bit o luck
Thanks, but most of the credit goes to Chris for the suggestion, and the webpage I found on only second try, that had this particular word highlighted and featured (check the link — I didn’t even have to look through an entire list). I just did the actual looking, which, as you might tell from the rest of my comments on this topic, is a major interest of mine, and turned out to be extremely easy. I have about 20 old dictionaries I can always use,too!! Not a scholar, just play with words whenever possible.
And I have to admit I had to look up Alan Turing, had no idea who he was. Wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing a good pun or something.
And of course, the major coincidence with the OED thing made the whole thing just luscious to experience.
I kid you not
Just 2 minutes after I posted my defense, my daily word email came through from OED, and, yes, it was honorificabilitudinity. I really do not know what to think of this. I guess I should take it as some sort of a sign. For the moment, I will just apprecite the serendipity of life. Following is the full post from the email.
OED Online Word of the Day
The March 2015 quarterly update is now available. New words and meanings have been added across the dictionary, including white stuff, XL, and lookalike. Find out more…
Your word for today is: honorificabilitudinity, n.
honorificabilitudinity, n.
[‘ Honourableness.’]
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˌɒnəˌrɪfᵻkəˌbɪlᵻtjuːˈdɪnᵻti/, U.S. /ˌɑnəˌrɪfᵻkəˌbɪlᵻt(j)uˈdɪnᵻdi/
Etymology: < post-classical Latin honorificabilitudinitas honourableness (13th cent. in British and continental sources) < honorificabilitudin-, honorificabilitudo honourableness (in a charter of 1187 in Du Cange; < honorificabilis honourable (7th cent.; < honorificare honorify v. + classical Latin -bilis -ble suffix) + classical Latin -tūdō -tude suffix) + classical Latin -itās -ity suffix. In a number of texts from the 16th and 17th centuries the Latin ablative plural honorificabilitudinitatibus is cited as an example of a very long word: compare Complaynt of Scotland (1548–9), Prolog. lf. 14 b, Shakespeare Love's Labours Lost (1598) v. i. 41 (see quot. 1598 at head n.1 1b(a)), and Marston Dutch Courtezan (1605) v. H. The Latin form honorificabilitudinitate (ablative singular) is similarly mentioned in Dante De Vulgari Eloquentia (c1305) ii. vii. Compare the following example of the Latin word in an English context: 1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 24 Physitions deafen our eares with the Honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heauenly Panachæa their soueraigne Guiacum. Honourableness. Now rare in regular usage, but freq. cited as an example of an unusually long word, or (incorrectly) as the longest word in the English language. Sometimes with reference to Shakespeare's use of the Latin word (see etymology). 1656 T. Blount Glossographia, Honorificabilitudinity, honorableness. [Also in later dictionaries]. 1785 T. Holcroft Choleric Fathers ii. 38 This vast honorificabilitudinity Commands my esteem! 1800 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1801) 4 147 The two longest monosyllables in our language are strength and straight, and the very longest word, honorificabilitudinity. 1823 J. Lunn Horæ Jocosæ 43 No honorificabilitudinity Or wealth could suffice To content her. 1908 Denver Med. Times & Utah Med. Jrnl. Jan. 345 Long words (of which the longest is honorificabilitudinity, latinized by Shakespeare). 2005 Province (Vancouver, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 15 Mar. a20 Students might consider the old-fashioned spelling bee as nothing more than floccinaucinihilipilification. Well, we see it more as an act of honorificabilitudinity.
Great coincidence
Now that is odd, and rather unusual.
Next puzzle: what are the odds…?
I think this may be
one that is even smaller chance than winning powerball! Hey, does that mean maybe tonight I’ll… oh, nevermind. That would be too serendipitous!
LaserLit patterns
On the face of it, this occurrence seems to be so astronomically unlikely as to boggle the mind. How many words are there, how many word puzzles from the 19th century are resurrected, what’s the chance that any given local blog is the one you plug into on a certain day?
It seems curious to the point of incalculable. Serenditpity doesn’t even scratch the surface.
In groping for reasoning to understand I’d be more inclined consider the fact that the world, the universe, is indeed a hologram. All the pieces are in place, however separated by time, space, or circumstance, or dimensional illusion.
We never see the whole, only shards…But every now and again in certain lights a flash of the underlying form is granted.
that seems about right!
YES, I think any human level of reasoning is grossly inadequate, and the privilege to experience such a moment can only be appreciated as a gift. To look for more is to not accept our puny/miniscule place.
Oddly, I had another similar word experience when I was an in-class student tutor at GCC many years ago, and one of my tricks was to play hang man with the students to get them interested in expanding their vocabulary. The professor said he wanted to choose the word one day, and put up lines for a six letter word. He said no one would get the word. I immediately blurted out syzygy, and the poor guy almost had a heart attack. He also said he was never going to offer to lead it again. Several points on that one, though: he and I both had ties to Brattleboro, there used to be a store called Syzygy in the Harmony lot, and syzygy became my favorite word. So not quite as miraculous as today, but certainly (pardon my taking this opportunity) some sort of a special alignment of things out in the universe. For anyone who doesn’t get that comment, look up syzygy definition.