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2008 Edition of the
Online Guide to the Engima


Preface to the Guide
History of the NPL
Membership Information
Sharing the Puzzles
      Sharing the fun
      Combining Talents
Composing
Editorial Verses
Flats
      Acrostical Enigma
      Alternade
      Ambigram
      Anagram
      Antigram
      Apt. . .
      Backswitch
      Baltimore Deletion
      Baltimore Transdeletion
      Beheadment
      Bigram. . .
      Brookline Letter-Change
      Change of Heart
      Changeover
      Charade
      Combination Padlock
      Consonantcy
      Curtailment
      Deletion
      Diastichal Enigma
      Double-Cross
      Dropout
      Enigma
      Enigmatic Rebus
      False derivative
      FWNFR
      Group flat
      Head-to-Tail Shift
      Heart Transplant
      Heteronym
      Homoantonym
      Homoconcominym
      Homonym
      Homosynonym
      Interlock
      Letter Bank
      Letter Change
      Letter Shift
      Linkade
      Literatim
      Metathesis
      Mutation
      Mynoreteh
      Order Takeout
      Overloaded. . .
      Padlock
      Palindrome
      Phonetic. . .
      Phrase Shift
      Picture. . .
      Progressive. . .
      Rebade
      Rebus
      Redro takeout
      Repeated-Letter Change
      Repeated-Letter Deletion
      Reversal
      Reversed. . .
      Riddle
      Sound Change
      Sound Shift
      Spoonergram
      Subade
      Suber
      Switchback
      Telestichal Enigma
      Terminal Deletion
      Transaddition
      Transade
      Trans-Cross
      Transdeletion
      Transpogram
      Transposal
      Trigram. . .
      Welded. . .
      Word Deletion
      Word Substitution
      Solving the Rebus
      Browse the Flat Pages
Introduction to Forms
      From A to O
      From P to Z
      Form Modifiers
Cryptograms
      Constructing Medium Crypts
      Solving Cryptograms
      Other Solving Approaches
Extras
      Solving Cryptics
      Composing Cryptics
      Observations
Reference Books
Constitution
      Bylaws
Glossary
Supplements
      Non-Guide Flats
      Non-Guide Forms
      Non-Guide Extras
      Where to Find It
      Form Notation
      Italian Picture Puzzles
      Abbreviated Guide to Flats
      Mobile Guide to Flats
      Submissions
Errata


© Copyright 2013 by
the National Puzzlers' League

[Webmaster's note: Also included in the on-line version of the Guide is a Luciferian diagram indicating the breakdown into squares and halfsquares, in the manner of his form notation. - Dart]

 CAMBRIDGE HEXAGON

A Cambridge hexagon with nine clues is shaped like one of the examples below. If there is a different number of clues, the length of each side is half that number, rounded up; for example, one with eleven clues has sides of six letters.

LEFT CAMBRIDGE HEXAGON
T O R A H
O P E N E D
R E L A X E S
A N A B A S I S
H E X A G O N A L
D E S O L A T E
S I N A P I N
S A T I R E
L E N E S
RIGHT CAMBRIDGE HEXAGON
C A N S T
G O R I E R
M A M M A R Y
G A R B A G E S
C O M B A T A N T
A R M A T U R E
N I A G A R A
S E R E N E
T R Y S T
 CHEVRON

The chevron is inherently double.

CHEVRON
G
R E D
L I N E N
D E V E L O P
D I A E R E S E S
G A S S T A T I O N S
A S H E S E E R I E
S H E D R I T A
L E S A C T
I S H E
T D
INVERTED CHEVRON
T D
E S H E
D O S F O E
I O N S C R O P
U N I T S S L A V E
M E D I C I N E M E N
R E L A T I V E S
R E P A P E R
S E L E S
S I R
C
 CHEVRON STAR

A chevron star is a compound form in which four chevrons meet at a shared central point. In this example, letters forming the interior borders of the chevrons are shown in boldface.

CHEVRON STAR
B M
I F P A
G A P T E T
B R A D T H A I
E M C E E S H O R N
D O L M A N E E R D O W E L L S C H E M E
R E E L E D R A G R A C E S T H E N O
G L A C I S T I G M A S A R A N S
T M E S E S L I P T A T E R S
O S P R E Y E S I N I S M
S U I T E S O R D E S
S A T O U T E D E B T E D
F I R E U P O L A R A I D E D
N A D I R S E R E N E R E O P E N
D U L L E S T R A N G L E S U T L E R
G A B L E S E E T H E L I G H T H E T A S
H A V E S E E L E R
I T E R R U L E
L E N E V A
O D E T
H Y
 DIAMOND
DIAMOND
M
P E R
P A G E R
P H R A S E D
P A R A L E G A L
M E G A L O M A N I A
R E S E M B L E D
R E G A L E S
D A N E S
L I D
A
DOUBLE DIAMOND
M
R I P
R E S E T
D E I C E R S
C O S T A R I C A
W I N T E R S P O R T
G U E R R I L L A
T R A I N E D
S T A T S
E G O
E

In the hollow diamond, the size of the hollow section should be such that the four longest words form a square.

HOLLOW DIAMOND
D
R A S
F E T A S
M A T I N E E
N O N E V E N T S
S E T T L E S D O W N
N E U R A L T I N I E R
M O T R I N N I P P E R
F A N T A N C E L L E D
R E T E L L S U E D E D
D A T I V E S A P P E R
S A N E S T F U S I O N
S E N D I N S I L E N T
E T O N I C S A R T R E
S W I P E S F I R E R S
N E P L U S U L T R A
R E L E A S E R S
R E D P I N E
D E P O T
D E N
R
 ENNEAGON

The enneagon has nine sides. The right, and inverted right, enneagons are inherently double.

LEFT ENNEAGON
C
P I P
P A G A N
C I G A R E T T E S
P A R A G R A P H
N E G L I G E E
T R I O S E S
T A G S
E P E E
S H E S
RIGHT ENNEAGON
M
D O G
L A R U E
S A L M O N E L L A
C L E A N S O F F
A V E N G E R S
B A S H F U L
E A S E
I C E S
M E S S
INVERTED LEFT ENNEAGON
M A P S
A L E E
D I N T
M A D N E S S
A L I E N A T E
P E N S A C O L A
S E T S T O R E B Y
E L E N A
A B A
Y
INVERTED RIGHT ENNEAGON
P A B A
R E E L
O R E L
P O L I C E D
M A N I C U R E
W A G O N E T T E
S E S A M E S E E D
D O T E S
N O R
R
 FAN

In a fan, words read across and diagonally. The two longest diagonal words always read from top to bottom. The others all slope to the left or right, as in a star. The length of each side is equal to half the number of clues. The fan is inherently double.

LEFT FAN
S S
N U T O
P U G A I L
M A M A T U N A
J A W B R E A K E R
C
R A
A Y N
F I N E
T A R E S
RIGHT FAN
E H
U M O S
R E B U T E
O L E O S A M E
S T A P L E G U N S
D
R E
E R N
S L O E
S E W E D
INVERTED LEFT FAN
B A R B S
I L I A
G O B
B E
R
A R I S T O C R A T
L I N O T O A D
L O O H A M
A T E X
H R
INVERTED RIGHT FAN
S E A L S
T W I T
E R A
A R
K
S E C O N D B E S T
H O R A I T C H
O A K A A R
N E N O
D E
 HALFSQUARE

The left and inverted right halfsquares are inherently double.

LEFT HALFSQUARE
P
R A
O R S
G R E W
R E X E S
E S T A T E
S T O N I N G
S I L E N T L Y
E V E R G R E E N
S E T S E Y E S O N
RIGHT HALFSQUARE
S
B E
R I A
P E R M
S A R D S
S I L E N T
P A L A V E R
R E R E V I S E
B I R D N E S T S
S E A M S T R E S S
INVERTED LEFT HALFSQUARE
G R A P H P A P E R
R E T R I E V E R
A T W I T T E R
P R I N T E R
H I T T E R
P E T E R
A V E R
P E R
E R
R
INVERTED RIGHT HALFSQUARE
M A I N F R A M E S
I T E R A T I V E
E P I S T L E R
E S E R I N E
T R I T O N
S T A R E
E T O N
E D E
D S
S
 HEXAGON

Hexagons are inherently double.

HEXAGON
L U N G
F A R O U T
M E G A S T A R
L O V E L E T T E R
P E R I G E E S
R E T A R S
D E Y S
 LATTICE

Lattices are windmills with an added framework of letters on the outside. Because these outer words contain a number of uncrossed letters, the formist should take particular care to clue these words straightforwardly.

LEFT LATTICE
I S O S C E L E S
S A R A H T
O R A L E R
S A L V E E
C H E E R L E S S
E L I M A S
L E M O T E
E S A T Y R
S T R E S S E R S
RIGHT LATTICE
T E A M S T E R S
E H A V O C
A O K A P I
M R E D E S
S H O R T N E S S
T A K E N O
E V A D E R
R O P E S E
S C I S S O R E D
 OBLONG

An oblong is a rectangle sloped along a diagonal. The length of the longer sides is the same as the number of letters in the longest word.

LEFT OBLONG
R
R E S
C A C H E
R A T T I N G
R E C T A N G L E
S H I N G L I N G
E N G L I S H E S
G L I S T E N E D
E N H E R I T E D
G E N I T A L
S E T A L
D E L
D
RIGHT OBLONG
P
D A G
B I R L E
R E S L I D E
R E C T A N G L E
R E C H A N T E D
B E C H A N C E D
D I S T A N C E D
P A R L A N C E S
G L I N T E D
E D G E D
E L D
E
 OCTAGON

If an octagon has ten clues, its word enumerations are: 4, 6, 8, 10, 10, 10, 10, 8, 6, 4. If there are seven clues, it has the shape of the example below.

OCTAGON
S O L
C A C A O
S A X T U B A
O C T A G O N
L A U G H E D
O B O E S
A N D