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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
 Preface to the 2004 Edition 

This update of the 1992-1995 Guide to the Enigma has been in the works for so long that some of its revisions have had to be revised. Apart from that, the Forms section has been entirely redone; the Glossary is brand new to this edition; and we have new flat types and new extra types, along with many other changes throughout.

Thanks go to all the original contributors. Thanks to a number of Krewe who added anything from a definition to an entire section: Brillig, Hot, Lunch Boy, Mercury, Philana, Qaqaq, Quip, Saxifrage, Treesong, ΧΕΙΡΩΝ, Xemu. And to President Tyger for inspiration and patience.

Over the last few months, Brillig and Treesong proofed, copyedited, commented, and in general saved me from a thousand errors of style or content. (The remaining errors are mine.) I can’t thank them enough for their intelligence, expertise, and generosity. And Smaug took on the final work of design, making the pages readable, renumbering, and reprinting.

While this Guide is now through-numbered, there’s no reason you can’t arrange the individual sections in your binder in whatever order you find most useful.

Sibyl, Guide Editor
February, 2004