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ΣυυιτχεροοΓάμμαDouble Trouble

by Ἔλλειψις Ἀστερίσκος and Ἔλλειψις Ἀπόστροφος

In this third puzzle of letter switcheroos, your task isfor each pair of words belowto form two new words by swapping not one but two letters from each word, which will generally result in new words that are more appropriate for a SpecGram audience.

For example, starting with cosy / cape you can swap the o and the a, as well as the y and the e, resulting in case / copy.

Below are the word pairs to be transformed:

modist / aerial
censor / tenant
elusive / habitat
signary / suffice
dialyze / anagram
conform / cordant
edict / axiom
aphasic / festive
finale / tibial
aster / loxic
incline / deflect
centaur / mooning

If you think you’ve figured out the answers, submit your solution to the editors of SpecGram by August 15, 2015, and you could win a prize.* Solutions and winners will be announced in the September issue.


Some plausible answers to last month’s query concerning the second batch of L’Ishing du Gwujlang/Phicorthogra mnemonically merged definitions (MMDs) are presented below:

  • To dwindle once again is to wane anew.
  • A sovereign shoal is a free reef.
  • To disfigure an upper limb is to mar an arm.
  • An odious sin is a vile evil.
  • The linear unit of measure for smirks is smile miles.
  • Distribution based on geography is locational allocation.
  • Those belonging to us spoil when ours sour.
  • A rental agreement for an artist’s frame is an easel lease.
  • When a cleaner of chimneys cries, a sweep weeps.
  • To derive a perspective is a glean an angle.
  • Frozen cuboids are iced dice.
  • The essence of the world is the earth heart.
  • A work composed of liquid coal is tar art.
  • To hear, then sign up is to listen, enlist.
  • An incendiarism detection system is arson sonar.
  • A baby buggy bank is a pram ramp.
  • To disgorge a parasitic arachnid artifact is to emit a mite item.

Thanks to Anya Kominicki, Ophir Lifshitz, and Vivian Choy for their contributions to the decipherment. Each will receive a prize for their help, as eligible.



* Note that SpecGram Anti-Hoarding Guidelines stipulate that puzzle-related prizes cannot be won by anyone who has won a puzzle-related prize in the last three monthsthough honor, fame, and glory may still be seized on the metaphorical field of puzzle-related battle.

Except where taxed, prohibited by law, or otherwise restricted, constrained, limited, regulated, controlled, hindered, impeded, hampered, obstructed, checked, curbed, shackled, confined, or otherwise subject to thesaural interference.

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SpecGram Vol CLXXIII, No 4 Contents