A ditloid uses numerals and initial letters to suggest a phrase, such as 26 L in the A, or 52 W in a Y. Sometimes called an equation analysis test, this type of puzzle was dubbed a ditloid by a newspaper columnist who clued the name of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Amazon|Bookshop) as 1 DITLOID. Many more ditloids are included in A.J. Jacobs’ book The Puzzler: One Man’s Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life (Amazon|Bookshop). This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Ditloid Puzzles”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
A ditloid is a word puzzle that uses numerals and initial letters of words to suggest a phrase.
For example, if I give you the clue 26L in the A, then…
26 letters in the alphabet.
Yep, exactly.
And how about 52W in a Y?
Worms in the lemon.
No, weeks.
Weeks in the year.
I don’t know.
Very good.
Well, here’s one more.
Nine L of a C.
Ooh, nine L of a C.
Mm—
I don’t know what that is.
Nine.
I’ll give you a clue, Grant.
How about, it’s a one-word clue, Bianca.
My cat, Bianca?
Mm—
Mm—
Oh, nine lives of a cat.
Oh, okay. Gotcha. Oh, okay.
They’re harder than you might think.
Right.
Yeah. Well, our friend Will Shorts, the NPR puzzle master, is credited with this particular style of brain teaser.
And originally, he called it an equation analysis test.
What’s super interesting is that in 1999, William Hartston, who was a columnist for the Daily Express in London, dubbed this type of puzzle a ditloid.
It’s called a ditloid because it has to do with a clue that was inspired by a novel by the great Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
The clue was One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, that novel, which if you’re going to clue that as a ditloid, it’s the numeral one and then D-I-T-L-O-I-D.
Oh, perfect. Yeah, so ditloid, and that must have been very hard. Very difficult to solve.
Yeah, I don’t think I ever would have gotten that.
No.
Anyway, I learned about Ditloids in a fantastic new book called The Puzzler,
And I’m really eager to talk about it later in the show.
And Martha and I are both eager to talk with you, our listeners,
About the right way to say and spell and write language,
Whether it’s English or something else.
Words at waywordradio.org, 877-929-9673, or Twitter @wayword.
