Logogriph facts for kids

A logogriph published in Bower of Taste (February 9, 1828)

A logogriph is a special kind of word puzzle. It's like a riddle where you try to guess a main word. The puzzle then gives you clues about other words. These other words are made using some or all of the letters from the main word. You might need to rearrange letters, or add, remove, or change just one letter. The word "logogriph" comes from two old Greek words: logos meaning "word" and griphos meaning "riddle."

How Do Logogriphs Work?

Logogriphs often involve playing with letters. You might use anagrams, which are words made by rearranging the letters of another word. For example, "listen" can be rearranged to "silent." Sometimes, you add or remove letters from the main word to find new ones. The puzzle often comes as a poem or a series of hints. These hints guide you to the main word and its hidden words.

An Example: The Word COD

Here is a famous logogriph puzzle. It was created by Lord Macaulay. The answer to this puzzle is the word COD.

Cut off my head, how singular I act!

Cut off my tail, and plural I appear.

Cut off my head and tail--most curious fact,

Although my middle's left, there's nothing there!

What is my head cut off?--a sounding sea!

What is my tail cut off?--a flowing river!

Amid their mingling depths I fearless play

Parent of softest sounds, though mute for ever!

Breaking Down the COD Puzzle

Let's look at how the clues work for the word COD:

• "Cut off my head, how singular I act!": If you remove the 'C' (the "head") from COD, you get OD. This sounds like "odd," which means singular or unusual.
• "Cut off my tail, and plural I appear.": If you remove the 'D' (the "tail") from COD, you get CO. This sounds like "company," which means a group or something plural.
• "Cut off my head and tail--most curious fact, Although my middle's left, there's nothing there!": If you remove both the 'C' and the 'D', you are left with 'O'. The letter 'O' looks like nothing, or zero.
• "What is my head cut off?--a sounding sea!": The letter 'C' sounds like "sea."
• "What is my tail cut off?--a flowing river!": The letter 'D' sounds like "Dee," which is the name of a river.
• "Amid their mingling depths I fearless play Parent of softest sounds, though mute for ever!": A cod fish lives in the sea and rivers.

Logogriphs in History

Logogriphs became very popular in the late 1700s. A puzzle book called The Masquerade helped make them famous. This English publication came out in several parts starting in 1797. In The Masquerade, a logogriph would first give a hidden clue to the main word. Then, it would give clues for many other words. These other words were all made from the letters of the main word.

For example, one logogriph in The Masquerade was about the word SPEAR. This puzzle would then give clues for words like APE, SPAR, REAP, and ASP. All these words can be made using the letters from SPEAR. Logogriphs could sometimes be quite long. This was because they needed to give a clue for every single hidden word.

Logogriphs and Censorship

Logogriphs have even been used in interesting ways. The author Orhan Pamuk wrote a book called The Black Book. In his story, logogriphs were used as a clever way to get around press censorship. This means they helped people share ideas without being stopped by strict rules about what could be published.

See also

In Spanish: Logogrifo para niños