Ed\u27s Palindromic Trickery

The Nov 1998 Kickshaws presented two palindromic poems starting and ending with ED I HIDE, plus one consisting of ED, I HID A...-AD, I HIDE. In this article we analyze their structure in detail, and also exhibit a number of palindromic variations that Ed can exploit

Palindromic Fortune Cookies

Chinese fortune cookies are famous for their inscrutability; in the May 1988 Kickshaws, Eric Albert reported his favorite, He Is Kissing a Triding Keepsake Of Yours . Short palindromes are similar, often giving us a skewed view of reality

Ultrapalindromes

Sometimes, the first example one sees of a given type of wordplay becomes the ideal for all that follow. I showed a collection of palindromes to a friend who somehow had never encountered them before. In addition to ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA and RATS LIVE ON NO EVIL STAR, the collection included TEN ANIMALS I SLAM IN A NET and A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL -- PANAMA

Theme and Variations

John Connett is one of the most prolific composers of short palindromic phrases. These often come in related families, as shown most spectacularly in Ed\u27s Palindromic Trickery in the May 2000 Word Ways. Here are a number of further examples

Reg, or Roger?

Reg and Roger are twins, not identical, but two sides of the same coin

Mad Adam?

When Adam first met Eve in Eden, he politely introduced himself: Madam. I\u27m Adam. (Eve should have been named Iris so that she could have replied: Sir, I\u27m Iris.) Had Adam been more loquacious,k he could have used any of the following palindromic introduction -- although some might have led Eve to doubt his sexual orientation and his sanity

Nurses Run

Abstract unavailable

The Panamanian Rejects

It is not well-known that the noted palindromist Leigh Mercer made a number of false starts before creating the immortal A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL--PANAMA! Fortunately, his charlady, aware of Mercer\u27s fame, made a practice of saving his wastebasket scraps. These, found among her effects after her death, were recently auctioned off by Sotheby\u27s for a handsome sum, and can now be revealed to the world of logology

Some New Palindromes

Abstract unavailable