It is exactly five years ago since  Ars Magna: The Ten-Square  appeared in Word Ways.  This article exhibited several different kinds of regular 10-by-10 word square, including three variant  near-miss  efforts, one of which is shown below

Grant, Jeff

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195 IN SEARCH OF THE TEN-SQUARE JEFF GRANT Hastings, New Zealand lt is exactly five years ago since "Ars Magna: The Ten-Square" appeared in Word Ways. This article exhibited several different kinds of regular 1O-by-10 word square, including three variant "near-miss" efforts, one of which is shown below. M I S S A T I C A L I S 0 E M E T I N E S o L S P R I N G S S E S T U N N E L S A M P U T I E R E N T E R N I T R A T E I T I N E R A T E S C I N E R A T 0 R S A N G L E T E R R E L E S S N E S S E S The flaws in this square are the expressions SES TUNNELS, a French phrase, and AMPUT 1EREN, a German verb. 1dea lly, the use of foreign terms should be avoided when constructing an English word sq ua re. 1 have no qualms, however, a bout accepting the p lu r­at name SOL SPRiNGS, either in the sense of more than one person named Sol Sprin g (two Sol Springs), or when referring to "the Sol Springs of the world". The other words used are all of impeccable quality. The 1985 article evoked a positive response, and, as hoped, re­a wakened interest in one of the great unconquered logologica 1 cha1­lenges. The ten-square has eluded all great formists of the past century; In fact, most never even attempted it. So what chance have we today? At least there are a few more words in the lan­guage ... and computers I Not everyone approves of computers in word play, or anywhere for that matter, but like it or not they are here to stay and we must acknowledge their contribution. For some time now I have been corresponding with G. Hardy Ropes ("Ajax" in the National Puzzlers I League), exchanging ideas and informa tLOn on ten-squ a res. Recently, we have had the assistance of Eric Albert, who set his computer to work producing likely sets of three ten-letter basewords. A square using one of Eric I s computer-generated base sets is shown in Ajax I s "Further Struggles With a Ten-Square" in the February 1990 Word Ways. 1 also experimented with thiS particular base, and the square on the next page was my best effort. 196 D 0 R A A S C H E R 0 P E N N E R I N E R E E N T R A N T S A N N A I R P 0 R T A N T I N A P I E R S E R R A N I D A E C R A P P I N E S S H I N o I D E 0 U S E N T R E A S U R E R E S T R E S S E D DORA ASCHER the surname Ascher is not too uncommon, but I ha ve been unable to locate one named Dora, Nora, Cora or Lora. Can anyone help? OPEN NERINE a nerine bloom with its petals spread, by analogy with open flowers, which appears in an OED citation. REENTRANTS persons or things that reenter or return (RHD). ANN AIRPORT the full narpe of the airport that may theoretically serve the Swedish community of Ann, which is shown in TAW. ANT I-NAP I ER hold ing views contra ry to someone ca lIed Na pier; for example the opponents of 19th-century Irish politica I leader Sir Joseph Napier could be described as anti-Napier. SERRANIDAE a large and widespread family of carnivorous perch-like fishes (Web 2). CRAPPINESS the state of something cheaply made or done; shoddi­ness (RHD). HINOIDEOUS havmg the secondary veins all parallel and at right angles to the midrib, as the banana leaf (Web 2). ENTREASURE to store in or as in a treasury (OED). RESTRESSSED past tense of restress; in phonetics, to stress (an unstressed, or weak, monosyllable) so as to make a new stressed or strong form (Web 2). There are four unverified terms in this square. It may well be possible to track down a DORA ASCHER (Cora, Nora, or Lora would do), there could be an ANN AIRPORT I and the expression ANTI-NAP­IER may have been used at some time, but it is most unlikely that OPEN NER 1NE will ever be found. Lea ving the computer-produced bases, let's have a look at a ten-sq ua re devised not long after the "Ars Magna" a rtlcle. Like the previou s example, it makes use of people's names, and further extends this concept to trade and street names. I N C A P A B L E R N E A L E D R I V E C A R L G R A V E S A L L P R E S E N T P E G R E N S L E R A D R E N A L I N E B R A S S L I N E S L I V E L I N E S S E V E N E N E S S E R E S T R E S S E D N C A P A 8 L E R n R a a tl -I 1 Ii o D IE t( S, b P ave an gy ly 'eh­ldi­rght lan ised be )uld IAP­hat a ike lher 197 I NCAPA BL ER more incapable, an awkward comparative form, by ana logy with intolerablest. adviseabler, notabIer • indisputablest, serviceabler and imperturbablest, all of which appear In The French Revolution, by Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle, original­ly published in 1837. NEAL E DR 1VE a street in Santa Rosa, Ca llfornia (ZCPOD). CARL GRAVES an individual listed in the September 1989 Philadel­phia telephone directory. ALL-PRESENT an undefined term in Web 2; perhaps an all-present situation is where the persons concerned are "all present" and accounted for. PEG RENSLER a fictitlOUs name, or is it? The surnames RansIer, Rensler and Rinsler are all rare, and despite extensive efforts I have been unable to find one with the first name Peg. ADR ENAL 1NE a hormone secreted by the ad rena 1 gla nds and affect­ing circulation, muscular actlOn, etc. (OED). BRASSL 1NES a line of brass desk accessories made by the New York firm of A & M Leatherlines (TND). LIVELINESS the quality of bemg lively; activity, animation, VIva­city (OED). EVENENESSE a presumed early scribal variant of evenness, based on the 15th-century spellings evennesse and euenenesse shown in OED citations. The dictionary states that U and V were prac­tica 11 y intercha ngea b Ie in Middle English. RESTRESSED see previous square. A variation is possible using UNEATABLER, EARL DRAKES (people na med Ea rl Drake, who do exist), a nd TED RENSLER (RansIer or Rinsler) . These squares are much more satisfactory than the DORA ASCHER one, but even if a PEG (or Ted) RENSLER (RansIer or Rinsler) came to light, I would still feel uneasy about EVENENESSE, and to a lesser extent INCAPABLER and UNEATABLER. So what sort of terms should be permitted in a ten-square? There are no hard-and-fast rules on acceptability, and formists' stand­ards naturally vary. For what it is worth, here are some of the things my constructor's conscience tells me to disallow: -contrived words, names and ph rases (anti-Napier, Peg Ren sler) -initials and apostrophes (Bessonne L:s, las. ]. Ascher) -foreign expressions ( ses tunnels, amputieren) In additlOn, I try to steer clear of uncomfortable inferred terms like lNCAPABLER and EVENENESSE wherever possible. Onward and upward! About three years ago I discovered a set of base words superior to any of my previous ones. ExcItedly 1 set about trying to find the terms to fill in the rest of the square. Dictionaries were pored over, telephone directories scoured, and letters written to various far-flung outposts in a frantic effort to pull off the coup. As time passed a familiar pattern emerged. Seemingly-logical words just didn't exist, promising names couldn't be found, and people failed to answer my letters (were they sus­picious, confused or just not interested?). Several times 1 came 198 within a single term of finding a solution, but wa salwa ys frus­trated within sight of victory. Gradually, as every aven ue was explored and found to be a dead end, the enthusiasm waned and 1 beca me involved with other projects. The ten-square was never far from my mind. though, so you can imagine the feeling of elation when a letter arrived out of the blue from a person 1 ha d been trying to contact for over a yea r, pro­viding the information 1 needed to finally achieve success! 1 certainly don't expect this last square to satisfy everyone, be<;:ause, as 1 have said, standards differ. Maybe one day a 10­by-lO will be discovered using only dictionary words, but somehow doubt it. The following square is not perfect; however, all ten terms used adhere to my own personal criteria for acceptability. It is the culmination of almost twenty years in search of the ten­square. A S T R A L I S E D S C H 0 L A R I T Y T H Y L A C I N E S R 0 L Y N A D E R S A L A N B R 0 W N E L A C A R 0 L I N A I R I D 0 L I N E S S I N E W I N E S S E T E R N N E S S E D Y S S E A S S E S ASTRAL ISED past tense of the verb astralise, a chiefly British variant of astralize, to interpret myth as of a significance rela­ted to the stars, for example: " philologists who solarize and astralize because the model was once set before them" (MAR, Vol 11. page 7) Anahid. the planet Venus in astralized Iranian myth" (CM. page 104) Most a uthorities consider the verbal suffixes -ise and -ize to be interchangeable in nearly all cases; Web 3 states "In U.S. use the suffix is nearly always spelt -ize, even in words from French, in which the spelling is -iser. In Britain, however, rna ny not only reta in S in borrowings from French but use S in­stead of Z in borrOWings from Greek and Latin and in English formations." The OED Word and Language Service confirms that "all verbs ending in -ize can have the form -ise in British Eng­lish - astralise would be acceptable." SCHOLARITY schooling, instruction, training; an obsolete word (F&W). The OED records a citation from The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, by Ha stings Rashda 11, published in 1895: "The certificate of scholarity was to be refused if the appli­cant ',s Latinity proved unequal to the strain." THYLAC I NES Tasmania n wolves, ca rn ivorous rna rsupia Is formerly common in Austra 1ia, but now limited to the remorter pa rts of Tasmania (Web 3). ROL Y NADERS persons such as Roly Nader, a resident of Houston, Texas. Listed in the 1988/89 Houston telephone directory under h i~ in re] ha of Na ALAN thl on in< mo su LA C en. tle ere IR lO< frc sa We Ph fOl De SINE t01 ETER fOJ DYSS no CM F&W 1 MAR te: OED RHD Ec TAW TND Web Web WNGI WWA ZCP( U. 1 199 ys frus­~nue was med and you can the blue ~ar, pro­~c'IJe ryone , y a 10­somehow , all ten tability. the ten­" British ce rela­,he model in myth" -ize to "In U.S. 'rds from however, use S in­Engl ish IDS that ish Eng­formerly pa rts of Houston, ry under his full name of Roland Scott Nader, this gentleman has con'firmed in writing that he is sometimes called "Roly" by friends and relatives. Are there any other Roly Naders out there? If so, 1 haven't been able to track them down, but then the Roly Naders of the world have a much lower profile than, say, the Ralph Na ders. ALAN BROWNE a common name found in many telephone directories throughout the world. There are seven men called Alan Browne on the New Zealand Electoral Rolls (2.3 million people), which indicates there could be around 700' in the United States. The most well-known Alan Browne is probably the American bank con­sultant born in 1909 (WWA). LA CAROL INA a commune on the southern slopes of the Sierra Mor­ena mountain range in Spain, 32 miles north of Jaen. First set­tIed by Swabian colonists in 1769, La Carol ina trades in min­erals, oil and wine (WNGD) IRIDOLINES plural of iridoline, an oily liquid compound derived from coal-tar (F&W). It has the molecular formula N, theC lO H9 same as its isomer lepidine, the plural of which is shown. in We b 3. Although no dict iona ry specifica lly 11sts iridoltnes, the Physical Sciences editor at Merriam-Webster states that a plural form is possible, a view supported by Dr. Trevor Kitson of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Massey University. SINEWINESS the state or quality of being sinewy; firm strength, toughness (Web 3). ETERNNESSE variant of eternness, a rare and obsolete synonym for eternity. For example: "What impossible mixtures? vice and vertue, corruption and eternnesse" (OED, 1608 quotation) DYSSEASSES plural of dysseasse, a 16th-century spelling of the noun disease (OED) REFERENCES CM Compa rati ve Mythology, J. Puhve 1, 1987 F&W Funk and Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the English Language, 1963 edition MAR Mythology of All Races, a 13-volume work, each volume writ­ten by a different author, published 1920 OED The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd Edition, 1989 RHD The Ra ndom House Dictiona ry of the Eng lis h La ngua ge, 2nd Edition, 1987 TAW Times Atlas of the World, 1978 edition TND Trade Names Dictionary, 1988 edition Web 2 Webster's New International Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1934 Web 3 Webster's 3rd New International Dictionary, 1976 WNGD Webster I s New Geographical Dictionary, 1972 WWA Who's "rho in America, 45th Edition, 1988-89 ZCPOD National Five Digit Zip Code and Post Office Directory, U.S. Postal Service, 1990 edition 

In Search of the Ten-Square

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In Search of the Ten-Square

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