Monday, October 27, 2008

Ditloid = Language Equation

Last week on Jeopardy there was a category titled "DITLOIDS." Having never previously heard this word, I did not know what to expect. Once the clues in the category were revealed, my initial thought was that a ditloid is an acronym that includes letters and numbers. Upon doing a bit of research I discovered that a ditloid is a fairly common type of word puzzle. I love word puzzles (crossword puzzles, jumbles, etc.) and I can't believe I have never encountered a ditloid, especially since another name for ditloid is language equation. The object of a ditloit is to figure out a phrase or quote from the numbers and abbreviated letters in the clue. Most ditloids are written as mathematical equations, though the Jeopardy ditloids were not.

3 = B.M. (S.H.T.R.!) (3 = Blind Mice [See How They Run!])
200 = D. for P.G. in M. (200 Dollars for Passing Go in Monopoly)
1,001 = A.N. (1,001 = Arabian Nights)
7 = W. of the A.W. (7 = Wonders of the Ancient World)
18 = H. on a G.C. (18 = Holes on a Golf Course)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just stumbled across your site, and I'm already addicted. The ditloid term is great. A teacher once gave our class a list of these to solve, but without the equal sign (such as 88 p.k., for 88 piano keys). My children have loved solving these for years.

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