My claim to Wikipedia fame is found in the entry for “ditloid.” In 1975, I published a book of puzzles with the title, Aha: A puzzle approach to creative thinking. I got the idea for one type puzzle from a formula that someone had written on a restroom wall. After the book was published, I quickly learned that people liked those semi-pseudo-quasi formulas or equations as a format for puzzles. Will Shortz, the present puzzle editor of the New York Times, credited my formulas with inspiring the linguistic equations he wrote for Games Magazine. His efforts led to a mini-craze. Because someone wrote an item, 1DITLOID, solved as “One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich,” the Daily Express newspaper dubbed these puzzles “ditloids.” The name stuck.
“Linguistic Equations” or “Ditloids,” in the original format, are presented below. Try your hand at the original 27 items published in 1975 (Ditloids, Nr.1) and then try newer items.
A different twist on the same idea is “Ditloids-on-Steroids,” which is a matching puzzle. The second half of each equation has to be matched with the first half. See below.
Finally, if you are in mood to be silly, try my Silly Matching Puzzle.
These puzzles are meant to be fun and a challenge. My aim is to have items that can all be answered, but not without some effort. If I get a chuckle from you I am pleased. The items are based on common knowledge (at least in the U.S. culture) rather than obscure facts. The puzzles have sometimes been used as team-building exercises. Some people like to work alone and others prefer to share the challenge with friends.
Silly Matching Puzzle: Nr. 1
