Phrase flats
In a phrase shift, a well-known phrase (often not a dictionary entry) is altered by shifting one letter to another position to form a new phrase (almost never a dictionary entry). The cueword stands for the new phrase only; solvers must deduce the original phrase from a clue hidden somewhere in the verse. Ideally, the change exhibits “heteronymy”: the way the letters in the phrase are divided into words changes after the shift.
The solution: way in a manager (from “Away in a Manger”, clued in the verse by “Christmas … Carol”). Another example: don’t judge a brook by its cove. As in these examples, the solution generally lacks dictionary nature.
Other variations, like the phrase metathesis, have also been printed; in theory, any flat type where there’s only a small difference between ONE and TWO could be the basis for a phrase puzzle. For example, the shaming of the true [The Taming of the Shrew] is a phrase spoonergram.
Phrase shifts were introduced by Mr. Tex in July 1998.
A word shift works the same as a phrase shift, except that the original is a single word rather than a phrase. (Basically it’s a freewheeling letter shift with the first word missing, but implied.) Example: moron stuck [moonstruck].