Literatim

The individual letters in a word or phrase are numbered consecutively, and other words or phrases are composed by pronouncing the letters individually or in combinations. Example: TOTAL = vacations, 9-4 = essay (S-A), 6-1 = ivy (I-V), 2-5 = eighty (A-T), 8-1 = envy (N-V), 6-3 = icy (I-C), 7 = owe (O). The cuewords are the strings of numbers, and the verse rhymes and scans with the numbers read out in full, as illustrated here:

LITERATIM (6)

The giddy couple sit and drink down by the River *4

Until his speech has blurred a bit; her vision, even more.

“6, bless my soul, it’s 3-5!” “2?” he mutters, like a snore.

“Well, naught care I if 3-1—both will fancy what’s in store.”

Their conversation starts and stops; some WORD and then a snort;

She urges him to WORD; alas, the tipsy deed is short.

“Oh, aye, ‘tis truth that whisky makes the inhibitions sleep,

But what’s the use if so does he, and makes a poor girl weep?”

=Sibyl

The solution: bawdry (4 = Dee, 6 = why, 3-5 = double you are, 2 = eh, 3-1 = double you be*).

Each letter in TOTAL must be used in at least one shorter part, and it may be used in more than one. Parts like 6-6 for aye-aye (from the solution vacations) that use a number more than once are allowable. The whole solution must be an MW word or phrase, but the parts may be non-MW phrases.

Literatim

See also