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"Hard" Anagrams Finding Anagrams in Difficult Subjects This page covers some of the difficult names that I have encountered during my search for anagrams, including a description of problematic aspects. SUPER-hard names and perfect pangrams are at the bottom. There is also a link to an article about what may be the most sensible perfect pangram known. |
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| Common features of difficult anagram subjects 1. Shortness of vowels 2. Too many vowels 3. Troublesome letters (J, Q, Z, etc.) 4. Letter repetition 5. Poor letter coordination Let's take a look at some difficult subjects. 1. Shortness of vowels This is a very common issue when doing anagrams of people's names. Abbreviations using consonants are frequently used in these anagrams especially in extreme cases. From a practical standpoint, Y's count as approximately half of a vowel since there are far fewer 5+ letter words that feature Y as the only vowel. Brent Spiner = Preset in R'n B Actor AEI - BNNPRRST This is a deceptively tough name. Aside from the vowel shortage, the P, B and the repeat N's and R's are not well coordinated. Wilhelm Röntgen = The morning well Scientist EEIO - GHLLMNNRTW Kurt Busch = Truck hubs Auto racing UU - BCHKRST Gwyneth Paltrow = Ply at new growth Actress AEO Y - GHLNPRTTWW Another anagram for Gwyneth is the topical Wow! Lengthy part Johnny Depp = Pen phony DJ Actor EO Y - DHJNNPP Not the most compelling anagram Josh Childress = Shh! Dr. J is close Basketball EIO - CDHJLRSSS The abbreviation Dr. J is topical since it is the well known nickname of basketball hall-of-famer Julius Erving and Josh is an NBA basketball player. T.J. ford = Oft Dr. J Basketball O - DFJRT Most anagrammatists don't look twice at a name like this. Dr. J is the key as with Josh above. T.J. also plays in the NBA Christoph Waltz = Whiz plots chart Actor AIO - CHHLPRSTTWZ 2. Too many vowels This issue is less common than a shortage of vowels. In all of the subjects in this chart, there is at least one more vowel than there are consonants. Lorena Ochoa = Ah, Corona! Olé! AAEOOO - CHLNR This is a reasonable anagram for Lorena, the Mexican golfer who has achieved the #1 ranking in the LPGA. She has won the Corona Open in her home country Antonio Paoli = Toil on a piano AAIIOOO - LNNPT Found in Classical Music gallery in Tenor section Adrian Aucoin = I ruin 'O Canada' AAAIIOU - CDNNR Adrian is a Canadian NHL Hockey player. "O Canada" is the Canadian national anthem. Jaime Alguersuari = Use Jaguar air mile AAAEEIIUU - GJLMRRS This is a very tricky name with a J and 2 more vowels than consonants including 2 U's. Jaguar is a good starting word for the Formula 1 race car driver. Nelly Miricioiu = O, milieu in lyric EIIIIOU Y - CLLMNR Nelly is a soprano that can be found on the Classical Music page. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu = I use punitive raid line AEEEIIIIIUU - DLNNPRSTV Mr. Nisipeanu is a grandmaster in chess. 3. Troublesome letters The presence of troublesome letters is by far the most common issue when doing anagrams of people's names. In practice, the three most troublesome letters are J, Q and Z. It's not merely that these letters are lower frequency but that they cannot be found in common words that have great utility in anagrams. Beyond these letters, X, K and V can be difficult, depending on the combining letters. Ilya Bryzgalov = Go by lazy rival Hockey Z V - Remaining letters are also tricky with 2 Y's Dirk Nowitzki = Irk not kid wiz Basketball Z KK - The W and 3 I's also contribute to the difficulty. Henrik Lundqvist = NHL TV used rink IQ Hockey Q VK - Also, only 4 vowels Jacqueline Bisset = IQ enables justice Actress JQ - Long name and good remaining letters help Patricia Valesquez = I crave tequila's zap Actress QZ V José María Olazábal = I jar azaleas abloom Golf JZ - Too many vowels is another issue. The anagram is topical in an oblique way. Azaleas are closely associated with the Masters golf tournament and José has won the Masters twice. Peja Stojakovic = Jive as a top jock Basksetball JJ VK - This is a very hard name that could merit being in the SUPER-hard section. The anagram is quite reasonable for an athlete. 4. Repeat Letters The following subjects have common letter that repeats 4 or more times or a lower frequency letter that repeats 3 or more times. The subjects below also have at least one other repeating letter. Bobby Bonilla = Blob in a lobby Baseball BBBB LL OO AINY Ellen Degeneres = Lend serene glee Comedienne/TV EEEEEE LL NN DGRS Dimitri Khristich = I hit trim rich kids Hockey IIIII HH RR TT CDKMS Kendrick Perkins = Pink nerd kickers Basketball KKK EE II NN RR CDPS Lasse Kukkonen = Keels on a skunk Hockey KKK EE NN SS ALOU Lukas Krajicek = Uke irks jackal Hockey KKK AA CEIJLRSU Terry Farrell = Err, fall, retry Actress RRRR EE LL AFTY Vitaly Vishnevski = Knit his savvy evil Hockey VVV III SS AEHKLNTY The next group deals with names that have multiple repeating letters. In each case, either there are at least two letters that appear 3 or more times and/or there are at least three repeating letters. Carlos Arroyo = Soar, royal roc Basketball OOO RRR AA CLSY Emma Eames = See me, mama! Soprano EEE MMM AA S Raitis Ivanans = Iranian vistas Hockey AAA III NN SS RTV Jennifer Garner = Green fern in jar Actress EEE NNN RRR AFGIJ Michael Schumacher = Each car mulches him Auto racing CCC HHH AA EE MM ILRSU Quentin Tarantino = Rent quaint nation Actor/director NNNN TTT AA II EOQRU Christina Ricci = In critic's chair Actress IIII CCC RR AHNST Viswanathan Anand = Want sand in Havana Chess AAAAA NNNN DHISTVW Yan Stastny = Nasty, nasty Hockey AA NN SS TT YY Giovanni Ribisi = I sob in Virginia Actor IIIII NN ABGORSV 5. Poor letter coordination Let's take a look a some names that are mysteriously difficult. Sometimes, letters in an anagram subject are much more challenging than they appear. When I started as an anagrammatist, one of the early names that I tried was Paul Newman. His name has 4 vowels and 6 consonants which is excellent for a 10-letter name and there are none of the really low frequency letters. There are many word combinations that can be made but this name seems to stump everybody in the search for a meaningful anagram. In each of the following examples, there is poor coordination in letters that may not look troublesome at first. Most of the examples have no traditionally tricky letters such as J, Q, Z, etc., and also have a reasonable to excellent balance between vowels and consonants. In fact, many people will look at this list and wonder why these names would be classified as difficult, but if you have any doubts, I invite you to search for an anagram in these names. William Riker = I kill war emir Star Trek TNG character The main problem is the repeating letters I, L & R which don't work well with each other. Irina Krush = Ah! I run risk Chess player These letters will have anagrammatists going around in circles. Sidney Crosby = Nerdy, icy boss Hockey This name appeared as if it would be very easy when I started, but even after several cracks at this name, I couldn't find an improvement on the rather poor anagram above. Penelope Cruz = Cruel pep zone Actress Clemence Poesy = Poem cycle seen Actress There are plenty of good starting words but the remaining letters never seem able to create a good anagram. This name is fiendishly hard, perhaps worthy of being in the SUPER-hard category. Paul Newman = A lawmen pun? *** Actor How could a name that looks so easy be so hard? The above anagram is pretty bad but its difficult to find an improvement. SUPER-hard subjects Let's end off with a look at some of the hardest subjects that I have studied and for which I have found some sort of an anagram. John Cleese = J-Lo scene, eh? Actor, comedian I had always figured this name to be hopeless for anagrams, but when the British TV Anagram page was completed, John's name came up on both the Monty Python and Fawlty Towers pages so I was forced to try and come up with something. These letters don't coordinate well at all and there are scant words to choose from that include the J. Actress and singer Jennifer Lopez was dubbed J-Lo by the media. Sasha Vujacic = USA's chic java Basketball This name features a J, a V, some repetition and horrible coordination. Nikolai Khabibulin = Lob a hulk in a bikini Hockey Repetion and very bad letter coordination put this name on the list. Janne Niinimaa = I am inane ninja Hockey NNNN AAA III EJM More vowels than consonants, extreme repetion of letters and a J make this name super tough. Daniel Tjarnqvist = IQ led TV star ninja Hockey A Q without a U, a J, a V and a slight shortage of vowels in this one. Mia Wasikowska = OK, Sam was a Kiwi. Actress AAA II KK SS WW MO Repeating A's, I's, K's and W's are a nightmare in anagrams. There are very few words that can be created from those letters resulting in severe coordination issues as well as the repetition. Joel Kwaitkowski = Kiwi lets kook jaw Hockey 3 K's, 2 W's and a J combine for a serious anagram challenge. The solution translates as: A New Zealander allows a crazy person to speak. Saku Koivu = UK UV-A is OK Hockey Translation of anagram: Type A ultraviolet rays are safe in the United Kingdom? As hard as Saku's name is, the name of his brother who also plays in the NHL, Mikko Koivu, is even harder. Peewee Reese = We resee épée Baseball EEEEEEE PRSW An abundance of E's is not usually a problem but 7 E's in an 11-letter name is extreme. The resulting anagram is very lame but at least it's grammatically sound. Wally Szczerbiak = All skew crazy biz Basketball Two Z's, some other tricky letters and a vowel shortage are the difficult features in this one. |
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| Perfect Pangrams A pangram is a sentence or any group of words that contain every letter of the alphabet. "Quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is probably the most well known. That sentence, however, has many repeating letters. A perfect pangram has no repeating letters. In other words, a perfect pangram is an anagram of the alphabet. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ These are brutally tough letters to work with. Try doing an anagram that contains a J, K, Q, V, X, W and Z. At the same time, you are doing an anagram with an extreme shortage of vowels, since AEIOUY is not enough to stretch out over 26 letters. This means that you will be using abbreviations. For the sheer challenge of it, I spent quite a few hours trying to find some perfect pangrams and I believe I have found some of the most sensible yet. Folks quiz NBC TV, "Why ax Dr. J?" Mpeg NBC = National Broadcasting Corporation, Dr. J is Julius Erving, Mpeg is a standard video file Vex NFL QB. Drug zip was jock myth. NFL = National Football League, QB = Quarterback NHL MVP wiz just rocked by GQ fax. NHL = National Hockey League, MVP = Most Valuable Player, GQ is a magazine, originally Gentleman's Quarterly Lucky GQ sex whiz T.J. Ford, NBA MVP T.J. Ford is an NBA Basketball player, NBA = National Basketball Association New! In March of 2011, I found what could be the most sensible perfect pangram. I wrote an article about it in my blog. If you wish to see this perfect pangram, click on the link below The Perfect Perfect Pangram? |
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