The Chosen Word by Colin Fantham

The Chosen Word

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Summary: Sue Magee is addicted to word games, but not satisfied with Scrabble and Babble. Now she's discovered The Chosen Word

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Date: January 2015

Reviewer: Colin Fantham

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I have an admission to make - I am addicted to word games. I regularly play Scrabble on line and I'm on Babble every day. There are a couple of snags though: you need a partner (one at the very least!) to play Scrabble and it's not particularly portable. Babble's great fun but it doesn't stretch the mind quite as much as it might once you master the range of words which the Enable dictionary used. I was in search of something different when I was pointed in the direction of The Chosen Word.

The principle is simple - but it can be fiendishly difficult to master. You're given a range of vertical words, with the longest in the first column and the shortest in the last. At the top of each column is an empty box. One letter must be selected from each word and put this in the box at the head of the column in such a way that all the letters form another word. One of the vertical words is a clue and this can be by association, definition or example. Let me give you one of the examples which author Colin Fantham shows:

You get the idea? Good! There are two hundred games in the book at four levels. MILD has nine- to four-lettered vertical words (the shorter the vertical words, the 'easier' - relatively speaking - it is to solve the puzzle), WARM has ten- to five-lettered vertical words, HOT are ten- to four-lettered vertical words and SCORCHING has eleven to four. There's also THE BIG ONE with fifteen- to three-lettered vertical words. I think of that one as 'call the fire brigade' and it would have taken me a longtime to solve it had I not accidentally opened the book at the back and seen the answer. Pages are not numbered, but frighten your self by having a look at The Big One and paperclip the remaining pages together.

To begin with even MILD puzzles seem fiendishly difficult, but they do become more doable as your mind gets accustomed to the corners it's been pushed into. Equip yourself with a sharp pencil and an eraser and let your brain work away. I solved one or two of the MILD puzzles fairly quickly, but others have taxed my brain rather more. I've even had the Thesaurus out on some puzzles. I can recommend the book for your favourite armchair, the dentist's waiting room and a rather boring journey - from personal experience, but it's a book which easily tucks into a bag and I'm sure that it will have many more outings.

I'd like to thank the author for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

You can buy the book from Colin's Website.