Purple Rose Puzzles webpages banner

Metagram

iron beam   minus letter L   grandma

No. of Players: 1+
Type of Game: written
What you need: pen and paper

Goal

To guess a word from clues to words similar in spelling.

How to play

A metagram is a word altered by substituting letters of another word. Players can challenge themselves to find words in which every letter of that word, when changed to another letter, makes a new word. Or players can prepare a metagram puzzle for others to solve. The gamemaster selects a word and then gives clues to other words that can be made from that selected word. The first player to correctly solve the puzzle is declared the winner and becomes the next gamemaster.

Examples

I am a word of four letters. If you change my first, I will get applause; my second, I can be changed for another; my third, I might injury myself; my fourth, I will be killed.

Solution: SLAP (CLAP, SWAP, SLIP, SLAY)

My name is four letters. If you change my first, I will make electronics products; my second, I will shrink in size; my third, I will become conservative; my fourth, I will become musical.

Solution: TONY (SONY, TINY, TORY, TONE)

I am a word of four letters. If you change my first, I will be able to use a straw; my second, I will cruelly tease you when you make a mistake; my third, I will become aromatic; my fourth, I will be a great deal.

Solution: MUCK (SUCK, MOCK, MUSK, MUCH)

I am a word of three letters. If you change my first, I will get upset; my second, I will become soapy; my third, I will become sticky.

Solution: SAD (MAD, SUD, SAP)

Did you know?

Your family may call her grandma, granny, or gram. But these nicknames are relatively recent, historically speaking. The full word 'grandmother' actually dates back to 1375–1425. It derives from the Old English ealde mōdor, literally meaning 'old mother.'

boy sitting at table with open book   woman sitting at table with cup of coffee   grandmother in rocking chair knitting

The origin of 'great-grandmother' (þridde mōdor, or 'third mother') is slightly more recent. It was first recorded around 1520–30. Incidently, the prefix grand- is used to refer to a person who is one generation removed, and the prefix great- indicates yet another generation.

boy sitting at table with open book   woman sitting at table with cup of coffee   grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting

Following this convention, 'great-great-grandmother' would be fēowerþe mōdor (fourth mother) and great-great-great-grandmother would be fīfte mōdor (fifth mother). Given that the average person lived just 35 years in the Early Middle Ages when Old English was spoken, few people back then would have had use for these terms. Other than speaking of mothers who were long since gone, of course.

boy sitting at table with open book   woman sitting at table with cup of coffee   grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting

However, that is not true today. There have been a few cases of single families with six generations alive at the same time. And even one family with seven. This occurred with the birth of Christopher John Bollig on January 21, 1989, which made Augusta Bunge Pagel a very-much-alive sixte mōdor – that is, a great-great-great-great-grandmother!

boy sitting at table with open book   woman sitting at table with cup of coffee   grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-great-great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting

According to Guinness World Records, Augusta was born on October 13, 1879 in Tonawanda, New York. This made her 109 years, 3 months, and 8 days old at the time. Followed by her daughter Ella Sabin (aged 89), her granddaughter Anna Wendlandt (70), her great-granddaughter Betty Wolter (52), her great-great-granddaughter Debra Bollig (33), her great-great-great-granddaughter Lori Bollig (15), and her great-great-great-great-grandson Christopher.

boy sitting at table with open book   woman sitting at table with cup of coffee   grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-great-great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting   great-great-great-great-grandmother in rocking chair knitting

Augusta died on May 18, 1989 in Medford, Wisconsin – no doubt quite proud of her amazing family!

In case you're wondering, the images under the title of this word game form a rebus puzzle:

METAL - L + GRAM = METAGRAM

More Word Games

Home