State Words
Robert Dudley
Using the 50 State Abbreviations, make as many words with them as you
can using combintations of two or more. The letters in the
abbreviations must remain in order and must stay together. ie. You
can't use IN as NI or I?N where ? is another letter.
Have fun
Robert
Mike Keith
>>can using combintations of two or more. The letters in the
>>abbreviations must remain in order and must stay together. ie. You
>>can't use IN as NI or I?N where ? is another letter.
>>
>>Have fun
>>
>>Robert
>>
>
>Some common words:
>.
> (snip)
>
That's funny, I read the original problem statement (probably
wrongly) as a harder puzzle: take the set of 50 state abbreviations
and make as large a set of words as you can, where each
word consists of concatenated 2-letter state abbreviations.
Once an abbreviation is used in the word set, it can't
be used again.
Any results for this version of the problem? I haven't
tried yet. I would guess that it's not possible to use
them all, because the letter distribution is pretty atypical.
In particular, not enough vowels.
Mike Keith
Word play, math, music:
http://users.aol.com/s6sj7gt/mikehome.htm
Kevin N. Stone
Ta.
Kev
Robert Dudley wrote in message <39E1D5CA...@madison.tdsnet.com>...
>Here's something I just thought of that might be fun to do.
>
rhm
--
It doesn't matter how you get there
if you don't know where you're going.
-D. Karamazov
"Kevin N. Stone" <kevin...@despam.brainbashers.com> wrote in message
news:0ZqE5.1680$xk1.2625@news2-hme0...
Carl G.
Kevin N. Stone wrote in message <0ZqE5.1680$xk1.2625@news2-hme0>...
>Robert Dudley wrote in message <39E1D5CA...@madison.tdsnet.com>...
>>Here's something I just thought of that might be fun to do.
>>
>>Using the 50 State Abbreviations, make as many words with them as you
>>can using combintations of two or more. The letters in the
>>abbreviations must remain in order and must stay together. ie. You
>>can't use IN as NI or I?N where ? is another letter.
>>
>>Have fun
>>
>>Robert
>
>Ta.
>
>
ME MO RI AL NE AR MA IN LA ND
PA CT CO OK DE NY CA MS MI SC
FL OR ID VA IL GA AK OH WA KY
UT AZ HI MT WY NM SD KS TX MN
NV IA WI TN NH VT WV NC NJ MD
Carl G.
Russ Perry Jr
> >>Using the 50 State Abbreviations, make as many words with them as you
> >>can using combintations of two or more. The letters in the
> >>abbreviations must remain in order and must stay together. ie. You
> >>can't use IN as NI or I?N where ? is another letter.
> That's funny, I read the original problem statement (probably
> wrongly) as a harder puzzle: take the set of 50 state abbreviations
> and make as large a set of words as you can, where each
> word consists of concatenated 2-letter state abbreviations.
> Once an abbreviation is used in the word set, it can't
> be used again.
Actually, another challenge would be to find the LEAST amount
of words that use all 50 abbreviations, or the 50 only once.
> Any results for this version of the problem? I haven't
> tried yet. I would guess that it's not possible to use
> them all, because the letter distribution is pretty atypical.
> In particular, not enough vowels.
20 out of 50 I think.
Of course, we could add:
AS - American Samoa
FM - Federated States of Micronesia
GU - Guam
MH - Marshall Islands
MP - Northern Mariana Islands
PR - Puerto Rico
PW - Palau
VI - Virgin Islands
Now we're 25 of 58 with no vowels, but we can also add:
AA - Armed Forces Americas (except Canada)
AE - Armed Forces Africa, Canada, Europe, Middle East
AP - Armed Forces Pacific
So we're down to 25 of 61, though maybe adding these makes it
even harder, given the AA and AE as a bit uncommon in English.
From: http://www.usps.gov/ncsc/lookups/abbr_state.txt as posted
by "rhm" <may...@bellatlantic.net>.
--
//*================================================================++
|| Russ Perry Jr 2175 S Tonne Dr #105 Arlington Hts IL 60005 ||
|| 847-952-9729 slap...@enteract.com VIDEOGAME COLLECTOR! ||
++================================================================*//
David Eppstein
> > That's funny, I read the original problem statement (probably
> > wrongly) as a harder puzzle: take the set of 50 state abbreviations
> > and make as large a set of words as you can, where each
> > word consists of concatenated 2-letter state abbreviations.
> > Once an abbreviation is used in the word set, it can't
> > be used again.
I agree with this interpretation. If it's just listing all the words that
can be made, it's too easily automated. (For what it's worth, I find 206
in http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/cryptogram/words.txt.gz, but many of
these are proper nouns or otherwise suspect.)
Here's my (rot13) answer to the max number of words that can be formed
using each state at most once:
nytn nevn pnxl pbbx qrjl synx uvaq vaxf ynin znal zvfqvq zbbe buzf cnpg
evzr fphg jnvy jvar
Russ Perry Jr <slap...@enteract.com> wrote:
> Actually, another challenge would be to find the LEAST amount
> of words that use all 50 abbreviations, or the 50 only once.
Several of the abbreviations don't seem to be usable in any words:
NV AZ WV MD TX VT NJ MN NM TN NH NC MT
In addition, you might be able to use NJ if you think conj is a word, but
then you couldn't use OK (unless one-state words are allowed).
--
David Eppstein UC Irvine Dept. of Information & Computer Science
epps...@ics.uci.edu http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/
kenneth.
arms
aria
arks
gams
ilks
inky
scoria
if we allow canadian provinces
AB, BC, MB, NB, NF, NT, NS, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT
we can get a considerable more:
want
pant
dent
gant
.. okay maybe not that much more
--
My email address is <kkc...@mail.usask.ca>
Carl G. <cgi...@microprizes.com> wrote in message
news:8rstij$ihu$1...@slb2.atl.mindspring.net...
>
> Robert Dudley wrote in message <39E1D5CA...@madison.tdsnet.com>...
> >Here's something I just thought of that might be fun to do.
> >
> >Using the 50 State Abbreviations, make as many words with them as you
> >can using combintations of two or more. The letters in the
> >abbreviations must remain in order and must stay together. ie. You
> >can't use IN as NI or I?N where ? is another letter.
> >
> >Have fun
> >
> >Robert
> >
>
> Some common words:
> .
> .
> .
>
>
> Some common words:
> .
> .
> .
>
>
> Some common words:
> .
> .
> .
>
>
> AKIN
> ALGA
> ALKYLAMINE
> ALMA
> ALMOND
> ALMS
> ARCADE
> ARCANE
> ARID
> CAME
> CAMS
> CALAMINE
> CANDID
> CANDOR
> CANE
> COAL
> CODE
> COIL
> COIN
> COME
> CONE
> COOK
> DEAL
> DEAR
> DECADE
> DECODE
> DEMAND
> DEMO
> DENY
> DERIDE
> DEWY
> FLORAL
> FLORID
> FLORIN
> GAIN
> GALA
> GAME
> HI
> HIDE
> HIND
> IN
> INCOME
> INLAID
> INLAND
> INVADE
> LA
> LAID
> LAIN
> LAME
> LAND
> LANE
> LAVA
> MADE
> MAID
> MAIL
> MAIN
> MAINLAND
> MALARIAL
> MAMA
> MANE
> MANY
> MARINE
> ME
> MEAL
> MEMO
> MEMORIAL
> MEND
> MICA
> MIND
> MINE
> MISC.
> MODE
> MOOR
> NEAR
> NECTAR
> OH
> OHMS
> OR
> ORAL
> ORDEAL
> PACT
> PAID
> PAIL
> PAIN
> PANE
> PAPA
> PASCAL
> RIDE
> RIME
> RIND
> SCALAR
> SCAR
> VAIN
> VANE
> WADE
> WAIL
> WAND
> WANE
> WIDE
> WIND
> WINE
>
>
> Carl G.
>
>
>
Dan Tilque
kenneth. <kkc...@mail.usask.ca> wrote in message
news:8ru49l$lul$1...@tribune.usask.ca...
>
> if we allow canadian provinces
> AB, BC, MB, NB, NF, NT, NS, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT
>
> we can get a considerable more:
> want
> pant
> dent
> gant
ablaut
aboral
abut
comb
confab
cons
cope
skin
skinny
No doubt many more.
Using only provincial abbreviations
peon
pens
pent
--
Dan Tilque
David Eppstein
dom...@aol.comXYZXYZ (Mike Keith) wrote:
> >Here's my (rot13) answer to the max number of words that can be formed
> >using each state at most once:
> >
> >nytn nevn pnxl pbbx qrjl synx uvaq vaxf ynin znal zvfqvq zbbe buzf cnpg
> >evzr fphg jnvy jvar
> >
>
> I had in mind (but, stupid me, forgot to be precise about)
> that one-state (two-letter) words should be allowed. Can
> you do better if you allow them? Also, the goal is to
> use the most number of states, not (necessarily) make the most
> number of words.
If that's the goal, then I can only do better if I get a more comprehensive
dictionary -- as I think I said in my post, the states I omitted were ones
that can not be used to form any word in my dictionary.
If you're allowing two-letter words and want to maximize the number of
words, though, it may be possible to improve on my solution.
Dan Tilque
>
> PW - Palau
It should be noted that these are not US possessions anymore. In fact, I
believe these are the 2-letter country codes for those countries. The
reason they are on the Postal Service state/possession abbreviation list is
that the Postal Service still delivers mail in those countries.
--
Dan Tilque
Keith Calvert Ivey
>20 out of 50 I think.
>
>Of course, we could add:
>
>AS - American Samoa
>FM - Federated States of Micronesia
>GU - Guam
>MH - Marshall Islands
>MP - Northern Mariana Islands
>PR - Puerto Rico
>PW - Palau
>VI - Virgin Islands
There's an abbreviation you've forgotten that I think most
people would be more likely to include than any of those. The
only part of the US where the residents have to pay federal
taxes but don't get voting representation in the Congress that
decides how those taxes are spent.
--
Keith C. Ivey <kci...@cpcug.org>
Washington, DC
Mike Keith
>> > wrongly) as a harder puzzle: take the set of 50 state abbreviations
>> > and make as large a set of words as you can, where each
>> > word consists of concatenated 2-letter state abbreviations.
>> > Once an abbreviation is used in the word set, it can't
>> > be used again.
>
>I agree with this interpretation. If it's just listing all the words that
>can be made, it's too easily automated. (For what it's worth, I find 206
>in http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/cryptogram/words.txt.gz, but many of
>these are proper nouns or otherwise suspect.)
>
>using each state at most once:
>
>nytn nevn pnxl pbbx qrjl synx uvaq vaxf ynin znal zvfqvq zbbe buzf cnpg
>evzr fphg jnvy jvar
>
I had in mind (but, stupid me, forgot to be precise about)
that one-state (two-letter) words should be allowed. Can
you do better if you allow them? Also, the goal is to
use the most number of states, not (necessarily) make the most
number of words.
Mike Keith
Keith Calvert Ivey
An uncommon word (but in the OED under "caco-"):
CACOGALACTIA
Keith Calvert Ivey
>Several of the abbreviations don't seem to be usable in any words:
>
>NV AZ WV MD TX VT NJ MN NM TN NH NC MT
I have a word list that may make a few of those possible,
depending on whether these count as words:
akazga
azilut
canchi
cancri
conj
lamnid
manjak
minh
patnidar
Doug Magnoli
a particularly common word. ;-)
-Doug Magnoli
"Carl G." wrote:
> Robert Dudley wrote in message <39E1D5CA...@madison.tdsnet.com>...
> >Here's something I just thought of that might be fun to do.
> >
> >Using the 50 State Abbreviations, make as many words with them as you
> >can using combintations of two or more. The letters in the
> >abbreviations must remain in order and must stay together. ie. You
> >can't use IN as NI or I?N where ? is another letter.
> >
> >Have fun
> >
> >Robert
> >
>
> Carl G.
Rich Grise
>
> I'm a chemist by training, and even I have to contend that alkylamine isn't
> a particularly common word. ;-)
>
> -Doug Magnoli
Hey! There's an idea! Make words using chemical symbols! You know,
H = hydrogen
He = helium
Li = lithium
etc.
There must be billions and billions!
Cheers!
Rich
kenneth.
sentences using the elements. And the more complex the sentence, the
better.
such as: I RuN As He CaN
not very complex, though.
--
My email address is <kkc...@mail.usask.ca>
Keith Calvert Ivey <kci...@cpcug.org> wrote in message
news:39e67acc...@news.newsguy.com...
> Rich Grise <rich...@vel.net> wrote:
>
> >Hey! There's an idea! Make words using chemical symbols! You know,
> >
> >H = hydrogen
> >He = helium
> >Li = lithium
> >
> >etc.
> >
> >There must be billions and billions!
>
> Well, not that many, but there are too many symbols (including
> too many one-letter symbols) to make it a really good puzzle.
> The longest word I found was
>
> SPOILER
>
>
> SPACE
>
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
>
> NoNRePReSeNTaTiONaLiSm
> or
> NONRePReSeNTaTiONAlISm