The method
- Write the letters out as a pool. The tiles above do that for you. Notice the awkward ones: J, Q, X, Z, V, K, W and doubled letters. Those decide what’s possible.
- Use the awkward letters first. A word with the Z or the V in it is worth more than any word made of E, A, T and S, because the easy letters will always fit somewhere at the end.
- Look for endings. -ing, -tion, -ed, -er, -ly, -est tie up several letters at once and turn other letters into verbs and adjectives.
- Choose a theme word. The best anagrams comment on the original: astronomer → moon starer, dormitory → dirty room. Think of a word about the subject that fits in the pool and put it in first.
- Work the leftovers. Once two or three words are down, what’s left is short enough to see. The workbench suggests words that fit exactly.
- Rearrange and punctuate. Word order is free, and so are commas, apostrophes and exclamation marks: “lies, let’s recount” is a fair anagram of “election results”.
Kinds of anagram worth aiming for
Apposite anagrams describe the original (the eyes → they see). Antigrams say the opposite (funeral → real fun). Name anagrams describe a person, and make good gifts and pen names. Browse checked examples for inspiration.
Questions
- What makes a good anagram?
- It uses every letter exactly once, reads naturally, and relates to the original: describing it, contradicting it, or commenting on it.
- Can I add or drop a letter?
- Not in a true anagram. If you're one letter off, try swapping one word for another that uses the leftover letter; the workbench shows exactly what's left.