Two Ten-Squares
by Rex Gooch
Excerpted from articles in the August and November 2002 Word Ways
A ten-square consists of ten different 10-letter words, all to be found in reputable dictionaries or perhaps gazetteers, arranged one under another so that the first row word is the same as the first column word, and so on, like:
A B A P T I S T U M Webster’s Second
B A H R A M T A P A Bahramtapa, Azerbaijan, 39º44’ lat, 47º57’ long, NIMA
A H L E R B R U C H Ahlerbruch, Germany, 52º12’ lat, 8º29’ long, NIMA
P R E P A R A T O R Oxford English Dictionary
T A R A D A N O V A Taradanova, Russia, 54º45 lat, 86º41’ long, NIMA
I M B R A N G L E S Oxford English Dictionary imbrangle, verb
S T R A N G F O R D in Hereford & Worcester, England, Autostreet 2000 lite
T A U T O L O G I A Late Latin (or Greek), whence tautology, qv in OED
U P C O V E R I N G Oxford English Dictionary
M A H R A S D A G I Mahras Dagi, Turkey, 36º43’ lat, 33º17’ long, NIMANote:
NIMA = National Imagery and Mapping Agency’s database
Taradanova can be substituted by Tarakanova, 55º21’ lat, 38º57’ long, also in Russia
Mahras Dagi is equivalent in form to Mount Everest; the g in Dagi should have a circumflex, which does not sound but lengthens the preceding vowelD E S C E N D A N T Oxford English Dictionary
E C H E N E I D A E Echeneidae, Webster’s Second genus
S H O R T C O A T S Oxford English Dictionary short-coat, 1649 quote
C E R B E R U L U S ITIS animal: Camponotus cerberulus venturensis
E N T E R O M E R E enteromere, Webster’s Second entero-
N E C R O L A T E R necrolater, Chambers necro-
D I O U M A B A N A Dioumabana, Guinea, 11º16’ lat, 9º08’ long, NIMA
A D A L E T A B A T Adaletabat, Turkey, 38º58 lat, 42º42’ long, NIMA
N A T U R E N A M E nature-name, Oxford English Dictionary nature, V.15.
T E S S E R A T E D tesserated, Oxford English Dictionary tesserateNote:
ITIS = Integrated Taxonomic Information System, US Department of AgricultureDeficiencies: the first square includes five place-names (including one of two words), and a Latin word from which a familiar English word is obviously derived; the second square (which I prefer) includes two place-names and a hyphenated word. I pay little attention to hyphens, as dictionaries often differ, and I feel their existence is rather quixotic.