Anagramania! Intermediate Edition Game

Early Uses of Anagrams

Anagrams are not quite such a modern idea as you might imagine. According to some historians, anagrams originated in the 4th century BC with the Greek poet Lycophron who use them to flatter the rich and mighty. Other sources suggest that Pythagoras, in the 6th century BC, used anagrams to discover deep philosophical meanings.

In Roman and early Christian times, anagrams were often believed to have mystical or prophetic meaning. After this, anagrams appear to have been little used until the 13th century AD, when the Jewish Cabalists also attributed a mystical significance to them.

Anagrams started to become popular in Europe in the Middle Ages. In the days of French royalty, Louis XIII actually appointed a Royal Anagrammatist, Thomas Billon, to entertain the Court with amusing anagrams of people's names.

However, the principal activity of anagrammatists in the Middle Ages was in forming anagrams on religious texts (see Biblia Anagrammatica by Walter Begley on the Anagram Books page).

In the past authors have anagrammed their names to create pseudonyms. For example, Francios Rabelais became Alcofribas Nasier and Calvinus became Alcuinus.

Modern Uses of Anagrams

In the 16th and 17th centuries, scientists, such as Galileo, Huygens and Robert Hooke, often recorded their results in anagram form to stake their claim on a discovery and prevent anyone else claiming the credit.

The 19th century brought about the vogue of anagramming the names of famous people (see also celebrity anagrams), something which is still very popular today. This era also gave us the cognate anagram, where the anagram has some relevance to the original, e.g. an anagram of Astronomer is Moon starer.

In recent decades, anagrams have become popular in a different role. They are often included in the clues for cryptic crosswords.

With the help of computer-based anagram generator software such as Anagram Genius it has become quicker and easier to produce high quality anagrams. There is nevertheless still great skill required to create good anagrams, even using these anagram finder programs.

(Based on information from alt.anagrams and The Anagram Dictionary by Michael Curl.)

The above is reprinted with permission and courtesy of www.fun-with-words.com Anyone interested in learning more about anagrams or fun with words in general, please check out www.fun-with-words.com. They offer some very interesting and useful information and it is highly recommended.

Anagramania is a great educational board game to introduce children to a variety of words and their meanings. It helps to build logical thinking and helps build a strong and diverse vocabulary. At the same time this is a GREAT game for the whole family! 

If word games like Scrabble® and cryptic crossword puzzles are your thing, you'll have a blast with Anagramania!

No. players: 2-6 Ages: Teens & Adults Playing time: 25-40 min Contents: Play board, One-Minute Sand Timer, 30-Sided Letter Die, Decal Sheet, 6 Clue Pockets, Answer Pocket, Pad of Clue Sheets for 24 Games (6 Sheets per Game), Pad of Answer Sheets, 6 Plastic Play Pieces, 6 Pencils with Erasers, 6 Answer Pads, Rules of Play Booklet, Quick Start Guide

·         Winner of 2004 Educational Gift Award from Homeschool.com, http://www.homeschool.com/articles/GiftGuide04/default.asp

·         Anagramania receives Award of Excellence  - "Anagramania is by far, one of the very best products we have reviewed to date when it comes to educational board games." The Toy Man Online, 3/17/05, http://thetoymanonline.com/product_review.html?p=Anagramania

·         A big thumbs-up from Family Review Center, "Not many games have I found to be as enriching, engaging and captivating as I have this one. Anagramania is a true blast!"  Marti M.  http://www.familyreview.org/reviews/games.html

·         Original Edition' garnered first award for Anagramania, "Perhaps even more ingenious is the game itself. The timer doesn't start until one player announces that he or she can solve the anagram. The rest of the players then have one minute to find the solution. This works brilliantly to keep everyone in play."  Bernie DeKoven ("Major Fun") , DeKoven's FunLog: Anagramania indeed