[Webmaster's note: Also included in the on-line version of the Guide is a Luciferian diagram indicating the breakdown into squares and halfsquares, in the manner of his form notation. - Dart]
PENTAGON
A pentagon with nine clues is shaped like one of the examples below. If there is a different number of clues, the length of each side is half that number, rounded up; for example, one with eleven clues would have sides of six letters. The right, and inverted right, pentagons are inherently double.
LEFT PENTAGON T W H O K H E D A W H E E D L E T H E E N I G M A O D D I T I E S A L G I E R S E M E R G E A S S E T
RIGHT PENTAGON D M E M G I M E L P E L O T A S S A N I T A R I A I M I T A T E D R E T A P E S E L A T E S D A L E S
INVERTED LEFT PENTAGON C A M E L A L I N E D M I S D E A L E N D E M I A L L E E M A R V I N D A I R I E S L A V E R L I S N
RIGHT PENTAGON L A P P S C A T A L O P A N A R A B L A N D R A C E D A Y T R A D E R X E R O X E D D A V I D P E A R
PYGMY HOURGLASS
In a Pygmy hourglass (named for its creator, Pygmy), words read across and diagonally from top left to bottom right. Two diagonally adjacent, equal-length words form the basewords. To make a grid for a Pygmy hourglass, start with the middle Across entry; that will be two letters long. Then extend the grid pyramid-style one square at a time in each direction. (For example, in a Pygmy hourglass with 15 across clues, word 8 is two letters long; words 7 and 9 are three letters; and so on, up to words 1 and 15 at nine letters.)
PYGMY HOURGLASS G A B L E E N D S O G R E S S E S O R I E N T E D E A V E S H E R E S U T E S M O D O D A R I H U E S K O R D A B A N I N G G A R O T E R H A R A R E S E P O L I T E S S E
Triple: A triple Pygmy hourglass is the same, except that it has three diagonally adjacent basewords; thus, its central across word is three letters long.
PYGMY HOURGLASS S I C K I E S A N O I N T S T A N K S E R E A R C P F F T K O R E A D E P A R T G E N E S E E
PYRAMID
The pyramid is inherently double.
PYRAMID M G A G L A G O S S E N N E T T S H E D A T E A R S E I Z E T H E D A Y D O N N A R E E D S H O W
INVERTED PYRAMID C O M B A T M I S S I O N Y O U R E I N L U C K B L I N D C O P Y B A N D I T S S I L T S S E E S
TRUNCATED PYRAMID A R B R A M T R A V I S C R I M E L A B S H E N A N I G A N R E E N G I N E E R E D G I A N T S C A U S E W A Y
INVERTED TRUNCATED PYRAMID C I R C U M S T A N T I A L F E E L O N E S O A T S C E N S O R I O U S S A T U R A N T R E T A N S L E N S D E
CONNECTED PYRAMID M S A D S P R E E F O A M P A D C A R R O T T O P T A K E S T H E R A P W I R E L E S S R A D I O F E L I X T H E C A T D I S C A R D E D S T E R E O S S P E W S T A D T
PYRAMIDAL WINDMILL
In a pyramidal windmill (or pyramill), one half of the longest word forms the baseword for a pyramid, and its other half forms the baseword for an inverted pyramid. In addition, a word will be formed on the long diagonal of the form; this word will always read from left to right.
LEFT PYRAMIDAL WINDMILL S H O T P U R E E M A N T R A P P A R T E R R E S B A R K S D A L E A I R F O R C E B A S E S I B Y L L I N E T I D A L L Y E E R I E R O E S
RIGHT PYRAMIDAL WINDMILL S G A D N I V E N A E R O B I A G R A T I T U D E C O M I N G A P A R T A T T H E S E A M S R I V E R S I D E D E P O S E E S A V E R L E T S
In the truncated version, the diagonal word starts at the first letter of the leftmost two-letter across word, goes up or down the diagonal as appropriate, and ends at the second letter of the rightmost two-letter across word. In the examples below, the diagonal entries are TENTDRESSES and PETESAMPRAS.
TRUNCATED LEFT PYRAMIDAL WINDMILL T E C O N N H E G O A T R E P U L S E D M A L E P A T T E R N B A L D N E S S E A G E R E S T S E V E R S S E E D E S
TRUNCATED RIGHT PYRAMIDAL WINDMILL A S R I T A P A L A T E M A K E T T L E D O U B L E B R E A S T E D S U I T S S K I A R E A S E E Y O R E R U S T P E
RECTANGLE
Rectangles are inherently double.
RECTANGLE S A D D E N O R I O L E D E N N I S A S S E S S
RHOMBOID
In a rhomboid, the number of clues is the same as the length of each word. The rhomboid is inherently double.
LEFT RHOMBOID Q U A R T E R T R O U G H S S A N G O U T D E N M A R K R O B B I N S G U L L E Y S S E L E N I C
RIGHT RHOMBOID R A W W O O L T H R E E R S B R O M I N E S E A M I S T S C R I B E S P H A L L U S C O Y N E S S
ROKEBY STAR
A Rokeby star is a compound form consisting of two pyramids, two inverted pyramids, and four rhomboids. In this example, letters forming the border of more than one component form are shown in boldface.
ROKEBY STAR V S E A S A B L E R O L L O N S M O U S E H O L E D E N T I N E W S A N A L Y S T O O T O O L O O S E D U O D E C I M O E R T E R R E L A I D I L E M M A B L A T E D E R A I L A D E N I E L L O S E N S E I N S E N S E S R A C I S T O T T E R T E C H N O R B E A N E D K A U R I S T I E D O D G E D P A R S E C H A S S I S E G U E S D O N E E S H O R T E N E R A C I E R N O L E S S E E E Y E T O E Y E E L I E R D E R I V A B L E R I P E N E D N E R D Y S T Y S
SQUARE
Squares are the oldest and most continually popular type of form.
SQUARE F O R M E R O R I O L E R I C H E S M O H A V E E L E V E N R E S E N T
BIGRAM SQUARE RE AR RE ST AR MA TU RE RE TU NI NG ST RE NG TH
CONNECTED SQUARES C L O M P A I R S L A M I A R D E N O M A N I D A H O M I N E R E H A B P A I R S N O B S
CONSONANTLESS SQUARE O E E E I E on the defensive E A E E E I peacekeeping E E I A E E celestial sphere E E A U E E beleaguered I E E E A A ring-necked pheasant E I E E A Y semilegendary
DOUBLE SQUARE F O R M S A R E A E R A N I N E L A N D D E L E S
PROGRESSIVE SQUARE I C E D C E D E E D E N D E N Y
SEQUENTIAL SQUARES E A S Y R E U P O L E O A L E E A G E E E A S Y L E A R L Y R A S E A T U S E R E A S Y E R O S Y E T I P Y R E O R Y X E A S Y
TRIGRAM SQUARE LOO SEN ESS SEN TIM ENT ESS ENT IAL
VARIOGRAM SQUARE J UMP SHO T UMP I R E SHO R T C UT T E UT ON
VOWELLESS SQUARE T T R B T R attributor T H N T T C thanatotic R N S T T T reinstitute B T T M L N bottom line T T T L N G tattling R C T N G L rectangle
Forms can combine some of these various types. For example, here is a bigram consonantless square (with original words shown):
CONSONANTLESS BIGRAM SQUARE UE OO IA uneconomical OO UO EY colobus monkey IA EY EA vintage year
STAR
In a left star, the diagonal words slope from upper left to lower right; in a right star, they slope from upper right to lower left. If a star has nine clues, its word enumerations are: 1, 2, 7, 6, 5, 6, 7, 2, 1. If there are thirteen clues, it has the shape of the examples below.
LEFT STAR C S O C A N P O L A R I S T I C O V E R E N T E R L E F T S T A R A R T I S A N C R E S S E N T S A I N T A N N A C O N S T A N T A N T E R I R C
RIGHT STAR J I S G E P J I G G E R P U M P S E E D E A T E R P R E S T I G E P A T I L A S U T I L I S E D M E G A S E M I A P R E S E M I N A L D I N A A L
WINDMILL
A windmill consists of two squares the same size linked by a long baseword that runs through them. The baseword's first half is part of one square, and its second half is part of the other.
LEFT WINDMILL S T A M P T I G E R A G A T E M E T E S P R E S I D E N T D I N E R E N N U I N E U M E T R I E S
RIGHT WINDMILL S M E A R H O R D E E X I L E D I C E D S H E D T E A R S M O X I E E R I C A A D L E R R E E D S
This page was last updated on Thursday, June 18, 2015. /webmaster
