Contents
Anagram Finder

Contents

Introduction

Step-by-step instructions

Controls and Boxes

Hints

Word List

Command Line

About Anagram Finder, and the author


Word list

The words produced by Anagram Finder are taken from a file supplied with it called ANAGWORD.TXT. There are about 41,000 words in the list. If you don't like some of the words that Anagram Finder produces, or have some words to add, simply edit the file using any ASCII editor which can cope with enough lines. Do not create a blank line at the end of the file - the end of the file should be at the end of the last word.

The word list is a composite of several lists obtained from public-domain sources, and contains a mixture of US and English spelling, and probably some misspelling too. It includes names,  so it is sometimes possible to change an individual's name into another quite different name. If you have alternative lists, or wish to edit the list to make it more suitable for some uses, please contact me.

If you want Anagram Finder to produce single letters as part of the anagram add them, one to a line, to the ANAGWORD.TXT file.


Source Letters

Type in this box the letters from which you wish to make an anagram. They might represent the name of a person or any other collection of letters you want.

Letters are converted automatically to upper case as you type them in. You may type spaces, punctuation or non-alphabetic characters, but they will be ignored when forming the anagrams.

If you edit the contents of the Source Letters box, Anagram Finder starts again with the new letters.

Note that the number of words produced increases markedly with the number of letters you enter - on slower systems it may take some time for the initial set of words to be displayed, or you may see a message that more words than can be fitted in the word list box have been produced.


Phrase box
Phrase

This box shows the words chosen so far. You may type words which do not appear in the word list, but which you want to use, directly into the box. If you change the phrase manually in this way, the search process starts again based on the letters left, and it is not possible to return any words of the phrase to the letters left.


Letters left box
Letters left

This box shows the letters left after the letters of the words in the Phrase box have been removed from the source letters.


Words found

This list box shows the possible words which can be made from the letters in the Letters left box.

Double-click on a word to choose it, or highlight it with a single click and then press the Find button.


Quit button

Leaves the dialog box, and returns to the menus.


Help button

Enters this help system.


Find button

Initiates a search based on the currently selected item in the Words Found list.


Back button

Removes the last word you selected to add to the phrase, and displays a new word list.

You can step back as many times as you like, until the Phrase Box is empty.


Step-by-step instructions

1. Choose 'Find Anagram' from the Edit menu

2. Type the letters for which you wish to find an anagram into the Source Letters box

3. Click on the Find button or press Enter/Return

4. From the list of words displayed, choose a word by clicking on it, and click on the Find button again. The word you have chosen will be added to the Phrase list and a new, more restricted,  list of words will be displayed. Keep doing this until all the letters have been used, or you can go no further. If you follow a blind alley, you can click on the Back button to retrace your steps.


Introduction

Anagram Finder is a program for exploring anagrams. Given any reasonably varied set of letters, it is often possible to create an alternative phrase which contains all the letters of the source, and itself forms an amusing or pertinent phrase. There have been a number of interesting phrases produced using the letters Winston Spencer Churchill, or Margaret Thatcher, for instance. Lewis Carroll memorably turned William Ewart Gladstone into Wild agitator! Means well.

Anagram Finder does not find these phrases for you; instead it simplifies and automates the search process - it still relies on your inventiveness and perception to spot the emergence of an interesting phrase.

Be warned - to some people anagrams can be as addictive as fractals, and offer almost as many avenues to explore.


Hints

Sometimes it is necessary to be imaginative with spelling, abbreviation or punctuation to produce an interesting anagram. For example, if you were left with the letters lo, but really wanted to make old, the abbreviation ol' might be acceptable in the case of an American subject.

Try to choose an apposite main word - in the example on Gladstone given in the Introduction, the key word was agitator, and this might easily have been spotted in the initial word list - another promising word which appears is alarmist.

In the Letters left box, try to observe potentially difficult combinations of letters, and use some of them sooner rather than later - the letter W is duplicated in the remaining letters for the Gladstone example if alarmist is removed. Look also for imbalances of vowels and consonants.

If you are having trouble forming an anagram from a name, include the middle name, or use the full version of the first name.


About Anagram Finder
About Anagram Finder, and the author

Anagram Finder is free - there is no registration fee, no obligation. I accept no responsibility for loss or damage arising from the use of this program.

Anagram Finder is one of several word-related programs written by the author, including crossword solvers and an implementation of the Scrabble word game under Windows. Please contact me via CompuServe if you are interested.

If you have comments to make, or want to pass on some interesting anagrams, contact me on CompuServe, James Lucy, 100023, 504


Controls and Boxes

Click on the part of the picture for which you want information:


Command Line

Anagram Finder will use any text which follows the program name as letters from which to make the anagram. For example, if the Command Line in the Windows Desktop Program Item Properties box is set to:

anag.exe winstonchurchill

then 'winstonchurchill' will be completed for you in the source letters box when Anagram Finder starts.