Ditloids

A “ditloid” is a type of word puzzle in which a book or film title, quote or well known saying must be deduced from a set of numbers and letters in a clue. Normally short words such as “in”, “an”, “the” etc. are not abbreviated. An example might be  :

3= C in a F   [Three Coins in a Fountain.]

The name ditloid apparently originates from one of the first known examples of these puzzles namely:

1=DitLoID.

Which, of course, refers to “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisowich” – the 1962 novel by Aleksandr Solzheniskn.

This is the traditional method of presenting the puzzle, e.g. “11=F in a C “[11 Fathoms in a Chain] but nowadays many are presented as a mix of numbers and letter such as “AB a t 40 T” [Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves]. I prefer the first approach but both are acceptable.

Here are a few example sheets, but have fun making your own up.

• Easy Ditloids (Easy Ditloids – Answers)
• Difficult Ditloids (Difficult Ditloids – Answers)
• Killer Ditloids (Killer Ditloids – Answers)