Chihuahua Nine-Letter Word Puzzles, published in January 2010, contains 100 puzzles similar to the daily word puzzles on this website.
Each puzzle challenges you to make as many words as you can from a set of nine letters. All words must be four letters or longer, and include the letter in the middle of the puzzle.
There is always at least one word using all nine letters.
There are five target levels for how many words you find. Good, Better and Best are targets you may be able to reach using words that are fairly well-known. But you will need to know a lot of obscure words to achieve either of the two highest target levels, Maven and Cham.
Full solutions are provided at the back of the book, with the common and rare words listed separately.
For more information about the Chihuahua puzzle book, read the book's Introduction and Acknowledgements, reproduced below.
You can order the book now, at its Amazon.com page or, if you prefer, the Barnes and Noble website.
Alternatively, click here to order the book direct from the distributor, CreateSpace.
Soon, the book will also be available at Amazon sites in the UK, Canada, etc, and from other book retailers' websites.
The book is not available over the counter anywhere, and probably never will be, so if you want a copy, you'll have to get it online.
Introduction
Here are 100 puzzles that challenge your ability to make words from a set of nine letters.
How to Play
Use some or all of the nine letters in each puzzle grid to make as many words as you can. Letters can be used in any order, but the letter in the middle must be used in every word. Words must have at least four letters. You should be able to find at least one word that uses all the letters.
Targets are shown for Good, Better and Best. These can be reached using words that most people would probably know. For word enthusiasts who know a lot of the more unusual words, there are two higher target levels: Maven and Cham. You will need to know some very rare words to hit either of these targets.
Solutions are listed at the end of the book.
What words are allowed?
You can use any English word that is not written with a capital letter or punctuation mark. You can use foreign words that have been adopted by the English language, as well as colloquial and slang words. (However, the letters have been chosen so as to avoid words that might offend some players.)
Variant spellings, such as British and American versions of words, are all permitted. Words that originated as abbreviations are acceptable if they are now written in lower-case letters with no punctuation marks — for example, indie, scuba. You can use all forms of words, such as plurals and past tenses.
About Chihuahua Puzzles
Puzzles like these have been around in one form or another for over 100 years. They are known by many names: Target, Word Hunt, Polygon, Wordwheel, etc.
In 2005, the Chihuahua Daily Online Word Puzzle website (chi.lexigame.com) started up. The nine-letter word puzzles on this site quickly attracted a dedicated following. Now 100 Chihuahua puzzles have been brought together in this book.
Why are they called Chihuahua puzzles? Simply because chihuahua is one nine-letter word you will never see in one of these puzzles — the letters are just too hard to use for making any other words!
There is an online forum where you can compare notes with other Chihuahua players. Its address is www.lexigame.com/forum. While you're visiting the forum, let us know what you think about this book and its puzzles. Suggestions may be incorporated in future volumes of puzzles. If you prefer, you can send comments by email, to info@lexigame.com.
Acknowledgements
This book was produced with the assistance of numerous high quality free and open source software tools. Many thanks to all those who have made the fruits of their creativity freely available on the Internet.
Thanks also to the compilers of the "YAWL" and "12dicts" English word lists, which were used in compiling the common and rare word lists for Chihuahua puzzles.
Hundreds of words have been added to the acceptable Chihuahua words as a result of suggestions made by online players of the puzzles. Thanks to all who have taken the time to send in these ideas.
Above all, thanks to all the regular online Chihuahua players and forum participants. Your interest and encouragement has kept the Chihuahua Word Puzzles going, and growing.