This is something that goes on inside my head. I see words and drill down to their center letter(s). The word’s center may be perfect, imperfect, half-reversed, stubbornly without a central nervous system, or anything else I more or less arbitrarily decide to label it.
Words with an even number of letters are the most inviting challenge. I find the middle two letters and rhythmically determine what letter(s) are alphabetically positioned evenly in between. The center of A and E, for example, is C. Other word games inhabit my brain. This one happens to be on my mind and once and for all I will send it to my hands.
This game has inhabited my brain since grade school. The mental search for center letters is sung to various tunes from Bizet’s “Carmen”, Beethoven’s Opus 111 Piano Sonata, cadences borrowed from high school marching band, and others. Most times I get to the center of any word put before me but sometimes I just give up. I’ve never discussed this out loud or typed this out until now.
I’ve imagined this game being taught in a grammarly fashion to youngsters in grade school. The centers of broadly separated letters such as A and V, or G and Y, might be memorized and recited by rote. A teacher would speak random letter combinations which the students would be expected to have memorized. Optimally their minds would be trained to instinctively know the center letters without taking the low road of straight memorization.
Teacher: “C, O.”
Class: “I.”
Teacher: “S, E.”
Class: “L, imperfect reversed.”
These words are chosen from things that are on my desk or on my mind.
KODACHROME – O
OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF KODACHROME IS EF.
FIRST 2 WORDS THAT START AND END WITH E…F ARE ELF AND ERF.
PERFECT CENTERS OF ELF AND ERF ARE L AND R.
PERFECT CENTER OF L AND R IS O.
THUS, THE PERFECT CENTER OF KODACHROME IS O.
MAGAZINE – C
OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF MAGAZINE IS MN.
MAN AND MEN ARE THE FIRST 2 WORDS THAT START AND END WITH M…N.
PERFECT CENTERS OF MAN AND MEN ARE A AND E.
PERFECT CENTER OF A AND E IS C.
THUS THE PERFECT CENTER OF MAGAZINE IS C.
PUBLIC – G
OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF PUBLIC IS BL.
PERFECT CENTER OF BL IS G.
THUS THE PERFECT CENTER OF PUBLIC IS G.
REFLECTION – D, IMPERFECT REVERSED
OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF REFLECTION IS EC.
AS E AND C ARE IN REVERSE ORDER THE IMPERFECT CENTER IS D, REVERSED.
GIRLFRIEND – L
OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF GIRLFRIEND IS FR.
PERFECT CENTER OF FR IS L.
PERFECT CENTER OF GIRLFRIEND IS L.
KEYBOARD – DIJ, PERFECT OBSTRUCTED
FIRST WORDS THAT START WITH H AND END WITH I ARE HADJI AND HAJI.
PERFECT CENTER OF HADJI IS D, OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF HAJI IS EF.
FIRST WORDS THAT START AND END WITH E…F ARE ELF AND ERF.
PERFECT CENTER OF ELF AND ERF ARE L AND R.
PERFECT CENTER OF L AND R IS O.
OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF D AND O IS IJ.
NO WORDS START WITH I AND END WITH J.
THUS THE PERFECT CENTER OF HADJI JOINS THE OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF HAJI TO FORM DIJ.
MARIGOLD – H, PERFECT REVERSED
THE CENTER OF I AND G IS H, REVERSED.
H REVERSED FORMS A PERFECT H.
HEADPHONES – L, IMPERFECT REVERSED
OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF HEADPHONES IS PH.
IMPERFECT CENTER OF PH IS L, REVERSED.
ROLODEX – O
PERFECT CENTER OF ROLODEX IS O.
SOME WOULD ARGUE THAT ITS POSITION BETWEEN L AND D MAKES IT PERFECT REVERSED, AS O REVERSED FORMS A PERFECT O.
MEMORIES – PQ, OBSTRUCTED, OR D, OR K IMPERFECT REVERSED, EXTENDED.
NO WORDS START WITH P AND END WITH Q, UNLESS THE ABBREVIATION P.D.Q. IS CONSIDERED, IN WHICH CASE D IS THE PERFECT CENTER.
AN EXTENDED SEARCH FOR THE CENTER OR MEMORIES WOULD CONSIDER THE SURROUNDING LETTERS M AND I. THE IMPERFECT REVERSED CENTER OF M AND I IS K IMPERFECT REVERSED, OR K IMPERFECT REVERSED EXTENDED.
COSTCO – C
OBSTRUCTED CENTER OF COSTCO IS ST.
FIRST WORDS THAT START AND END WITH S…T ARE SAT AND SET.
PERFECT CENTERS OF SAT AND SET ARE A AND E.
PERFECT CENTER OF A AND E IS C.
THUS THE PERFECT CENTER OF COSTCO IS C.
COFFEE – N, SEMI-PERFECT HALF-REVERSED
OBSTRUCTED CENTER IS FF.
FIRST WORDS THAT START AND END WITH F ARE FIEF AND FLUFF.
IMPERFECT REVERSED CENTER OF FIEF IS G, PERFECT CENTER OF FLUFF IS U.
AS G IS IMPERFECT REVERSED THE CENTER OF G AND U IS N, SEMI-PERFECT HALF-REVERSED.
HEADPHONES – L, IMPERFECT REVERSED
CENTER OF P AND H IS L, REVERSED.
