Trey Jones l’École de SpecGram, Tokyo The FonoNurikabe Puzzle α = sibilants in “pathologicopsychological” β = affricates in “cholecystojejunostomy” γ = liquids in “laterals” δ = nasals in “nonrepresentationalism” ε = sibilants in “sibilant” ζ = bilabials in “hyperleptoprosopic” η = voiceless alveolar lateral fricatives         in Welsh “Lloyd Llywelyn” θ = voiceless dental fricatives in “thirteenth” ι = diacritics in French “crème brûlée” κ = alveolar trills in Spanish “ferrocarril” λ = liquids in “liquids” μ = voiceless stops in “tektite” ν = palatal approximants in “yo-yo” ξ = voiceless stops in “topknot” ο = glottal stops in Hawai‘ian “hō‘a‘ā” π = laterals in “liquids” ρ = fricatives in “ghoti”

We’re at it again!

T with Upper-left Hook

SpecGram is pleased to continue our seemingly endless series of Linguistically-Themed Pseudo-Nihonese Puzzles. Now it is time for FonoNurikabe, a linguisticky variant of the en vogue Japanese logic puzzle Nurikabe.

FonoNurikabe is a simple extension of the traditional Nurikabe form. First, replace each Greek letter with the number indicated by the clue provided. (The reference pronunciation is Standard American English.) Then proceed with the standard Nurikabe rules to figure out for each cell of the grid whether it should be black or white. To wit:

• The black cells together make up the nurikabe—they must form a single contiguous mass, touching one another either horizontally or vertically.
• The nurikabe cannot cover any numbers, and cannot include any solid rectangles of size 2x2 or larger.
• The white cells form islands—each number must reside in exactly one island made up of exactly the specified number of white cells.
• All cells are either part of the nurikabe, or part of a numbered island.

	Solution to the HitoriGuistiku Puzzle from last time.

Now, the solution—well, a solution at the very least—to the HitoriGuistiku puzzle from last issue is at right. Four seemingly correct solutions for this puzzle were submitted, and from that group four winners have been selected to receive SpecGram magnets as prizes. Congratulations to our winners:

• Del Barrett of London, England
• Rebecca Defina of Medlow Bath, Australia
• David Peterson of Garden Grove, California
• Erik Gedeborg of Södertälje, Sweden

If you find yourself compelled to undertake FonoNurikabe, email your solution to SpecGram. At least one random winner chosen from among those who send in correctly completed puzzles by June 15th, 2007 will be awarded a SpecGram magnet.

A solution (possibly even the correct one) and the name of the prize winners (if any) will appear in the upcoming July issue.

	Cartoon Theories of Linguistics Part 3—Morphological Typology—Phineas Q. Phlogiston, Ph.D.
	SpecGram Vol CLII, No 3 Contents