HOWZAT

Only the base forms of verbs are allowed (the infinitive, without the word "to"), not any variations such as present tense, past tense or participles, even if they're irregularly formed. For example, "see" is allowed, but not "sees" or "seen". However, if a verb form is explicitly listed in COED as a different part of speech, it is allowed. For example, "saw" (noun), "seeing" (conjunction or noun) and "given" (adjective, preposition or noun) are allowed.

Agent nouns ending in -er are allowed if they're listed in COED. For example, "mincer" is allowed, but "mooner" isn't.

Basic forms of adjectives are allowed, but not comparatives (usually ending in -er) or superlatives (usually ending in -est). For example, "nice" is allowed, but "nicer" and "nicest" aren't. Irregular comparatives and superlatives such as "better", "best" and "worse" are disallowed as forms of adjectives, but many of them are also listed in COED as other parts of speech (eg "worst" = "get the better of"), and are therefore allowed on that basis.

Adverbs ending in -ly aren't allowed.

Any word in COED is allowed, even if it's marked as slang, archaic, US, etc.

Occasionally, you may find words that fit all the above criteria but aren't listed among the printed answers. If you do, you can feel satisfied that you've outwitted the puzzle setter.

HINTS FOR SOLVING

Look for common beginnings, such as UN- or SUB-, and endings, such as -ER or -ISM.

Look for pairs of letters that go well together, such as ST, PR or ND.

Write out the letters in a different order, in case you spot something different.

Don't forget to look for words that begin with a vowel.

When you find a word, try reading it backwards, to see if it suggests another word.

When you find a word, try to find all the rearrangements of its letters that also form words.

When you find a word, try substituting the remaining letters into it.

If you have any other queries about Polygon please e-mail: polygon@thetimes.co.uk

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