Flats
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Flats are a type of word puzzle popularized by the National Puzzlers' League, in which a short, rhyming piece of text is presented with certain words replaced by placeholders. The goal is then to use the context of the rest of the text and any particular rules for a given Flat to determine what the missing words are.
Background
Flats have existed since the 19th century, at least. They predate the modern crossword puzzle by several decades, and are considered one of the earliest 'modern' word puzzles.
Flats are most notable for their place as the primary puzzle type within the National Puzzlers' League (NPL), who have adapted the genre into multiple forms over time since their founding in 1883.
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Puzzle Application
The basic premise of a Flat is that solvers are attempting to fill gaps in a short poem or sentence based on contextual clues and particular qualities of the missing words, which together form the 'base'. Depending on the qualities being played with, these poems may be as short as a couplet or as long as a couple verses, but tend to be within the 2-5 line range.
When constructing a Flat, there are a few rules that setters are expected to follow, particular when submitting to the NPL for publication. These include:
- Answers must be able to be found in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, or either the second or third edition of Webster's New International Dictionary. While this rule is important for official publication, it may vary for flats found in puzzle hunts.
- Flats must contain an enumeration for the missing words.
- Words in the base need to be replaced by placeholders called 'cue words'. These are usually numerical (like ONE and TWO), or part of a particular pair/triplet/etc of words (like THIS and THAT), and should replace their respective base words every time their appear in the verse.
- The verse making up the flat should rhyme and scan properly after the base words have been replaced by their cue words. This rule may be broken for comedic effect or other reasons (if done well).
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Strategy
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Notable Examples
- 1-1=2 (MITMH 2005)
- Flat Head (MITMH 2011)
- Flattery Will Get Your Nowhere (MITMH 2018)
