# Are there any \>2 letter sets that always create a word when jumbled?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-2-letter-sets-that-always-create-a-word-when-jumbled/648611
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 28, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-2-letter-sets-that-always-create-a-word-when-jumbled/648611 "2013-01-28T14:49:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-2-letter-sets-that-always-create-a-word-when-jumbled/648611/21 "2013-01-29T02:01:18Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#):
>
> The grand daddy -and superset- of most of these replies is “earth”, assuming you don’t have to use all letters each time. In my head I came up with 21 combinations, if I recall, but I am not doing it again right now.
But this is a strange criterion. Dearth obviously has more combinations than earth, as does earths. Then of course wreaths beats that, etc.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-2-letter-sets-that-always-create-a-word-when-jumbled/648611/22 "2013-01-29T02:09:36Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#):
>
> Surely there is a program that can match all of the permutations of a three letter set to a given dictionary. That is, of course, the first thing that comes to mind. The second is a desire to actually code it in the language that I am currently using.
>
> And yes, I am a geek.
> [@MikeS](#):
>
> I wrote a brief Mathematica program that looked through its dictionary of uncapitalized three-letter words and found the letter combinations that occurred most often. Then I adapted it to longer words out of curiosity…
It’s guys like you who take the fun out of stuff. Now I can’t try for more. ☹
Unlike OP–unless he really has done an exhaustive check–i think there must be a name for this anagram game. Recreational language people are a formidable lot.
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-2-letter-sets-that-always-create-a-word-when-jumbled/648611/23 "2013-01-29T05:19:55Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> i think there must be a name for this anagram game. Recreational language people are a formidable lot.
I don’t know of any specific name for it. There are those who try to find as many anagrams as they can for a given set of letters, but I’m not one of them. They don’t restrict it to just dictionary words, but allow all kinds of names and coined words and whatnot. They usually look for fairly long sets of letters such as AEGINRST or ACEINORST.
In my posting above, I had a 7-letter, 8-word set:
> [@](#):
>
> AEINRST - nastier resiant restain retains retinas retsina stainer stearin
After posting, I noticed MikeS had this letter set, but had **antsier** in his list. So that makes it a 9-word set. I’m sure this (and all the other) sets of words could be greatly expanded by allowing names etc.
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