# Squaring Words

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squaring-words/771773>\
**Category:** Thread Games\
**Created:** [November 13, 2016, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squaring-words/771773 "2016-11-13T05:04:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squaring-words/771773/1 "2016-11-13T05:04:09Z")

</div>

This is, apparently, an old word game, now rather obscure. The point is to make squares out of words, such that they read the same way left-to-right and top-to-bottom. The classic Sator Square is the best known example now:

```auto

S A T O R
A R E P O
T E N E T
O P E R A
R O T A S

```

(Putting these things in code blocks makes them easier to read, but you don’t have to put spaces between letters.)

I’ve been doing them recently, and I find them a nice little alternative to crosswords. A few examples:

```auto

red
era
dab

```

```auto

hate
aces
temp
espy

```

```auto

word
okay
raga
dyad

```

```auto

time
item
meti
emit

```

(METI is Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, or Active SETI. Hey, the Sator Square uses a proper noun, too!)

(Needless to say, doing them entirely in palindromes is not necessary for something to be a word square.)

```auto

cream
rumba
ember
abets
marsh

```

So, maybe we could each do one, and post the top word as a challenge for the next poster. (You might want to do the challenge, too, just to make sure it’s not too much of a pain. Order five squares are doable, but, as you might imagine, they get more of a pain the larger they get.)

So, since I’ve already posted “hate”, my challenge is “love”.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squaring-words/771773/2 "2016-11-16T17:44:19Z")

</div>

```auto

**LOVE
OVAL
VANE
ELED**

```

ELED, since you’re accepting acronyms.

Does this work?