What is "anamonic"

n. A mnemonic used for recalling lists of words, particularly in Scrabble, consisting of a "stem" of base letters and an accompanying phrase, each of whose letters can combine with the stem to form an anagram of a word.

An anamonic is a form of mnemonic device frequently employed by tournament Scrabble players (the word anamonic is itself a portmanteau of anagram and mnemonic). It consists of a six or seven letter "stem" (often, but not always, an acceptable word itself), paired with a phrase in which each letter can be added to the stem and rearranged (anagrammed) to form a new word. Typical stems are sets of six or seven letters, as such anamonics aid in learning and in finding valuable seven- and eight-letter bingo ( UK: "bonus") plays. Just as importantly, a player can quickly verify that he or she should not waste valuable time looking for a word in a set of letters that is ruled out by an anamonic.

A successful anamonic will typically have some memorable semantic relationship to the stem. It will usually avoid unnecessary or easily confused words, which might lead to a misconception of just which letters combine with the stem.

When no vowel combines with the stem, an anamonic phrase will typically make use of multiple vowels that are meant to be ignored. A skilled Scrabble player will typically be able to verify that at least one of these vowels does not form an acceptable word with the stem, thereby avoiding confusion.

Authorship of particularly noteworthy anamonics is often acknowledged, although this is not necessarily expected by the Scrabble community.