Best Anagrams of the NPL
The anagrams listed below were all composed by members of the NPL and published in The Enigma. The members' noms are given and the date of original publication. In the NPL, anagrams are required to be apposite1)in some way, so that “big melons” is not a valid anagram of “Mel Gibson”, for example. This constraint makes a good anagram much harder to find. Short, good anagrams are particularly rare; it's worth noting that most of these are very short.
| greyhound / hey, dog, run! | King Carnival, 1898 | |
| conversation / voices rant on | Sam Weller, 1898 | |
| old masters / art's models | Traddles, 1898 | |
| a gentleman / elegant man | Nypho, 1911 | |
| pittance / a cent tip | Duke, 1913 | |
| diplomacy / mad policy | Jemand, 1916 | |
| blandishment / blinds the man | Kee Pon, 1917 | |
| wild oats / sow it, lad | Remardo, 1917 | |
| desperation / a rope ends it | Air Raid, 1920 | |
| delicatessen / ensliced eats | Anonyme, 1921 | |
| Western Union / no wire unsent | Le Dare, 1922 | |
| fragile / e.g., frail | Hi Kerr, 1926 | |
| domesticated animal / docile, as man tamed it | Roscoe, 1926 | |
| negation / get a “no” in | Yercas, 1926 | |
| a decimal point / I'm a dot in place | A. Chem, 1928 | |
| protectionism / nice to imports | Hercules, 1928 | |
| incomprehensible / problem in Chinese | Gemini, 1929 | |
| hibernated / bear hit den | Viking, 1934 | |
| mother-in-law / woman Hitler | Nypho, 1936 | |
| the Morse code / here come dots | Si, 1939 | |
| cabaret / a bar, etc. | Hoho, 1941 | |
| inconsistent / n is, n is not, etc. | Wrong Font, 1943 | |
| waitress / a stew, Sir? | Osaple, 1948 | |
| the countryside / no city dust here | Su San, 1948 | |
| stormy weather / showery matter | Baful, 1964 | |
| Armageddon / mad god near | Fanacro, 1973 | |
| the relief pitcher / fierce hitter? help! | Larry, 1974 | |
| prognosis / signs: poor | Hap, 1975 | |
| H.M.S. Pinafore / name for ship | Mangie, 1975 | |
| ramshackle / charm? leaks | Hap, 1975 | |
| the cafeteria / fact: I eat here | Travv, 1976 | |
| seraglios / girl oases | Ab Struse, 1979 | |
| the Hilton / hint: Hotel | Atlantic, 1982 | |
| snooze alarms / alas, no more Z's | Atlantic, 1982 | |
| sunbathe / heat buns | Double-H, 1984 | |
| Rocky Mountains / O, man, ski country | Ruthless, 1985 | |
| in flagrante delicto / Ted, Ella fornicating | Shrdlu, 1989 | |
| the stutterer / utters t-there | Ulk, 1992 | |
| falsehood / has fooled | Ab Struse, 1993 | |
| past due / date's up | Quiz, 1993 | |
| debit card / bad credit | Te-Zir-Man, 1993 | |
| pastorship / parish post | Kea, 1994 | |
| a steward / draws tea | Panache, 1994 | |
| the check is in the mail / claim “Heck, I sent it (heh)” | Wabbit, 1994 | |
| U.S. Grant, R.E. Lee / true generals | Ulk, 1997 |