Dan Hoey sent a full analysis: In case you're interested, I've gone through the four-letter words and separated them (idiosyncratically) into common and uncommon words. The only 16-letter words that form squares with all common words are articulatenesses, instrumentations, and obstreperousness. The most uncommon square comes from artificialnesses, with seven uncommon words. Only articulatenesses and manageablenesses have squares with six uncommon words. Uncommon aine airn airt alae alan alar alif alts amas amia amin amir anas anes anis anoa ansa anta ates aves avos azon bene blin bora bree carl cero cist coss dene ebon ecus edhs elds elhi engs enol epos erne erns eses farl fice fids firn fisc flic hins ilea ilia inia isba lang lats leno linn lits luce lunt mair miri mise mott naoi neem ness nevi nide nidi nims nodi ocas odea olea orcs ordo orle oses ossa parr pina pirn poon puri raia rale rani rase rato rede reis rins sabe sain sans sati scop scup seta sial sice sims siti sned sorn sris stum syne tace tael tala tali tass teds tirl tiro titi tola tori torr trop udos unai unco uric zori Common able acme acne acts aids airs alas alee ales alit aloe also amen anal anon anti ants anus aped apes apse ares aria arms arse arts atop auto bane bans bare barn bent best bier born care cars case cede cent cess cine cite clan clue code coin cole cone cope cote crop cure cute deer dint east eats ecru edit elan else emit ends eras errs etas etna euro exam fast firs fits home ices icon idea ides idle inch inns into ires iris iron item lama lase lens lent lest lice lieu limn line lira lire list loco lope lorn lure lust main mama mast mats mead mere mesh mini mint mist molt moss mule mush nape nave neat need nest noes nose oast odes odor oles ones onus oped opus orca ores oryx ours pale pane pans pare pens pent pest pile pipe plop poop pore pose post pots pout pram prat psst ramp rams rant rapt rats rear reds reel rein rest rice rife rile rims riot rise rocs rose rote rues rump rust ruts sacs sail sale sane sash sass sate scan scat scot sear seas seat seen seer sees sent sere sets shed ship silt sine sire sits slam sled slim slit slut smit smut snit snob solo sore sort sots span spar spun spur star step stet stir stop stun sues sums tads tale tans tapa tarp tats teas teem teen tens tent test tier tile tilt tine tins tint tome tone tosh toss tram trap trio tsar ulna unit upon urns uses vino > Can anyone find another 16 letter word or phrase that can make a 4x4 > word square of common words? (some weathervanes also works, but I > liked the book title much more.) I have a file of Scrabble words from 1992. It has 261 16-letter words and 3686 four-letter words, and they can be used to form 159 word squares of this type (one of them symmetric). Of course, many of the words are not common, but "obstreperousness" forms a square with common words. Here are the 35 16-letter words and 388 four-letter words that are used in the word squares. 16-letter words used: adventitiousness articulatenesses artificialnesses attractivenesses calamitousnesses conservationists counterpressures counterproposals counterresponses deliberatenesses disproportionate extemporaneously humanitarianisms inappositenesses instrumentalists instrumentations internationalism interrelatedness malodorousnesses manageablenesses methodicalnesses misapprehensions obstreperousness parliamentarians postadolescences precancellations precariousnesses prenotifications professionalized reasonablenesses reclassification reconsiderations simultaneousness superpatriotisms totalitarianisms Four-letter words used: able acme acne acts aids aine airn airs airt alae alan alar alas alee ales alif alit aloe also alts amas amen amia amin amir anal anas anes anis anoa anon ansa anta anti ants anus aped apes apse ares aria arms arse arts ates atop auto aves avos azon bane bans bare barn bene bent best bier blin bora born bree care carl cars case cede cent cero cess cine cist cite clan clue code coin cole cone cope coss cote crop cure cute deer dene dint east eats ebon ecru ecus edhs edit elan elds elhi else emit ends engs enol epos eras erne erns errs eses etas etna euro exam farl fast fice fids firn firs fisc fits flic hins home ices icon idea ides idle ilea ilia inch inia inns into ires iris iron isba item lama lang lase lats leno lens lent lest lice lieu limn line linn lira lire list lits loco lope lorn luce lunt lure lust main mair mama mast mats mead mere mesh mini mint miri mise mist molt moss mott mule mush naoi nape nave neat need neem ness nest nevi nide nidi nims nodi noes nose oast ocas odea odes odor olea oles ones onus oped opus orca orcs ordo ores orle oryx oses ossa ours pale pane pans pare parr pens pent pest pile pina pipe pirn plop poon poop pore pose post pots pout pram prat psst puri raia rale ramp rams rani rant rapt rase rato rats rear rede reds reel rein reis rest rice rife rile rims rins riot rise rocs rose rote rues rump rust ruts sabe sacs sail sain sale sane sans sash sass sate sati scan scat scop scot scup sear seas seat seen seer sees sent sere seta sets shed ship sial sice silt sims sine sire siti sits slam sled slim slit slut smit smut sned snit snob solo sore sorn sort sots span spar spun spur sris star step stet stir stop stum stun sues sums syne tace tads tael tala tale tali tans tapa tarp tass tats teas teds teem teen tens tent test tier tile tilt tine tins tint tirl tiro titi tola tome tone tori torr tosh toss tram trap trio trop tsar udos ulna unai unco unit upon uric urns uses vino zori Thanks. I've got Grady Ward's moby lexicon, but it has too many weirdosities for most uses (though I did run the NPR puzzle by it just for grins, and found a pretty good alternate answer, the second one below). If you know of other resources, send URLS, not word lists. Enclosed is the entry I sent NPR. The only completely kosher 4x4 square I find is vast echo iron nets though if you allow a French loan word, a Latin anatomical term, a neologistic shortening, and a taboo word, you can have vest echo noir ants . I have a dictionary that suggests Scrabble players may accept scat hove iron nest but I don't know what "avos" is supposed to mean. And OED readers may accept ints coho ever sant even though "ints" is obsolete and "sant" is a variant. Finally, if you believe Grady Ward's moby lexicon, it's possible that anns coot hive erst may be acceptable to someone. "Novs" may be shortened months, but I'm not sure what "anns" might be. Shortened "annals"? ============================================================================ David Edelheit also sent an analysis: After solving your challenge as presented on the air, I checked out your website, which Will referred to. You asked if anyone could find another 16 letter word or phrase that can make a 4x4 word square of common words, so I turned my program on it using a list of 16-letter words. The following is the result after editing out proper nouns, abbreviations, obscure/foreign words, etc. Please print/display in a fixed-width font. Enjoy! ANESTHESIOLOGIST: G I S T O L E O S I N E H A T S N I G H O L E O S I T S E A S T S I G H O L E O T I N S S A T E GASTROINTESTINAL: T A N G A L I I R O T S N E S T INARTICULATENESS: U N I T S A L E E R I N S C A T OBSTREPEROUSNESS: S N O B P O R E U S E S R E S T PRECONSULTATIONS: C O S T U L N A R E I N T O P S S C A R P O L O U N I T N E T S SEMIDOMESTICATED: I C E S D O M E E D I T M A T S