[Prof. Templeton]

I've put together a list of 26 common five letter words, one for each letter of the alphabet. The letters in each word are not repeated and there are no plural words (no "books" for example). The list below shows you which letters every word shares with the other 25 words. The five letter word that starts with A shares 1 letter in common with the five letter word that starts with B, two letters with the word that starts with C, and four with the D word. Your job is to find out what the words are.

. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A . 1 2 4 2 3 2 2 0 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 2 0

B 1 . 1 1 2 0 1 2 2 0 0 1 2 0 3 2 0 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 2 3

C 2 1 . 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 5 1 3 1 1 1 2 1

D 4 1 1 . 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0

E 2 2 2 1 . 2 2 5 2 2 1 2 0 1 3 3 1 3 2 3 1 1 2 1 3 1

F 3 0 2 2 2 . 2 2 0 3 3 3 1 1 0 2 3 1 2 1 2 0 2 0 2 1

G 2 1 1 1 2 2 . 2 1 3 1 2 3 1 0 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 0 2 1

H 2 2 2 1 5 2 2 . 2 2 0 1 1 1 3 3 1 3 2 3 1 1 2 1 3 1

I 0 2 1 1 2 0 1 2 . 0 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 3 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 1

J 2 0 2 2 2 3 3 2 0 . 2 2 2 1 0 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 0 2 0

K 2 0 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 2 . 2 0 1 0 1 2 1 1 1 2 0 3 1 1 2

L 2 1 2 1 2 3 2 1 0 2 2 . 1 1 1 2 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 1 2 2

M 1 2 2 0 0 1 3 1 1 2 0 1 . 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 2 2

N 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 . 2 0 1 1 1 1 3 4 0 2 0 1

O 1 3 2 1 3 0 0 3 2 0 0 1 1 2 . 2 0 2 2 2 2 2 0 1 2 2

P 2 2 2 1 3 2 2 3 0 2 1 2 2 0 2 . 1 1 2 1 1 0 2 0 4 2

Q 2 0 2 1 1 3.1 1 0 2 2 3 2 1 0 1 . 0 2 1 2 0 2 2 1 1

R 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 3 3 1 1 0 2 1 2 1 1 . 1 5 1 2 1 2 1 1

S 2 1 5 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 . 1 3 1 1 1 2 1

T 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 3 3 1 1 0 2 1 2 1 1 5 1 . 1 2 1 2 1 1

U 1 1 3 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 2 1 2 1 3 1 . 2 1 2 1 2

V 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 4 2 0 0 2 1 2 2 . 0 2 0 0

W 1 0 1 1 2 2 2 2 0 2 3 2 1 0 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 . 1 2 2

X 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 . 1 1

Y 2 2 2 1 3 2 2 3 0 2 1 2 2 0 2 4 1 1 2 1 1 0 2 1 . 2

Z 0 3 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 0 2 1 2 .

[/codebox]

Please, when submitting guesses for words, tell me why you think it is the five letter word you have chosen.

[spoiler=Here's a hint]Start with the higher numbers.[/spoiler]

Edited December 2, 2008 by bonanova
OP requests change in the code box numbers

[Prof. Templeton]

which just leaves M, but there are some problems with that line

M has nothing in common with XYLEM!

M shares 1 with ABOUT and 0 with DOUBT, so there must be an A, but M shares nothing with EARTH, so there is no A....

LAUGH

QUALM

Yes on both.

M as it relates to the rest

. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

M 1 2 2 0 1 1 3 1 1 2 0 1 . 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 2 2[/codebox]

[Prof. Templeton]

A=ABOUT

B=BIRCH

C=CAUSE

D=DOUBT

E=EARTH

F=FAULT

G=GIANT

H=HEART

I=IRKED

J=JAUNT

K=KLUTZ

L=LAUGH

M=

N=NOVEL

0=OCHRE

P=PATCH

Q=QUALM

R=REMIT

S=SAUSE

T=TIMER

U=UNCLE

V=VENOM

W=WALTZ

X=XYLEM

Y=YACHT

Z=ZILCH

I promise to make the next one problem free.

Edited December 1, 2008 by Prof. Templeton

[Guest]

Yes on both.

M as it relates to the rest

. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

M 1 2 2 0 1 1 3 1 1 2 0 1 . 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 2 2[/codebox]

so still no M in the X-word?

Edited December 1, 2008 by Cherry Lane

[Prof. Templeton]

so still no M in the X-word?

edit: never mind, I've got it

MAGIC

Gaaa. Yes of course. There is 1.

[Guest]

MAGIC

That should do it. This was really fun, Prof T. Though I'm glad the first couple of words were done when I got to it. That helped a lot!

[Prof. Templeton]

That should do it. This was really fun, Prof T. Though I'm glad the first couple of words were done when I got to it. That helped a lot!

MAGIC

Very close. Here's a

It's what this puzzle has made me.

[Guest]

Very close. Here's a

It's what this puzzle has made me.

MANIC, then you need to fix your M/V so it is 2 instead of 1

[Guest]

Hahaha! No Prof., you're not a

MANIC!

And, actually, I didn't know what it meant, hehe!

It's a synonym of frenzied.

Thanks for the fun!

See you next riddle!

[Prof. Templeton]

MANIC, then you need to fix your M/V so it is 2 instead of 1

Umm. Let's just go with yours then.

A=ABOUT

B=BIRCH

C=CAUSE

D=DOUBT

E=EARTH

F=FAULT

G=GIANT

H=HEART

I=IRKED

J=JAUNT

K=KLUTZ

L=LAUGH

M=MAGIC

N=NOVEL

0=OCHRE

P=PATCH

Q=QUALM

R=REMIT

S=SAUSE

T=TIMER

U=UNCLE

V=VENOM

W=WALTZ

X=XYLEM

Y=YACHT

Z=ZILCH

[Prof. Templeton]

I appreciate everyone's patience with this slightly flawed, yet well intentioned puzzle. I promise next time to compile the appropriate word list first instead of changing some of them mid-stream. It should make for a error free work (I hope). Thank you to all who contributed and for not giving up. Maybe I can get a computer program to check for letter matches for me. Hhmmm.