From: Dan Asimov <dasimov@earthlink.net> Date: 11/22/20, 1:21 AM

Speaking of word oddities, Ararat (or tarara, as in "tarara boom-de-ay") has one T, two R's, and three A's.

Is there any other word having its letter counts form an arithmetic sequence of at least three positive terms?

—Dan

In my dictionary, there are 204 words with counts (1, 2, 3), and 14 with (1, 2, 3, 4): 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) beerbibber Other than a potion in "Kingdom Come: Deliverance" and a multifunction bottle opener, see ** below. 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) chachalaca American tropical bird. 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) deadheaded 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) isoosmosis 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) kinnikinic Native American tobacco substitute. 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) kotukutuku The world's largest fuchsia. 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) peppertree 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) rememberer 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) sereneness 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) sleeveless 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) evennesses My dictionary tends to overdo suffixes. 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) keennesses 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) sanenesses 4 (1, 2, 3, 4) susurruses With two of each letter you get the arithmetic sequence 2, 2, 2, 2... (Computers can be so literal.) 5 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) arraigning 5 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) chimachima Yellow-headed caracara (bird) 6 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2) happenchance 5 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) horseshoer 5 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) intestines 5 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) nonordered 5 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) quinaquina a.k.a. Cinchona plant yielding quinine. 7 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2) scintillescent scint i ll e scent 5 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) strumstrum crude stringed instrument 5 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) tromometer extra-sensitive seismometer Each of these words requires more than half the alphabet to spell: 14 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) ambidextrously 14 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) benzhydroxamic 14 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) dermatoglyphic 15 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) dermatoglyphics 14 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) hydromagnetics 14 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) hydropneumatic * 14 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) pseudomythical 14 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) subformatively 14 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) sulphogermanic 14 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) undiscoverably Nothing with at least three distinct letters and linearly increasing counts and more than one of the least common, nor more than four distinct letters. --Steve P.S. * Plans for a gun with hydropneumatic brakes figured in the Dreyfus Affair. ** beerbibber: The beginning of a 1927 Time Magazine article "Beer Diplomacy": To Riga, Latvia, came, some three months ago, Herr Doktor Adolph Koester, German Ambassador, lusty beerbibber. . . . He found official Latvia strongly disposed to favor the Franco-British project of a Baltic state cordon dividing Russia and Germany. Poland, close ally of France, had bestowed numerous decorations on Latvian officials. At Riga British diplomats were arbitri elegantiarum How should the German Ambassador win Latvian sympathies? Soon Herr Doktor Koester gave a true, orthodox German bier abend: a "beer evening" at which he and a group of high Latvian officials sat up with mossy... Many google hits like this: Spriest Driveadream beerbibber spriest.driveadream.com › beerbibber Yeah tie your fabric print. Telephony is dead. Rebel convoy is just taught his people where size does this door upon its hilltop. Somebody over here. Bases not ...