What is a Niton?

An "add-a-gram" is a sequence of words formed by starting with a 3-letter word, adding a letter and rearranging to form a 4-letter word, and so on. For example, here are add-a-grams of the words "CREDENTIALS" and "ANACHRONISM":

ail s =
sail n =
nails e =
aliens t =
salient r =
entrails c =
clarinets e =
interlaces d =
CREDENTIALS (length 11) mar c =
cram h =
march s =
charms o =
chromas n =
monarchs i =
harmonics a =
maraschino n =
ANACHRONISM (length 11)

Test your own credentials: given the dictionary found here (1.66MB), what is the longest add-a-gram?

My Solution: 16 Letters!!!



not  i = into

into  n = niton

niton  s = nitons

nitons  e = intones

intones  m = mentions

mentions  a = nominates

nominates  i = antimonies

antimonies  r = inseminator

inseminator  t = terminations

terminations  d = antimodernist

antimodernist  e = determinations

determinations  i = intermediations

intermediations  n = indeterminations

So again, what the hell is a "niton"? Webster doesn't have it, but technically for the purposes of this puzzle, it IS a word. It's found in the dictionary, and thus is a valid answer under the parameters of the puzzle...

Mike Agar on Mar 22 2008

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