Single Letters in Blocked Puzzles

• Coming soon

• The list can be sorted by ‘Code’, ‘Letter’ or ‘Type’.
• The list can be filtered using the drop-downs on ‘Letter’. To reset the filter, select ‘Letter’ from the top of the drop-down list.
• The lists of single-letter abbreviations on this site contain only abbreviations given by Chambers – this is the standard reference for most barred puzzles, but some of the single-letter abbreviations therein are far from common.
• The codes are categorized to show their origin – ‘Abbreviation’, ‘Association’ (eg ‘duck’ for O), ‘IRSA’ (the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or ‘Police Alphabet’), ‘IVR’ (International Vehicle Registration code), ‘Name’ (the name of the letter itself, eg ‘see’ for C), ‘Roman’ (for Roman numerals), and ‘Symbol’ (eg ‘boron’ for B or ‘current’ for I).
• Since the list was first published, I have been made aware by correspondents of a number of less common abbreviations (eg ‘nuclear’ for N) which have appeared in Guardian puzzles. All examples reported thus far can be found in Chambers, and are in the list of standard abbreviations.

• The editors of barred puzzles typically issue their setters with a list of valid codes which can yield a single letter. Although these vary from publication to publication, this table is intended to reflect their typical content – but note that, for instance, some puzzles do not allow International Vehicle Registration (IVR) codes, and a few abbreviations (eg ‘verb’ = V) may be allowed by one puzzle but not another; these codes are italicized in this list. Note also that editors may allow more ‘creative’ indications based on the shape of letters, such as ‘rugby goalposts’ for H.

Date last modified: 10/07/26
Recent Changes:  (17/02/26) added hook (shape of letter J), Ohio, (10/07) added newspaper (I), paper (I), ball (O).