Dice Blocks & Alphabets

There’s something pithy and primal about three letter words. DOG, CAT, MAN, GOD – they are the first words we learn to read and write, and amongst the first we learn to speak. And I suspect, many are ancient. COW, PIG, SKY, SEA. Or they are the basic building blocks of language. AND, THE, WHY, WHO, HOW. They are the most used, most familiar, most easily readable words in our vocabulary. Yet when these so very familiar arrangements of letters are re-arranged, on top of each other instead of side-by-side, the results are surprisingly unfamiliar. Each becomes a little puzzle to be deciphered. 

Tim Maguire 2026