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Okay, first let's define some terminology:

  • Anagram - Oh come on, how are you on Puzzling.SE if you don't know this one?
  • Anagram Set - a list of words that are all anagrams of eachother, e.g.:
    • ACTS
    • CAST
    • CATS
    • SCAT
  • Fully-Firstable - An anagram set where each of the letters can be found at the beginning of at least one of the words. The previous example would not qualify because there is no word starting with 'T'. One example would be:
    • OPTS
    • POST or POTS
    • SPOT or STOP
    • TOPS

I have been able to find a relatively small number of these. One optional rule I will allow to increase the chances of finding more is that if a set contains more than one of the same letter, you only need to have one word which starts with that letter, e.g. the set:

  • EEL
  • LEE

Only needs 2 words to qualify since there are only 2 unique letters.

I can easily find a number of 3- and 4-letter sets, but I am aware of only two 5-letter sets with this property, one of which uses the letter-doubling rule and one which does not. Can you find them? Are there more? Are there any with 6 or more letters?

Oh, let's disallow some things: No proper nouns or acronyms (unless these acronyms have since become commonly used as standard words such as "laser" or "scuba"), no splitting the letters into 2 or more words, stick to English please - my examples are relatively common words, but if you come up with any that use questionable or archaic words you might want to back them up with a reputable dictionary link. Also, screams, laughs, or other sound effects are not words. I'm looking at you, "AAAAAA" or "AHAHAH / HAHAHA". These are trivial to come up with and thus disqualified.

Scoring

Since the original intended answers have both been found, the search is on for longer sets! The set with the most letters will take the checkmark - in the event of a tie, the set that relies the least on letter-doubling will win.

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    $\begingroup$ ahh my brain read it as "Fistable" and I was so confused for a couple moments. $\endgroup$
    – Sensoray
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 14:19
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    $\begingroup$ Yeah, couldn't think of a better word for it, so made my own... $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 14:25
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    $\begingroup$ @Sensoray mhmm, me too xD $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Jun 23, 2019 at 11:31

7 Answers 7

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Didn't know this stack community existed, found it by chance when this thread came up in my feed, and I do love puzzles so I'm joining. Taking a shot at this one with this entry, one of my words is considered colloquial or obsolete though.

Enters
Ernest (For the second E - Obsolete variant of Earnest)
Nester
Resent
Streen / Strene (Obsolete variant of Strain)
Tenser

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    $\begingroup$ nice first answer, welcome here! +1 in respect :) $\endgroup$
    – Omega Krypton
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 14:23
  • $\begingroup$ Welcome to puzzling! You formatted it mostly right, just need to put 4 spaces at the end of each line to make the new one appear on a new line. $\endgroup$
    – Sensoray
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 14:24
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks @Sensoray - I was wondering what I was doing wrong there with the spoiler format, never used it before. $\endgroup$
    – tremor
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 14:25
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    $\begingroup$ @Sensoray TWO spaces, not four. :) Welcome tremor and congrats on the checkmark! $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 19:47
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    $\begingroup$ @Rubio WHAAAAT!?! my mind is blown. I swore it was 4....is there another formatting thing that requires 4 spaces? bc I swear I wasn't doing 4 spaces for no reason.... $\endgroup$
    – Sensoray
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 20:06
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I found the same one as @Omega Krypton did (first time I got answer sniped, darn!), but I also found a possible letter doubling solution:

ESTER
RESET
STEER
TREES

and a couple of questionable ones:

EWERS
RESEW
SEWER
WERES (fantasy term for people who can transform into other beings; doesn’t appear in OED, Merriam-Webster, or Dictionary.com unfortunately)

EASTS
SEATS
ASSET
TASES (uses a taser on someone; doesn’t appear in OED but does on MW and Dictionary.com)

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  • $\begingroup$ For weres: en.wiktionary.org/wiki/weres? $\endgroup$
    – Omega Krypton
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 12:00
  • $\begingroup$ Your first one is my intended letter-doubling solution. (It could also include rot13(GREFR)). Your other ones are indeed questionable, but you can have the checkmark - @OmegaKrypton has the other answer I was looking for, but found it with a computer, so this one wins for now - unless somebody can find a 6+ set... $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 12:38
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks so much for your inspiration for the 6+ set! $\endgroup$
    – Omega Krypton
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 12:45
  • $\begingroup$ and sorry for taking away your check, a +1 for you in respect! $\endgroup$
    – Omega Krypton
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 12:54
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6 words (with doubling) (self-generated) (thanks @PiIsNot3 for inspiration)

esters
resets
steers
treses

5 words (Confession: with computer)

emits
mites
items
times
smite

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  • $\begingroup$ This is one of the sets I was looking for. @PilsNot3 found the other one, afraid I'll have to give them the checkmark since you used a computer, but take a +1 anyhow. $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 12:39
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    $\begingroup$ Hmm, a bit obscure on that last one, but I guess I can allow it - in the interests of tie-breaking though, those requiring the fewest letter-doublings will take precedence. (e.g. if someone finds a 6-letter with only 1 or no doubles, it would beat this one. A 7-letter or more would beat either, etc.) $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 12:53
  • $\begingroup$ @DarrelHoffman please give the check to tremor with one less dupe, thanks:) $\endgroup$
    – Omega Krypton
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 14:28
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I think I've found another one

argon
groan
nagor
organ
rogan (as in rogan josh)

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  • $\begingroup$ I can accept your 3rd word, but the 5th one I'm pretty sure is a proper noun... $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 12:34
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Shamelessly taken from @Tom’s question and @Soltius’ answer is this one (did you collaborate)??

Aretes
Eaters
Reseat
Seater
Teaser

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  • $\begingroup$ I don't think I've seen the question you're referring to, so no, no collaboration. I feel like your first word might be considered either a proper noun or a foreign word? Seems to be consistently either capitalized or italicized in that article... $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 14:23
  • $\begingroup$ @DarrelHoffman It's in SOWPODS and other Scrabble dictionaries, but seems to be there for its other meaning of mountain ridges, which would normally be written with an accent. (See scrabble.hasbro.com/en-us/tools#dictionary .) $\endgroup$
    – Especially Lime
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 14:31
  • $\begingroup$ @DarrelHoffman please click the link/word for the English usage — plus I believe I got this answer with the same number of doubled letters before the currently accepted answer. It doesn’t appear, from the Wikipedia article, that it is a proper noun either. $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 17:12
  • $\begingroup$ This is why I wish we were allowed more than one check-marked answer - we've also got a new contender that managed 6 letters with no doubling, though the words grow increasingly obscure. Not quite sure where to draw the line... $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 17:55
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For these kinds of questions where "Scrabble dictionary rules" always top out at 5 or 6 characters, I always wish we would allow "crossword dictionary rules." For example:

(6 letters, all kinds of cheats)

ANOLES / NO SALE / ON SALE / LANOSE / E-LOANS / SLOANE

(6 letters, 20% proper nouns)

ENTERS / NESTER / TENSER / RESENT / STERNE

(5 letters, 40% cheats)

APRES / PEARS / EARPS / REAPS / SPARE

(6 letters, 80% proper nouns)

EISNER / IRENES / SERINE / NEREIS / RIESEN

To justify my posting as an answer, here's one with some uncommon words that hasn't been listed yet. (6 letters, no cheats)

ALERTS / LASTER / ESTRAL / RATELS / TALERS / STALER

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  • $\begingroup$ I don't know, judges? That last one looks plausible, (though the others are clearly bending the rules a bit). $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 18:01
  • $\begingroup$ @DarrelHoffman Talers, the link says Thalers. And that Taler became an alternate german word, but it did not affect the english spelling. So it doesn't quite count. Good try though!!! $\endgroup$
    – Sensoray
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 20:08
  • $\begingroup$ @Sensoray: "Taler" is a Scrabble-accepted historical variant of "Thaler" — as is, for that matter, "Dollar"! en.wiktionary.org/wiki/taler#Etymology_2 I just figured the Wikipedia link would be most relevant to the casual what's-thatter. $\endgroup$
    – Quuxplusone
    Commented Apr 4, 2019 at 22:12
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6 words, 5 letters

TONES
STONE
STENO
ONSET
NOTES
SETON

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    $\begingroup$ dentries for your new solution... :) $\endgroup$
    – Omega Krypton
    Commented Jun 23, 2019 at 12:03
  • $\begingroup$ @OmegaKrypton Dentries? Do you mean "dendrites" perhaps? $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Jun 23, 2019 at 12:26
  • $\begingroup$ You've missed the rule that every letter has to appear at the beginning of at least one of the words, though these are certainly honorable mentions, if not complete solutions. $\endgroup$
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Jun 24, 2019 at 18:17
  • $\begingroup$ @DarrelHoffman oh yes, woops. Eh well. Thanks! :) $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Jun 25, 2019 at 0:16

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