L'italiano del rebus nelle riviste di enigmistica classica contemporanee

This paper deals with Italian picture rebus in today’s puzzle magazines devoted to ‘enigmistica classica’ (classic enigmatography), which are only available on subscription and are primarily targeted at expert fans of riddles and the like. While I define the relevant features of the variety of Italian used in the ‘prime letture’ (first readings) of rebuses, on the basis of the analysis of these games’ lexicon and syntax I compare their solving difficulty and linguistic complexity to those of the rebuses that appear in puzzle magazines sold in newsstands. First readings of both types of rebus exhibit the same linguistic features, and ‘enigmistica classica’ rebuses are not linguistically more complex than newsstand ones.