I hate even asking that question. But there are arguments both ways.
I have taken to attempting some of the puzzles in the back of the New York Times Sunday Magazine each week. Most of them I don't even give a second glance because I can just tell by looking that it ain't gonna happen (every puzzle involving numbers). However there is one puzzle, innocuously title "Spelling Bee", that draws me in every week.
It's a circle. Inside the circle, arranged like the numbers on a clock, are six letters. Inside that circle of letters is a hexagon shape with just one letter inside of it. The idea is to use any of the letters in the outer ring (as many times as you need) as well as the letter in the center to spell as many words as you can. So to recap: You MUST use the letter in the center in each word; the letters in the outer ring are there for you to use, or not use, as many or as few times as you'd like in each word. Oh, and each word has to be at least five letters in length.
So try it, although since I have no idea how to put letters in a circle you're going to have to either make due with my representation below or draw this out yourself if you want the actual graphic.
E
Y M I
X R
T
You can (kind of?) see the idea here. Let me help you some more. You could use the word "timer", because it uses the "M" in the middle, as well as any other letters on the outside. You could use the word "trimmer" for the same reason. You could not use the word "texter" because it does not use the "M". Get it? Go ahead. Give it a go. You get one point for each word (proper names and hyphenated words are not allowed), and three points for a word that uses all seven letters of the puzzle.
Now be honest. How long did you spend trying to find words before you came back to reading the rest of this? It's kind of addicting isn't it?
I've been trying these puzzles each week for months now. Just in case you aren't frustrated enough, they put a rating system for each puzzle. The puzzle above is rated as follows:
7=good; 12=excellent; 17=genius.
I made it to "good" all by myself. But then...
I had a few words which I wasn't quite sure were actual words, so I went to my computer and clicked on the dictionary program on my Mac. The first word I wanted to look up was "mirer"--as in someone who gets mired down. It turns out that though "mirer" is not a word, "mirex" is, in fact a word. Not that I knew that. But I found out because as I entered in each letter of my word in question, word possibilities started popping up in a list.
M
I
R (mirage, mirror, mirth...)
E (mire, mirex)
And there you go. Mirer not a word. Mirex a word. That I did not know until just then.
I wrote it down and gave myself a point. Am I a cheater?
And if you're being nice enough to give me the benefit of the doubt at this point because I came across this technique accidentally, how about if, now that I knew I could do this, I started just typing in the letters from the puzzle to see what would come up?
Yes, I did that.
And I got more points. (trimeter, rimier and mitey are all legitimate words and now I even know what they mean!)
I am now, according to the rating system for this puzzle, a genius. A GENIUS I say!
But am I? I consulted the instructions for clarity. The directions simply ask how many words you can spell using the given letters. They do not specifically allow using any kind of aids in this quest. They don't specifically prohibit it, either.
So the bigger question, I guess, is how to interpret the instructions, as a strict constructionist (you can only do what is specifically articulated in the document) or a loose constructionist (it is not prohibited if the document does not specifically prohibit it)? Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton?
I am, apparently (and to no one who knows me would this come as a surprise) a loose constructionist, and as such I am, at least for today, declaring myself a genius :)
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