I recently asked readers how many common four-letter words they could make by combining the postal abbreviations of two states, e.g., CANE (California, Nebraska).

The response has left me, appropriately enough, in two states: both astounded by my readers' genius and delighted by the serendipitous juxtapositions of states.

True, it's not surprising that tiny Rhode Island and Delaware would RIDE together, that Georgia and Louisiana might hold a GALA, or that Pennsylvania and Connecticut would make a PACT.

But who knew that Wisconsin and Nebraska would produce a fine WINE? That Delaware and Wyoming would be DEWY-eyed over each other? That Georgia and Maine were GAME for hiking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail?

It was like watching children of the feuding Hatfield and McCoy clans intermarry to produce vibrant and happy offspring. If this kind of cross-country pollination can work with state abbreviations, maybe there's hope for the Blue State-Red State divide after all! Or maybe not.

In judging submissions, I rejected proper nouns, abbreviations, foreign words, and words using the same state twice (papa), as well as entries longer than four letters (pandas, mascaras, alohas) or based on abbreviations for U.S. territories or military addresses. I defined "common word" simply as a word I'd heard of.

Here are the 89 words: akin, alga, alky, alms, aria, arid, arks, arms, caky, came, cams, cane, coal, coca, code, coil, coin, cola, coma, come, cone, cook, deal, dear, deco, demo, deny, dewy, flak, gain, gala, game, gams, hide, hind, ilia, inks, inky, lade, laid, lain, lama, lame, land, lane, lava, made, maid, mail, main, mane, many, meal, memo, mend, mica, mime, mind, mine, mode, moil, moms, moor, near, ohms, oral, orca, pact, paid, pail, pain, pane, ride, rime, rims, rind, scar, scut, vail, vain, vane, wade, wail, wain, wand, wane, wide, wind, wine.

Dexter Senft of Bedford, N.Y., nailed all 89! The runners-up were Helen Wittkofske of Manchester, Conn., Frank Griswold of Camp Sherman, Ore., Jerry Kalb of Farmington, Conn., Tom Craven of Honolulu, Gretchen and Roswell Hall of Storrs, Conn., Lynn Tiscione of Trenton, N.J., Glenn Milham of South Windsor, Conn., Bochy Fu of Pittsburgh, Patricia Johnson of Somers, Conn., Lora Palmer of Wethersfield, Conn., Carol Szymanski of Cranbury, N.J., Ann Marlowe of New Haven, Conn., Trudy Greenleaf of Bristol, Conn., and Kent (no last name provided) of Walla Walla, Wash. Congratulations to all!

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.