This volume brings together studies on acrostichs and telestichs in Latin poetry, offering a systematic investigation across a vast period. Recognizing the importance of these stylistic devices allows for the identification of distinctive authorial strategies aimed at engaging the reader in a contest of intelligence. Case studies range from close philological readings of acrostichs and telestichs in Lucretius, Horace, Virgil, and Ovid to broader investigations of cryptograms, metapoetic self-inscription, and reception across genres and periods. These are complemented by computational and statistical analyses that test the frequency, distribution, and plausibility of lusus at scale, refining criteria for intentionality. Thanks to the diversity of hermeneutic approaches and the wide range of poets analysed, the volume aims to serve as a point of reference for future in-depth studies in the field of lusus research. Scholars of the ancient world, and more generally poetry, will thus benefit from an updated tool for exploring yet little-known aspects of verse composition.