This paper develops a comprehensive optimality-theoretic analysis
 of a Japanese reversing argot. Similar to other types of
 prosodic-morphological word formation, the argot shows the
 activation of constraints defining phonological unmarkedness.
 This manifests itself in the emergence of optimal prosodic form,
 within the limits imposed by a game-specific reversal
 requirement. The latter is formally characterized as
 Cross-Anchoring, a playful variation of the normal
 correspondence-theoretic anchoring constraints that are part of
 the phonological grammar. Under the combined pressure of
 Cross-Anchoring and high-ranking prosodic form constraints, the
 argot distorts each ordinary-language base word in the minimal
 way, otherwise echoing it as faithfully as possible. As an
 important theoretical result, the analysis presents empirical
 evidence that prosodic faithfulness needs to be gauged in terms
 of foot-structural roles, and not (or, not exclusively) in terms
 of whole foot-sized constituents. Overall, the study demonstrates
 that the notion of "minimal distortion" operative in argot
 formation is none else but the principle of minimal violation of
 a set of ranked constraints, the fundamental tenet of Optimality
 Theory.

[This paper, previously distributed as ROA-99, contains an
 expanded section on formal issues regarding correspondence
 between strings. The current version (which has appeared in
 Journal of East Asian Linguistics 5, 217-294, 1996) supersedes
 all earlier versions.]