Eagle-eyed readers of last weekend's newspaper may have spotted an unusual assemblage of letters in Harry the Dog's regular word puzzle.

The puzzle, on page 79, had an “animals of Indonesia” theme, with readers asked to spot words such as “dolphin”, “civet”, and “cassowary”.

But on line three are the letters: LIVESIHCODRUM, or, written backwards, MURDOCHISEVIL.

As Satanic messages go, it certainly has a ring of truth about it.

So was it a mistake? A coincidence? Is a “LIVESIHCODRUM” a new Indonesian species? Or was Harry the Dog trying to tell us something?

Backmasking has a rich history.

Arguably the most famous instance was in Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, some of the lyrics of which, which when played backwards, sound like “Oh here's to my sweet Satan … He will give those with him 666. There was a little tool shed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.”

The Danger Mouse song Lucifer 9, when played backwards, also appears to feature Jay-Z saying “666 murder murder Jesus 666”.

Fairfax has approached Sunday Telegraph editor Mick Carroll for comment.

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