I make a copies of the daily puzzle for my wife and me. We don’t work it together but compare results when we’re done. There are two Sunday puzzles in our paper. I usually get the regular one done on Sunday, depending on work, and fiddle with theNYT puzzle the rest of the week.

Alright, perhaps we should forget about the tree example.  Because getting into the wood and different species of trees is losing the way.  Can’t see the forest for the trees…...sorry, couldn’t resist.  The word I’m looking for means that a small part of the whole (whatever that is) is the same shape as the whole.  You can recognize the shape of the whole, just by seeing the part.  Is that any clearer?

Well, that is certainly better. I am not sure of an answer for you, yet, however, and still, at this point, only microcosm comes to mind. Will give it some thought.

Me, too, after I find the forest. The trees are currently in the way.

Self-similar shapes/self-similarity?
Recursive shapes/recursion?
Homomorphic or isomorphic or maybe one of those other morphics?
Microcosm or fractal are still viable candidates.

Is there a particular field of study in which the word applies?

No, no particular field of study.

Homologous?

Another slap from Dougologous.

Such arrogance, I see too many go’s in that term. Are there self-aggrandizement toward GOG-HOOD here???????
If so, I want on the bandwagon: Luke-a-go-go, maybe.

Annabel,

I wish that someone would come up with the right word. We are not all vocabulary experts here, at least I am not. However, we certainly had made a good effort, with a little punning and jaw flapping thrown in as a bonus.

Are you sure there is such a word. Look at the tip of your tongue in the mirror. Do you see the word?

Or is it possible that the word is general in one sense and specific when used in a particular context (e.g., triad in general and triad in music)? Or could it be a shortened form of a term like “hypodermic,” with is used to mean “hypodermic needle”?

If so, perhaps the term is something like homomorphic shape, microcosmic shape, or fractal-like.

I give up but would be interested to know.

Let’s give Annabel a break - some things are the same, like it or not, root and branch.

Down to the cambium layer.

If we give Annabel a break, her arm would have a “fractural” shape, but not a microcosmic one.

or else we would have belled the cat.

I don’t understand Anglo-Aussie dialect. Figured out what “spent a guinea” means, but “belled a cat”?