  An algebra is finitely related (or has finite degree) if its term functions
are determined by some finite set of finitary relations. Nilpotent monoids
built from words, via Rees quotients of free monoids, have been used to exhibit
many interesting properties with respect to the finite basis problem. We show
that much of this intriguing behaviour extends to the world of finite
relatedness by using interlocking patterns called chain, crown, and maelstrom
words. In particular, we show that there are large classes of non-finitely
related nilpotent monoids that can be used to construct examples of: ascending
chains of varieties alternating between finitely and non-finitely related;
non-finitely related semigroups whose direct product are finitely related; the
addition of an identity element to a non-finitely related semigroup to produce
a finitely related semigroup.
