PERFECT PAIRINGS XII

Joseph Appel 

 

Each clue can be re-phrased using wordplay - especially synonyms and homographs - to make a common phrase in the form of _____ and _____. For example, CARD GAME and ROSES could be re-phrased as HEARTS and FLOWERS. 

 

1. Difficult and go without food

2. Place to sleep and morning meal

3. Cooking vessels and bad reviews

4. Space and a plank

5. Do harm to someone and a power source

6. Work and the business of UPS and FedEx

7. Grueling work and problems

8. Feline and cursor mover

9. British sailor and a bird part

10. Adobe unit and pestle partner

 

Answers:

 

1. Hard and fast

2. Bed and breakfast

3. Pots and pans

4. Room and board

5. Assault and battery

6. Labor and delivery

7. Toil and trouble

8. Cat and mouse

9. Tar and feather

10. Brick and mortar  

CONNECTIONS IX

What do the three or four words in each group have in common?

1. Clue, Grip, Life, Room

2. Blouse, Pant, Stick, Smite

3. Guest, Play, Wish

4. Fingers, Note, Rice

5. Presto, Please, Thank you

6. Windy, Motor, Sin

7. Dash, Key, Star, Buck

8. Jargon, Latin, Plead

9. Orchestra, Tar, Barbecue

10. Door, Fry, Bread, Horn

11. Sauce, Santa, Agent, Code

12. Mole, Foot, Capitol

13. Golf, Applause, Drinks

Answers:

1. Words that can be preceded by GET A

2. Minus the first letter, kinds of bugs

3. Kinds of lists

4. Sticky

5. Magic words

6. Nicknames of cities (Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas)

7. Words that can be followed by BOARD

8. Words that end in the names of elements

9. Pits

10. French

11. Secret

12. Words that can be followed by HILL

13. Words that can be preceded by A ROUND OF   

FLEXERS CXXXVI

Answer each clue by matching it with one of the choices below. Wordplay is fair play.

1. Fine point

2. Dyeing art 

3. Speed reader

4. Group that's on the ball 

5. State bordering Arizona 

6. One who works at home

7. Picket line 

8. Arresting image 

9. Marine layer 

10 Large print source 

 

CHOICES:

a. Camo

b. Radar

c. Sonora

d. Batik
e. Bear paw

f. Speed trap

g. Umpire

h. Fence

i. Mug shot

j. Offense

 

Answers:

 

1. f - Speed trap

2. d - Batik  

3. b - Radar

4. j - Offense

5. c - Sonora (Mexico)

6. g - Umpire

7. h - Fence

8. i - Mug shot

9. a - Camo (camouflauge - layer of clothing)

10. e - Bear claw  

 

Credits:

1: Michael Schlossberg

2-4: Joe Rodini

5: Alexander Liebeskind

7: John Kugelman 

8: Matt Revis 

9-10: Chase Dittrich and Christina Iverson

  

  

ADD A LETTER - GET A NEW WORD CCLXXXIX

Add the designated letter to each word and re-arrange the letters to form a new word.

1. BALE + S

2. TRUE + C 

3. SEAL + V

4. NICE + H

5. PATIO + E

6. FIELD + E

7. WORN + E 

8. DRAIN + C 

9. MINCE + A

10. ABODE + G 

 

HINTS:

First letters of the new words:

1. S

2. C

3. S

4. N

5. O

6. D

7. O

8. R

9. C

10. B

 

Answers:

 

1. SABLE

2. CRUET

3. SALVES

4. NICHE

5. OPIATE

6. DEFILE

7. OWNER

8. RANCID

9. CINEMA

10. BODEGA  

PLUG-INS VII

Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles

April, 2022

 

Form 7-letter words by re-arranging the letters of each 6-letter word and plugging in one of the underlined letters below. Each letter will be plugged into the same position of each 7-letter answer, and each letter will be used only once. 

 

D I P L O M A 

 

1. S A T I R E

2. S M I L E S

3. R E L A T E

4. S U P P E R

5. M A G N E T

6. R E S E A T

7. P A L A T E 

 

HINTS:

a. The underlined letters go in the fifth position.

b. First letters of the new words:

1. T

2. M

3. T

4. P

5. M

6. S

7. P

 

Answers:

 

1. TRAIPSE

2. MISSILE

3. TREADLE

4. PURPOSE

5. MAGNATE

6. STEAMER

7. PATELLA  

 

  

AWESOME FACTS ABOUT EVERYTHING CLX

1. A lover of words and wordplay is a logophile.

2. A lover of rainy days is a pluvophile.

3.  Phonopobia is the fear of loud sounds.

4. Salt was a term for wit in ancient Athens, and the Romans coined the phrase attic salt to describe the kind of elegant, clever, and understated wit the Athenians were known for.

5. Jackie Robinson's iconic #15 was retired across all of Major League Baseball in his honor in 1997, making him the first professional athlete in any sport to receive this distinction. April 15 is Jackie Robinson Day - celebrating April 15, 1947 - the day Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and ended 80 years of racial segregation in baseball. It is celebrated in every major league park hosting a game that day.

6. Stir is another word for prison, and the basis of the expression "stir crazy".

7. "Pink collar" is a term used to describe jobs traditionally associated with women

8. "The Green Monster" in baseball is the 37'2" high wall in left field at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The wall significantly affects play, as many hits that would be home runs bounce off the wall and become doubles or singles.

9. TIM the Beaver is the mascot of MIT - because the beaver is nature's engineer. 

10. In the context of books and documents, "recto" and "verso" refer respectively to the front and back sides of a sheet of paper, single page, or leaf of a book.  Recto refers to the right-hand page of an open book, and verso to the left-hand page. 

DOUBLE DUTY CCLXXV

Fill in the blanks with words that will complete the word, partial word, or phrase beginning on the left and beting the word, partial word, or phrase ending on the right. The number of blanks indicates the number of letters in the missing words.

1. OG _ _ ALM

2. SPAR _ _ _ DY

3. COAT _ _ _ _ END

4. SPACE _ _ _ _ CASE

5. TAIL _ _ _ _ BREAKER 

6. HORSE _ _ _ _ _ SHOW

7. SHOCK _ _ _ _ LENGTH 

8. FOOT _ _ _ _ _ CHANGE 

9. CARD _ _ _ _ _ CHARACTER

10. CLIMBING _ _ _ _ FLOWER

 

HINTS:

First letters of the missing words:

1. **

2. R

3. T

4. S

5. W

6. T

7. W

8. L

9. S

10. W 

 

Answers:

 

1. ogREalm

2. sparROWdy

3. coatTAIL end

4. spaceSUITcase

5. tailWIND breaker

6. horse TRADE show

7. shock WAVE length

8. footLOOSE change

9. cardSTOCK character

10. climbing WALLflower