FOUR RIDDLES

1. What do you call a Chinese man's bunk bed on a train?
2. What did Noah call his record of the animals on the Ark?
3. If you oppose a proposal to end a ban, are you for it or against it?
4. Why did the vultures complain when they boarded the plane?

Answers:

1. berth of an Asian
2. Noah count
3. Against it
4. There was only one carrion per passenger.

BACKSWITCH
Credit: LA Times Crossword - Aug. 14, 2005

1.. If Dad is the man of the house, what's a police station?
2. If a close shave is the nick of time, what is Christmas?
3. What do you call a disrespectful gesture at a filming site?

Answers:

1. House of The Man

2. Time of Nick
3. Moon the shoot

IN THE BEGINNING
Credit: GAMES Magazine---Sept. 1986

Theresa Sweeney

1. The same four letters, in the same order, can go in each blank below to complete a common word. What are the four letters?

_ _ _ _ A
_ _ _ _ ON
_ _ _ _ NUT

2. Change each of the following words into new words by adding the same three letters, in the same order, to each word:

OREM/SHEA/LEAR/WEAR

HINTS:
1. The first letter is "C" and the fourth letter is "O".
2. The three letters go in front of the first word, behind the second word, and are inserted into the third and fourth words. The three letters make up a common word in their own right.

Answers:

1. COCO.......COCOA/COCOON/COCONUT
2. THE-----THEOREM, SHEATHE, LEATHER, WEATHER

HORSING AROUND I
Credit: LA Times Crossword - Feb. 12, 2006
Merl Reagle

If rivers, forests, and mineral wealth are natural racehorses, what about..........

1. Proper horse behavior when eating
2. Deliberately cause problems
3. Merry Christmas
4. Racehorse's nightmare
5. This interview is over.
6. Baby's hand game
7. Yiddish congratulations

HINTS:
1. stable
2. stirrup
3 Fillies
4. This jockey is WAY over the weight limit.
5. "I've answered my last question."
6. paddock

Answers:

1. Stable manners
2. Stirrup trouble

3. Fillies Navidad
4. Jockey Gleason
5. " No more equestrians!"
6. Paddock cake

7. Muzzle tov (Yiddish Mazel Tov - Congratulations)

INCOGNITO
Credit: LA Times Crossword--Oct. 16, 2005

Merl Reagle

The name of a well-known person is hidden in each of the following phrases. The first name is in the word or phrase on the left and the last name is in the word or phrase on the right. Once the name starts, the letters are un-interrupted.

1. LABOR SONGS-----VOWELLESS
2. RED RED ROBIN-----BISCOTTI
3. LEVITATE-----UNCHAPERONED
4. DERNIER CRI-----OUT OF ORDER
5. PAYING RETAIL-----CIGAR BOX
6. URETHANE-----BIFOCAL LENS
7. INDIANANS-----CROSSWORDS

Answers:

1. ORSON WELLES
2. DRED SCOTT
3. EVITA PERON
4. ERNIE FORD
5. GRETA GARBO
6. ETHAN ALLEN
7. DIANA ROSS

COMMON ELEMENTS
Credit: GAMES Magazine
January, 1988
Gary Disch

Fill in the two sets of blanks in each clue below with the same three letters, in the same order. Both words will then share a common characteristic.

1. CAB _ _ _ E and RUTA _ _ _ A
2. SWE _ _ _ and _ _ _ MARK
3. _ _ _ L and T _ _ _ Z
4. S _ _ _ N and EL _ _ _ N
5. S _ _ _ and _ _ _DOCK
6. SUP _ _ _ OR and _ _ _ E
7. S _ _ _ PIO and CAPRI _ _ _ N
8. _ _ _ CE and P _ _ _ D
9. B _ _ _ ZE and I _ _ _
10. VE _ _ _ and URA _ _ _
11. S _ _ _ M and R _ _ _ IGH
12. _ _ _ SS and _ _ _ CKERS
13. G _ _ _ TS and IND _ _ _ S
14. _ _ _ CH and _ _ _ R
15. C _ _ _ ER and _ _ _ HUR

HINTS:

3. Gemstones

5. Fish

8. Units of weight

11. State capitals

13. Baseball teams

14. Fruits

15. US Presidents

Answers:

1. AGE---cabbage and rutabaga
2. DEN---Sweden and Denmark
3. OPA---opal and topaz
4. EVE---seven and eleven
5. HAD---shad and haddock
6. ERI---Superior and Erie
7. COR---Scorpio and Capricorn
8. OUN---ounce and pound
9. RON---bronze and iron
10. NUS---Venus and Uranus
11. ALE---Salem and Raleigh
12. CHE---chess and checkers
13. IAN---Giants and Indians
14. PEA---peach and pear
15. ART---Carter and Arthur

A FUNGUS AMONG US

Credit: LA Times Crossword - Mar. 4, 2007

Merl Reagle

What do these words have in common?

Fungus
Electron
Admitted
Ratchet
Chicken
Environmental

Rampart
Chastened

HINT:
The words can be broken up in a certain way.

Answers:

Each word can be broken down into two words, the second of which is a man's name (Fun---Gus / Elect Ron).

CAPITAL IDEA
Credit: LA Times Crossword - Jan. 30, 1994

Sylvia Bursztyn and Barry Tunick

Each clue below can be answered using the name of a capital city or a country:

1. Hyperactive Taiwanese man
2. Jordanian flirt's warning words
3. Ecuadorian honoree's gift
4. Postcard cliche from Cuba
5. South Korean souvenir
6. Persian Gulf fantasy flick

7. Automobile in Senegal

Answers:

1. Taipei personality
2. If Amman answers
3. Quito the city
4. Havana great time
5. A little bit of Seoul
6. Heaven Kuwait

7. Dakar

TEN RIDDLES

1. What is pointed in one direction and headed in the other?
2. What is always in fashion but never in style?
3. What do you throw out when you need it and take back when you don't?
4. What did the shy pebble say?
5. Three men were in a boat with four cigarettes, but no match. What did they do?
6. What did the boy volcano say to the girl volcano?
7. If two's company and three's a crowd, what are four and five?
8. What is a forum?
9. What did the skunk say when the wind changed?
10. What is wrong with this sequence? 1Q, 2Q, 3Q, 4Q, 5Q, 6Q, 7Q, 8Q, 9Q, 10Q

Answers:

1. A pin
2. The letter F
3. An anchor
4. "I wish I were a little bolder."
5. They threw out one cigarette, making the boat a cigarette lighter.
6. "I lava you."
7. Nine
8. Two-um plus two-um
9. "It's all coming back to me."
10. You forgot to say "You're welcome".

ADVICE

A young man wrote to Dear Abby for advice. He had very little money and could not afford to take his girlfriend out to eat, the movies, and other such places. Abby responded by suggesting romantic, imaginative dates which would not cost a lot of money.

Soon after, a woman wrote in with this suggestion: "To the young man who could not afford to take his girlfriend out on expensive dates, here is the perfect solution: marry her---then you won't have to take her out at all. That's what my ex-husband did."

If Dear Abby were Dear Chuck.............
Dear Chuck,
This morning I left for work as usual. The car broke down after only two blocks. I walked back to the house to get our other car. When I opened the bedroom door to tell my husband, I found him in bed with the 18-year old girl who lives next door. He told me that this had been going on for a year, that he was no longer happy with me, and that he wanted a divorce so he could marry the girl. I had no idea that he felt this way or that he had been having this affair. I don't know what to do. Please help me. I am
Devastated

Dear Devastated,
There are many reasons why a car might break down. It might be as simple as running out of gas. Then there's the battery, the alternator, the fuel pump............................

TEN RIDDLES

1. Here is proof that bad puns have been around for a long time: A man in ancient Greece brought in a torn pair of pants to a tailor.
Tailor: You rip a these?
Man: You mend a these?

2. What insect lives at the top of your house?
3. What is round and has a bad temper?
4. Why did the fly fly?
5. What's a forum?
6. What is not inside your house, not outside your house, yet is part of your house?
7. Why do fencing teams have so many problems?
8. What happened when the frog parked illegally?
9. French composer Jacques Ibert had a brother who is today more famous than Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven combined. What was his name?
10. What may or may not be right, but is never wrong?

Answers:

1. Euripides/Eumenides
2. A tick  (attic)
3. A vicious circle
4. The spider spied her.
5. Two-um plus two-um
6. A window
7. Their plans are always foiled.
8. His car was toad away.
9. Ted (Ted Ibert - teddybear)
10. An angle