WORD ALCHEMY I
Credit: GAMES Magazine
May/June, 1980 and Sept/Oct 1980

The two elements copper and tin, when properly blended together, can form the alloy bronze. But you could also take COPPER and melt it down to COP and PER and discover "word alchemy" - as in

The chief of police decided to station one COP PER block to catch the COPPER wire thieves.

Word alchemy requires that the constituent words appear in uninterrupted succession  and that they precede their "alloy" in the sentence. In addition, the alloy must be the precise fusion of its parts - no letters added or dropped and no change in the word order.

Test your mettle by filling in the blanks of the following sentences by inserting the two or more constituent words and their alloy. For example, given the clue

Puzzle solvers often have _____   _____ for the hard clues in __________ ,

the answer would be

Puzzle solvers often have CROSS WORDS for the hard clues in CROSSWORDS.

1. When people _____   _____ 39, they often become more aware of the __________ of time.

2. Why is a  "child-proof" medicine bottle _____   _____ to confound even the most __________ adult?

3.For Mother's birthday we plan _____   _____   _____ thirty loose pearls and then string them __________ in a necklace.

4. If you turn the Beatles' _____   _____ , you'll __________ one of their lesser-known songs on the  flip side.

5. I gave the _____   _____ to the __________ because football players play for free in my pinball arcade.

6.The sandwich makers at the _____   _____ customers who __________ too long on what to order.

7. I saw the little _____   _____ up at the doctor's office, but his misbehavior had no __________ on his indulgent mother.

8. I entered the restaurant, I _____ , _____   _____ , but the meal did not __________ me.

9. Is a member of the _____   _____ a lenient sentence for his client through plea __________ ?

10. If you want to know its history, you'll have to _____   _____ to learn about the __________ patch.

Answers:  

1. PASS AGE - PASSAGE
2. CAP ABLE - CAPABLE
3. TO GET HER - TOGETHER
4. DISC OVER - DISCOVER
5. QUARTER BACK - QUARTERBACK
6. DELI BERATE - DELIBERATE
7. IMP ACT - IMPACT
8. SAT I ATE - SATIATE
9. BAR GAINING - BARGAINING
10. PUMP KIN - PUMPKIN