WORD PYRAMID I
Credit: GAMES Magazine
May 2001

In this variation of the traditional mental block, you must find a three-letter word to fill in the top line of the pyramid so that you can then use each letter of that word once in each subsequent line (in any order) to complete the pyramid.

              _ _ _
           _ O _ _
         _ _ N _ H
        _ O _ _ ON
       O _ TO _ _ S
      S _ R _ _ LES

Answer:

The three-letter word is CUP:

                            CUP
                          COUP
                        PUNCH
                      COUPON
                     OCTOPUS
                    SCRUPLES