WHAT'S THE GOOD WORD?
Credit: GAMES Magazine - Dec. 1992
Rudolph Burnstein

This is a three-step puzzle.

Step 1: In each line below, all three words can be preceded by the same new word to produce three compound words or common two-word phrases. Find these nine words.

1. a. House, play, steering
    b. Horn, shine, tree
    c. Log, stage, stroke

2. a. Diver, flint, tight
    b. Fairy, paste, pick
    c. Lash, shadow, witness

3. a. Charge, girl, story
    b. Cake, fry, handle
    c. Cellar, trooper, window

Step 2: Each set of three words above can also be preceded by the same word to produce another set of three answers. Find these three words.

Step 3: These three words can again be preceded by a single word, which is the final one-word solution to the puzzle. Find this word.

Answers:

Step 1:
1. a. POWER     2. a. SKIN          3. a. COVER
    b. SHOE             b. TOOTH         b. PAN
    c. BACK             c. EYE                c. STORM

Step 2: 
1. HORSE          2. BUCK            4. DUST

Step 3:
SAW