How many things can you think of that always come in pairs?

(Possible) Answers:

Binoculars
Earrings
Glasses
Gloves
Pants (Trousers)
Pliers
Scissors 
Shoes
Suspenders
Tweezers

NY Times Crossword
March 27, 2001
Sherry O. Blackard

 What do the following things have in common?

1. Giant panda
2. Newsprint
3. Oreo cookie
4. Police cruiser
5. Crossword puzzle

Answer:

They are all black and white. 

RHYMING RIDDLE ANSWERS XXVI

The answers to each item in the clues will rhyme.

1. Host's words, Go along with, Specialty, Anyway

2. Very weak stream, Hammer's partner, Tough spot, Capricious

3. Random scribblings, Certain dogs, "See ya," Hugs and kisses

4. Satisfy thirst, Soak, Pipe-fitter's tool, Man of integrity - in Yiddish

5. Strange - spooky, Wary - suspicious, Happy - upbeat, Exhausted

6. Stand your ground, Healthy, Entertain lavishly, Lame pick-up lint

7. Ironic destiny, Eight-wheel transport, Risky social activity, Reduced price

8. Sufficient or abundant, Step on - crush, A small amount of something, Model

9. This is revolting. It __  __  __, We broke up. We __ __ __, Classic game of dexterity, Kind of contractions - "false labor"

10. Oboe feature, What you should watch when coming out of the mountains, Sub-prime mortgage meltdown cause, Judge's question

Answers:

1. "Glad you came," Play the game, Claim to fame, Just the same
2. Trickle, Sickle, Pickle, Fickle
3. Doodles, Poodles, Toodles, Canoodles
4. Quench, Drench, Wrench, Mensch
5. Eerie, Leery, Cheery, Weary
6. Hold the line, Feeling fine, Wine and dine, "What's your sign?"
7. Twist of fate, Roller skate, Blind date, Discount rate
8. Ample, Trample, Sample, Example
9. Makes me sick, Just didn't click, Pick-up-Sticks, Braxton-Hicks
10. Double reed, Downhill speed, Corporate greed, "How do you plead?"

LAST WORDS V

Actress Ilka Chase received the following note after publishing her book.

"I enjoyed reading your book. Who wrote it for you?"

What was Ilka's response?

Answer:

Darling, I'm so glad you liked it. Who read it to you?

Credit: 
Quoted in NY Times Crossword
March 5, 1995
A.J. Santora

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Spotless
2. Expose corruption
3. Parent of a well-known artist
4. Seven Dwarfs' advice
5. Blowin' smoke
6. Small town, perhaps

Answers:

1. Clean as a whistle
2. Whistle-blower
3. Whistler's Mother
4. Whistle While You Work
5. Whistlin' Dixie
6. Whistle-stop 

Credit: NY Times Crossword
December 4, 1995
Sidney L. Robbins (#1-3)

BEHEADMENTS VII

I am land, wide or narrow,  situated between high natural masses. Remove my first letter, and you have a path situated between man-made masses.

Answers:

Valley - alley

MISSING LINK CI

Each trio of words below shares a Missing Link - that is, its members have something in common, obvious or not. For example, RIVERS, NOSES, & VIOLINS can all have BRIDGES.

1. Opening..........Closing..........Passing
2. Trail..........Chase..........Work
3. Broke..........Wall..........Ground
4. Natural..........Real..........Imaginary
5. Date..........Time..........Agent
6. Pain..........Tongue..........Shooter
7. Dollar..........Dune..........Man
8. Club..........Course..........Ball
9. Boy..........Stop..........Station
10. Bowl..........Maker..........Pudding

Answers:

1. Kinds of bells
2. Paper
3. Stone
4. Kinds of numbers
5. Double
6. Sharp
7. Sand 
8. Golf
9. Bus
10. Bread

__________ to __________ III

Each clue below can be answered with an expression in the form of _____ to _____. For example, given the clue Not at all interested, the answering expression would be Bored to tears.

1. Very frightened
2. Basis for giving out information
3. Not bad, as an answer to "How are you?"
4. Have every intention to satisfy
5. Invitation that might involve open arms
6. Anxious and eager to begin

Answers:

1. Scared to death
2. Need-to-know
3. Fair to middlin'
4. Aim to please
5. Come to Mama 
6. Hot to trot

The eight words below can be divided into two groups according to a certain pattern involving two letters. Can you determine the two letters and divide the words into their distinct groups?

STEAL
READ
UNDER
EAR
INK
ROUGH
FOUR
HEAL

HINT:
The two groups are:

READ          STEAL
UNDER       EAR
INK              FOUR
ROUGH       HEAL

Answer:

The two letters that separate the groups are TH. TH can precede four of the words and follow the other four to make new words:

THREAD           STEALTH
THUNDER        EARTH
THINK               FOURTH
THROUGH       HEALTH

Can you think of two, closely related two-word phrases that are anagrams to describe:

1. A person who can play the piano fairly well - and
2. A person who can play far better than others

Answers:

1. MODEST TALENT
2. MOST TALENTED

The eight words below share a very unusual property. Can you determine what it is?

BANANA
DEMONIC
FICKLE
HUMBUG
JEDI
LUCK
NUDISM
PIANO

HINT:
It has to do with the first and last letters of each word.

Answer:

Starting with the A and B at the end and beginning of BANANA, the ending and beginning letters of each clue word are in consecutive alphabetical order:

BananA
DemoniC
FicklE
HumbuG
JedI
LucK
NudisM
PianO

RHYME AND REASON V

Each word in the pairs below has a rhyme, so that the two rhymes make up a familiar phrase. For example, given the clue words RACK and BITE, the rhyming pair would be BLACK and WHITE.

1. FUN, DUSTED
2. SHED, CARRIED
3. BRINE, SPINE
4. HEAD, STUTTER
5. TICK, TIN

Answers:

1. DONE AND DUSTED
2. DEAD AND BURIED
3. WINE AND DINE
4. BREAD AND BUTTER
5. THICK AND THIN

THREE RHYMING RIDDLES

1)
To be here is unpleasant, that's for sure;
Life is hidden, often a blur
But add an "s" and things change so fast,
Sweet replaces heat, of the now recent past.

2)
Against my grip you may resist,
But in the end you must desist;
Love me or hate me, I'm undeterred,
In the end I'll have my third.

3)
A horse that will never run,
A dream when there is no sun.

Answers:

1. Desert - dessert
2. Sleep
3. Nightmare

ODD ONE OUT IV

One of the words in the list below is not like the others. Which word does not belong, and why?

SLOOPS
SWOOPS
SNOOPS

Answer:

SWOOPS does not belong in this group. The other two words are perfect anagrams. That is, they can be read in reverse to spell other words:

SLOOPS - SPOOLS
SNOOPS - SPOONS

 

The three abbreviations below have something in common. A fourth abbreviation belongs in the list, but is given as a hint. Can you determine what these four abbreviations stand for and what they have in common?

1. NB
2. NL
3. NS

HINT:
The fourth abbreviation is PEI.

Answer:

The clues are abbreviations for Canada's four Atlantic Provinces:

1. New Brunswick
2. Newfoundland
3. Nova Scotia
4. Prince Edward Island

The answers to the clues below will spell out a word. Wordplay is fair play.

1. Noon
2. Starting block
3. Last of the Mohicans
4. Second in command
5. Bottom of the barrel
6. Second of July
7. At wit's end
8. Capital of England
9. Starting line
10. End of story

Answers:

1. A (noon - middle of day)
2. B
3. S
4. O
5. L
6. U
7. T
8. E
9. L
10. Y  - ABSOLUTELY

NY Times Crossword
December 29, 2015
Jeff Stillman (#1-6)

If a compliment for a steakhouse is WELL DONE, what would be an appropriate compliment for the following "recipients?"

1. An airline
2. A planetarium
3. A GPS manufacturer
4. A barbecue salesman
5. Explosives manufacturer
6. Collision repair facility
7. Furniture maker
8. Dairy farmer
9. Mortgage lender
10. Grip and gaffer assistant

Answers:

1. Keep it up.
2. Stellar
3. Way to go
4. You're on fire. 
5. Dynamite
6. Bang up job
7. Top drawer 
8. Cream of the crop
9. First rate 
10. Best boy

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. A little "off"
2. Complain
3. Dupe
4. Brag
5. Sell - aggressively
6. Construction site sight

Answers:

1. Cuckoo
2. Grouse
3. Gull
4. Crow
5. Hawk
6. Crane

Credit: NY Times Crossword
June 3, 1999
Frances Hansen
BIRDS OF A FEATHER (#1-3)

ADD A LETTER - GET A NEW WORD XIII

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

1. SOUL + E
2. BLUES + T
3. FOILS + S
4. OMEGA + H
5. IOTA + R
6. SWORD + Y
7. THORN + E
8. ECRU + V
9. SERGE + Y
10. OPTIC + E

HINTS:
1. Parasite
2. Rent
3. Ancient remnant
4. Praise
5. Proportion
6. Nodding off, perhaps
7. Stinger
8. Kind of pitch
9. Yosemite
10. Verse

Answers:

1. LOUSE
2. SUBLET
3. FOSSIL
4. HOMAGE
5. RATIO
6. DROWSY
7. HORNET
8. CURVE
9. GEYSER
10. POETIC

STUMPERS CXLI

Can you think of three well-known names that are preceded by three initials.

HINTS:
1. Fantasy writer
2. Toy store namesake
3. Co-founder of the NAACP

Answers:

1. J.R.R. Tolkien
2. F.A.O. Schwarz 
3. W.E.B. Du Bois

Credit: Matt Gaffney

FOUR RIDDLES

1. What happens when Hercule Poirot changes his mind?

2)
The man who made it did not need it.
The man who bought it did not want it.
The man who used it did not know it.

3)
Like a watchman on a bridge,
I protect you.
You can see right through me,
But others wonder what I conceal.

4)
When I walk, it walks.
When I run, it runs.
When I scream, it does nothing.
When I wear colored clothes,
Its color doesn't change.

Answers:

1. A Belgian waffles
2. A coffin 
3. Sunglasses
4. Shadow

Credit:
#1: Robert O. Dillman 

NY Times Crossword
September 29, 1999
Patrick Berry

What do the following words have in common?

FAIR
WHO
THAT
ENOUGH

Answer:

Each word is commonly written in the form _____'s  _____:

FAIR'S FAIR
WHO'S WHO
THAT'S THAT
ENOUGH'S ENOUGH 

The same letter can be added to each of the words below so that the resulting letters in each word can be anagrammed into three new, related words. What is the letter and what are the new words?

BEANS
OLIVE
ONION

HINT:
The letter is T.

Answers:

BEANS + T = ABSENT
OLIVE + T = VIOLET
ONION + T = NOTION 

The same three letters, in the same, consecutive order, can change each of the words below into new ones. Once you solve the puzzle, try to think of a clever title for it - and notice the one the constructor came up with, as shown below.  

TEN
HEM
PAGE
GALL
ELOPE
SERGE

Answers:

The letters are ANT:

TENANT
ANTHEM
PAGEANT
GALLANT
ANTELOPE
SERGEANT

Credit: NY Times Crossword
March 8, 1998
Richard Silvestri
WHAT A NICE PICNIC!  [no ants!]

N Y Times Crossword
November 30, 1999
Elizabeth C. Gorski

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. How some kids ride
2. Diagonal to
3. Where to pontificate
4. Diners' requests

Answers:

1. Piggyback
2. Catty corner
3. Bully pulpit
4. Doggy bags

What do the following countries have in common?

Belgium
Denmark
England
France
Germany

HINT:
It has to do with fool.

Answer:

Each country is associated with a breakfast specialty:

Belgian waffle
Cheese Danish
English muffin
French toast
German pancakes 

The same five letters, in the same order, will complete the four words below. What are the words?

L _ _ _ _ _
M _ _ _ _ _
N _ _ _ _ _
P _ _ _ _ _

HINT:
The second letter is O.

Answers:

LOTION
MOTION
NOTION
POTION

BINARY CODE
Credit: NY Times Crossword
December 27, 2015
Dan Gagliardo and Zhouqin  Burnikel (#1-8)

In the phrase ONION RINGS, the two O's in onion are described by rings. That is, the O's are in the shape of rings. Each clue below contains a pair of double letters which can be visually described in a common phrase - such as OO in ONION RINGS.

1. PP
2. AA
3. DD
4. WW
5. ZZ
6. NN
7. RR
8. FF
9. SS
10. RR
11. SS
12. TT

HINTS:
1. Shopping
2. NC_ _
3. Cul-de-sacs
4. In a room with a view
5. Kind of musical number
6. Major League baseball team
7. It usually consists of a man and a woman
8. Good start to a baseball inning
9. Eyes
10. Jewelry
11. Board game
12. Gloves

Answers:

1. SHOPPING CENTER
2. NCAA FINALS
3. DEAD ENDS
4. WINDOW FRAME
5. JAZZ DUET
6. MINNESOTA TWINS 
7. MARRIED COUPLE
8. LEAD-OFF DOUBLE 
9. PAIR OF GLASSES 
10. PAIR OF EARRINGS
11. CHESS SET
12. PAIR OF MITTENS

FOUR RIDDLES

1. Why is a medium good company?
2. Why is a realtor good company?
3. What do you call a party for doctors?
4. What do you call a party for physicists?

Answers:

1. He tries to raise your spirits.
2. He has a lot to offer. 
3. A medicine ball
4. A nuclear blast

Credits:
#1: Trip Payne
#2: Marjorie Berg 
#3-4: Gene Newman

STUMPERS CXL

The blanks in the sentence below can be filled in with words which differ by two letters.

If you believe strongly in a cause, but never  __________, you might feel __________.

Answers:

CONTRIBUTE
CONTRITE

Credit: The Enigma 
NPL Magazine
October, 2015
LEXMAN

From The Enigma
NPL Magazine
October, 2015
LEXMAN

LOAM and GLOAM represent the two keywords which answer this flat. The two words differ by only a single letter, as is visually suggested by LOAM and GLOAM

In high school, life was but a dream
For the captain of the football team.
But now, he spends his days at home,
As his LOAM grows dusty
And his muscles GLOAM.

Answers:

TROPHY
ATROPHY

What do the following phrases have in common?

UNSUNG HERO
COMMON MAN
STATUESQUE MODEL
SWEDISH MEATBALLS
ENTHUSIASTIC LEARNER
REFRIED BEANS
SATISFIED MIND

HINT:
Each phrase conceals something.

Answers:

Hidden in each phrase are the abbreviations of the days of the week, in order:

unSUNg hero
comMON man
staTUEsque model
sWEDish meatballs
enTHUsiastic learner
reFRIed beans
SATisfied mind

ANSWERING MACHINE MESSAGES
Credit: NY Times Crossword
September 8, 2005
Ben Tausig

1. Lament from a struggling fashion designer
2. Promise from a patient prosecutor
3. Advice from a fitness instructor
4. Instruction from a record executive

Answers:

1. I'm not in right now.
2. I'll try you later.
3. Wait for the tone.
4. Leave your number.

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Futile effort
2. Activity with a list
3. Televised car chase, usually
4. Police action in a neighborhood, perhaps
5. Finding one's "Holy Grail"

Answers:

1. Wild goose chase
2. Scavenger hunt
3. Police pursuit
4. House-to-house search
5. Life-long quest

Credit:
NY Times Crossword
June 8, 2005
Richard Chisholm (#1-3 - adapted) 

MISSING LINK C

Each trio of word below shares a Missing Link - that is, its members have something in common, obvious or not. For example, RIVERS, NOSES, & VIOLINS can all have BRIDGES.

1. Feet..........Line..........Tire
2. Soil..........Spin..........Billing
3. Rock..........False..........Bell
4. Cow..........Door..........School
5. Box..........Paper..........Bar
6. Pen..........Pocket..........Paring
7. Needle..........Potato..........Storm
8.Weight..........Hanger..........Tiger
9. Age..........Fish..........Ware
10. Asia..........Palatine..........Indigo

Answers:

1. Things that can be flat
2. Top
3. Bottom
4. Kind of bells
5. Sand
6. Kinds of knives
7. Things with eyes that can't see
8. Paper
9. Stone
10. One of seven (Continents, Hills of Rome, Colors of the rainbow)

From The Enigma
NPL Magazine
October, 2015
WABBIT

The key words in this flat, MATISSE and MONET, can be filled in with two Spoonerisms.

In antique shops I love to browse
And look at urns and bells for cows
And copper coins and bric-a-brac......
But buy? I can't. (Big bucks I lack.)

Then, there it was - a quaint
   MATISSE!
Oh, what a conversation piece!
'Twould brighten up my living room
(And surely complement the loom).

Then Al, the smiling salesman, came
And said, "Now it would be a shame
To leave it there - you know you love it!
Something all your friends would covet!"

"It's quite high-priced. I must say no."
"Oh, what a shame to let it go!
I'll tell you what I'm gonna do:
I'll throw in coupons (one or two)

Worth twenty bucks. You can't refuse!"
I had the feeling I would lose
This battle due to Al's MONET.
My lovely find's now on display.

HINTS:
#1:
MATISSE = _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _
MONET =   _ _ _ _ _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _
#2:
The salesman had a _ _ _ _ _ .
#3:
The salesman had a SPIEL

Answers:

SPINNING WHEEL
WINNING SPIEL 

SIX RIDDLES

1. What insect lives at the top of your house?
2. What do you call the back door to a cafeteria?
3. Why did King Kong join the marines?
4. Why did the prison hire the dermatologist?
5. Why is everyone tired on April 1?
6. How many i's are there in Mississippi?

Answers:

1. A tick
2. Bacteria
3. To learn gorilla warfare
4. In case someone broke out
5. Because they just finished a 31-day March
6. Rough estimate - count the number of people and multiply by two

CRAFTY
Credit: NY Times Crossword
August 6, 1995
Manny Nosowsky (adapted)

The clues below can be answered with words or phrases containing the names of boats. Wordplay is fair play.

1. What the face of Helen of Troy did
2. Pursue in error
3. Gem of the Persian Navy
4. Venetian expression of sympathy
5. Angry Eskimo's remark
6. Naval Academy professor's comment to two students

Answers:

1. Launched a thousand ships
2. Bark up the wrong tree 
3. Rubaiyacht of Omar Khayyam
4. "My gondolances"
5. "Umiak me so mad."
6. "Uboat flunked." 

1. Can you fill in the blanks with the same letters, in the same order, to make five common words?

_ _ _ D _
_ _ _ M _
_ _ _ R _
_ _ _ S _
_ _ _ Z _

2. Can you fill in the blanks with the same letters, in the same order, to complete four common words?

APP _ _ _ _
DEC _ _ _ _
DIS _ _ _ _
REL _ _ _ _

Answers:

1)
BLADE
BLAME
BLARE
BLASE
BLAZE

2)
APPEASE
DECEASE
DISEASE
RELEASE

ADD A LETTER - GET A NEW WORD XII

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

1. VEGAN + E
2. VANITY + E
3. CABINET + U
4. HOMER + C
5. MIRE + C
6. COUSIN + T
7. PASTEL + O
8. PRINT + U
9. CRIME + T
10. ROCK + A

HINTS:
1. Get even
2. Inexperience
3. Keep warm, as eggs
4. There used to be lots of it on cars
5. Forgery, for one
6. Force based on differences in pressures
7. Paul was one
8. Vegetable
9. Number system
10. Buy the farm

Answers:

1. AVENGE
2. NAIVETY
3. INCUBATE
4. CHROME
5. CRIME
6. SUCTION
7. APOSTLE
8. TURNIP
9. METRIC
10. CROAK 

THREE RHYMING RIDDLES

1)
In the beginning, no one will object
That I am the matter, the issue, the subject.
Change my third letter and then I become
Poisonous, hazardous, even fatal to some.
Change it again, and then you'll find
I'm just the thing for your body and mind.

2)
My first is in gumball but not in glamour,
My second in both saw and hammer;
My third begins start while my fourth begins end,
My fifth and sixth are in brand but not trend;
My seventh and eighth, which are both the same letter,
Are found in retell, but not in better.

3)
Sometimes it glitters, but often not;
It may be cold, it may be hot.
Ever changing, though the eye can't measure,
Concealed within may be great treasure.
Some find safety beneath its gate,
While some may die beneath its weight.

Answers:

1. TOPIC/TOXIC/TONIC
2. BASEBALL
3. ROCK

Can you place each letter below onto a blank to form five words that are synonyms. Each letter will be used only once.

A
CCC
EE
G
H
I
OO
P
RRRRR
T
UU

T _ _ E
R _ _ _ T
P_ _ _ _ R
C _ _ _ _ _ T
A _ _ _ _ _ _ E

Answers:

TRUE
RIGHT
PROPER
CORRECT
ACCURATE

Credit: Parade Magazine
December 20 ,2015
Marilyn vos Savant
ASK MARILYN

ASK MARILYN
From Parade Magazine
December 20, 2015
Marilyn vos Savant

These words follow a rule:

BEECH
FIR
PEAR
PLUM

These words don't follow it:

BIRCH
CHERRY
ELM
PALM

Can you find the rule?

The words that follow the rule all have homophones:

BEECH - BEACH
FIR - FUR
PEAR - PAIR/PARE
PLUM - PLUMB
 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN XVI

What's the difference between:

1. An usher and an inept surgeon?
2. An American Indian ceremony and an inaugural ball?
3. Travel and bull rings?
4. A large extended family and a citizen of Oz?

Answers:

1. One can show you to your seat and the other can sew you to your sheet. 
2. One is a rain dance and the other a reign dance.
3. One is going places and the other is goring places. 
4. Much kin and Munchkin

What do the following words, names, and phrases have in common?

SAUSAGE
CIRCUS ACT
THOUSAND
AROUSAL
MESUSA
FAMOUS AMOS
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA

Answer:

Each contains the consecutive letters USA.

Credit: NY Times Crossword
December 2, 2001
Nancy Nicholson Joline
CHEERS FOR UNCLE SAM 

FLEXERS XXI

NY Times Crossword
August 1, 1999
Randolph Ross
AWAY WITH WORDS

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

1. Golfing
2. Walking the dogie
3. Re-arranges the lettuce
4. Two good NFL plays
5. Share a theater role
6. Go up against Ali
7. Angry place to live
8. Charming way to look at things
9. Hospital event to honor the best patient
10. What the NFL team might have done in the draft

CHOICES:

a. Split apart
b. Acute angle
c. Across town
d. Playing around
e. Taken aback
f. Leading astray
g. Fight about
h. Again and again
i. Moves ahead
j. Award ceremony

Answers:

1. d - Playing around
2. f - Leading astray
3. i - Moves ahead
4. h - Again and again
5. a - Split apart
6. g - Fight about
7. c - Across town
8. b - Acute angle
9. j - Award ceremony
10. e - Taken aback

HUMBUG!

In the Christmas song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," the 4th day gift is commonly written as Four Calling Birds. It should be Four Colly Birds. (Colly - or collie - means black.)

Santa's seventh reindeer is commonly referred to as DONNER. According to the poem " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas," his name is DONDER.

FOURSOMES
Credit: NY Times Crosword
August 2, 1998
Nancy Nicholson Joline (#1-4)

Can you identify these famous foursomes?

1. Monumental foursome
2. Literary foursome
3. Christmas song foursome
4. Lucky foursome
5. New Testament foursome
6. Cyclical foursome
7. Poker foursome
4. Watery foursome

Answers:

1. Mount Rushmore
2. Little Women
3. Four Colly (Calling) Birds
4. Clover leaves
5. Four Gospels
6. Four seasons
7. Four suits in a deck of cards
8. Four oceans of the world

NY Times Crossword
June 2, 1998
Elizabeth C. Gorski (#1-4)

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Indiscreet
2. Miserly
3. Bullied
4. Not too smart
5. John Wayne, for one
6. Like some models
7. Lacking enough help (as workers)
8. Staring in astonishment or surprise

HINT:
Each answer contains a word related to a body part

Answers:  

1. Loose-lipped
2. Tight-fisted 
3. Strong-armed 
4. Lame-brained (Knuckle-headed)
5. Broad-shouldered 
6. Long-legged
7. Short-handed
8. Bug-eyed

NY Times Crossword
March 2, 1998
Jeremy Thomas Paine

Each clue below can be answered by two two-word phrases in which the first words of each phrase are opposites and the second words of each phrase are also opposites.

1)
Don'teave!
Leave!

2)
Become motionless out of fear
Lose it completely, with "have a"

3)
Angry and rash ones
Second thoughts at the altar

4)
[This pair is made up of compound words]

Conquer (as a fear)
Endure (as surgery)


Answers:

1)
Stay here!
Go away!

2)
Freeze up
Melt down

3)
Hot heads
Cold feet 

4)
Overcome
Undergo

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT XXIV

Did you hear about.......................

1. The Japanese poet who didn't finish school?
2. The show horse that had an out-of-body experience?
3. The "stickies" on which you can only write polite messages?

Answers:

1. He was a haiku dropout. (Cathy Allis-Millhauser)
2. He was in a haltered state. (Manny Nosowsky) 
3. They're called Emily Post It Notes

NY Times Crossword
December 17, 2015
David Kwong

The title of a well-known novel is partially written out below. Can you fill in the blanks using only three different letters? Wordplay is fair play.

PRIDE AND PREJU_ _ _ _ _ _

Answer:

PRIDE AND PREJUDIEDIE  (PREJUDICE)

Explanation: DIE is the singular form of DICE. So two DIES make up DICE.

Note: The best way to present this puzzle is to use two little boxes after the U. Each box should be filled with the letters DIE. 

The two words below have related anagrams. What are they?

AVENGE
ORATIONS

Answer:

Each word can be anagrammed into the name of a lake:

GENEVA
ONTARIO

RHYMING RIDDLE ANSWERS XXV

The answers to each item in the clues will rhyme.

1. Somber vehicle, Poetry, Shakespeare's trash, Brief

2. Slander or defame, Give a person a task to do, Pattern or plan, Purify

3. Fail under pressure, Deliberately move to anger, Serious, Enjoy a soft drink

4. Airtight, Pitiful, Severely disciplined and abstaining, Artificial body part

5. Ice skating element, Accustom, Imply or suggest, Surrender

6. Related to sight, leftover-remaining, Temporary, First-new-different

7. Parthenon site, Large city, City of the dead, Huge city and environs

8. Take part, Lecture in a pedantic way, Return a favor, Look forward to

9. Keep in touch by mail, Thoreau's digs, Begin to like, Agent 007

10. Clown, Woodwind, Gary Cooper classic western, Rare occurrence

11. Passive, Preserved plant or animal remains of the remote past, Enormous, Church official

12. Insult deeply, Third Little Pig's home, Have fun, Beyond repair

Answers:

1. Hearse, Verse, Purse, Terse
2. Malign, Assign, Design, Refine 
3. Choke, Provoke, No joke, Have a Coke
4. Hermetic, Pathetic, Ascetic, Prosthetic
5. Figure eight, Habituate, Insinuate, Capitulate
6. Visual, Residual, Provisional, Original
7. Acropolis, Metropolis, Necropolis, Megalopolis
8. Participate, Pontificate, Reciprocate, Anticipate
9. Correspond, Walden Pond, Grow fond, James Bond
10. Buffoon, Bassoon, High Noon, Blue moon
11. Docile, Fossil, Colossal, Apostle
12. Cut to the quick, House of bricks, Get your kicks, Can't be fixed

NY Times Crossword
December 3, 1997
Elizabeth C. Gorski (#1-3)

The answers to the clues below will have something in common:

1. Common sweetener
2. One of a string
3. Supposition based on available knowledge
4. Something done with generosity, modesty, and dignity

Answers:

1. Refined sugar
2. Cultured pearl
3. Educated guess
4. Class act

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Enthusiastic audience response
2. Classic half-dollar design
3. Arizona cactus whose spines come off very easily
4. Jewish period of mourning
5. Exhausted
6. Very angry
7. Competition at a lake, perhaps
8. Tuscany architectural wonder

Answers:

1. Standing ovation
2. Walking Liberty
3. Jumping cholla 
4. Sitting shiva
5. Running on empty
6. Hopping mad
7. Skipping stones
8. Leaning Tower

Place the letters of the nine-letter word on the dashes, one letter per dash, to spell a seven-letter word, a five-letter word, and a three-letter word. You may only use each letter of the nine-letter word once. For example:

PATCHWORK

_H _ P_ E _
_ H _ L _
_ U _             - - - the answer words would be

WHOPPER
CHALK
HUT

1)
POTENTIAL 

_ R _ P _ R _
_ S _ E _
_ R _

2)
DISBELIEF 

_ P _ C _ A _
_ U _ L _
_ E _

3)
DIRECTION

_ U _ S _ N _
_ O _ O _
_ O _

Answers:

1)
TRIPLET
ASPEN
ORE 

2)
SPECIAL
BUILD
FEE 

3)
CUISINE
DONOR
TOO 

What do the following words have in common?

BATS
PANS
POSE
ALAS

HINTS:
#1: The same letter will change each word into a new one.
#2: The letter is placed in the same position in each word.

Answer:

The letter I can be inserted into the middle of each word to make a new one:

BAITS
PAINS
POISE
ALIAS

 

NY Times Crossword
October 2, 1996
Karen Young Bonin (#1-6)

What do the following phrases have in common?

1. HI NEIGHBOR
2. IN BASKET
3. PA KETTLE
4. MA BELL
5. OK CORRAL
6. ID BRACELET
7. ME, MYSELF, AND I
8. OR ELSE

Answers:

Each answer begins with the postal abbreviation of a US state.

ONE WORD LEADS TO ANOTHER VI

Can you supply the missing links in the word chains below? Ignore word spacing and hyphens.

1)
.......CASH.......BELL.......MILL.......WORK.......VALUE

2)
POOL....WAY....BASE....BEAN....BOWL....DAY....MEAL.... BOOTH

3)
HOUSE.....LINE.....WAY.....KICK......HAND......NIGHT......DATE......STORE

Answers:

1)
PETTYcashCOWbellPEPPERmillSTONEworkPLACE value 

2)
poolHALLwayOFFbaseJUMPINGbeanSALADbowl GAMEdayLIGHTmealTICKETbooth

3)
housePARTYlineDRIVEwaySIDEkickBACKhandOVERnightCOURTdateBOOKstore

MISSING LINK XCIX

FBI
Credit: NPR Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle
December 13, 2015
Will Shortz

Each trio of words below shares a Missing Link - that is, its members have something in common, obvious or not. For example, RIVERS, NOSES, & VIOLINS can all have BRIDGES.

1)
Fast
Back
Inside

2)
Floor
Bulletin
Ironing

3)
Flash
Birthday
Index

4)
Fun
Brokerage
Ice

5)
Family
Best
Invisible

6)
Florida
Backspace
Ignition

7)
First
Birth
Interest

Answers:

1. Track
2. Board
3. Card
4. House
5. Man
6. Key
7. Rate 

NY Times Crossword
January 2, 1995
Sidney L. Robbins

The answers to the first three clues below will have something in common, as revealed by the fourth clue.

1. It's lined with bars
2. Carte blanche
3. Intimate conversation
4. King or queen

Answers:

1. Sheet music
2. Blanket approval
3. Pillow talk
4. Bed

FOUR RIDDLES

1. Why did the boy enjoy reading the dictionary?
2. Where do you find MISTRESS in the dictionary?
3. What do you call a line of skinny, blonde dolls?
4. How would baseball be different if we had lost the Revolutionary War?
5. What did the men's clothing salesman say to the customer who said he was just browsing?

Answers:

1. It was spellbinding.
2. Between MATTRESS and MISTER
3. Barbecue (Barbie queue) [Patrick Jordan]
4. We would have the New York Redcoats. (Mel Taub)
5. "Suit yourself." (Jim Page)

NY Times Crossword
September 1, 1999
Alan Arbesfeld

Each clue below contains the name of a vegetable. Wordplay is fair play.

1. Repair a veggie
2. Veggie left over after a fire
3. Veggie minister's direction
4. Omit a veggie
5. Detached veggie's comment

Answers:

1. Fix a leek
2. Chard remains
3. "Lettuce pray" 
4. Skip a beet
5. "I don't carrot all."

The same three letters, in the same, consecutive order, will change each of the following words into new ones.

AD
COD
DEN
FORD
RANT

HINTS:
#1: The title of this puzzle is PACIFISM.
#2: PACIFISM means no war.

Answers:

The missing letters are WAR:

1. aWARd
2. coWARd
3. WARden
4. forWARd
5.WARrant

Credit: Wayne Robert Williams
PACIFISM

LA Times Crossword
December 15, 2015
C.W. Stewart (#1,2,3,5)

The first four clues below will have something in common that is revealed by the fifth clue. Can you determine what it is?

1. Madison or Jackson, for example
2. Workplace social event
3. Camper's gift from home
4. Witch and warlock magazine, perhaps
5. Deviation from a normal routine

Answers:

1. State capital
2. Office party
3. Care package
4. Wicca periodical
5. Change of pace

The word PACE is changed in clues #1-4:

1. statE CAPital
2. offiCE PArty
3. carE PACkage 
4. wicCA PEriodical

WHERE THEY SELL ..............
Harvey Estes (#1-4)

If they sell animals at a STOCK MARKET, where do they sell .......................

1. carpets?
2. explosives?
3. bicycle parts?
4. bedroom tables?
5. weight lifting equipment?

Answers:

1. At a FLOOR SHOW
2. At a MAGAZINE STAND
3. At a CHAIN STORE
4. At a VANITY FAIR
5. In a PRESSROOM

Starting with A, how many pairs of letters - in alphabetical order - can you think of that are reasonably familiar abbreviations or "short forms" of phrases?

(Possible) Answers:

AB - blood type
BC - before Christ
CD - compact disc
DE - Delaware
HI - Hawaii
MN - Minnesota
NO - opposite of yes and abbreviation for number
OP - opportunity, as in photo op
PQ - P's and Q's (manners)
ST - Abbreviation for Saint and street
UV - ultra violet
VW - Volkwagen
XY - gender-determining chromosomes

FOUR RHYMING RIDDLES

1)
It runs and runs, but cannot flee;
It's often watched, but cannot see.

2)
Strung together with a line,
Stuck behind bars, but have done no crime.

3)
It's all about love, but it's always wrong;
It can be right, but it's never wrong.

4)
I come in darkness,
Though not always at night;
To some I bring joy,
To others fright.

Answers:

1. A clock
2. 1/8 or 1/16 musical notes
3. Triangle
4. Dreams

ADD A LETTER - GET A NEW WORD XI

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

1. APRON + D
2. GENRE + Y
3. DINNER + G
4. THIRD + E
5. GARNET + D
6. INGOT + U
7. SUPER + C
8. SANER + W
9. CAMEL + I
10. RICHES + A

HINTS:
1. Forgive
2. Power
3. Made a face
4. Confusion
5. Police activity
6. Adventure
7. Dress up
8. Explanation
9. Ill will
10. Retail employee

Answers:  

1. PARDON
2. ENERGY
3. GRINNED
4. DITHER 
5. DRAGNET
6. OUTING
7. SPRUCE
8. ANSWER
9. MALICE
10 CASHIER

PARDONABLE ROBBERIES II

You won't be arrested for GRABBING SOME Z's. What pardonable robberies might be associated with these hints?

1. Romance
2. Fleeing
3. Helping

Answers:

1. Stealing a kiss
2. Taking a powder
3. Lifting a finger 

Below are the clues and answers to an interesting crossword puzzle. Can you figure out what's going on and take a guess at the puzzle's clever title?

1. Hand-to hand test of strength - INDINRSTLING
2. Having permanent electrical connections - HRDIRD
3. Torah's contents - LOFMOSS
4. Collision readiness - CRSHORTHINSS
5. National monument in Utah - RINBOBRIDG
6. Bait buys - NIGHTCRLRS

Answers:

Each answer is missing the letters A, W, and E:

1. INDIAN WRESTLING
2. HARD-WIRED 
3. LAW OF MOSES
4. CRASH WORTHINESS
5. RAINBOW BRIDGE
6. NIGHT CRAWLERS

The puzzle title is AWESTRUCK.

Credit: Mel Rosen
AWESTRUCK 

NY Times Crossword
September 4, 2002
Eric Berlin (adapted)

Each "word," as written below, is a visual clue. The words can  be completed in a similar way, so that all the completed words are related in a certain way.

STO
STOR
ORDE
BREA
CHANG

Answer:

Each word can be changed into a new word by adding a single letter:

STOP
STORY
ORDER
BREAD
CHANGE

How the words are related:

Each can be preceded by SHORT to form a common word or phrase.

NOTE: Here are the clues and answers as they appeared in the Times:

SHORT STORY - PAPERBACK BOO
SHORT BREAD - PUMPERNICKE
SHORT STOP - TRAIN STATIO
SHORT CHANGE - METAMORPHOSI

The answers to the two clues below differ by a single letter.

1. Concern of journalists
2. Concern of physicists

Answers:

1. Articles
2. Particles 

FLEXERS XX

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

1. Met fan
2. First mate
3. Result of too much frowning
4. Haircuts
5. Vandalized art work
6. Fake embroidery
7. No strings attached
8. Swedish prison
9. Meteorologist

CHOICES:

a. Main events
b. Cruel hoax
c. Yale
d. Brass band
e. Opera lover
f. Groucho Marx
g. Frontman
h. Adam or Eve
i. Claude Monet

Answers: 

1. e - Opera lover (Metropolitan Opera)
2. h - Adam or Eve
3. f - Groucho Marx
4. a - Main events (mane)
5. i - Claude Monet (clawed)
6. b - Cruel hoax (crewel)
7. d - Brass band
8. c - Yale
9. g - Frontman

FIFTEEN RIDDLES

1. Why did the cow go to the psychiatrist?
2. What goes through a door, but never goes in or out?
3. My second hand is my third hand. What am I?
4. Why are all doctors liars?
5. What kind of furniture likes to go on vacation?
6. What kind of furniture has a lot of money?
7. What kind of furniture wears trendy clothes?
8. What can jump higher than a house?
9. Why is a dog a bad dancer?
10. Why did the tightrope walker go to the bank?
11. What did one ear say to the other ear?
12. Why are pianos the noblest of instruments?
13. How did the blind carpenter recover his sight?
14. What did the termite say when he saw the house burning?
15. What do you pull apart in the morning and pull together at night?

Answers:

1. She had issues with her fodder.
2. A keyhole
3. A clock
4. They say they'll treat you, but then they make you pay.
5. A travel bureau
6. An endowed chair
7. A snappy dresser
8. Anything - a house can't jump
9. It  has two left feet.
10. To check his balance
11. "I didn't know we lived on the same block."
12. Some are grand and the rest are upright.
13. He picked up his hammer and saw.
14. "Umm.......barbecue"
15. Curtains 

SPOONERISMS VI

Each scenario describe below can be summed up in a (sort of) Spoonerism of a familiar expression.

1. An emperor loved the wildlife of this country so much that he allowed them to roam freely throughout his domain. The people got so annoyed that they revolted and overthrew their leader.

2. A knight's horse had given out during a raging rain storm. The knight took temporary refuge in a nearby inn. He asked the innkeeper for another horse, but was told that the only animal available was a tired old dog. Anxious to be on his way, the knight decided to ride him. But the innkeeper protested, saying..................

Answers:

1. The reign was called on account of game.
2. "I wouldn't send a knight out on a dog like this.

CREATURE COUPLES
Credit: Randolph Ross (#1- 2)

The clues below can be answered with the names of two kinds of animals which are often paired together.

1. Pluvial pair
2. Conflict debaters
3. Stockbrokers
4. Hunted and hunters
5. Fabled racers
6. Slacker vs. hardworkers
7. One or the other
8. Facts of life

Answers:

1. Cats and dogs
2. Doves and hawks
3. Bears and bulls
4. Fox and hounds
5. Tortoise and the Hare
6. Grasshopper and the Ants
7. Fish or fowl
8. Birds and bees

NPR Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle
December 13, 2015
Will Shortz

 The names of two US capital cities can be changed into the names of two other cities by dropping one letter and re-arranging the remaining letters. The new cities are not in the same states and are not capitals of their own states.

Answers:

SALEM - MESA
ST. PAUL - TULSA 

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Cause a commotion
2. Go crazy - as with boredom
3. What a show-stopping performance can do
4. Skyrocket - as prices
5. Become very angry

Answers:

1. Raise the rafters
2. Climb the walls
3. Bring down the house
4. Go through the roof
5. Hit the ceiling

Credit: Randolph Ross
HOME IMPROVEMENT

RHYMING RIDDLE ANSWERS XXIV

The answers to each item in the clues will rhyme.

1. Attract, Coy, Tolerate, Safe

2. Argumentative, Showy, Lustful, Diligent

3. Occurring in the Spring, Heavenly, Hellish, Active at night

4. Repeat initial sounds, Help to get something done, Erase, Burn

5. Related to love, Related to meaning, Academically pompous, "The Pond"

6. Flirtatious girl, Gambling game, Type of newspaper, Profile drawing

7. "Oreo" for example in cookies, Refuse to back down, Type of piano, Popular

8. Grieved, Poured concrete, Stopped from happening, Seriously mentally ill

9. Built in the USA, Under a tree - perhaps, Great praise, Amusement center of the past

10. Talented at sports, Artificial - as a limb, Superficial, Having high blood sugar

Answers:

1. Allure, Demure, Endure, Secure
2. Contentious, Pretentious, Licentious, Conscientious
3. Vernal, Supernal, Infernal, Nocturnal
4. Alliterate, Facilitate, Obliterate, Incinerate
5. Romantic, Semantic, Pedantic, Atlantic
6. Coquette, Roulette, Gazette, Silhouette
7. Name brand, Take a stand, Concert grand, In demand
8. Lamented, Cemented, Prevented, Demented
9. American made, In the shade, Accolade, Penny arcade
10. Athletic, Prosthetic, Cosmetic, Diabetic

CONTRONYMS III

Contronyms are self-contradicting words, or auto-antonyms. There are thousands of words in English that have more than one meaning (homographs). But a contronym is a single word that has two opposite meanings. SANCTION, for example, can mean both to approve and to condemn.

Can you determine the word or phrase that can satisfy both definitions below?

1. Harden or soften
2. Harm or help
3. Die or begin
4. Hello or farewell
5. Solemn promise or profane words
6. To have "watchdog" responsibility or a failure to be watchful and responsible

Answers:

1. Temper
2. Fix
3. Kick off 
4. Aloha / Shalom / Ave
5. Oath
6. Oversight

The answers to the clues below will have something in common:

1. Home protector against fire or electrocution
2. Tiny oceanic food source
3. It may host a picnic or a cemetery
4. Certain animal shelter
5. Street timers that must be "fed"
6. Infantryman
7. Caterpillar
8. Denver, Colorado nickname
9. ML in MLB
10. Stetson topper

Answers:

1. Lightning rod
2. Plankton
3. Churchyard
4. Dog pound
5. Parking meters
6. Foot soldier
7. Inchworm
8. Mile High City
9. Major League
10. Ten-gallon hat

Each answer contains a unit of measure.

Credit:
Trip Payne
BY ANY MEASURE (adapted)

STUMPERS CXXXIX

What do the US States Delaware, Hawaii, and Minnesota have in common?

Answer:

They are the only three states whose US Postal abbreviation letters are in alphabetical order:

DE
HI
MN 

THREE FOR ONE

Can you think of three six-letter answers that could each satisfy the clue Makes good on a debt?

Answers:

REPAYS
PAYS UP
HONORS

Note and tribute:
This puzzle contains the theme answers from the final crossword puzzle by Merl Reagle, who died on August 22, 2015 from acute pancreatitis. He was 65.

WISEGUY STUDIES
Credit: LA Times Crossword
August 30, 2015
Merl Reagle

If the study of punctuation marks is PERIODONTICS, what about................

1. the study of peas?
2. the study of women's magazines?
3. the study of babies?
4. the study of poker?
5. the study of voting?
6. the study of dwellings?
7. the study of logic?
8. the study of car repair?
9. the study of cemeteries?

Answers:

1. PODIATRY
2. COSMOLOGY
3. CRYOGENICS
4. CARDIOLOGY
5. ELECTRONICS
6. HOMEOPATHY
7. ERGONOMICS
8. DENTISTRY
9. CRYPTOGRAPHY 

Each two-word answer to the clues below will have something in common that has to do with a family member. Can you determine what it is? (#8 - Wordplay is fair play.)

1. "You Bet Your Life" host
2. Score-settling competition
3. What a boy becomes, with A
4. Brains, figuratively
5. Dad in the backyard on the 4th of July
6. Big Wheel by Huffy
7. Often-visited store
8. Ancient Asian wonder goes commercial

Answers:

1. GROUCHO MARX
2. GRUDGE MATCH
3. GROWN MAN
4. GRAY MATTER
5. GRILL MASTER
6. GREEN MACHINE
7. GROCERY MARKET
8. GREAT MALL (OF CHINA)

The first word of each answer begins with GR, and the second with MA - giving GR and MA (GRANDMA).

Credit: LA Times Crossword
December 8, 2015
Ed Sessa
GRANDMA (#1-4)

MISSING LINK XCVIII

Each trio of words below shares a Missing Link - that is, its members have something in common, obvious or not. For example, RIVERS, NOSES, & VIOLINS can all have BRIDGES.

1. The ice..........A leg..........Ground
2. Country..........Folk..........Swing
3. Cow..........Glad..........Helping
4. Dinner..........Slumber..........Bachelor
5. Sea..........Sister..........Tuesday
6. Day..........Steady..........Dead end
7. Loose..........Tight..........Split
8. Wedding..........Christmas..........Sleigh
9. Animal..........Storm..........Bomb
10. Pastoral..........Jupiter..........Surprise

Answers:

1. Things you can break
2. Kinds of dancing
3. Kinds of hands
4. Kinds of parties
5. One of seven
6. Kinds of jobs
7. Kinds of ends
8. Kinds of bells 
9. Kinds of shelters
10. Names of famous symphonies

FIVE RIDDLES

1. What was African missionary/explorer David Livingstone's full name?
2. Who was George Washington's sister?
3. Who was Nathan Hale's sister?
4. How can we keep prayer in our schools?
5. To a geologist, 1000 years is nothing. What does that tell you?

Answers:

1. Dr. Livingstone I. Presume
2. The Aunt of our Country
3. Ginger Hale
4. Keep teaching algebra
5. Never loan money to a geologist.

Credits:
#2: Mel Rosen
#3: Manny Nosowsky
#5: Donna J. Stone

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Eisenhower was one
2. G.I. Newspaper
3. Biblical beacon
4. Symbol of Judaism
5. Like Romeo and Juliet
6. van Gogh masterpiece
7. Metaphor meaning "good job"
8. Nautical right

Answers:

1. Five Star General
2. Stars and Stripes
3. Star of Bethlehem
4. Star of David
5. Star-crossed lovers
6. Starry Night
7. Gold star
8. Starboard

Can you name the eight colleges and universities commonly referred to as the Ivy League schools?

Answers:

1. Brown
2. Columbia
4. Cornell
4. Dartmouth
5. Harvard
6. U Penn
7. Princeton
8. Yale

NY Times Crossword
August 18, 2004
Nancy Salomon and Levi Denham

The answers to the first six clues will have something in common which is revealed by the answer to the seventh clue.

1. Fake stories to cover a crime
2. Stephen Foster classic, with "Oh"
3. Grand, as money
4. Valedictorian's feat, perhaps
5. "Get lost," a little more politely
6. Shocked response in conversation, asked as a question
7. Familiar Olympics chant

Answers:

1. BOGUS ALIBIS
2. OH SUSANNA
3. THOUSAND
4. A PLUS AVERAGE
5. "LEAVE US ALONE"
6. "YOU SAID WHAT?"
7. USA USA USA

Each answer conceals the consecutive letters USA:

1. bogUS Alibis
2. oh sUSAnna
3. thoUSAnd
4. a plUS Average
5. leave US Alone
6. yoU SAid what?

AMBIGUOUS JOB RECOMMENDATIONS
Credit: NY Times Crossword
July 18, 2004
Seth A. Abel

Recommendation for..................

1. A chronically absent employee
2. Dishonest employee
3. Employee who stole petty cash
4. Employee who had a drinking problem
5. Final recommendation

Answers:

1. Finding him was pure luck.
2. He's an unbelievable worker.
3. He's comfortable with change.
4. His talents are being wasted.
5. Waste no time calling him. 

1. What do the following words have in common?

BEEP
POOH
EXTRA
EXCUSES

2. What do the following words have in common?

LOT
LEG
SECT
FACT
PORT

Answers:

1. They are commonly repeated twice. 

2. Each word can be followed by ION to make a new word:

LOTION
LEGION
SECTION
FACTION
PORTION

NY Times Crossword
February 1, 2011
Ron Byron and Nancy Byron

The answers to the first four clues will have something in common which is revealed by the answer to the fifth clue.

1. Big name in orange juice
2. Large gem in the Smithsonian
3. Kindly doctor's asset
4. Common
5. Artwork using a variety of materials

Answers:

1. MINUTE MAID
2. HOPE DIAMOND
3. BEDSIDE MANNER
4. DIME A DOZEN
5. MIXED MEDIA

Each answer has the letters M,E,D,I, and A mixed up, but in consecutive order:

1. minutE MAID
2. hopE DIAMond 
3. bedsIDE MAnner
4. DIME A dozen

ADD A LETTER - GET A NEW WORD X

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

1. FLUTE + I
2. ALIEN + F
3. SPANIEL + X
4. GELATIN + R
5. DRAGON + Y
6. ACORN + B
7. OUGHT + N
8. SMOTE + D
9. BRICK + E
10. STORY + E

HINTS:
1. Hopeless
2. End
3. Elucidates
4. Geometry
5. Fabric
6. Element
7. Candy
8. Reserved
9. Argue
10. Shellfish

Answers:

1. FUTILE
2. FINALE
3. EXPLAINS
4. TRIANGLE
5. ORGANDY
6. CARBON
7. NOUGAT
8. MODEST
9. BICKER
10. OYSTER

NY Times Crossword
December 8, 2015
Neville Fogarty

 The clues below have something in common that, in some form or other, is free at most motels. Can you determine what it is? Wordplay is fair play.

FAIRY DUST
FALSE ARREST
FAMILY CREST
FATHER KNOW BEST

HINT:
It's a meal.

Answer:

BREAKFAST

Each clue begins with FA and ends with ST (break FAST).
 

PERFECT JOBS
Credit: NY Times Crossword
May 17, 2009
Oliver Hill

Can you think of the "perfect job" for the folks listed below? If you need them, a list of choices is found below the names.

1. Dustin
2. Warren
3. Robin
4. Darren
5. Landon
6. Rowan
7. Brandon
8. Holden

CHOICES:

a. Olympic sculler
b. Poker player
c. Housekeeper
d. Cattleman
e. Mercenary
f. Pilot
g. Thief
h. Stuntman

Answers:

1. c - Housekeeper
2. e - Mercenary 
3. g - Thief
4. h - Stuntman
5. f - Pilot
6. a - Olympic sculler
7. d - Cattleman
8. b - Poker player

TEN RIDDLES

1. Who perpetrated the biggest robbery of all time?
2. Where did the bees live on Noah's Ark?
3. What was the reward in the weight-loss contest?
4. What do you do with fruit?
5. What is plowed, but never planted?
6. Why did the dentist and manicurist get divorced?
7. What's a twip?
8 How do you know Francis Scott Key was an optometrist?
9. If you found a $100 bill in your coat pocket, what would you have?
10. Why does it take longer to run from second base to third base than from first base to second base?

Answers:

1. Atlas. He held up the world.
2. In the Ark hives
3. The no-belly prize
4. Eat what you can and can what you can't.
5. Snow
6. They fought tooth and nail.
7. A twip is what a wabbit takes when he wides a twain.
8. He wrote, "Oh, say can you see ..... ?"
9. Someone else's coat
10. There's a shortstop in between
 

OVERHEARD

Girl: You remind of the ocean.
Boy: Romantic, wild, and restless?
Girl. No. You make me sick.

Boy (treading water): Do you know how I keep my head above water?
Girl: Yes. Wood floats

Irritated fly to another fly: Bug, you man me.

Director: Have you had any stage experience?
Actor: I had my leg in a cast once.

Buffalo to his son as he is leaving: Bye, son.

Read in the will of a miserly millionaire: ............and to my brother Fred, whom I promised to remember in my will .............. Hi there, Fred.

Doctor: You got shot in the woods?
Patient: No, in the lumbar region

Patient: Every time I do this it hurts.
Doctor: Don't do that.

1st Grade Girl: I'm not going back to school.
Mother: Why not?
Girl: Well, I can't read and I can't write, and the teacher won't let me talk.

NPR Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle
December 6, 2015
Will Shortz

In each of the five-letter words below, replace the middle letter with two other letters to form a new word. For example, given the clue word FROND, you would replace the O with IE to get FRIEND.

1. EARLY
2. TULIP
3. MOURN
4. JUROR
5. FUTON
6. DEITY
7. PANDA
8. SLOTH
9. VISOR

Answers:

1. EASILY
2. TURNIP
3. MODERN
4. JUNIOR
5. FUSION
6. DEPUTY
7. PAGODA
8. SLEUTH
9. VICTOR

NY Times Crossword
July 16, 2003
Norm Guggenbiller (#1-3)

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Quickly
2. Common toast
3. Favorite
4. Biblical justice

Answers:

1. In the blink of an eye
2. Here's mud in you eye
3. Apple of one's eye
4. An eye for an eye

NY Times Crossword
March 15, 2001
Cathy Millhauser (Allis)

Each of the four words below can be followed by a different, but related word, Can you determine what they are?

CAR
ARMY
STORM
BICYCLE

Answers:

car EXHAUSTS
army FATIGUES
storm DRAINS
bicycle TIRES 

From The Enigma
NPL Magazine
September, 2015
NEXT LINGO

The two key word in this flat differ by three internal letters.

The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ at the front of the tent
Says "Today is the day to repent!"
But the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ in your head
Says "This all has been said
Many times. Last days came. Last days went."

Answers:

REVIVALIST
REALIST

SPOONERISMS V

From The Enigma 
NPL Magazine
September, 2015
WABBIT

The blanks in the flat below can be filled in with Spoonerisms - that is, phrases whose initial letters or sounds have been reversed.

A boy who thought he was a wolf
Awoke at night and crept outside.
For safety's sake, he should have
_ _ _ _ _ _    _ _   _ _ _ ,
But when he saw that moon,
He _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

HINT:
Wolves bay at the moon.

Answers:

STAYED IN BED
BAYED INSTEAD

STRESSONYM

Credit: The Enigma
NPL Magazine
September, 2015
EARL E. BYRD

Jerome hit James upon the head.
" 'Twas just a tap," the former said.
"Our 'fight' was but a _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ ,
Just that, and surely nothing more."
But in court, the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
   testified,
"It was assault. I could have died."

HINT:
Jerome is the defendant

Answers:

PLAIN TIFF
PLAINTIFF

HELPFUL HINTS

1. To remember which camel has one hump and which has two:

D - one hump - Dromedary
B - two humps - Bactrian

This works visually if you turn the letters on their sides.

2. To distinguish between stalactites and stalagmites:

stalaCtites - ceiling
stalaGmites - ground

3. To distinguish between stationary and stationery

stationEry - writE

4. To distinguish between weather and whether:


weAther -air

LETTER BANK X

Credit: The Enigma
NPL Magazine
September , 2015
SCARAB

In a letter bank, the letters of one word are used - and repeated as necessary - to spell a longer word or phrase. In the flat below, EIGHT represents an eight-letter word that is a letter bank. That is, its eight letters are the only ones used to make up the seven-letter and six-letter words represented by SEVEN and SIX.

I used to give to charity
To help my fellow man.
But those gifts are a rarity,
For now it seems I can
Just barely make a living - what
Has changed, you ask? I'll say.
I wed a gal who's lovely but
Spends money every day.
To keep my trophy wife, I've found
Donations I must nix.
Who knew my EIGHT was tightly
   bound
Up with my SEVEN SIX?

HINT:
EIGHT = ALTRUISM

Answers:

EIGHT = ALTRUISM
SEVEN = MARITAL
SIX = STATUS 

  

From The Enigma
NPL Magazine
September, 2015
WITZ

The missing words to this flat differ by a single, internal letter.

The oldest jury member,
Full of knowledge, heard my plea.
Thanks to this _ _ _ _ _ ,
The whole _ _ _ _ _ has
Acquitted me.

Answers:

DOYEN
DOZEN 

RHYMING RIDDLE ANSWERS XXIII

The answers to each item in the clues will rhyme.

1. By chance, One behind the other, Meeting place in old Rome, Behavior

2. Habeas corpus - for one, Death notice - for short, To find not guilty, Send

3. Pupil, Careful and thoughtful, Prejudiced person, Faucet

4. Lure, Be enough, Brief, A thing made for a particular purpose

5. Contusion, Ocean voyage, Church benches, Lines

6. Echo, Be abundant, Intellectually deep, Amaze

7. Anxiety, Assert, Quell, Go backward

8. Begin to work - as medication, Cross, Variety of a language, View of the past

9. Attack, Triumph, Involve, Shorten - reduce

10. Revoke an order, Help, Kind of ring, Summer cooler

Answers:

1. Random, Tandem, Forum, Decorum
2. Writ, Obit, Acquit, Transmit
3. Student, Prudent, Bigot, Spigot
4. Entice, Suffice, Concise, Device
5. Bruise, Cruise, Pews, Queues
6. Resound, Abound, Profound, Astound
7. Distress, Profess, Suppress, Regress
8. Take effect, Intersect, Dialect, Retrospect
9. Assail, Prevail, Entail, Curtail
10. Countermand, Lend a hand, Wedding band, Electric fan

The answers to the clues below will have something in common, as revealed by the puzzles's title.

1. Songs for divas
2. Tebetan dog
3. Southern California racetrack
4. Southwest "table" city

Answers:

1. Opera arias
2. Lhasa Apso
3. Santa Anita
4. Mesa, Arizona

Puzzle's title: MIDAS TOUCH (mid A's touch)

Credit: 
NY Times Crossword
November 30, 2015
Ian Livengood (#1-3)

WHAT DID YOU SAY? IX

1. Leave or an obvious drubbing
2. Industrious insect or a blue-collar tirade
3. Moray or a moray's dance

Answers:

1. CLEAR OUT or CLEAR ROUT
2. WORKER ANT or  WORKER RANT
3. CONGER EEL or  CONGER REEL

Credit:
Richard Silvestri
R&R

WORD + WORD = NEW WORD  VI

The clues below contain definitions of two words which can combine to form a third, unrelated word -without any re-arrangement of letters. For example, given the clues BODY PART + BIRD'S HOME , the third word would be EARNEST, as in EAR + NEST.

1. Group of witches + Tiny insect =
2. Center of activity + A type of hat =
3. At home + Diplomat's asset =

Answers:

1. COVEN + ANT = COVENANT 
2. HUB + CAP = HUBCAP  
3. IN + TACT = INTACT

Credit #1:
The Enigma
September, 2015
WITZ 

The answers to the clues below can in turn be preceded by related words. (Well, they're not all exactly words, but close enough.)

1. Make a copy of a CD
2. Italian for man
3. They're between your nose and chin
4. To secure
5. Clever, as a fox
6. Interminable
7. Large container, as for tea or coffee

Answers:

1. Burn
2. Signor
3. Lips
4. Lock
5. Sly
6. Endless
7. Urn

Related "words" which can precede the answers above:

1. Sun - Sunburn
2. Mon - Monsignor
3. Tu - Tulips
4. Wed - Wedlock
5. Thu - Thusly
6. Fri - Friendless
7. Sat - Saturn

Credit: Edgar Fontaine
A SHORT WEEK

FLEXERS XIX

Credit: Bonnie L. Gentry
QUESTIONABLE CLUES

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

1. Meter maid
2. Self starter
3. Canal zones
4. The start of it all
5. Deep place
6. Thought patterns
7. Foreign correspondent, perhaps
8. Flower holders
9. Scout master
10. Close on Sunday
11. Crowd in old Rome
12. Main man

CHOICES:

a. South
b. Ears
c. III
d. Tonto
e. Poet
f. Pen pal
g. Him or her
h. An I
i. Tar
j. Amen
k. EEG's
l. Stems

Answers:

1. e - Poet
2. g - Him or Her
3. b - Ears
4. h - An I
5. a - South
6. k - EEG's
7. f - Pen pal
8. l - Stems
9. d - Tonto
10. j - Amen
11. c - III (3)
12. i - Tar 

REBUS PUZZLES XLVIII

1)
Ay

2)
SP   EE   CH

3)
AGE     BEAUTY

4)
R - I x S + K

5)
SIGH

6)
GOD
NATION

7)
INFLAT10N

8)
TPMERHAO

9)
O
S

Answers:

1. Abysmally (A by small Y) 
2. Parts of speech 
3. Age before beauty
4. Calculated risk
5. No end in sight 
6. One nation under God 
7. Double-digit inflation 
8. Mixed metaphor 
9. Soup (so up)

Credits # 2-8:
GAMES Magazine Readers 

STUMPERS CXXXVIII

Can your think of a common verb that becomes a body part when two letters are added to it?

Answer:

SHOULD - SHOULDER

The same letters, in the same, consecutive order, will change each word below into a new one.

US
FAT
BAT
RAT
SLAT
HEAT
FEAT

Answer:

Each word can be followed by HER:

USHER
FATHER
BATHER
RATHER
SLATHER
HEATHER
FEATHER

Credit:
Harvey Estes
FEMALE COMPANIONSHIP 

NY Times Crossword
December 3, 2015
Patrick Merrill (adapted)

Can you decipher the following "words," as they appeared in the crossword grid, and discover what they have in common?

DAXIGHT
RUNNINGIMPTY
LANDOIVFATHERS
LASIIRDS
CBVIIINGNEWS

HINT:
The "words" above could also be written like this:

DATE NIGHT
RUNNING ON EMPTY
LAND OF OUR FATHERS
LAST WORDS
CBS EVENING NEWS

Answers:

A Roman Numeral is used in each "word" to stand for the letters that spell out its name:

daTE Night
running ON Empty
land oF OUR fathers
lasT WOrds
cbS EVENing news 

MISSING LINK XCVII

Each trio of words below shares a Missing Link - that is, its members have something in common, obvious or not. For example, RIVERS, NOSES, & VIOLINS can all have BRIDGES.

1. Bank..........News..........Law
2. Bat..........Spider..........Wolf
3. Pin..........Serial..........Random
4. Long..........Short..........Steady
5. Hand..........Foot..........Eye
6. Corner..........Tide..........Page
7. Green..........Search..........Garden
8. Jacket..........Story..........Saver
9. Slide..........Spout..........Gate
10. Pocket..........Proportion..........Sorts

Answers:

1. Things that can be broken
2. Man
3. Kinds of numbers
4. Hand
5. Ball
6. Things that can be turned
7. Kinds of parties
8. Life
9. Water
10. Things that can be "out of "

From The Enigma
NPL Magazine
August, 2015
LOKI

The missing words to this flat differ by a single, internal letter.

I see that you're back from your
   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ vacation.
That sunburn could sure use some
   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ medication.

Answers:

TROPICAL
TOPICAL

From The Enigma
NPL Magazine
August, 2015
BEO

The missing words in this flat are anagrams. The first is a two-word phrase, the second a single word.

If you trample on others to grow your
   net worth,
Are you running to reach the right
   goal?
It profits you nothing to gain the
   whole earth
If it means that you're losing your
   soul.

Turn around! Turn around! It is never
   too late.
Leave that path where you vie with
   the vermin.
Flee the _ _ _   _ _ _ _ ,   _ _ _ _ _ _ _
   your steps
'Til you're back on the straight and narrow.
Thus endeth my sermon.

Answers:

RAT RACE
RETRACE 

STUMPERS CXXXVII

A five-letter word and a six-letter word differ by a single letter. Both words can be reasonably related to the expression "I'm bored out of my mind." What are the two words?

Answers:

INANE
INSANE

Dropping a single letter from the word CENTRAL will produce an interesting result? Can you determine what it is?

HINT:
It  has to do with anagrams.

Answer:

Dropping the L from CENTRAL leaves five letters which can be anagrammed into three different words:

CANTER
RECANT
TRANCE

ADD A LETTER - GET A NEW WORD IX

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

1. PRIDE + S
2. OPERA + L
3. LATIN + P
4. PENCIL + A
5. SAUNA + E
6. TAUPE + B
7. ETHIC + E
8. RAINCOAT + N
9. CENTRAL + I
10. DENTIST + R
11. SEARCH + I
12. GARNET + S
13. HIRED + T
14. GREEN + E
15. SURGEON + E

HINTS:
1. It can scare you
2. Kind of supervision
3. Docile
4. ee cummings subject
5. Illness symptom
6. Optimistic
7. Computer whiz
8. It can be pink or white
9. Music
10. Harsh
11. Retail employee
12. Eerie
13. Agitated state
14. Go back on a promise
15. Willing to share

Answers:

1. SPIDER
2. PAROLE
3. PLIANT
4. PELICAN
5. NAUSEA
6. UPBEAT
7. TECHIE
8. CARNATION
9. CLARINET
10. STRIDENT
11. CASHIER
12. STRANGE
13. DITHER
14. RENEGE
15. GENEROUS

From The Enigma
NPL Magazine
August, 2015
LIRATH

The blanks in the flat below can be filled in with two words which differ by the addition of two internal letters in the second word.

That "Do Re Mi" as sung by _ _ _ _ _ ,
While strolling through the Alpine
   scene,
Inspires us all. It's beautiful.
I'm sure you know just what I mean.

But have her sing it while she slogs
Through bug-infested jungles thick
With vines and heat and pestilence,
And pretty soon she'll be quite sick.

As _ _ _ _ _ _ _ pervades her system,
She is bound to lose a note or two.
No, it wouldn't be the same.
I much prefer the Alpine view.

Answers:

MARIA
MALARIA 

STUMPERS CXXXVI

Think of a six-letter word that means to fill with shock, horror, or dismay. Change the fourth and fifth letters to make a word that means to be pleasant, attractive, or interesting to someone.

Answers:

APPALL
APPEAL

LETTER BANK IX

In a letter bank, the letters of one word are used - and repeated as necessary - to spell a longer word or phrase. For example, IMPS is a letter bank for MISSISSIPPI. That is, the only letters in MISSISSIPPI are I, M, P, and S - repeated as necessary.

1. A word that means "belonging to them" and a dog breed
2. Offspring and filled with platitudes and stale expressions
3. In a playful (or mean) way - type of music

Answers:

1. THEIRS - IRISH SETTER (or TERRIER)
2. CHILDREN - CLICHE-RIDDEN
3. TEASINGLY - EASY LISTENING

Credits:
#1-3: The Enigma
August, 2015
#1-2: LEXMAN
#3: UCAOIMHU

SPOONERISMS IV

The clues below can be answered with Spoonerisms - that is, phrases whose initial consonant letters (or sounds) have been reversed. Example: Light rain and right lane.

1. An attractive, but very aggressive and forceful woman and a luxury car dealership in a Montana city

2. After the rock band had sung _ _ _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _ , you could _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of people gathering around them.


Answers:

1. CUTE BATTLE-AXE - BUTTE CADILLACS
2. THREE SONGS - SEE THRONGS

Credits:
#1-2: The Enigma
August, 2015

#1: GEORGE GROTH
#2: WABBIT (adapted)

Hidden in each answer to the clues below is a common string of letters which, when slightly adjusted, stand for something found in every home.

1. Where Ricky Ricardo worked
2. Unique
3. When you can see forever
4. No place for a bull
5. Historic building in Salt Lake City

Answers:

1. TROPICANA CLUB
2. IN A CLASS BY ITSELF
3. ON A CLEAR DAY
4. CHINA CLOSET
5. MORMON TABERNACLE

The hidden string of letters: NACL - NaCl - Salt (Sodium Chloride)

Credit: Alan Olschwang
SALTBOXES

From The Enigma
NPL Magazine
August, 2015
QT-OH

In the flat below, the word LESS represents a three-letter animal. The word MORE stands for a seven-letter word in which the first three letters sound exactly the same as the LESS word, but with a change in spelling.

Way up north you'll see them race and
   dive in frigid seas,
Their swimmers' bodies gliding with a
   sleek pelagic ease.
But if you see a LESS aloft or walking
   on the shore,
You'll find, I think, that that LESS is
   now quite MORE.

Answers:

LESS = AUK
MORE = AWKWARD

 TWO RIDDLES

1. What did Hamlet say when he sat down to eat?
2. What did the dog say when he got on a horse?

Answers:

1. "Ay, there's the grub." 
2. "I'm bark in the saddle again."

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Line through Greenwich
2. Bread choice
3. Property
4. Like some childhood friends
5. Enola Gay payload
6. Every eerie event has one

Answers:

1. Prime Meridian
2. Whole wheat
3. Real estate
4. Imaginary
5. Atomic bomb
6. Rational explanation

What the answers have in common:

The first word of each answer is a kind of number. 

Credit:
Ray Hamel
BY THE NUMBERS

The answers to the clues below will have something  in common.

1. Metaphor for a rare occurrence
2. Time in Pablo Picasso's career
3. Pioneering George Gershwin piece
4. Democratic-voting unit
5. Police labor dispute strategy
6. Censor, delete, or edit
7. Thomas Gainsborough painting
8. Dreary workday, perhaps
9. Use vulgar language excessively
10. It might be rated R

Answers:

1. Blue moon
2. Blue Period
3. Rhapsody in Blue
4. Blue state
5. Blue flu
6. Blue-pencil
7. Blue Boy
8. Blue Monday 
9. Curse a blue streak
10. Blue movie

BIBLE RIDDLES I

1. Did they play tennis in the Bible?

2. How do you know Moses was a good barber?

3. Where is baseball mentioned in the Bible?

4. What does a swindler do that's in accordance with the Bible?

  

Answers:

1. Yes. Joseph served in Pharoah's court.  

2. He parted the Red Sea. 

3. Genesis is about the big inning. 

4. When a stranger comes along, he take him in.

Credits:
#2: Trip Payne

IN OTHER WORDS I

Can you let the air out of these inflated maxims to restore the original proverbs?

1. Assiduous surveillance should precede saltation.
2. An immaculate environment is contiguous to deification.
3. Eleemosynary deeds have their incipience intramurally.
4. It is futile to futile to become lachrymose over the precipitous loss of lacteal fluid.
5. A manually retained fledgeling is equivalent in value to its double obscured in the chaparral.
6. Members of an avian species of identical plumage demonstrate a proclivity to congregate socially.
7. Within the compendium of articles that coruscate, there are many that are not genuinely auriferous.
8. Abstention from physically demanding endeavors precludes thereby the feasibility of augmentation.
9. A plethora of individuals with experience in culinary techniques vitiates the potable concoction produced by steeping selected comestibles.

10)
Three severely myopic rodents -
Diligently note their expeditious perambulations.
Functioning as a social unit, they vigorously pursued the agriculturist's spousal unit
Until said spousal unit peremptorily amputated their caudal appendages with a culinary utensil.
Have you ever had occasion to witness such a spasm of events during your period of mortality
As three optically challenged rodents?

Answers:
1. Look before you leap.
2. Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
3. Charity begins at home.
4. Don't cry over spilled milk.
5. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
6. Birds of a feather flock together.
7. All that glitters is not gold.
8. No pain, no gain
9. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

10)
Three blind mice -
See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife.
She cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Have you ever seen such a sight in your life
As three blind mice? 

LA Times Crossword
November 26, 2015
C.C. Burnikel (#1-4)

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Where you are when you digress
2. Edith Wharton's Manhattan
3. Custer's Last Stand site
4. Major police presence
5. Sriracha in the fridge

Answers:

1. Off on a tangent
2. Old New York
3. Little Big Horn
4. Out in force
5. Cold hot sauce

RHYMING RIDDLE ANSWERS XXII

The answers to each item in the clues will rhyme.

1. Ill will, Religiously symbolic cup, Royal digs, Unfeeling

2. Insult, Praise, Come down, Words from pourer to pouree

3. Gambling mecca, Achilles' Paradox writer, Kind of fabric, Gambling hall

4. God-like, Degrading, Monthly obligation for many, Religious sacrifice

5. Expel legally, Portray, Foretell, Find guilty

6. Terra firma, School sweater and jacket repository, Heading back, Value measure

7. Street musician with a monkey, School notebook, Liz Claiborne, QE II

8. Losing candidate, Used, Teacher's outline, Kind of piano

9. Two-hour drive each way, Undecided, Nonsensical, Standard office attire

10. Communist emblem, Type of five-cent coin, Deli freebie, La Donna E Mobile

Answers:

1. Malice, Chalice, Palace, Callous
2. Offend, Commend, Descend, Say when
3. Reno, Zeno, Chino, Casino
4. Heaven-sent, Decadent, Pay the rent, Give up for Lent 
5. Evict, Depict, Predict, Convict
6. Solid ground, Lost and found, Homeward bound, Pound for pound 
7. Organ grinder, Loose-leaf binder, Fashion designer, Ocean liner
8. Also-ran, Second-hand, Lesson plan, Baby grand
9. Long commute, In dispute, Doesn't compute, Business suit
10. Hammer and Sickle, Buffalo nickel, Kosher pickle, Woman Is Fickle