COMMON STOCK III
Credit: GAMES Magazine
August, 1991
Mike Shenk

The four answers to each numbered set below have something in common. To discover what, fill in the blanks to complete the words reading across. The letters you put in the blanks, taken in order from left to right, must also spell shorter words. These shorter words will all be members of the same category. For example, the first word in Set #1 is QUADRILLION, with the shorter word being QUAIL. The remaining three shorter words in #1 will also be names of birds. Getting one answer in a set will help you get the others, but breaking into a set can be tricky. [The categories of the two other sets are given as a hint, but that significantly reduces the challenge of the puzzle.]

1)
_ _ _ DR _ L _ ION
P _ _ _ AT _ O _
B_ LLI _ E _ _ N _
G _ _ _ _ STO _ E

2)
_ _ _ _ NGRO _ _ R
_ _ AGR _ _ _ _
_ MMOR _ _ _ IT _
IN _ _ IR _ T _ O _

3)
EI _ HTF _ _ _
_ LODH _ _ _ _ _
_ MP _ _ VI _ G
_ _ MON _ _ E

HINTS:
The three categories are:
1. Birds
2. Countries
3. Metals

Answers:

1)
QUAdrIlLion
pROBatIoN
bElliGeREnT
gRAVEstoNe

2)
GREEngroCEr 
FRagrANCE
ImmorTALitY
inSPirAtIoN

3)
eiGhtfOLD
ClodhOPPER
ImpROviNg
LEmonADe