WONDER WORD
Credit: Joseph Appel

The same common, five-letter word (or either of its two anagrams) can fill the blanks below and become new words by the addition of the designated letter. What is the missing five-letter word and what  are the new words?

1. _ _ _ _ _ + B
2. _ _ _ _ _ + C
3. _ _ _ _ _ + E
4. _ _ _ _ _ + E
5. _ _ _ _ _ + P
6. _ _ _ _ _ + R
7. _ _ _ _ _ + T
8. _ _ _ _ _ + U

HINT:
#1 requires no re-arrangement of letters.

Answers:

The missing word can be either SUPER or its anagrams PURSE or SPRUE:

1. SUPER + B = SUPERB
2. SUPER + C = SPRUCE
3. SUPER + E = PERUSE
4. SUPER + E = RUPEES
5. SUPER + P = SUPPER
6. SUPER + R = PURSER
7. SUPER + T = PUREST
8. SUPER + U = PURSUE

Note from JA: SUPER to SUPERB requires no re-arrangement of letters, and the same is true of PURSE to PURSER. SPRUE to SPRUCE requires only the insertion of the extra letter.