RD CHALLENGE III

Reader's Digest 

Will Shortz

Each pair of clues below leads to two five-letter answers that differ by only a single letter. The two words in each answer follow a certain pattern. What is the pattern, and what are answer words?

1. Home - Equine

2. Part of a kangaroo - Veranda

3. Fruit - Parrot's seat

4. Sheriff's wear - Slow boat

5. Heavy and strong - Proud walk

6. Eye covering - Dry out

7. West Pointer -  Proofreader's mark

8. Clear - Description involving sex and violence

9. Abut - Flashlight in England

10. Looped rope - Like the Vikings

11. Hitting-the-ground sound - Jack of rhyme

12. Give birth, on a farm - Cut, as a turkey

Answers:

 

The pattern of the answer words is to change the third (middle) letter of the first answer to an R to get the second answer:

 

1. House - Horse

2. Pouch - Porch

3. Peach - Perch

4. Badge - Barge

5. Stout - Strut

6. Patch - Parch

7. Cadet - Caret

8. Lucid - Lurid

9. Touch - Torch

10. Noose - Norse

11. Splat - Sprat 

12. Calve - Carve