FLEXERS CXLII

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

1. Frost bit

2. Hide outside 

3. Noted precursor 

4. Bobs and weaves 

5. This isn't working

6. Nice way to leave

7. Say "I do" without ado

8. It's often glossed over

9. Flight component

10. E's in BREED

 

CHOICES:

a. Au revoir

b. Stair

c. Duly

d. Verse

e. Lip

f. Leisure

g. Two of a kind

h. Animal pelt

i. Elope

j. Hairdos

 

Answers:

 

1. d - Verse (Robert Frost)

2. h - Animal pelt (hide = animal skin)  

3. c - Duly (duly noted)

4. j -Hairdos

5. f - Leisure

6. a - Au revoir (Nice = city in France)

7. i - Elope

8. e - Lip

9. b - Stair

10. g - Two of a kind

 

Credits:

1: Alan DerKazarian 

2: Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

3: Ben Zimmer

4: Daniel Hrynick

5: Rafael Musa and Sala Wanetick

6: Kevin Shustack

7: Ryan Gallagher

8: Zhouqin Burnikel

9: Zhou Zhang and Kevin Curry

10: Jeffrey Martinovic 

  

 

CRYPTO CLUES CCXXIII

GAMES/World of Puzzles

August, 2020

Fraser Simpson (1-8)

Aaron Schwebel (9-10)  

 

1. Throw out some of the victuals 

 

2. Lamenting changed order

 

3. Sounds like Disney's dance music

 

4. Someone accusing in straightforward argument

 

5. Leader of squad moved back to areas of campus

 

6. Bothers old horses

 

7. Maximum time of exposure if she fell out

 

8. Quiet since surrounding the French

 

9. Sport new Crocs around end of June

 

10. Mince pie medic spread widely 

 

HINTS:

1. Hidden word

2. Anagram

3. Homophone

4. Definitions (straightforward = plain)

5. Anagram

6. Homograph

7. Anagram

8. "the" = le [French]

9. Word + letter / anagram

10. Anagram

 

Answers:

 

1. EVICT (thE VICTuals)

2. ALIGNMENT (lamenting)

3. WALTZ (Walt's)

4. PLAINTIFF (tiff = argument)

5. QUADS (squad)

6. NAGS

7. SHELF LIFE (if she fell)

8. SILENCE (si  le  nce)

9. SOCCER (crocs + e = soccer)

10. EPIDEMIC (pie medic)  

COMPOUND FRACTURES  

GAMES/World of Puzzles

April, 2026

Jon King

 

Each answer in this puzzle is a word that can be split into three smaller consecutive words. The first and third words are clued below, but they need to be joined with one of the joiner words to form a complete answer. 

 

Ex: Desire + ______ + Male

       Long + _______ + Man 

      ( Here you would put in one of the Joiner words)

       LongSHOREman - LONGSHOREMAN

 

1. Desire + _______ + Male

2. Sadness + _______ +  Outta here

3. Kitchen surface + _______ + Sage

4. Negative + _______ + On one's feet

5. Small bed + _______ + River's opening

6. Baseball and football + _______ + Seacraft

7. That woman + _______ + Tibia, e.g.

8. CD, e.g. + _______ Camper's bedroom

9. Not once + _______ + Fewer

10. Trendy + _______ + Country

11. Baby bear + _______ + Golf target

12. Deceive + _______ + Picnic insect 

 

JOINERS:

SHORE       MAN          TEST

BY               ON             THE

CAR            RING         TON

CLOCK      SHORE      WITH

 

Answers:

 

1. LONGSHOREMAN

2. WOE BE GONE - WOEBEGONE

3. COUNTER CLOCK  WISE - COUNTERCLOCKWISE  

4. NOT WITH STANDING - NOTWITHSTANDING

5. COT TON MOUTH - COTTONMOUTH

6. SPORTS MAN SHIP - SPORTSMANSHIP  

7. HER RING BONE - HERRINGBONE

8. DISC ON TENT - DISCONTENT

9. NEVER THE LESS - NEVERTHELESS

10. IN CAR NATION - INCARNATION

11. CUB BY HOLE - CUBBYHOLE

12. CON TEST ANT - CONTESTANT

 

SCAVENGER HUNT

GAMES/World of Puzzles

April, 2026

Scott Erdman

 

Ex: Can you find a painter in FINLAND?  

Ans: DALI

 

Can you find ..... ?

 

1. a light source in ICELAND  

2. some bait in MUNICH 

3. a musical group in JERICHO

4. a car make in SAN FRANCISCO

5. a student (briefly) in  CHEOPS

6. a card suit in MANCHESTER

7. an eponymous cab in the HAMPTONS

8. an organ in NAIROBI

9. a fancy boat in SCHENECTADY

10. some good seafood in NEW HAMPSHIRE 

 

Answers:

 

1. CANDLE

2. CHUM

3. CHOIR

4. NISSAN

5. SOPH

6. HEARTS

7. HANSOM

8. BRAIN

9. YACHT

10. SHRIMP  

GAMES/World of Puzzles

April, 2026

Shawn Kennedy 

 

What country's capital becomes the name of another country when you swap its two halves?

 

HINTS:

1. The capital and its country both have four letters. 

2. The other country also has four letters. 

3. The first country is in South America

4. The other country is in Africa 

 

Answer: 

 

The country is PERU. It's capital is LIMA. When you swap its two halves, you get MALI. 

DOUBLE DUTY CCCIII 

Fill in the blanks with words that will complete the word, partial word, or phrase beginning on the left and begin the word, partial word, or phrase ending on the right. The number of blanks indicates the number of letters in the missing word. 

1. SH _ _ _ BLE 

2. UPST _ _ _ NT 

3. UNS _ _ _ KIN

4. CAR _ _ _ REL 

5. TRI _ _ _ ERAN 

6. THW _ _ _ ICLE

7. PAGE _ _ _ ELOPE

8. OVER _ _ _ _ _ PILE

9. POWER _ _ _ _ POSITION

10. GRAND _ _ _ _ _ _ MIND 

 

HINTS:

First of the missing letters:

1. R

2. A

3. N

4. P

5. V

6. A

7. A

8. S

9. P

10. M 

 

Answers:

 

1. shRUBble

2. upstAGEnt

3. unsNAPkin

4. carPETrel

5. triVETeran

6. thwARTicle

7. pageANTelope  

8. overSTOCKpile

9. power POLE position

10. grand MASTERmind  

 

 

PAIRS AND SNARES XLII

The words in each group below can be confused. Can you give a simple definition of each one that shows the difference between them?

1. VICE - VISE

2. INAPT - INEPT

3. HOARD - HORDE

4. CITE - SITE - SIGHT 

5. TERRINE - TUREEN 

6. DETRACT - DISTRACT 

7. APOTHEM - APOTHEGM

8. ANECDOTE - ANTIDOTE

9. NUCLEAR FISSION - NUCLEAR FUSION 

Answers:

1. VICE - A bad habit / morally corrupt behavior

    VISE - A tool, usually attached to a work bench, with two jaws that can be tightened to firmly hold an object in place for work

 

2. INAPT - Unsuitable, inappropriate, or not fitting for a particular situation

    INEPT - Lacking skill, incompetent, or clumsy

 

3. HOARD - A large accumulated, often hidden, supply of goods (food, money, junk, etc.)

    HORDE - A large, often unruly, crowd of people or mass of animals 

 

4. CITE - To mention, quote, or refer to a source / To commend or penalize someone for an action (as to be cited for a traffic violation)

    SITE - A specific place, piece of land or location where something is, was, or will be situated

    SIGHT - Vision 

 

5. TERRINE -  A mixture of chopped meat, fish, or vegetable - often in a jellied mold

    TUREEN - A deep, covered dish for serving soup

 

6.  DETRACT - Diminish the value, quality, or reputation of something

     DISTRACT - Draw someone's attention or focus away from a task or subject 

 

7. APOTHEM - Geometry - A line segment from the center of a regular polygon perpendicular to the side

    APOTHEGM - A short, pithy saying / adage, aphorism

 

8. ANECDOTE - A short, personal, and often funny story - used to make a point or enliven conversation

   ANTIDOTE - Something, usually a medicine, that neutralizes, limits, or counteracts the harmful effects of a poison 

 

9. NUCLEAR FISSION - Splitting of a heavy nucleus (like uranium or plutonium) into smaller nuclei, releasing energy

   NUCLEAR FUSION - Combining of two light nuclei (like Hydrogen isotopes Deuterium and Tritium) to form a heavier nucleus (like Helium)

   Fission is used in nuclear power plants. Fusion powers the sun and other stars,  requires extremely high temperature, and releases much more energy than fission. Atomic bombs use fission. Nuclear bombs use fission to trigger fusion, and are thousands of times more powerful.