ODDS AND ENDS

1. Can you solve this rebus?

 ABBA

SLOOP 

 

2. Fill the dashes with the same three letters, in the same order, to complete the words.

 

MU_ _ _ Y

PA _ _ _ A

RE _ _ _ A 

 

3. Think of a common 6-letter, 2-syllable word often associated with women. The first four letters, in order, and the last two letters, in order, make up two less common male names. If you say the two names, one after the other, you get a 6-letter article of male clothing

 

HINT:

3. The common 6-letter word starts with B.

 

Answers:

 

1. ABANDON SHIP  (a band on ship)

 

2. MUTINY

    PATINA

    RETINA 

 

3. BEAUTY

    BEAU  TY

    BOWTIE

 

Credits:

1. Zachary Gallardo

3. John Kugelman and Lance Enfinger 

 

CRYPTO CLUES CCXXXVI

GAMES Magazine  

August, 1991 

Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon (1-3)

Rosalie Moscovitch (4-5)

May, 1999

Joan Ward (6-7)

November, 2001

Pam Wylder (8-11)

 

1. Songbirds can ram in the sky

 

2. Make a priest change in road

 

3. Cast a spell on the way in

 

4. Mark aged, they say

 

5. Some deer sleep soundly

 

6. Starts to operate gamma radiation equipment, creating monster

 

7. Injured steed lay quietly

 

8. Striking passage from proposal I entered

 

9. Prove sun a volatile bright star

 

10. Felt intense yearning in letters from chap in Edinburgh

 

11. Unable to see a bit of levity in dilemma 

 

HINTS:

1. Two words - Zodiac

2. Anagram

3. Stressonym

4. Homophone

5. Homophone

6. Starting letters

7. Anagram

8. Hidden word

9. Anagram

10. Hidden word

11. Definition - single letter

 

Answers: 

 

1. CANARIES (can + aries) [Aries = ram in Zodiac]

2. ORDAIN (in road)

3. ENTRANCE 

4. GRAYED (grade) [mark = grade]

5. DOES (doze) 

6. OGRE 

7. SEDATELY (steed lay)

8. SALIENT (propoSAL I ENTered) 

9. SUPERNOVA (prove a sun)

10. PINED (chaP IN EDinburgh)

11. BLIND (L = bit of levity) [dilemma = bind] 

TRIPLES IX

In each compound word or two-word phrase, the same word can follow the first word and precede the second word to make two other compound words or two-word phrases. What are the connecting words?

Ex. LIVING WELL

Ans. END (living end / end well)

 

1. LAP DOG

2. BAD LIST 

3. POSTDATE 

4. CAR DOOR

5. LADY BUG

6. SIDE BAND 

7. HARD WAY 

8. JOB SHARE

9. FAMILY MAN 

10. COURT FIGURE 

11. DOUBLE DOWN 

12. COMMON MARKET

 

Answers:

 

1. TOP

2. CHECK

3. MAN

4. FIRE

5. LOVE

6. ARM

7. DRIVE

8. FAIR

9. MEDICINE

10. ACTION

11. PLAY

12. STOCK  

 

 

 

 

SYNONYM/ANAGRAM CCCXLVI 

The two words in each line can be anagrammed into one - beginning with the given letter. The meanings of the anagams are given below the clues.

1. IRE + ZEAL = R

2. MAD + OWE - M 

3. OAF + FLUB = B

4. SILK + ITCH = T

5. LIP + BOSSY = P

6. COT + MASH = S 

7. GLINT + TIGER = G 

8. WELT + BESIDE = W 

9. COAX + NATIVE = E

10. DEIGN + UNCLE = I 

 

Meanings of the anagrams:

1. Come to pass

2. Grassy area

3. Animal

4. Like a delicate situation

5. Perhaps

6. Body part

7. Sparkling

8. Animal

9. Hole

10. Concession 

 

Answers:

 

1. REALIZE

2. MEADOW

3. BUFFALO

4. TICKLISH

5. POSSIBLY

6. STOMACH

7. GLITTERING

8. WILDEBEEST

9. EXCAVATION

10. INDULGENCE  

CRYPTO CLUES CCXXXV

GAMES Magazine  

February, 1999 

Charles Adkins (1-2)

Marie Barrett (3-12)

 

1. Supervises abroad, so to say

 

2. African natives listen to current events

 

3. Leave in complex item

 

4. Take a detour, changing a good run

 

5. Vacuum messy mine steps

 

6. Victor loses lead closer to the middle

 

7. I can roam all over for noodles

 

8. Snitch loses lead to duck

 

9. Pile of riches converted voter

 

10. Resist crazy relative

 

11. Halt releases, so to speak

 

12. Peer surrounded by mischievous quintuplets

 

HINTS:

1. Homophone

2. Homophone

3. Hidden word 

4. Anagram

5. Anagram

6. Definition - Beheadment

7. Anagram

8. Definition - Beheadment

9. Anagram

10. Anagram

11. Homophone

12. Hidden word 

 

Answers:

 

1. OVERSEAS (oversees)  

2. GNUS (news) 

3. EXIT (complEX ITem)

4. GO AROUND (a good run)

5. EMPTINESS (messy steps)

6. INNER (victor = winner)  

7. MACARONI (i can roam) 

8. TEAL (snitch = steal) 

9. TROVE (voter)

10. SISTER (resist)

11. FREEZE ( frees)

12. SQUINT (peer) [mischievouS QUINTuplets]  

CRYPTO CLUES CCXXXIV 

GAMES Magazine

May, 1999

Mark L.Gottlieb (1-6)

June, 1990

Rosemary Scala (7-80

Todd Rew (9-10)

 

1. Start off happy, like a ballerina

 

2. Newfangled toaster spins in a circle

 

3. Kills winter vehicles, so to say

 

4. He quit yelling about property value

 

5. Huge dog ruined tea garden

 

6. Odd aspects of a Capri dove, a drake, and an anteater

 

7. Naysayer checked back

 

8. Sold one strange pasta

 

9. Raises tramps

 

10. More unfeeling cardinal or ordinal

 

HINTS:
1. Beheadment (drop first letter)

2. Anagram

3. Homophone

4. Hidden word

5. Anagram

6. Odd letters

7. Definition - Reversal 

8. Anagram

9. Homograph (two meanings)

10. Heteronym

 

Answers: 

 

1. LITHE (blithe) 

2. ROTATES (toaster)

3. SLEIGHS (slays)

4. EQUITY (hE QUIT Yelling)

5. GREAT DANE (tea garden)

6. AARDVARK (A cApRi DoVe A dRaKe)

7. DENIER (reined)

8. NOODLES (sold one)

9. HIKES  

10. NUMBER (silent B = unfeeling) 

Note from JA:

Dear Readers, 

I am going to make a change in the format of this blog. Until now, I have tried not to put the same types of puzzles too close to each other. In particular, I have tried to space out CRYPTO CLUES puzzles. But I still have hundreds of them in GAMES, GAMES/World of Puzzles Magazines that I would like to post - while I still can. So, from now on, I am going to post consecutive cryptics - as many as five in a row. Cryptic crosswords, from which I draw the clues, are the gold standard for word play in the crossword world. I hope you will enjoy more of these clever puzzles, or at least not find the repetition too tedious. Thank you.