FOWL PLAY II

Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles

December, 2025

 

1. Name three birds, each of which becomes a new word upon losing its final letter.

 

2. Name three birds, each of which becomes a new word upon losing its first letter.

 

3. Name five birds, each of which will become a new word answering its definition when its first letter is changed. 

 

_ _ _ _   (relocate) 

_ _ _ _  (gain in size)

_ _ _ _  (opposite of light)

_ _ _ _ _ _  (orange veggie) 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _  (artistic refinement)

 

HINTS:
1. R _ _ _ _

    H _ _ _ _

    F _ _ _ _ _ _ _

 

2. _ I _ _ _

    _ L _ _ _ _

    _ W _ _ _ _ _

 

3. D _ _ _

    C _ _ _

    L _ _ _ 

    C _ _ _ _ _

    V _ _ _ _ _ _ 

 

Answers:

 

1. RAVEN

    HERON

    FLAMINGO

 

2. FINCH

    PLOVER

    SWALLOW

 

3. DOVE (move)

    CROW (grow)

    LARK (dark)

    PARROT (carrot)

    VULTURE (culture)  

 

 

CRYPTO CLUES CCLXIX 

GAMES Magazine

July, 2014

Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon (1-2)

GAMES/World of Puzzles

October, 2026

Bob Stigger (3-7) 

Patrick Berry (8-9)

 

1. Limits sound made by lodgers

 

2. Exercises inside house sometimes

 

3. Fit incantation

 

4. From outset, seagulls fly

 

5. Riyadh resident caught by IRS auditors

 

6. Santa's delivery vehicle is murder on the ears

 

7. Gang in orchestra botched certain church music

 

8. Reportedly runs from small pests

 

9. Folding paper to rig a mimeograph, in part

 

HINTS:

1. Homophone

2. Hidden word

3. Homograph

4. Hidden word

5. Hidden word

6. Homophone / definition

7. Anagram

8. Homophone

9. Hidden word 

 

Answers:

 

1. BORDERS (boarders)

2. USES (hoUSE Sometimes)

3. SPELL

4. TSETSE (ouTSET SEagulls)

5. SAUDI (irS AUDItors)

6. SLEIGH (slay)  

7. GREGORIAN CHANTS (gang in orchestra)

8. FLEAS (flees)

9. ORIGAMI (tO RIG A MImeograph)  

RHYMING RIDDLE ANSWERS CXXXIV

The answers to each of the items in the clues will rhyme.

1. Hodgepodge, Collection of writings - as Shakespeare's, Crippling disease, Sticky situation

2. Way of looking at things, Thankfulness, Cliche, Sermon on the Mount declaration

3. Boldness, Talking too much, Truthfulness, Blockage of light

4. Become accustomed to something difficult, Shy/modest, Suffer/bear/tolerate, Pamphlet

5. Skill, Ease/natural aptitude for something, Moving and get around, Serenity 

6. Frantic, Related to the language/history/culture of Spain, Like Mt. St. Helens, Colossal

7. Cowardly, Expert, Sanctuary, Poe's bird

8. Sharp/keen, Prove wrong, Attribute (a fault) to someone or something, Make thinner or weaker

9. Realm, Hold back from doing something, Scorn, Express dissatisfaction

10. Seriously mentally ill, Mesmerizing, Romantic but impractical/idealistic, Devoted to one's country

Answers:

1. Olio, Folio, Polio, Imbroglio

2. Attitude, Gratitude, Platitude, Beatitude

3. Audacity, Loquacity, Veracity, Opacity

4. Inure, Demure, Endure, Brochure  

5. Ability, Facility, Mobility, Tranquility

6. Manic, Hispanic, Volcanic, Titanic

7. Craven, Maven, Haven, Raven

8. Astute, Refute, Impute, Dilute

9. Domain, Refrain, Disdain, Complain

10. Psychotic, Hypnotic, Quixotic, Patriotic  

RELATIN'

GAMES/World of Puzzles

October, 2026

Stu Agler

 

What do the following phrases have in common?

 

COOP CITY

ROAD HOCKEY

CRIMEA CULPABILITY 

LAMPSHADE FACTORY

TRINIDAD LIBERATION

DARWIN SITUATION

MUPPET ALIAS 

 

HINTS:

1. The puzzle title is a hint. 

2. It has to do with the beginnings and ends of words.

 

Answer:

 

The last two or three letters of the first words in each phrase, and the first three, four, or five letter of the second words make up common Latin phrases:

 

coOP CITy

roAD HOCkey

criMEA CULPAbility

lampshaDE FACTOry

trinidAD LIBertion

darwIN SITUation

muppET ALIAs  

 

GAMES/Wold of Puzzles

October, 2026

Edward Dermon 

 

Two 7-letter words have the same five letters in between their first and last letters, but not in the same order. 

 

P _ _ _ _ _ T

T _ _ _ _ _ R

 

The two words have opposite meanings, although they are not common opposites like "good and bad." What are the two words?

 

(Big) HINT:

The missing five letters can be anagrammed to spell RATIO.

 

Answer:

 

PATRIOT

TRAITOR  

COMMON COMBOS LXXVII

Each group below contains three or four unrelated words. Find a word that can either precede or follow each of the words in each of the groups. 

1. UP, FALSE, KICK

2. SUN, AGE, HEAD 

3. LOCK, LINE, ANT 

4. CORN, LAND, ARM, EYE

5. THUMB, SHOP, COPY, BLUE

6. HEAD, CURTAIN, BABY, RAIN 

7. HOLE, STOCK, GREEN, PLACE

 

Answers:

 

1. START

2. DRESS

3. HEM

4. CANDY

5. PRINT

6. SHOWER

7. CARD  

CRYPTO CLUES CCLXVIII

GAMES Magazine

March, 2014

Merl Reagle (1-6)

GAMES/World of Puzzles

October, 2026

Chris Crossman (7)

Bob Stigger (8-9) 

 

1. Applaud colt's first trip around the track

 

2. Handsome guys might be son's idea

 

3. Winding street takes leader of pack to gatekeeper

 

4. Part of sentence sounds like fights

 

5. Car frames pulled from turbo-diesels

 

6. Fancy leis found at vacation locale 

 

7. Make blurry with faulty beta focus

 

8. Declare sage excessively dry

 

9. Section of prenuptial agreement reverses a celebration

 

HINTS:
1. Letter + definition

2. Anagram

3. Anagram + letter

4. Definition / homophone  

5. Hidden word 

6. Anagram

7. Definition / anagram

8. Definition / homophone

9. Reversal / hidden word

 

Answers:

 

1. CLAP (C + LAP)

2. ADONISES (son's idea)

3. ST. PETER (street + p) 

4. PHRASE (frays)

5. BODIES (turBO DIESels)

6. ISLE (leis)

7. OBFUSFATE (beta focus)

8. SERE (seer)

9. GALA (prenuptiAL AGreement)