EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT IT  I

Answer each clue with a phrase containing a word related to weather.

Ex. Extremely parched

Ans. Bone dry  

 

1. Something good can come from a bad situation

 

2. Have a casual, friendly, but not serious conversation

 

3. An exaggerated problem - a big fuss over something small 

 

4. A brief moment of peace and calm before a busy or difficult period arrives

 

5. Confused, mixed-up

 

6. Sudden idea

 

7. On earth - where there's nothing new

 

8. Postpone or decline until a later date 

 

9. Extremely busy with work or other obligations 

 

10. Something will happen regardless of any other factors  

 

Answers:

 

1. Every cloud has a silver lining.

2. Shoot the breeze

3. Tempest in a teapot

4. Calm before the storm

5. In a fog

6. Brainstorm

7. Under the sun

8. Take a rain check

9. Snowed under

10. Come rain or come shine 

 

 

QUOTES CCLXXVII

Time is an equal opportunity resource.  

Author Unknown

 

If cats could talk, they would lie to you. 

Rob Kopack 

 

Graveyards are full of indispensable men.

Charles de Gaulle 

 

All I was trying to do was get home from work.

Rosa Parks 

 

Joy's smile is much closer to tears than laughter.

Victory Hugo 

 

Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.

Will Rogers 

 

To jealousy, nothing is more frightening than laughter.

Author Unknown 

 

To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its burden.

Seneca 

 

 

AWESOME FACTS ABOUT EVERYTHING CLXXXIII

1. In Spanish, ESPOSAS means both wives and handcuffs. 

2. In a dark sky with the very best weather, some 2,000 stars are visible to the naked eye. 

3. Agawam, MA has the lowest numerical zip code in the contiguous United States - 01001. 

4. TheWizard of Oz was nominated for best picture, but lost to Gone With the Wind in 1939.

5. If balloons are soaked a short while in a pan of warm water, they are much easier for kids to blow up.

6. Coca-Cola was explicitly marketed as The Great National Temperance Drink starting in 1906 in response to various laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol.

7. James Watt invented the term "horsepower" to market his steam engines by comparing their output to working horses. One unit of horsepower is defined as the power needed to lift 550 pounds by one foot in one second. 

8. People still say "centigrade" when referring to the 100-step temperature scale.  But the name was officially changed by the 9th General Conference on Weights and Measures to Celsius in 1948 - in honor of its creator, Swedish astronomer and physicist Anders Celsius. The change was made because "centigrade" was also a term used in angular measurement in some European countries. After 78 years, "Centigrade" is still used because it was widely taught in American schools and is deeply ingrained in the language. 

         

The words below are the first half of words made up of two smaller words - but they are not compounds. For example, MAY and HEM could be combined to form MAYHEM, but MAYHEM is not a compound word (like BEDROOM), since its two parts are not related. Can you think of the other half of the words below to make them longer - but not compound words? Some of the word may have more than one answer.

 

1. KIT

2. TEN

3. DIG

4. RIG

5. KID

6. GAD 

7. MIST

8. BUOY

9. AVER

10. GRAM

11. DETER

 

(Possible) Answers:

 

1. KITTEN

2. TENANT, TENDON, TENOR

3. DIGIT

4. RIGID

5. KIDNAP

6. GADGET

7. MISTRUST

8. BUOYANT

9. AVERAGE

10. GRAMMAR

11. DETERMINE  

 

 

COMPOUND LINKS XXXIV

Fill in the blanks with a compound word or two-word phrase so that the first two words and the last two words make up other compound words or two-word phrases.

Ex. BIG ________ DOCTOR

Ans. big TOP SPIN doctor

   

1. CAT ________ VERSE 

2. DEEP ________ RULE

3. HOME ________ TRIP

4. SHELF ________ RAIL 

5. GOLD ________ GAME  

6. WATER ________ MAIN

7. SKY ________ RECEIPT

8. BUSY ________ DANCE 

9. QUICK ________ ELDER 

10. COMMON ________ GRINDER 

 

 Answers:

 

1. catTAIL LIGHT verse

2. deep SLEEPOVERrule

3. homeWORKDAY trip

4. shelf LIFEGUARD rail

5. gold STARBOARD game

6. water MAINLAND mass

7. sky BLUEPRINT receipt

8. busy BEELINE dance

9. quickSANDBOX elder

10. common SENSE ORGAN grinder 

 

  

BE A BETTER ANAGRAMMER CXLVIII

Each word on the left is one letter off from another word - whose initial letter is given at the right. Can you determine the other word?

1. LILAC - C

2. RECIPE - F 

3. LAVISH - S

4. CREDIT - D 

5. PERMIT - E

6. CACTUS - S 

7. BEHIND - H

8. AMULET - A

9. MIGHTY - M

10. DRIBBLE - R  

 

HINTS: 

1. Microscopic hairs

2. Vicious

3. Bodily fluid

4. Trickery

5. Realm

6. Building material

7. Impede

8. Vial

9. Legendary

10. Start over, in a sense

 

Answers:

 

1. CILIA

2. FIERCE

3. SALIVA

4. DECEIT

5. EMPIRE

6. STUCCO

7. HINDER

8. AMPULE

9. MYTHIC

10. REBUILD  

TWO OUT OF THREE IX

Anagram two of the three words in each clue to get a synonym of the third word. 

Ex. MINT, DREGS, SEED

Ans. MINT + SEED = SEDIMENT (dregs)

 

1. JOY, LIFE, CITY

2. NICE, SOAR, PLAN 

3. SCAN, DEAL, TART

4. ODD, ROAN, LAMB

5. STRESS, SEER, SPUR 

6. GAIN, ZERO, ORDER 

 

HINTS:

One of the words to be anagrammed:
1. LIFE

2. NICE

3. TART

4. LAMB

5. SEER  

6. GAIN

 

Answers:

 

1. LIFE + CITY  = FELICITY (joy)

2. NICE + SOAR = SCENARIO (plan)

3. SCAN + TART = TRANSACT (deal)

4. ROAN + LAMB = ABNORMAL (odd)

5. SEER + SPUR = PRESSURE (stress)

6. GAIN + ZERO = ORGANIZE (order)