COMMON COMBOS LXXII

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

1. HOLE, HIT, HOOD, HEAD

2. HAT, POLL, LAST, SHORT

3. IRON, MAID, GLAD, HELD

4. DATE, OUT, HASTE, GOAL

5. WALK, PUSH, WASH, WATER

6. BINGO, WAY, MARK, DANCE

7. BIG, STREET, MONEY, SPEAK 

8. SAGE, STROKE, BROAD, BACK

 

Answers: 

 

1. MAN

2. STRAW

3. HAND

4. POST

5. BACK

6. HALL

7. EASY*

8. BRUSH

 

*The Big Easy is the nickname of New Orleans, LA.  

  

BETWIXT AND BETWEEN XII

Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles

August, 2025

 

For each pair of words below, find a common word that comes between them alphabetically in the dictionary. No word is merely a different form of one of the given words. The length of the word in between is indicated by the number of dashes.

 

Ex. ATTEST

       _ _ _ _ _

       ATTIRE

 

The in-between word would be ATTIC.

 

1. LENIENT

    _ _ _ _ _ _

    LEOPARD

 

2. GAZEBO

     _ _ _ _

     GECKO

 

3. DRY

    _ _ _ _

    DUCK

 

4. SKEDADDLE

    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    SKEW

 

5. PRY

    _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    PUB

 

6. BOTTLE

    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    BOUNCE

 

7. ACUTE

    _ _ _ _ _

    ADAPT

 

8. GUZZLE

    _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    GYRATE 

 

Answers:

 

1. LENTIL

2. GEAR

3. DUAL  

4. SKELETON

5. PSYCHIC

6. BOULEVARD

7. ADAGE

8. GYMNAST  

CRYPTO CLUES CCXXXVI

GAMES Magazine 

October, 1986 

Fraser Simpson (1-8) 

GAMES/World of Puzzles

June, 2026 

Stella Zawistowski (9-10) 

 

1. I rant, rave wildly in story 

 

2. Destruction of bad medication

 

3. Muslin enthusiast stocks bedsheets 

 

4. Solo crashes in Scandinavian capital

 

5. Hungarian composer's roster announced

 

6. Bad swan shaped with wood-cutting tool 

7. Charming hotel room, but the sound of it 

 

8. Hot dog topping gathered for the audience

 

9. Nominates bad state

 

10. Drop fruit next to New York museum 

 

HINTS:
1. Anagram

2. Anagram

3. Hidden word

4. Anagram

5. Definition - homophone

6. Anagram

7. Homophone

8. Homophone

9. Anagram

10. Two definitions - two words 

 

Answers:

 

1. NARRATIVE (I rant, rave)

2. DECIMATION (medication)

3. LINEN (musLIN ENthusiast)

4. OSLO (solo)

5. LISZT (list [roster])

6. BANDSAW (bad swan)

7. SWEET (suite)

8. MUSTARD (mustered)

9. MINNESOTA (nominates)

10. PLUMMET (plum met [Metropolitan Art Museum])  

 

 

SHUFFLE 'EM LXIII 

Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles

August, 2025

 

Two six-letter words with their letters in correct, but not consecutive order are combined in each row of letters below. Can you find both words? There are no extra letters and each letter is used only once. The two words are not related.

 

Ex. D R E T H Y O T H U R M 

Ans. D r E T h y O t h U R m 

        DETOUR - rhythm

 

1. F R E L I T U G H R N T

2. S P R O O C I F I A L T 

3. S A T T A T T A U C E H

4. P E I N B V E B L N E T

5. C H I R A C Z A L E R D

 

Answers: 

 

1. FLIGHT - return

2. SOCIAL - profit

3. STATUE - attach

4. PEBBLE - invent

5. CIRCLE - hazard 

LETTER SUCCESSION

Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles

August, 2025

 

Form common words by placing two, three, or four letters in alphabetical succession on the blanks.

 

Ex. _ AC _ A _

Ans. JACKAL - J, K, and L are letters in alphabetical succession.  

 

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 

 

1. _ _ A _ UE

2. _ I _ N _ W

3. _ R _ E

4. _ A _ _ T

5. S _ _ LE

6. _ E _ _ F _ L

7. CA _ _ _ Y

8. _ _ A _

9. _ OT _ _ C

10. _ U _ I _ _ US  

  

Answers: 

 

1. OPAQUE

2. MINNOW

3. TRUE

4. CADET

5. SABLE

6. RESTFUL

7. CANOPY

8. DEAF

9. GOTHIC

10. LUMINOUS  

TWO BY TWO

Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles

August, 2025 

 

Supply the two missing letters in each group to form two 5-letter words, one ending with the two missing letters and the other beginning with the two missing letters. When the correct letters are filled in, reading the first letter of each two-letter solution from first to last will give the name of a tourist destination.

 

1. PLA _ _ LLO

2. BEG _ _ KLE

3. SHA _ _ CAN

4. ALI _ _ EMY

5. ALO _ _ UNT

6. AHE _ _ AGE

7. TRU _ _ EIR

8. STA _ _ ETH

9. STE _ _ ICT 

10. STO _ _ ACT

11. TRE _ _ TIC

12. BLA _ _ AMP

13. TWI _ _ RVE 

14. PIL _ _ TER

15. COB _ _ VEN

16. DEL _ _ BLE

17. BAT _ _ AVY

18. PER _ _ ASE 

19. ALI _ _ IDE

20. BUR _ _ UND

21. ALO _ _ TEN

22. STA _ _ AMA

23. CHA _ _ PUT

24. ARE _ _ VAL

25. CAN _ _ ARM 

 

Answers:

 

1. plaCEllo

2. begANkle

3. shaPEcan

4. aliENemy

5. aloHAunt

6. aheADage

7. truTHeir

8. staTEeth

9. steEDict  

10. stoREact

11. treATtic  

12. blaSTamp

13. twiNErve 

14. pilOTter

15. cobRAven

16. delTAble

17. batHEavy

18. perCHase  

19. aliASide

20. burROund  

21. aloOFten

22. staLLama  

23. chaINput

24. areNAval

25. canALarm - - - CAPE HATTERAS, NORTH CAROLINA  

 

COMPOUND LINKS XXXIII

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. FACE ________ COURSE

Ans. faceLIFTOFF course

 

1. MAKE ________ SAKE 

2. BIG ________ DOCTOR 

3. QUICK ________ CODE 

4. NATIVE ________ RULE

5. DEEP ________ FLOWER 

6. BLOCK ________ OPERA 

7. SQUARE ________ HOLE

8. SCHOOL ________ GAMES

9. COMMON ________ VALUE 

10. POWER ________ MOTHER 

 

Answers:

 

1. makeUPKEEPsake

2. big TOP SPIN doctor

3. quickSANDBAR code

4. native LANDSLIDE rule

5. deep SEAWALL flower

6. blockHEADLIGHT opera

7. square INCHWORMhole  

8. schoolMASTERMIND games

9. common MARKETPLACE value

10. power LUNCHROOM mother