1. What do these two words have in common?

VALUABLE

FLAMMABLE

 

2. What do the three words below have in common?

 

GAWKER

CONSULT 

TEMERITY  

 

HINT:

2. Drop a letter 

 

Answers:

 

1. Both words can be preceded by IN and retain their original meaning - unusual in that the prefix IN normally means NOT and negates a word. 

 

2. If you drop one letter in each word and anagram the remaining letters, you get the name of an insect:

 

EARWIG

LOCUST

TERMITE  

COMMON COMBOS LXIX

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. UP, DOWN, EAR, WATER

2. SPELL, MARK, PAY, LIST

3. SHOW, PEP, RADIO, BABY

4. TOUCH, FACE, MILE, WALL 

5. FUEL, SOLAR, PHONE, MATE

6. MOON, WHITE, SAND, TIGER 

7. YARD, LAW, MASTER, NIGHT 

8. BOARD, TELLER, SHORT, GHOST 

 

Answers:

 

1. MARK

2. CHECK

3. TALK

4. STONE

5. CELL 

6. PAPER

7. SCHOOL

8. STORY  

 DROP A LETTER - GET A NEW WORD CXXXVII

GAMES/World of Puzzles

February, 2026

FAMILY REUNIONS

Bob Stigger

 

Drop one letter from each word and re-arrange the remaining letters to form nine related words. #6 is not a familiar word.

 

1. BAGEL

2. BRIAN

3. GOWNS

4. NESTLE

5. HOWLERS

6. EARPLUGS

7. HONEYPOT 

8. EMPTIEST

9. WARTIEST 

 

HINTS:

First letters of the new words:

1. G

2. R

3. S

4. S

5. S

6. G

7. T

8. T

9. T

 

Answers:

 

1. GALE

2. RAIN

3. SNOW

4. SLEET

5. SHOWER

6. GRAUPEL*

7. TYPHOON

8. TEMPEST

9. TWISTER

 

*GRAUPEL (grau' pil) is a form of snow often called "soft hail" or "snow pellets". It feels soft and mushy compared to hard hail - similar to small styrofoam balls.

CRYPTO CLUES CCXX

GAMES Magazine

August, 1994

Jane Wykes

 

1. Thief's crude obsession

 

2. Join you, Sir Galahad, in speech

 

3. China police ran amok

 

4. Spoken lesson without introduction

 

5. Made sure stranger used a ruler

 

6. Drawing last of lots on sailboat

 

7. Bird's frolic

 

8. Indian War manipulated by an evolutionist

 

9. Abandoned general is nervous

 

10. Unusually neat poker stake 

 

11. Singer Callas in debut of Metropolitan Opera song 

 

Answers:

 

1. Fetish (anagram of thief's)

2. Unite (you knight)

3. Porcelain (anagram of police ran)

4. Oral (moral)  

5. Measured (anagram of made sure) 

6. Sketch (last of lots = S)

7. Lark (homograph)

8. Darwinian (anagram of Indian war)

9. On edge (abandONED GEneral) 

10. Ante (anagram of neat)

11. Maria (M + aria) [debut = beginning] 

  

GAMES Magazine 

August, 1994

Andrea Carla Michaels

 

FLY FISHING

 

The answer to each clue is a word or phrase containing FLY. For example, "Moth's cousin" would be BUTTERFLY.

 

1. Lounge lizard

2. Shady, unreliable 

3. Legendary ghost ship 

4. Feature of some Levis 

5. Very light boxer's division

6. Rich Pennsylvania dessert 

7. Classic brand of red wagon 

8. Get very angry very quickly

9. Comment to a waiter, in a joke

10. Bi-coastal businessman, perhaps 

11. Small but significant inconvenience 

12. Architectural feature of many Gothic cathedrals 

 

Answers: 

 

1. Barfly 

2. Fly-by-night

3. Flying Dutchman 

4. Button fly

5. Flyweight

6. Shoofly pie

7. Flexible Flyer

8. Fly off the handle

9. "There's a fly in my soup."

10. Frequent flyer

11. Fly in the ointment

12. Flying buttress 

SYNONYM/ANAGRAM CCXXXI

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

1. RICE + RIFT = T

2. GILT + WHIT = T

3. MAID + PLOT = D

4. CLAN + RAID = C

5. COPY + HINT = H 

6. ELSE + ARCS = C

7. GNAT + OPEN = P

8. ACHY + HINT = H 

9. GRIM + LOAD = M 

10. PIVOT + WINE = V 

11. NOOK + UPSET = O 

12. ACRE + LANCE = C

 

Meanings of the anagrams: 

1. Really great

2. Evening

3. Statesman

4. Type of bird and number

5. Mesmerizing

6. Not paying close attention

7. Dept. of Defense HQ

8. Flower of mythology

9. Flower

10. Opinion

11. Candid

12. Like some sales

 

Answers:

 

1. TERRIFIC

2. TWILIGHT

3. DIPLOMAT

4. CARDINAL

5. HYPNOTIC

6. CARELESS

7. PENTAGON

8. HYACINTH

9. MARIGOLD

10. VIEWPOINT

11. OUTSPOKEN

12. CLEARANCE   

NY Times Crossword

April 16, 2026

Rafael Musa and Sala Wanetick 

 

What do all of the following words and phrases have in common?

 

Indic

Amino

Even

Day spas

Taro

Atlas

Bra

Tease

Open sea

Delis

Abu

Diver

Scrip

Ego

Basal

 

HINTS:

1. All the clues were DOWN clues.

2. With extreme precision

 

Answer to HINT 2:

Down To a T  

 

What the clues have in common:

Each word becomes a new one when a T is added at the end. All the clues were DOWN and ended at a T formation of black squares:

 

Indict

Am I not

Event

Days past

Tarot

At last

Brat

Tea set

Open seat 

Delist

Abut

Divert

Script

EGOT

Basalt