PRESTO - CHANGE-O XLIV

Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles

January, 2026

 

Each group below contains four unrelated words. Without re-arranging the letters, change one letter in each of the words in each group to form four related words.

 

Ex: Slurry, Spend, Curry, Rust

Ans: Flurry, Speed, Hurry, Rush

 

1. Knew, Angle, Food, Keel

2. Fly, Summer, Bail, Cake

3. 

 

QUOTES CCLXXIII

There is a fountain of youth ..... your mind.

Sophia Loren 

 

He who lights the lives of others shares in the radiance.

Author Unknown

 

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

Kahlil Gibran

 

It takes most people a little time to figure out that they can't do everything in life, nor are they equipped to. That's not laziness - it's maturity.

Dick Clark

 

A man occupied with public or other important business cannot and need not attend to spelling.

Napoleon Bonaparte

 

What gives the artist real prestige is his imitators.

Igor Stravinsky

 

It is forbidden to live in a town which has no garden or greenery.

The Talmud 

 

The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do. 

Ted Nelson

 

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

Douglas Adams 

 

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.

Author Unknown 

 

Love at fist sight is easy to understand. It's when two people have been looking at each other for fifty years that it becomes a miracle. 

Sam Levenson 

 

  

MIRACLE LIMERICK

From The Enigma

National Puzzlers' League Magazine (NPL)

April, 2026

LINKO 

 

Can you complete the last line of this limerick? 

 

When faced with 5K empty dishes,

He exceeded our wildest wishes:

Through some divine will

The whole crowd ate their fill - 

And all from _________________!

 

Answer:

 

five loaves and two fishes!  

DOUBLE DUTY CCCV

Fill in the blanks with words that will complete the word, partial word, or two-word phrase beginning on the left and complete the word, partial word, or two-word phrase ending on the right.  

1. SH _ _ _ NA

2. HA _ _ _ TEN

3. EAR _ _ _ ME 

4. SCR _ _ _ RESS 

5. POOL _ _ _ _ _ LINEN

6. CREDIT _ _ _ _ DRIVE 

7. FORCE _ _ _ _ _ HOCKEY

8. CLOTHES _ _ _ _ _ SENSE 

9. BIG _ _ _ _ _ _ CLOTH 

10. POINT _ _ _ _ _ RAIL 

 

HINTS:

First of the missing letters: 

1. A

2. B

3. T

4. I

5. T

6. L

7. F

8. H

9. C

10. G

 

Answers:

 

1. shAREna

2. haBITten

3. earTHYme

4. scrIMPress

5. pool TABLE linen

6. credit LINE drive

7. force FIELD hockey

8. clothes HORSE sense

9. big CHEESE cloth

10. point GUARD rail 

 

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Winter weather danger

2. Conversation starter

3. Relax, informally 

4. Static moment in a film 

5. Paper money, informally

6. Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck genre  

 

Answers: 

 

1. Frostbite

2. Ice breaker

3. Take a chill pill

4. Freeze-frame  

5. Cold cash

6. Cool jazz  

COMMON COMBOS LXX

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. GRADE, OUT, MAN, DEW

2. LINE, CREW, TIE, RUBBER 

3. STAND, FACE, OUT, WHITE 

4. SIGHT, WIND, NATURE, SPLIT 

5. FLASH, HIDDEN, SHY, CANDID 

6. GRANT, LETTER, CELL, ENGINE 

 

Answers:

 

1. POINT

2. NECK

3. WASH

4. SECOND

5. CAMERA

6. BLOCK  

The answers to the clues below will have something in common. 

1. Make spiffy

2. Peace offering

3. Target for a bribe 

4. Beginning of Lent

5. Yearn for longingly 

6. Kitchen furnishings

7. Breakfast condiment 

8. Well-worn joke or story 

9. Noted Los Angels Hospital

10. Andrew Jackson, familiarly 

11. Metaphor for grief and resilience

 

Answers:

 

1. Spruce up

2. Olive branch

3. Itchy palm

4. Ash Wednesday

5. Pine away

6. Oak cabinets

7. Maple syrup 

8. Old chestnut

9. Cedars of Lebanon

10. Old Hickory

11. Weeping willow - - - Names of trees