COMPOUND LINKS XXXIX

Fill 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. TRUE ________ BAY

Ans. LOVESICK (true love / sick bay)

Ex. COLOR ________ LINE

Ans. BLIND DATE (color blind / dateline)

 

1. ACID ________ OUT 

2. LOW ________ AWAY

3. LONG ________ CASE

4. FREE ________ WORK

5. PUSH ________ BLANK 

6. BETTER ________ RAFT

7. GOOD ________ STRONG 

8. WALKING ________ DANCE

9. NATURAL ________ SERVICE

10. INNER ________ CERTIFICATE

 

Answers:

 

1. RAINFALL

2. DOWNCAST

3. JUMPSUIT

4. TIME CLOCK

5. PINPOINT

6. HALF-LIFE

7. EGGHEAD

8. DEADLINE

9. HIGH WIRE

10. CHILDBIRTH   

ODDS AND ENDS

1. SNEER is a portmanteau word - a combination of SNICKER and JEER.

2. The words DITCH and PURGE suggest wanting to be rid of something you don't want. Can you think of two words - related to DITCH and PURGE - that suggest the opposite - wanting and desiring something?

Answer:

2. ITCH and URGE

Credits:

1. Will Shortz

2. Francis Heaney  

 

CHARADES II

Ex. Hopeless + highest card = frown

Ans.  GRIM + ACE = GRIMACE 

 

1. Cheat + add = mineral 

 

2. Open + tea vessel = capsize

 

3. Finish + hostility = put at risk 

 

4. Paper money + only = fine wool 

 

5. Merry month + dress bottom = chaos

 

6. Warmth + female chicken = unbeliever

 

Answers:

 

1. GYP + SUM = GYPSUM

2. OVERT + URN = OVERTURN

3. END + ANGER = ENDANGER

4. CASH + MERE = CASHMERE 

5. MAY + HEM = MAYHEM

6. HEAT + HEN = HEATHEN  

 

 

 

 

 

CRYPTO CLUES CCXLIII

GAMES Magazine

November, 1999

Joan Ward

 

1. Tyrant upset star

 

2. Expert examines objects 

 

3. Dislike one interpretation 

 

4. Silenced engineer says no 

 

5. Down-home doctor is curt 

 

6. Bringing back artist's prize  

 

7. Leads spread all over valleys

 

8. Like the earliest people, I merit VIP treatment 

 

9. Go in a circle initially when having introductory riding lesson 

 

HINTS:

1. Anagram

2. Expert = PRO

3. Definition - two words

4. Anagram

5. Definition - anagram

6. Reversal 

7. Anagram 

8. Anagram 

9. Initial letters 

Answers:

 

1. TSAR

2. PROTESTS (ob jects' - stressonym)  

3. AVERSION (a version)

4. DECLINES (silenced) 

5. RUSTIC (is curt)

6. REWARD (artist = drawer) 

7. DALES

8. PRIMITIVE (I merit VIP)

9. WHIRL (When Having Introductory Riding Lesson)

               

 

COMMON COMBOS LXXIV

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. EARLY, BATH, JAIL, CAGE

2. AMEN, KICK, POOH, KITTY 

3. LENGTH, BRAIN, OFF, HEAT 

4. CORN, BELL, MILL, YELLOW

5. BED, GARDEN, FOLK, MUSIC 

6. PLEAT, FLUTTER, START, TOE

7. NEWS, PERFECT, HEAD, CHAIN

8. CHECK, SPREAD, RICE, FLOWER

 

Answers:

 

1. BIRD

2. CORNER

3. WAVE

4. PEPPER

5. ROCK

6. KICK

7. LETTER

8. BED  

 

QUOTES CCLXXXII

Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions.

Booth Tarkington

 

Television has been said to represent an advance in communications comparable to the printing press.  

Author Unknown 

 

You have become a mature person when keeping a secret gives you more satisfaction than passing it along.

Author Unknown

 

Progress doesn't come from early risers - progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.

Author Unknown 

 

A mother is a person who, seeing that there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces that she never did care for pie.

Author Unknown 

 

Memory is the best of all gardens. Therein, winter and summer, the seeds of the past lie dormant, ready to spring into instant bloom at any moment the mind wishes to bring them to life.

Hal Boyle 

 

Too often, we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to  turn a life around.

Author Unknown

 

MIND FLEXERS CXLV

Answer each clue by matching it with one of the choices below. The relationships are disguised by double meanings, altered spacing within words, and/or other wordplay.

1. AC  DC  WC

2. Eagle, Robin, Quartz

3. ATSON, EKYL, POC 

4. Children's quarters' site  

5. Russian, French, and Itlaian

6. First two syllables of, "I am what I am." 

7. Stargazing setting

8. Met expectations 

9. Crib sheet user

10. Sticking point

 

CHOICES:

a. Dressings

b. Red carpet

c. Power behind the throne

d. Baby

e. Operas

f. Doctor without borders

g. Arcade

h. Two birds with one stone

i. Tine

j. Iamb 

 

Answers:

 

1. c - Power behind the throne (WC = washcloset)

2. h - Two birds with one stone

3. f - Doctors without borders (WatsonN, JekylL, SpocK) 

4. g - Arcade (quarters = coins)

5. a - Dressings

6. j - Iamb (unstressed/stressed)  

7. b - Red carpet

8. e - Operas (Metropolitan Opera)

9. d - Baby

10. i - Tine (as on a fork)  

 

Credits: 

1-2: Rich Katz

3: Sam Brody

4: Adrian Johnson and Alexandra Doumani

6: Willa Angel Chen Miller 

7: Rafael Musa and Amie Walker

9: Terry Sun and Carina da Rosa

10: Jack Hatchett