DE WORD'S DE THING 

Ex: De organ that filters the blood - DELIVER 

1. De thing you get after taking a test 

2. De thing used to boil water on the stove

3. De way a shy but flirtatious girl might act 

4. De Jewish circumcision ceremony

 

Answers:

 

1. DEGRADE

2. DEPOT

3. DECOY

4. DEBRIS

 

Credit:
1-3: Braingle  

NPR Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle

May 10, 2026

Will Shortz 

 

CHIN as in CHINA

 

Each word below can be found in its entirety and in consecutive order in the name of a country - as CHIN in CHINA. Can you name the country that includes .....

 

1. PAIN

2. NADA

3. GENT

4. HAIL 

5. RAIN

6. DIVE

7. LAYS

8. DONE

9. WAND

10. GLAD

11. RUNE

12. PINE

 

Answers:

 

1. SPAIN

2. CANADA

3. ARGENTINA

4. THAILAND

5. UKRAINE or BAHRAIN

6. MALDIVES

7. MALAYSIA

8. INDONESIA

9. RWANDA

10. BANGLADESH

11. BRUNEI

12. PHILIPPINES  

 

 

 

 

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

Ex: LEG, MEEK, NET

Ans: LEG + NET = GENTLE - which is a synonym of MEEK

 

1. SIN, EAT, GET

2. TREE, ART, EBB 

3. WHET, MUTE, TAILS

4. DRAIN, ONCE, ACT

5. SANE, VICE, SKEW

 

HINTS:

One of the words to be anagrammed:

1. SIN

2. TREE

3. MUTE

4. DRAIN

5. SANE

 

MORE HINTS:

The other word to be anagrammed:
1. GET

2. ART

3. TAILS

4. ONCE

5. SKEW

 

Answers:

 

1. SIN + GET = INGEST (EAT)

2. TREE + ART = RETREAT (EBB)

3. MUTE + TAILS = SIMULATE (WHET)

4. DRAIN + ONCE = ORDINANCE (ACT)

5. SANE + SKEW = WEAKNESS (VICE)  

 

Credit:

Braingle 

 

What do he following words have in common?

1. HYPODERMIC

2. MISFORTUNE

3. SYMPATHIZE

4. AUTHORIZED

 

Answer:

 

They are ten-letter words with no repeated letters.  

 

Credit:

Braingle 

 

1. Fill in the blanks with the same three letters, in the same order,  to complete the words:

SL _ _ _

ST _ _ _

SU _ _ _ 

 

2. Fill in the blanks with the same three letters, in the same order, to complete the words:

 

_ _ _ DE

_ _ _ SE

_ _ _ LE

 

3. Fill in the blanks with the same three letters, in the same order, to complete the words:

 

BE _ _ _

ORI _ _ _ 

MAR _ _ _ 

 

Answers:

 

1. SLAVE

    STAVE

    SUAVE

 

2. GUIDE

    GUISE

    GUILE

 

3. BEGIN

    ORIGIN

    MARGIN 

 

PAIRS AND SNARES XLII

The words in each group can be confused. Can you give a simple definition of each one that shows the difference between them?

1. ACCESS - EXCESS

2. ACCEDE - CONCEDE 

3. ACCEPT - EXCEPT - EXPECT 

4. TRACK - TRACT

5. WANDER - WONDER

6. ABSTRUSE - OBTUSE 

7. PRESCRIBE - PROSCRIBE

8. TORTUOUS - TORTUROUS

Answers:

1. ACCESS - Ability, right, or permission to approach, enter, communicate, or use something or someone

    EXCESS - An amount that is more than necessary, usual, or allowed - an overabundance of something 

 

2. ACCEDE - To give consent, agree, or yield to a request or demand - sometimes passively, sometimes after pressure / to assume a (high) office, position, or throne 

    CONCEDE - Yield, admit defeat, or surrender with great reluctance - usually after resistance 

 

3.  ACCEPT - Receive, approve, or agree to something

     EXCEPT - Excluding, skipping

     EXPECT - Believe, anticipate, look forward to something / to require or demand - as to expect honesty

 

4. TRACK - A path or trail, as of footprints or of an animal, a specialized course for racing, railroad rails, an individual song on a recording / to follow

    TRACT - An area of land (housing tract) / a short pamphlet 

 

5. WANDER - Move about in an aimless way / deviate from a topic or lose concentration - as in "letting one's mind wander"

    WONDER - A mixture of surprise, curiosity, and awe at something beautiful, unexpected, or inexplicable / to feel curiosity or doubt with a desire to learn more / miraculous, as a "wonder drug" 

 

6.  ABSTRUSE - Difficult to understand, obscure

     OBTUSE - Slow to understand, failing to grasp the obvious / an angle between 90 and 180 degrees

 

7. PRESCRIBE - Officially recommend, authorize, or lay down rules / in medicine, to order a medicine or treatment

    PROSCRIBE - To forbid, prohibit, or condemn something as harmful or unlawful

 

8.  TORTUOUS - Winding, full of twists, turns, or bends

     TORTUROUS - Causing extreme pain or suffering, physically or mentally agonizing 

 

What do the following words have in common?

Toe  

Eye

Ear 

Nose

Head

Hand 

Day 

Man 

Dust

Time 

 

Answer:

 

Each word is commonly repeated in expressions of the form _____ to _____:  

Toe to toe

Eye to eye, etc.