AWESOME FACTS ABOUT EVERYTHING CLXXXIII

1. In Spanish, ESPOSAS means both wives and handcuffs. 

2. In a dark sky with the very best weather, some 2,000 stars are visible to the naked eye. 

3. Agawam, MA has the lowest numerical zip code in the contiguous United States - 01001. 

4. TheWizard of Oz was nominated for best picture, but lost to Gone With the Wind in 1939.

5. If balloons are soaked a short while in a pan of warm water, they are much easier for kids to blow up.

6. Coca-Cola was explicitly marketed as The Great National Temperance Drink starting in 1906 in response to various laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol.

7. James Watt invented the term "horsepower" to market his steam engines by comparing their output to working horses. One unit of horsepower is defined as the power needed to lift 550 pounds by one foot in one second. 

8. People still say "centigrade" when referring to the 100-step temperature scale.  But the name was officially changed by the 9th General Conference on Weights and Measures to Celsius in 1948 - in honor of its creator, Swedish astronomer and physicist Anders Celsius. The change was made because "centigrade" was also a term used in angular measurement in some European countries. After 78 years, "Centigrade" is still used because it was widely taught in American schools and is deeply ingrained in the language. 

         

The words below are the first half of words made up of two smaller words - but they are not compounds. For example, MAY and HEM could be combined to form MAYHEM, but MAYHEM is not a compound word (like BEDROOM), since its two parts are not related. Can you think of the other half of the words below to make them longer - but not compound words? Some of the word may have more than one answer.

 

1. KIT

2. TEN

3. DIG

4. RIG

5. KID

6. GAD 

7. MIST

8. BUOY

9. AVER

10. GRAM

11. DETER

 

(Possible) Answers:

 

1. KITTEN

2. TENANT, TENDON, TENOR

3. DIGIT

4. RIGID

5. KIDNAP

6. GADGET

7. MISTRUST

8. BUOYANT

9. AVERAGE

10. GRAMMAR

11. DETERMINE  

 

 

COMPOUND LINKS XXXIV

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. BIG ________ DOCTOR

Ans. big TOP SPIN doctor

   

1. CAT ________ VERSE 

2. DEEP ________ RULE

3. HOME ________ TRIP

4. SHELF ________ RAIL 

5. GOLD ________ GAME  

6. WATER ________ MAIN

7. SKY ________ RECEIPT

8. BUSY ________ DANCE 

9. QUICK ________ ELDER 

10. COMMON ________ GRINDER 

 

 Answers:

 

1. catTAIL LIGHT verse

2. deep SLEEPOVERrule

3. homeWORKDAY trip

4. shelf LIFEGUARD rail

5. gold STARBOARD game

6. water MAINLAND mass

7. sky BLUEPRINT receipt

8. busy BEELINE dance

9. quickSANDBOX elder

10. common SENSE ORGAN grinder 

 

  

BE A BETTER ANAGRAMMER CXLVIII

Each word on the left is one letter off from another word - whose initial letter is given at the right. Can you determine the other word?

1. LILAC - C

2. RECIPE - F 

3. LAVISH - S

4. CREDIT - D 

5. PERMIT - E

6. CACTUS - S 

7. BEHIND - H

8. AMULET - A

9. MIGHTY - M

10. DRIBBLE - R  

 

HINTS: 

1. Microscopic hairs

2. Vicious

3. Bodily fluid

4. Trickery

5. Realm

6. Building material

7. Impede

8. Vial

9. Legendary

10. Start over, in a sense

 

Answers:

 

1. CILIA

2. FIERCE

3. SALIVA

4. DECEIT

5. EMPIRE

6. STUCCO

7. HINDER

8. AMPULE

9. MYTHIC

10. REBUILD  

TWO OUT OF THREE IX

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

Ex. MINT, DREGS, SEED

Ans. MINT + SEED = SEDIMENT (dregs)

 

1. JOY, LIFE, CITY

2. NICE, SOAR, PLAN 

3. SCAN, DEAL, TART

4. ODD, ROAN, LAMB

5. STRESS, SEER, SPUR 

6. GAIN, ZERO, ORDER 

 

HINTS:

One of the words to be anagrammed:
1. LIFE

2. NICE

3. TART

4. LAMB

5. SEER  

6. GAIN

 

Answers:

 

1. LIFE + CITY  = FELICITY (joy)

2. NICE + SOAR = SCENARIO (plan)

3. SCAN + TART = TRANSACT (deal)

4. ROAN + LAMB = ABNORMAL (odd)

5. SEER + SPUR = PRESSURE (stress)

6. GAIN + ZERO = ORGANIZE (order)  

PLUG-INS XIV

Add one of the underlined letters to each word below (a different letter for each word) and anagram the result to form a new word. The added letters will all be in the fourth position of each new word.   

A C D G N U W 

LANCE          1. _ _ _ _ _ _

LASH              2. _ _ _ _ _

HOURLY        3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ERECT           4. _ _ _ _ _ _

BRIDLE         5. _ _ _ _ _ _ _

DIET              6. _ _ _ _ _

ADAGE.        7. _ _ _ _ _ _ 

HINTS: 

First letters of the new words:

1. C

2. S

3. R

4. C

5. R

6. E

7. A

 

Answers:

 

1. CANDLE

2. SHAWL

3. ROUGHLY

4. CREATE

5. REBUILD

6. EDICT

7. AGENDA  

NO ENDS IN SIGHT IV

Dell PennyPress Variety Puzzles

Volume 74

 

Each word below can be changed to a new one by adding two letters - one at the front and one at the back. (More than one answer may be possible)

 

Ex. EVER

Ans. SEVERE

 

1. AGO

2. WEE

3. LIE

4. EWE

5. CUT

6. OUT

7. PINE

8. AISLE

 

HINTS:

1. Large cart

2. Use a broom

3. Small handbill

4. Ruby or emerald

5. Sharp, keen

6. Early years

7. Small upright piano 

8. Abstract fabric pattern

 

Answers:

 

1. WAGON

2. SWEEP

3. FLIER

4. JEWEL

5. ACUTE

6. YOUTH

7. SPINET

8. PAISLEY