1. Which word comes next in the following list?

TOLL
EAGLE
LIMB
OWN
VERY
??????

EAGER / LAIR / BOX / ROOT

2. The same change can be made to each word, name, and phrase in the list below such that the letters remaining are no longer words, but do have an interesting quality in common. Can you determine what the change is and what the remaining letters of each word have in common?

DIVIDE
GARAGE
LOYOLA
ADIDAS
ARARAT
USES UP

Answers:

1. LAIR ................ The letters A, B, C, D, E, in that order, can precede the listed words:

ATOLL
BEAGLE
CLIMB
DOWN
EVERY

LAIR can be preceded by F to make FLAIR.

2. Dropping the final letter of each word leaves letters that are palindromes:

DIVID
GARAG
LOYOL
ADIDA
ARARA
USES U

Credit: Will Shortz
NPR Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle
April 10, 2010
DIVIDE AND CONQUER