BRAIN BENDERS

NY Times Puzzle Mania

Heidi Erwin

 

What do the following 12 words have in common?

 

EAR 

PEN

RICE

ILL

TOW

RAIN

NIT

END 

HEN

RAY

ELL

ONE

 

Answer:

 

Each word becomes a new one when preceded by progressive letters of the alphabet, with the exception of Q:

 

NEAR

OPEN

PRICE

RILL

STOW

TRAIN

UNIT

VEND

WHEN

XRAY

YELL

ZONE