FILL 'ER UP VI
Credit: GAMES/World of Puzzles
September, 2016
Stephen Sniderman

Each word below can be expanded into a new one by inserting two letters. That expanded word can be expanded yet again by inserting two more letters. The letter pairs are shown below, and each one will be used only once. They may be inserted anywhere in the shorter words, but the letters stay together and in the same order. In one of the words in Puzzle 2, three letters will be inserted.

For example, given the clue

TALE     T _ _ _ _ E     T _ _ _ _ _ _ E

and the letter choices NG and RI were listed, the answer words would be

TALE   TANGLE     TRIANGLE   (taNGle - tRIangle) - 

the letters NG being inserted in TALE to form TANGLE and the letters RI being inserted in TANGLE to form TRIANGLE.

Puzzle 1
1. FOE          F _ _ _ E           F _ _ _ _ _ E
2. DIE           D _ _ _ E          D _ _ _ _ _ E
3. MOON     M _ _ _ _ N      M _ _ _ _ _ _ N
4. AM           A _ _ M            A _ _ _ _ M
5. PEST        P _ _ _ _ T        P _ _ _ _ _ _ T

OD   AR   UN   RT   SY
AC   RI   XI     LU    CI

Answers: 

1. foRTe - fortUNe
2. diODe - dioXIde
3. mARoon - mACaroon
4. aLUm - aSYlum
5. pRIest - priCIest

Puzzle 2
1. BEG       B _ _ _ G         B _ _ _ _ _ G
2. AMY      A _ _ _ Y         A _ _ _ _ _ Y
3. ME         M _ _ E            M _ _ _ _ _ E
4. SIT         S _ _ _ T          S _ _ _ _ _ T
5. DEED    D _ _ _ _D       D _ _ _ _ _ _ D

ND   AC   ME   HIN   GH
IT     NT   EN    IN      LE

Answers:

1. beINg - beNDing
2. amITy - amENity
3. mACe - macHINe
4. siGHt - sLEight
5. deNTed  - deMEnted

FILL 'ER UP V
Credit: GAMES Magazine
June, 1998
Stephen Sniderman

Each word below can be expanded into a new one by inserting two, three, or four letters. That expanded word can be expanded yet again into another new word by inserting two, three, or four more letters. The letter pairs, trios, and quartets are shown below, and each one will be used only once. They may be inserted anywhere in the shorter words, but the letters stay together and in the same order.

For example, given the clue

LED       L _ _ _ _D       L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ D,

and the letter choices AMB and AST were listed, the answer words would be

LED       LASTED         LAMBASTED     (lASTed - lAMBasted) -

the letters AST being inserted in LED forming LASTED, and the letters AMB being inserted in LASTED forming LAMBASTED.

Puzzle 1
1. FAR         F _ _ _ _ _ R         F _ _ _ _ _ _ _ R
2. TRY        T _ _ _ Y               T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Y
3. BAN        B_ _ _ N               B _ _ _ _ _ _ _ N
4. SON        S _ _ _ _ _ N         S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ N
5. PIN          P _ _ _ N               P _ _ _ _ _ _ _ N
6. AGE        A _ _ _ E               A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E

DA       EA   ECTI      EL       IN   MPOR
NCIE   LA   ORCE    TALI   TO   VANT

Answers:

1. faNCIEr - fINancier
2. tEAry - teMPORary
3. baTOn - batTALIon
4. sECTIon - sELection
5. pLAin - pORCElain
6. aDAge - adVANTage 

Puzzle 2
1. PER             P _ _ _ _ R              P _ _ _ _ _ _ _ R
2. POE             P _ _ _ _ E              P _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E
3. MAE           M _ _ _ _ E             M _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E
4. STRING      S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ G     S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ G
5. COATED    C _ _ _ _ _ _ D         C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _D

ABOR   AND   EAM   GAR   HIL
LL         OLL    RIN     RON   UNC

Answers:

1. pANDer - pHILander
2. poUNCe - pRONounce
3. maRINe - marGARine
4. strOLLing - stEAMrolling
5. coLLated - collABORated

FILL 'ER UP IV
Credit: GAMES Magazine
June, 1998
Stephen Sniderman

Each word below can be expanded into a new one by inserting two or three letters. That expanded word can be expanded yet again into another new word by inserting two or three more letters. The letter pairs and trios are shown below, and each one will be used only once. They may be inserted anywhere in the shorter words, but the letters stay together and in the same order.

For example, given the clue

STY     S _ _ _ Y      S _ _ _ _ _ _ Y,

and the letter choices RA and TEG were listed, the answer words would be

STY     STRAY       STRATEGY    (stRAy - straTEGy) -

the letters RA being inserted in STY forming STRAY, and the letters TEG being inserted in STRAY forming STRATEGY.

Puzzle 1
1. OR       O _ _ _ R        O _ _ _ _ _ R
2. SUE     S _ _ _ E         S _ _ _ _ _ _ E
3. CAR    C _ _ _ _ R     C _ _ _ _ _ _ R
4. SUM    S _ _ _ M       S _ _ _ _ _ _ M

BME   ELL   FFE   IC
PEC    RG     TR     UL

Answers:

1. oFFEr - offICer
2. suRGe - suBMErge
3. cELLar - cellULar
4. sTRum - sPECtrum 

Puzzle 2
1. BET      B _ _ _ T          B_ _ _ _ _ T
2. VIA      V _ _ _ A          V _ _ _ _ _ A
3. TALE    T _ _ _ _ E       T _ _ _ _ _ _ E
4. REST    R _ _ _ _ T       R _ _ _ _ _ _ T
5. FORT    F _ _ _ _ T        F _ _ _ _ _ _ T
6. FLIES   F _ _ _ _ _ S     F _ _ _ _ _ _ _ S

AN   CA    CL   EN    ES   FI
ID     LL    NE   NG   OL   RI

Answers:

1. beFIt - bENefit
2. viLLa - vANilla
3. taNGle - tRIangle
4. resENt - resIDent
5. forESt - foreCAst
6. fOLlies - folliCLes





 

FILL 'ER UP III
Credit: GAMES Magazine
June 1998
Stephen Sniderman

Each word below can be expanded into a new one by inserting two or three letters. That expanded word can be expanded yet again into another new word by inserting two or three more letters. The letter pairs and trios are shown below, and each one will be used only once. They may be inserted anywhere in the shorter words, but the letters stay together and in the same order.

For example, given the clue

PINE     P _ _ _ _ _ E     P _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E

and the letter choices ORC and UP were listed, the answer words would be

PINE     PORCINE       PORCUPINE  (pORCine - porcUPine)

the letters ORC being inserted in PINE forming PORCINE, and the letters UP being inserted in PORCINE forming PORCUPINE.

Puzzle 1
1. MET        M_ _ _ T             M _ _ _ _ _ _ T
2. SEED      S _ _ _ _ T           S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ D
3. MATE     M _ _ _ _ E          M _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E
4. CHAR     C _ _ _ _ _ R       C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ R

AC      AN    AT      INI
RCH   RTE   PAR   UR

Answers:

1. meANt - meRCHant
2. seATed - sePARated
3. matURe - mINIature
4. chaRTEr - charACter

Puzzle 2
1. HER        H _ _ _ _R           H _ _ _ _ _ _ _ R
2. PRY         P _ _ _ _ Y          P _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Y
3. RAN        R _ _ _ _ N          R _ _ _ _ _ _ _ N
4. CENT      C _ _ _ _ _ T        C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ T
5. REST       R _ _ _ _ _ T        R _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ T

AN      ALT    DIA    MIS    NIE
ONV   PEC    RBI    TIO     TRO  

Answers:

1. hANGer - haRBInger
2. pALTry - palMIStry
3. raTIOn - raDIAtion
4. cONVent - conveNIEnt
5. resPECt - reTROspect 

FILL 'ER UP II
Credit: GAMES Magazine
May, 1999
Stephen Sniderman

Each word below can be expanded into a new one by inserting two, three, or four letters. That expanded word can be expanded yet again into another new word by inserting two, three, or four more letters. The letter pairs, trios, and quartets are shown below, and each one will be used only once. They may be inserted anywhere in the shorter words, but the letters stay together and in the same order.

For example, in the clue

DENT     D _ _ _ _ T       D _ _ _ _ _ _ T, the answer would be

DENT     DECENT        DECADENT   (deCEnt - decADent) - 

the letters CE being inserted in DENT (after the E) forming DECENT, and the letters AD being inserted in DECENT (after the C) forming DECADENT.

AN    AV     IN       ND       PE        ONT    
AR    BA     LO     ON       UL         LISI
AT     FF      NA     OS       NIB       HOGA
 
1. ME         M _ _ E               M _ _ _ _ E
2. HE          H _ _ E                H _ _ _ _ E
3. MY         M _ _ Y               M _ _ _ _ _ _ Y
4. CON       C _ _ _ N             C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ N
5. ORE       O _ _ _ E              O _ _ _ _ _ E
6. ALE        A _ _ _ E             A _ _ _ _ _ E
7. CAL        C _ _ _ L             C _ _ _ _ _ _ L
8. LEER      L _ _ _ _ R           L _ _ _ _ _ _ R
9. CENT     C _ _ _ _ _ T        C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ T

Answers:

1. mULe - muFFle
2. hOSe - hoARse
3. mANy - maHOGAny
4. coLOn - colLISIon
5. orATe - oPErate 
6. alONe - aBAlone
7. caNAl - canNIBal
8. leNDer - lAVender
9. cONTent - contINent

FILL 'ER UP I
Credit: GAMES Magazine
May, 1999
Stephen Sniderman

Each word below can be expanded into a new one by inserting two or three letters. That expanded word can be expanded yet again into another new word by inserting two or three more letters. The letter pairs and trios are shown below, and each one will be used only once. They may be inserted anywhere in the shorter words, but the letters stay together and in the same order.

For example, in the clue

CARS     C _ _ _  _S          C _ _ _ _ _ _ S, the answer would be

CARS     CARESS            CARELESS   (carESs - careLEss) -

the letters ES being inserted in CARS (after the R) forming CARESS, and the letters LE being  inserted in CARESS (after the E) forming CARELESS.

VE     EC     TI     MA     LI     CE     ISH
YG     OV    RS    DE      XE    AM      PRI

1. REAL        R _ _ _ _L              R_ _ _ _ _ _ L
2. PAN           P _ _ _ N                P _ _ _ _ _ N
3. RENT        R _ _ _ _ T             R _ _ _ _ _ _ T
4. ON             O _ _ N                  O_ _ _ _ N
5. REND        R _ _ _ _ D            R _ _ _ _ _ _ _ D
6. PRINCE     P_ _ _ _ _ _ E        P_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E
7. FED           F _ _ _ _ D             F _ _ _ _ _ _ D

Answers:

1. reVEal - reveRSal
2. pECan - peLIcan
3. reCEnt - reTIcent
4. oXEn - oxYGen
5. reMAnd - rePRImand
6. prOVince - proviDEnce
7. fISHed - fAMished

EXPANDABLE WORDS
Credit: Will Shortz
NPR Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle
Sept. 21, 2014

Each word below can be expanded into a new one by adding two letters after the second letter. For example, the word RAIN could be expanded to RAISIN by adding IS after the second letter.

1. TRIAL
2. LOCAL
3. AMBLE
4. CAMEL
5. FIERY
6. MANTA
7. BRIDE
8. REIGN
9. WHEN
10. EXUDE (two answers)

Answers:

1. TRIVIAL
2. LOGICAL
3. AMIABLE
4. CARAMEL
5. FISHERY
6. MAGENTA
7. BROMIDE
8. REALIGN
9. WHITEN
10. EXCLUDE or EXTRUDE