PUZZLE BONANZA

(I AM POSTING 10 NEW PUZZLES I'VE CONSTRUCTED THAT REPRESENT SAMPLES FROM A BOOK IN PROGRESS. ENJOY, AND PLEASE PROVIDE ME YOUR FEEDBACK).

CELEBRITY LETTER BANKS

The purpose in a letter bank is to create longer words using only the letters that appear in the word. So for example, from “seas” we get “assesses,” “lends” yields “needlessness” and “imps” gives us “Mississippi.” In Celebrity Letter Banks, I will provide the surname of a famous person and from it you are asked to come up with the name of another celebrity, whose surname is comprised of the same letters as the other celebrity, only in this case at least one letter from the first celebrity's surname will be repeated. So for example, if the clue was “Baer” (as in Max Baer or Max Baer Jr.) some possible answers would be “Berra” “Barber” or “Barbee.” Many of the surnames in my quiz will yield more than one answer. See if your answers matches the one or two I’ve provided.

                                  Answers

1)Ambler                     Ballmer

2)Arkin

3)Arnold

4)Arp

5)Asner

6)Asper

7)Baker

8)Bale

9)Barton

10)Bates

11)Beach

12)Begin

13)Bonds

14)Bonet

15)Brel

16)Brison

17)Brunet

18))Bure

19)Byrne

20)Carle

21)Cather

22)Close

23)Conley

24)Craig

25)Crane

CORE WORDS

I've called this puzzle Core Words because it features words of four letters or more that represent the heart of the words sought and are only missing the first and last letters of the words. For example, possible answers to the first clue “able” would be “cabled” and “tablet.” All the clue words and the answer words can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary or are recognized place names, trade names, ethnic terms, or surnames of famous people. None of the answers should end in an “s” if it represents a plural.

See if your answers matches the one or two I’ve provided.

Core Word Clue              Answer

1)able                               cabled/tabled

2)ache

3)acre

4)across

5)actor

6)addle

7)agent

8)ague

9)aide

10)akin

11)alee

12)ales

13)alien

14)alone

15)amble

16)amen

17)ampere

18)ample

19)angle

20)anil

21)ankle

22)ante

23)apse

24)aria

25)Aries

26)arouse

27)arrant

28)arty

29)aster

30)aught

THREE WORDS IN ONE

In the first puzzle Split Definitives we found two new words by dividing a word at one point in the word. There is another method, however, of finding two new words. Closeted in many words are other smaller words. For example the word “covenant” can be broken up as such, c(oven)ant to produce “cant” and “oven.” In a similar fashion “evaporating” produces “eating” and “vapor.”

Placing one word inside another is one of the types of clues found in cryptic crossword puzzles are often called container word clues. These are actually three clues in one. A part of the clue suggests the container, another part hints at the inside word and the third part is the main definition. An example of such is “A laugh in the heavens is unstable.” (5 letters) The answer here is “shaky” as ”ha” (the inner word) represents the laugh, the “sky” (the outer word) represents heavens and “shaky” is a synonym for “unstable.”

In this first puzzle, you are asked to match the words on the left side with the the words on the right, with the words on the right representing the inner part of the words. To get you started I will tell you that outer word, 1)”aces” combines with inner word l) “hill” to form the word “Achilles.”

Outer Word Inner Word

A

1)aces                      a)abet

2)acted                       b)ante

3)badly                    c)Berlin

4)bard                       d)dime

5)beau                        e)dole

6)bide                             f)ever

7)bred                           g)fort

8)buss                           h)game

9)carry                              i)hill

10)cold                             j)lapse

11)colon                          k)laughter

12)comment                    l)live

13)coming                        m)lucid

14)dies                                n)ouch

15)eating                               o)part

16)fish                                    p)pent

17)forte                                   q)posse

18)lint                                       r)quit

19)pressing                               s)ratio

20)reining                                  t)reason

21)rent                                        u)roads

22)runt                                         v)sine

23)sing                                          w)star

24)stakes                                        x)tuna

25)table                                          y)vest

26)time                                          z)weeps

HIDDEN TRINITIES

Here the puzzler will find clues that feature three words. In each case you must insert three-lettered words, but not at the beginning or end of words. So for example. If the words were “broom, “ “sow” and “shot” you would add the word “all” to create “ballroom,” “sallow” and “shallot.” As the puzzle progresses past the half-way point, you may find that in some clues there might be a word, or even two, not known to every puzzler. All words, however, are found in the Oxford English Dictionary and none of them are designated as obsolete.

1)sped red sing

2)west fed swing

3)bed get bet

4)orgy mate slot

5)per caul pace

6)bag divest lag

7)mow fed bow

8)rear comes grant

9)pry con per

10)loon sled shoo

11)boon scion show

12)unshed cred red

13)late tile price

14)spring pine per

15)less natal fractal

16)wart gola warty

17)coned deer reed

18)fish men lie

19)absent roue say

20)faced facial sage

CRYPTIC HOMONYM PUZZLE

One of the reasons English is such a devilishly difficult language to master is that words can have so many different meaning. Many words have slang meaning totally at odds with the standard sense of the word, but these slang meanings are so entrenched in our language that they are listed in virtually all dictionaries. The champion word with various meanings is “set.” It can be used as an adjective, adverb, noun and verb and there are over 200 different senses to the word. The next most prolific word found in our lexicon is “run.”

To complicate matters even more, words that are spelled the same way can have totally different meanings and be pronounced differently. For example, DOES can mean “performs” or “female deer” and PUSSY can refer to a cat but also to something that is full of pus. And you thought English was an easy language?

On the positive side, words that have double meanings are a staple of cryptic crossword puzzles. Thus, in the May16,2010 New York Times cryptic crossword, the duo of Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon presented us with this clue to a four lettered word : “Blue feathers,” The answer here is “down” as this word can mean both “blue” and “feathers.” To help solvers along in my puzzle, I have arranged the puzzle so that the words get longer as it progresses and all the words of the same length are in alphabetical order. Also, the answer can be found in two parts of the clue and where the clue is more than two letters, the solver has to discern how the clue is divided. For example in the first clue, to arrive at the answer “ace.” the clue should be divided “unreturned service” and “expert,” not “unreturned” and “service expert.” Similarly the clue “reduce psychiatrist” would yield the answer “shrink.” Also, be mindful that a clue word that seems to be a noun, verb, adjective, etc., might be something else. Good luck.

Cryptic homonym clue                          Answer
1)unreturned service expert                            ace
2)express pretentious attitude

3)ban pub

4)fire container

5)hound hound

6)terminate final part

7)strike out afficionado

8)cool body part

90)jelly blockage

10)function Old Testament book

11)recumbent prevarication

12)schlep galoot

13)sink kitchen utensil

14)fight line

15)distinguished blade

16)surreptitiously listen to the faucet

17)cravat deadlock

18)desire Japanese money

19)do up nothing

20)upper limbs weapons

21)chops alliances

22)depend on financial institution
23)tolerate someone expectingbad financial conditions

24)outscore rhythm

25)meat complaint

BEGIN TO END

The answer to each word on the right has the last letter of the answer on the left in front of it. For example, if a clue read as such (instructs - effort) the answers would be “trains” and “strain.” Discern the answers with the clues provided. As an added clue the answers in the left column are all in alphabetical order and have a minimum of five letters.

Answers

1)most competent pool, bridge, e.g ablest-tables

2)stop the mission type of drum

3)snakes more down

4)befuddles riding apparatus

5)sense of dread strong tastes

6)hope rose shrub

7)rate teases

8)strong point French cup

9)German cars Middle Eastern person

10)groups mischievous child

11)fondle frightens

12)studies hard get lost

13)toilets pugilist

14)what a baby does messy handwriting

15)beliefs harangue

16)economizes folds or presses together

17)painful skin areas disdain

18)hang loosely placed obliquely

19)fool evaded

20)soil core

PRECISE RECIPES

This puzzle is called “precise recipes” because it features clues that will yield two words answers where each word is an anagram of each other in the manner that “precise” is an anagram to “recipes.” Hence the answer to Puzzle a) #35, “exacting cooking formulas” is precise recipes (Not seen here in this sample puzzle). As an added clue the puzzle starts with clues where you have to discern short answers and then the answers get progressively longer. Hence the answer to the first clue “viper resort” in Puzzle b) is “asp spa” Aside from the answers getting longer, another clue is that the clues are in alphabetical order based on the length of the answer. So for example, in the case of the clues before and after Puzzle a) #35, the answers sought will contain words seven letters long and they will start with the letter “p” or a letter just before or after “p” in the alphabet. To help you along, I have provided the first answer to all five precise recipes puzzles

a)PRECISE RECIPES-The Good LifeI've entitled this section “The Good Life” because it features many phrases that suggest a life replete with life's luxuries, such as food, beverages, culture and entertainment. As you will see some of the entries in the “good life”are not necessarily so good. The answer to #1 “spring potato” is “May yam.”

ANSWER

1)spring potato May yam

2)make Weight-Watcher adjustment

3)actors in T.S.Eliot-inspired play

4))ritzy boutique

5)gunned down emcee

6)quiet spouse

7)inexpensive fruit

8)bogus Canadian hockey team ?

9)yellowish fruit

10)whiter jewel

11)party poopers?

12)What Simon Cowell likes to see each year

13)recycled movies?

14)advertises strong dark beer

15))wishy-washy movie

16)OPEC’s wine choice?

17)Look for a whiskey after a beer

18)women's Olympic golds

19)dating service?

20)cultured product well past the due date?

SEMORDNILAP

This puzzle features paired words where each word not only is an anagram for each other but also spells the other word backward. So the answer to the first one “average hip-

hop” is “par rap.” The puzzle is called semordnilap because this made up word spells palindrome backwards and each paired phrase such as “par rap ” is a palindrome. In the next chapter we will look at palindrome puzzles.

Answers

1)average hip-hop par rap

2)bitter hostilities

3)Maria Callas?

4)boring poet

5)publish weekly news magazine

6)early rumbling of volcano

7)notice well-known English school

8)created cheese

9)train fabricator

10)concealed weapons?
11)skewer flying mammals
12)famous rodents
13)where to purchase a streetcar?
14)spring or hold-down bar
15)hospital sweepstakes

PALINDROMES IN PALINDROMES PUZZLES
Puzzle 1Readers are asked to uncover the following palindromes with the aid of the clues provided. Remember that in palindromes the placement of a letter usually tells one where other letters are placed. So for the second clue that means that the fourth letter from the end will also be an “r.” Also if the clue features a plural, there’s a good chance that an “s” will appear at the then of at least one word. When this first puzzle is completed, the third letters of the phrases will spell out a question that George W. Bush may have asked himself while attending Yale.

1)Support a taxi _ _ _ k _ _ _
2-Laconic snares _ _ _ r _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3)Former Cambodian leader _ _ _ _ _ _
4)Keen operatic star _ _ _ d _ _ _ _
5)Break bridges s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
6)Free Indian guitar s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
7)Bare-headed _ _ _ a _ _ t _ _
8)Less than 2000 lbs. _ _ _ _ _ _ n
9)Simple French mineral water _ _ _ v _ _ _ _ _ _
10)Harshly enclose pets s _ _ _ _ _ a_ _ _ _ _ _
11)Bamboo eater slept _ _ _ d _ _ _ _ _ _ _
12))Holy Grail of Pro Hockey _ u _ _ _ _ _

WORD QUIZZES

AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY & PRESIDENTS PUZZLE
1)What is the only letter that doesn’t appear in any of the 50 United States?

2)What American state is an anagram for “forlaid?”

3)What American state is an anagram of “nominates?”
4)What American city is an anagram of “diagnose?”
5)What do these words have in common? “caption,” “dottier,” “meals,” “scrape”
6)What do the words “foregone” and “remained” have in common?
7)What do these words and phrases have in common? “balaustine,” “over and over,” “renovation,” “vagary”
8)What American state can be made only from the letters found in “imps”?
9)What American state can be made only from the letters found in “lions”?
10)What American state can be made only from the letters found in “ranks”?)Bamboo eater slept _ _ _ d _ _ _ _ _ _ _
12))Holy Grail of Pro Hockey _ u _ _ _ _ _

WORLD GEOGRAPHY PUZZLE1)What is the only country named for its geographical position ?
2)What city in Africa is an anagram for “goals?”

3)What country is an anagram of “lizard newts?”
4)What country is an anagram of “lenient ethics?”
5)What country is an anagram of “prison age?”

6)What country is an anagram of “mistaken runt?”

7)What country is an anagram of “Ghana faints?”

8)What country is an anagram of “ones’ India?”

9)What country is an anagram of “led Iran?”

10)What do the following places have in common? : “Belarus,” “Iraq,” “Malawi,” “United Arab Emirates”

FIND THE COMMONALITY

All the following lists of words share a common thread. Name it.

1)appeasement,arpeggio,bedchamber, fortunately
2)aching,attribution,deliverance,monoselenide
3)Dixielander, interregnum, scowlingly, transmigration, unscathed
4)bra, cab, flu, pants, piano
5)bikini, denim, donnybrook, jeans, millinery
6)blackmailed, gimmick, headache, kickback milkmaid
7)polka, song, spoonfeed, wrong, zoned
8)abhors, almost, biopsy, chimps, ghost
9)ambidextrously, Falconbridge, Schwarzkopf, troublemaking, uncopyrightable
10)jumbo shrimp, military intelligence, pretty ugly

MISCELLANEOUS LANGUAGE QUIZZES1)What word yields the most points in Scrabble that doesn’t contain an a, e, i o, or u?
2)Name a brand of beer whose letters are only worth one point in Scrabble?
3)Name a nine letter word with only one vowel?
4)Name a word with three consecutive letter pairs?
5)Which entertainer’s last name is the past tense of a synonym for his first name?
6)What do the products Dial, Serutan, Tide and Tums have in common?
7)Name a 7 letter word with none of the regular 5 vowels.

8)Name a word of at least 5 letters that is a palindrome?
9)The number “ten” has three letters. What’s the only number that has the same number of letters as the number?
10)In the word “begin” all the letters appear in alphabetical order. Name the only number where the letters appear in alphabetical order.

ALPHABET PUZZLE

There are more than one answer to most of these questions. I will only list one in the answers.)

A)Name a word of at least 6 letters that starts with an a and ends in an a?
B)Name a word of at least 5 letters that starts with a b and ends with a b?
C)Name a word of at least 6 letters that starts with a c and ends with a c?
D)Name a word of at least 10 letters that starts with a d and ends with a d?
E)Name a word with at least 4 Es?
F)Name a word with 4 Fs?
G)Name a word of at least 8 letters that starts with a g and ends with a g?
H)Name a word with 2 consecutive Hs?
I)Name a word with 3 Is?
J)Name a word with 2 Js?