Archive for April, 2007

Shrunken States

Monday, April 30th, 2007

The letters in each word below can be used to spell one of the United States — but you’ll have to use certain letters more than once. For instance, the letters in GONER are all you need to spell out the word OREGON. Can you unshrink the other six states?

  1. GONER
  2. IMPS
  3. LAMB
  4. LIONS
  5. MUSTACHE
  6. SANK
  7. SENT

Answer

To The Nines

Friday, April 27th, 2007

This puzzle has two parts. First, answer each clue. The answer in each case will be a nine-letter word, which you can assemble from the three-letter pieces shown below. (Each piece will be used exactly once.) Then, take three letters from each word, and put them into the grid below. The numbers in each column will tell you which letters to take.

For instance, the answer to the first clue is HOPSCOTCH. The seventh, second, and fourth letters of this word should be placed into the first column, as shown below.

Solve all the words and place the letters correctly, and you’ll spell out a quote from John Lennon.

ADJ  ALS  ARY  AVE  CON  DIN  DOW  ECT  EME 
ENT 
EYE  GIN  HOP  HOS  IMA  IVE  LET  MAN 
MIC  NCY 
OSA  PIT  RGE  ROW  SCO  SHA  TCH 
TER  TIN  URS

Clues
a. Game whose board is usually drawn with chalk
b. Not real; dreamed up
c. Item with a popcorn button, often
d. Talk show host David
e. Something in a make-up kit
f. Surgeons’ workplaces
g. The last of them existed 65 million years ago
h. Giant land mass, like Africa
i. Crisis
j. Word that describes things

 

Click the grid to enlarge it, or you can download the whole puzzle here.

Answer

Heads Up!

Wednesday, April 25th, 2007

In what order have I placed these words? What word might come next?

GATE
READ
LASS
RINK
BONY
EAST
LAND

Answer

Here come the letters!

Monday, April 23rd, 2007

I knew one way to get some e-mail going was to post a puzzle where I might not have found the complete set of possible answers. I really did try to find every word in the diamond, but I had a sneaking suspicion that a few had gotten by me. And yes indeed, that turns out to be the case. Maria Gullickson was the first to find TROD and ATOM, and Adam Wood found the word ARID. Thanks, guys!

(The good news is, people are reading this blog! Yay!)

Confucius Says…

Monday, April 23rd, 2007

Can you match the start of each saying by the Chinese philosopher Confucius with its ending?

1. A picture is…
2. Better a diamond with a flaw…
3. Everything has beauty…
4. Forget injuries…
5. Music produces a kind of pleasure…
6. To go too far is the same…
7. When you have faults…

a. …which human nature cannot do without.
b. …do not fear to abandon them.
c. …than a pebble without.
d. …but not everyone sees it.
e. …but never forget kindness.
f. …as not to go far enough.
g. …a poem without words.

Answer

Diamond Words

Friday, April 20th, 2007

This puzzle will have you saying lots of four-letter words. Start at any letter and follow the lines to spell out a word. Letters cannot be repeated within a word — for instance, DATA can’t be used. How many words of exactly four letters can you find? Consider yourself a genius if you find twelve of them.

 Answer

Triple Whammy

Wednesday, April 18th, 2007

In each answer word below, one letter appears exactly three times. Can you solve all the clues?

1. Take ___ (seize the opportunity)
A _ _ A _ _ A _ _

2. Yellow-and-black insect
B _ _ B _ _ B _ _

3. New York neighbor
C _ _ _ _ C _ _ C _ _

4. Word that might be written by a teacher’s A+
E _ _ E _ _ E _ _

5. Using mouthwash
G _ _ G _ _ _ G

6. Baby’s place at mealtime
H _ _ H _ H _ _ _

7. Disgustingly rude
O _ _ O _ _ O _ _

8. Give a computer new instructions
R _ _ R _ _ R _ _

9. What a thrilling movie is filled with
S _ S _ _ _ S _

10. It comes in a tube
T _ _ T _ _ _ _ T _

Answer

Make Room

Monday, April 16th, 2007

You can assemble these word fragments into the names of seven different places in a house. Each word will consist of two fragments. Can you put them all together?

AGE AT CEL CH CLO DY GAR ICE
OFF LAR POR SET STU TIC

Answer

Just Drop It

Friday, April 13th, 2007

You can drop each letter into one of the empty boxes below it to form words reading across. Letters in a given column may need to be rearranged as you drop them. A black square indicates the end of a word. If you place all the letters correctly, you’ll spell out a quote from Mark Twain.

Click to enlarge the image, or you can download this puzzle here. (Adobe Reader required.)

Answer

Circular Reasoning

Thursday, April 12th, 2007

How have the numbers above been sorted? In which circle should you place the number 10?

Answer