Puzzles with words and things

[The Statman]

Sponged is the correct answer. Wronged would also have done.

The correct past tense of trolley would be trolleyed, I would have thought. It is only words ending in -[consonant]y that change to -ies or -ied usually, with the curious exception of monies.

So here is the table after Round 8:

Pos. . . . . . . . Points . . . . . . Person
1 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . hegeland
2 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . elvaago
3 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . The Statman
4 . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . Mitsuko
5 . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . rambon

(We will assume the same principles as in the snooker quiz, whereby you go straight to the top of your new points total to avoid tied positions.)

ROUND NINE

'Centimetre' is an interesting word, in that it is the word 'time' with the word 'centre' wrapped round it. In neither word has the order of the letters changed.

I want four more examples of this. Both words must be a minimum of four letters in length, and must bear no direct relation to the longer word in terms of meaning. For example, I would not accept the word 'fill' with the word 'reed' to make 'refilled'. In fact I would go as far as to say that the word 'reed' is not allowed as the wrapped-around word.

First post with four acceptable examples wins.

[elvaago]

Do you really spell centimeter that way? How... British of you!

[rambon]

Cancelled - Caned and cell
Parcelled - Pared and cell
Appalled - Aped and pall
Appeased - Aped and peas

[rambon]

Replace parcelled with controlled coned and troll

[The Statman]

Very good rambon. I would have allowed parcelled anyway. Most words do not double the final letter when the stress is not on the final syllable – but L's seem to be an exception (travelled, cancelled, etc.). Although it is a curious oddity that finalist has only one L whereas medallist has two..

Anyhow, here is the table after Round 9:

Pos. . . . . . . . Points . . . . . . Person
1 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . rambon
2 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . hegeland
3 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . elvaago
4 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . The Statman
5 . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . Mitsuko

(We will assume the same principles as in the snooker quiz, whereby you go straight to the top of your new points total to avoid tied positions.)

ROUND TEN

I am pleased that there has been some participation in this, and I would not want to ruin the maths quiz that is ongoing on the other thread.

There are some interesting words which consist of the same three letters repeated, in the same order, such as pompom and murmur.

I am thinking of a similar 8-letter word (4 letters repeated) in which the two syllables are not pronounced alike. To give you a clue, the last letter of the first half combines with the first letter of the second half to change the pronunciaiton, rather the opposite of the 't' in light and the 'h' in house not being pronounced as a usual 'th' in the word lighthouse.

What word am I thinking of?

[hegeland]

Hotshots?

.......

[The Statman]

Hegeland is having a good day! Hotshots indeed.

Anyhow, here is the table after Round 10:

Pos. . . . . . . . Points . . . . . . Person
1 . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . hegeland
2 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . rambon
3 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . elvaago
4 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . The Statman
5 . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . Mitsuko

(We will assume the same principles as in the snooker quiz, whereby you go straight to the top of your new points total to avoid tied positions.)

ROUND ELEVEN

If you can unscramble anagrams:

Round 11 will tarts hotting at around midnight or beamy in het morning if I deiced I can't be dares to join you all unlit then.

Have a good weekend everyone.

[elvaago]

You're such a hotshot, Statman. And with me, that makes two hotshots. :-)

[elvaago]

Damn! .

[The Statman]

ROUND ELEVEN

I picked at random six different letters of the alphabet, and set about seeing what words I could make from them. I started looking to see if there were any 6-letter words, and I found there were five of them – each beginning with a different letter.

I am not going to be quite so restrictive as that: I will not be so minimalist as to stipulate that there can't be more than one beginning with the same letter.

But what I want is six different letters, which make AT LEAST FIVE six letter-words beginning with a different letter.

So for example, if you choose AEINRT, there are two beginning with R – retain and retina – and that is fine, as long as you can also give me a six-letter word beginning with each of four of the others.

I will give you a clue in that two of the letters I chose were E and N, and N was the letter with which no 6-letter word began.

You do not, of course, have to use the same six letters as I did.

Deadline midnight (start of Sunday), if more than one person provides a valid answer, I shall give the point to the person who has least needed to delve into the dictionary to find uncommon words; then first wins.

[elvaago]

listen
silent
inlets
tinsel
enlist

[elvaago]

Bump, so it doesn't fall off.

[The Statman]

Congratulations elvaago – exactly the answer I had!

Anyhow, here is the table after Round 11:

Pos. . . . . . . . Points . . . . . . Person
1 . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . elvaago
2 . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . hegeland
3 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . rambon
4 . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . The Statman
5 . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . Mitsuko

(We will assume the same principles as in the snooker quiz, whereby you go straight to the top of your new points total to avoid tied positions.)

ROUND TWELVE

ROUND TWELVE

I think it’s time to bring a snooker theme to this quiz.

What I have done is made a list of words, in which one can change one letter to another to make a different word (for example, in ‘trough’ you can change R to H to get ‘though’).

If you select the correct letters to exchange, you will be left with a list of snooker players’ surnames. All except one of them have appeared at the Crucible and the other is currently on the main tour.

For example, if my list was:

SNACK, WATCH, BATTER, SLOWING

…you could respond with the following answer:

K, snack to knack
I, watch to witch
N, batter to banter
G, slowing to glowing

…and the snooker player’s surname is King. Just to make things a little more difficult I have not stated where one name ends and the next starts – nor how many names are there. I have included several words which have only one possible change, as well as many where quite a few changes are possible.

First completely correct answer (including the correct letter and the words illustrating which letter has been replaced) will win.

Here is the list of words:
INSECT, CRANIUM, YOKEL, BOB, SWAM, DITHER, SWINDLED, SPRINGING, NEXT, BURY, INDEBTED, CHAPS, QUILT, THUMP, BOWLER, LIMP, SLAGGED, DEVOTES, SHREW, EXPRESS, HOTTER, JUGGLE, PRIZE, AERIAL, NEAT, MOUTHFUL, WOODWORM, FELLING, QUIT, AIDING, REVENGE, STARLING, CONVERT, SLIDE, CONCERTING, THING

[davis_greatest]

ROUND TEN

I am pleased that there has been some participation in this, and I would not want to ruin the maths quiz that is ongoing on the other thread....

Not at all... I have just noticed this thread for the first time this very evening. Hilarious (especially the title ), and very good indeed - I am reading through it all now.

[elvaago]

This is a very challenging puzzle indeed. One question, The Statman, feel free to decline answering it, of course!

Are you also using first names?