Stan’s Previous WordWit Puzzles™
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5/25/08: The word HALTED is composed of two three-letter men's nicknames, HAL and TED. What other six-letter word, that might be seen in a police report, is composed of two other three-letter men's nicknames? Winners: Pamela Hansen, Jean Jackson, Sue Maisel
4/20/08: In what very common six-letter word is the letter E pronounced with a "short i" sound (as in "big")? Hint: The word can be a synonym for one of the words in the previous sentence. Winners: Carl Allen, Gene Greenberg, Debra Solomon
3/16/08: MAINE is hidden within the word REMAINED. The name of another U.S. state is hidden within a different common uncapitalized eight-letter word. What is that eight-letter word? Winners: Laurie Higginbotham, Robin Seibel, Tim Tebbe
2/27/08: The consonant sounds in the word PATISSERIE (a French pastry shop) are P, T, S, and R, in that order. P, T, S, and R are the only consonant sounds, in that order, in what other word for a place where food can be purchased? Winners: Evelyn McPhee, Gil Reppenhagen, Scott Zoldak
1/13/08: Think of a six-letter capitalized word familiar to anyone interested in astronomy. If you change one letter in the word, then reverse the order of the letters, you'll get the name of an automobile company. What are the two words? Winners: Bessie Comer, Edgar Mito, Kimberly Murat
12/17/07: In the words PRAISE and CHOOSE, the letter S is pronounced with a "Z" sound. In what common seven-letter word with two consecutive S's (and no other S's) is SS pronounced with a "Z" sound? Winners: George Andrews, Gary DiGiovanni, Tom Hartrick
11/19/07: The three letters in the word BAD are within four consecutive letters of the alphabet (A-D). The six-letter last name of what noted author contains six different letters that are within seven consecutive letters of the alphabet? Winners: Rob Bolton, Barbara O'Neil, Jan Thomas
10/21/07: (Thanks to Sandy Fein) PECAN RIPPLE is a type of cake. Rearrange the letters in PECAN RIPPLE to get two other words that go together. Winners: Rebecca Chavez, Jeffrey Cooper, Adam Syrlik
9/23/07: If the two vowels in the first name of actress DEMI MOORE are switched, you get the word DIME. The last name of what Oscar-winning actor becomes a term for money if two of the vowels are switched? Winners: Matt Hamman, Fred Link, Mei Ling Rein
8/26/07: Think of a seven-letter word for a type of seafood. If the first letter is changed and the order of letters are reversed, you get a seven-letter word for a different type of seafood. What are the two seven-letter words? Winners: Kenneth Levin, Patricia Oleszkiewicz, Linda Podesta
7/29/07: If you were to "blank out" the letters in common to the two words in the food phrase PECAN PIE, you'd get __ __ C A N __ I __. What phrase for a food commonly found in supermarkets would be represented as G __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ if all the letters in common to the two words were blanked out? Winners: Mike Klauss, Candie Luster, Joanne Walker
7/1/07: A certain six-letter word, when spelled backwards, spells out the name of two types of mammals. If the word is a term in football and several other sports, what is the word? Winners: Thomas Healy, Tom Shaw, Phyllis Silverstein
6/3/07: SEOUL is pronounced like the shoe term SOLE. The one-word, seven-letter name of what other world capital city is pronounced like a two-word shoe term? Winners: John Gill, Martha Homrich, Cathy Wilcox
5/6/07: What common two-word phrase (12 letters in total) for a type of soft drink contains six consecutive letters of the alphabet? Winners: Will Gray, John Vanderploeg, Norma Zaleski
4/8/07: Very few English words have a "short E" vowel sound (as in "step") without the letter E. In what common four-letter, two-syllable word (that has no E) is the letter A pronounced as a "short E"? Hint: The word is an antonym of one of the words in this paragraph. Winners: Scott Handelman, Raymie Humbert, Victoria Reitz
3/11/07: Rearrange the letters in the word CALIFORNIA to form two words: an animal, and a locale where that animal can be found. Winners: Audrey Larson, Jennifer Maslowski, Anna Smith
2/18/07: The word CHERRY becomes CHEERY if one letter is changed. The name of what other fruit becomes a two-word phrase denoting displeasure if one letter is changed? Winners: Harris Bloom, Ray Schiffer, Ben Susser
1/21/07: Delete one letter from the word ENTRAPPED and rearrange the rest, to get the two-word name of a well-known fictional character. Winners: Tom Kulick, Shannon Mark, Ron Miller
12/24/06: Men's names in English often become their Spanish equivalents by adding an O at the end, as in ROBERT and ROBERTO. What common (six-letter) English man's name becomes its Spanish equivalent by deleting its last two letters? Winners: Jason Feng, Grace Napierkowski, Natalie Ryder
11/12/06: What six-letter word meaning "ploy" becomes the name of a world nation if the last letter is changed? Winners: Andrew Breitenbach, Shari Dalton, Hillary Anne Goldberg
10/15/06: Think of a three-word phrase (10 letters in total) that means "free", as in "at no charge". Now think of another three-word phrase (10 letters in total) that means "free", as in "unrestrained". If those two phrases differ by only two letters, what are the two phrases? Winners: Meredith Cooper, Valerie Mabrey, James Paradise
9/10/06: Think of a certain two-word colloquial phrase of apology (nine letters in total). If you put all the letters in the phrase in alphabetical order, you will see four different letters repeated two times each, plus the letter S at the end. What is the phrase? Winners: Toni Benson, Bill Edwards, Joe Valenti
8/27/06: Think of a ten-letter word that is a term in horse riding. If the last two consonant sounds are reversed, it sounds like a two-word phrase for a menu item in fast-food restaurants. What is the ten-letter word? Winners: Jan O'Sullivan, Bruce Shapiro, Eric Suess
7/23/06: Rearrange the letters in the word PENTHOUSE to get the name of an annual event in professional sports. Winners: Kathy Harding, Pamela Shaw, Fran Ward
7/2/06: Saying the letters "S," then "A," sounds like the word ESSAY. There is a 10-letter word meaning "resort" that can be "sounded out" in this manner, using five different letters. What is that 10-letter word? Winners: Kathleen Brockell, Pamela Hansen, Susan Sassoon
6/11/06: The consecutive letters IE are usually pronounced with a long E sound (as in SIEGE) or a long I sound (as in TIE). In what common six-letter word are the consecutive letters IE pronounced with a short E sound, as in SET? Winners: Suzanne Anderson, Rossario Congemi, Terri Lannan
5/21/06: Think of a five-letter word that can mean "area". If a single letter can be added to the end of the word to form the name of an Oscar-winning actor, and a different letter can be added to the end of the word to form the name of an Oscar-winning actress, what is the five-letter word? Winners: Cheryl Greenleaf, Cathy Morgan, Stephanie Pew
4/30/06: (Thanks to George Bredehorn) The G sound in the word GO is called a "hard G", and the G sound in GIANT is a "soft G". What seven-letter word has two consecutive Gs, with the first a hard G and the second a soft G? HINT: The word can have the same meaning as one of the words in this paragraph. Winners: Hannah Beck, Martin Cohan, Jane Forbes
4/9/06: Think of a two-word phrase that means "a worker on a film set," usually credited at the end of a film. Change one letter in the second word, and you'll get the name of a national retail-store chain. What are the two phrases? Winners: Mary Kay Georgia, Jane Hixon, Wendy Wagar
3/19/06: What seven-letter word for a type of food contains no letters of the alphabet after G? Winners: Margaret Armitage, Joan Banyas, Danny Lunsford
2/26/06: Most abbreviations for multi-word phrases have the same number of letters as (or fewer letters than) the number of words in the phrases they're short for, like COD, NAACP and USA. What four-letter abbreviation starting with A, commonly seen in crosswords, is short for a three-word phrase? Winners: Nathan Angelo, Jay Duffy, Lori Robinson
2/5/06: A certain six-letter word might be defined as "zealous supporter." If the word's second letter (an O) is changed to an I (as in "India"), it becomes a new word that might be defined as "zealous protester." What are the two words? Winners: Cassandra Farrar, Vickie McGrew, Shirley Weyand
1/15/06: A palindrome is a word or phrase that is spelled the same if its letters are reversed (such as RACE CAR). What six-letter make of automobile can be substituted for the blank in the phrase "A __" to form a palindrome? Winners: Daniel Brown, Kathy Carlson, Juna Homrighausen
1/1/06: The Greek letter PI becomes a familiar word of greeting when its first letter is changed (to H). What Greek letter becomes a familiar word of greeting when its middle letter is changed? Winners: Winter Curnow, Don Smith, Donna Stacey
12/18/05: What common 11-letter word, often heard in shoe stores, contains the consecutive silent letters OR? Winners: Nicole Fall, Russell Grow, Ed Nemmers
11/27/05: As seen in a previous WordWit contest, "Thursday" can be abbreviated by its first two letters, first three letters, first four letters, or first five letters. What word, something found in a public library, can be abbreviated by its first three letters, or its first four letters, or its first five letters, or its first six letters? Winners: Anita Maigret, Jim Perry, Ruth Sahene
10/30/05: Think of the one-word name of a world nation. If you change the first letter, then reverse the order of the letters, you'll get a type of animal. What are the nation and the animal? Winners: Jeffrey Absher, Cheryl Jarman, Glenda Jordan
10/23/05: An AIRCREWMAN is a crew member of a U.S. Air Force plane. Rearrange the letters in the word to get an event that would likely be found in a World History textbook. Winners: Alice Graham, Jay Hirschman, Sandie White
10/16/05: The first six letters of the word ANESTHESIA can be rearranged to spell ATHENS. The first six letters of what 11-letter word (a type of celebration) can be rearranged to spell another European capital? Winners: Heather Goldsmith, Sandy Howe, Jeanette Jackson
10/2/05: The five-letter word SUGAR is pronounced with the sound "SH." What other common five-letter word that contains the letters SU, where S is not the first letter, is pronounced with the sound "SH?" Winners: Casey Becher, Ronald Panaligan, Brad Stone
9/25/05: Think of a common three-letter word ending in S. If the third letter is changed to an A, this new word has the same meaning as the first word. If the A is moved from the third position to the first position, this new word has the same meaning as the first two words. What is the first word? Winners: Kelly Greenwood, Belinda Moore, Ellie Wright
9/18/05: What three-word phrase (10 letters in total), commonly seen on restaurant menus, contains three occurrences of the letter U, with exactly one U in each word? Winners: Carrie Castro, Mona McGinnis, Holly Pfaff
9/4/05: There are three common one-syllable English nouns whose plurals are formed by changing the letters OO to EE. Two of them are FOOT (FEET) and GOOSE (GEESE). What is the third? Winners: Amy Freund, Karen Hester, Pauline Wong
8/28/05: A certain two letters of the alphabet form a Postal Service abbreviation for a U.S. state. When a period is added after each letter, it becomes a nickname for a U.S. city in a different part of the country from that state. What are the two letters? Winners: Anne Angelopoulos, Saundra McKenzie, Elizabeth Young
8/21/05: The names of United Nations members Gambia and Zambia differ only in their first letters. The names of what two United Nations members differ only in their second letters? Winners: Rachel Corbman, Karen Kreibohm, Deepthi Ramanathan
8/14/05: Rearrange the letters in the word LOITERING to get two words (nouns) that are related to each other. Winners: Ron Johnson, Linda Lansford, Joanne Schultz
8/7/05: The first two letters of the five-letter word ONION are identical to its last two letters. Similarly, the first two letters are identical to the last two letters in the five-letter name of what major U.S. city? Winners: Eric Cooper, Richard Degler, Lester Huffmire
7/31/05: The past tense of most English verbs ends in the letters ED. What common four-letter verb, whose last letter is D but whose third letter is not E, is spelled the same way in its present tense and past tense? Winners: Patricia Clow, Bill Hoff, Alicia Tong
7/24/05: Almost all abbreviations, such as "ft." for "foot" and "min." for "minute," are formed by using letters from the words they are short for. But what very common two-letter abbreviation, seen at the supermarket, has no letters in common with the word it is short for? Winners: Patricia Hill, Albert Peterson, Judith Rachmani
7/3/05: A "Bardolater" is an idolizer of William Shakespeare. Rearrange the letters in the word to get the full name of an actor whose son is also an actor. Winners: Terri DeProspero, Christopher Harner, Rita Singleton
6/26/05: The longest one-syllable English words have nine letters, such as STRENGTHS and SCREECHED. What is the shortest English dictionary entry with a three-syllable pronunciation? Winners: Lloyd Christopher, Marc Enyedy, Hannah King
6/19/05: The word FATHER can be divided into the two three-letter words FAT and HER. What nine-letter word, an important skill in homebuilding, can be divided into three common three-letter words? Winners: Shawn Agarenzo, Matthew Miller, Jennifer Williams
6/12/05: Rearrange the letters in the word SPLASHING to get the one-word title of a 2004 film. Winners: Roy Brown, Amber Gawera, Robert Locke
6/5/05: A certain two eight-letter words are identically spelled except for their fifth letter. If each word could be accurately defined in a crossword by the clue "Pushed," what are the two words? Winners: Carol Deck, Stephen Hirsch, Artie Stein
5/29/05: The plural of the word "series" is "series." The plural of what 13-letter word ending in "s," meaning "clumsy person," is the same as its singular form? Winners: Cindy Chung, Brian Lucas, Yani Pereyra
5/22/05: The name of actress CANDICE BERGEN has the word ICEBERG hidden within it. The full name of what best-selling author of the 1970s (nine letters in total) has a six-letter word hidden within it, a word that a physician might say during a physical exam? Winners: Howard Gross, Paul LeGere, James Mudrak
5/15/05: What capitalized word found on calendars can be abbreviated by its first two letters, or its first three letters, or its first four letters, or its first five letters? Winners: Anita Maigret, Kristine Overfield, Jaime Perez
5/8/05: What is the only common four-letter uncapitalized word with a silent "b" not at the end of the word? Winners: Anna Cheung, Margaret Hunt, Bruce Shapiro
5/1/05: What fad dance of the past 20 years, when one letter is deleted, becomes a letter of the Greek alphabet? Winners: Ajay Chheda, Doris Cheng, Kelly Holder
4/24/05: Think of the first name of a foreign-born actor, noted for his heroic film roles in the 1930s and 1940s. Spell that first name backwards, and you'll get the last name of a foreign-born actor, noted for his villainous film roles in the 1940s. What are the two names? Winners: Mary Alberico, Stephanie McVey, Jim Perry
4/17/05: The name of what well-known shoe company can be formed by adding one letter to the phrase SHOE FIRM, then rearranging all nine letters? Winners: Bill Clemens, Chantal Gerckens, Edgar Mito
4/10/05: The musical term "do" (a note of the scale) is a homophone of "dough," a slang term for money. What musical term for a type of singer is a homophone of a slang term for (a certain denomination of) money? Winners: Patrick Butler, Scott Hemm, Jacqueline Koh
3/27/05: The letters in the word ONE are in reverse alphabetical order. What is the only English name for a whole number whose letters are in alphabetical order? Winners: Robert Bettac, Ray Dockstader, Chris Steinert
3/20/05: The phrase DIAL TONE consists of two words that are both brand names of soap. What world nation's name consists of two words that are both brand names of soap? Winners: Gabrielle Banbury, Regina Braccia, Paul Smith
3/6/05: Boats are often referred to as "she." The letters of what five-letter word for a type of boat can be rearranged to form a girl's nickname, which is the name of the title character of a popular comic strip? Winners: Katherine Giuffre, Marc Schoen, Pat Whitehead
2/27/05: What U.S. state's current license-plate slogan consists of three words, where the first letter of each word spells a very common chat-room abbreviation? Winners: Adam Fazio, Karen Ann Hawkins, Sam Smith
2/20/05: PANAMA is spelled with alternating vowels and consonants. What member of the United Nations has the longest full name that is spelled with alternating vowels and consonants? Winners: Barry Blough, Brandon Franz, Justin McClain
2/13/05: What is the shortest common English word in which the letter F is pronounced like a V? Winners: Irene Cheng, Joseph Cimorelli, Patty Reeves
2/6/05: What common six-letter word, that might be found in a real-estate contract, uses only two different letters, each repeated three times? Winners: Greg Graves, Frank Occhiogrosso, Kathryn Spinnler
1/30/05: Think of the name of a major consumer electronics company. If you add the letter A, and rearrange the letters, you'll get the name of another major consumer electronics company. What are the two companies? Winners: Melanie Fazio, Sue Glickstein, Godwill Vortia
1/23/05: Delete one letter from the word DEVOURING and rearrange the remaining letters, to get a phrase that you might find on the menu of a fine restaurant. Winners: Kathy Lerner, Jason Taniguchi, Marty Wallace
1/16/05: What six-letter word that starts with the letter B (and has the same meaning as one of the words in this sentence) has all its letters in alphabetical order? Winners: Sandra Antonsanti, Deborah Berry, Brad Gray
1/9/05: If the first three letters and last three letters of the word "German" are interchanged, the uncapitalized word "manger" is formed. What six-letter woman's name becomes an uncapitalized word when the first three letters and last three letters are interchanged? Winners: Paul Duncan, Amy Hansen, Kelly Mahon
1/2/05: BEN BRADLEE is a former managing editor of the Washington Post. Delete one letter in his name and rearrange the remaining letters, to get the full name of an American singer. Winners: Joe Chester, Shanna Flaschka, Michael Mahle
12/19/04: CHAD is a man's name that is also the name of a world nation. The name of what world nation spells out two men's names consecutively if the order of the letters is reversed? Winners: Carrie Bates, Rich Hsieh, Bowen Ong
12/12/04: Actors have to learn their LINES in their job. The full name (13 letters in total) of what film actor contains only the letters in the word LINES? Winners: Christopher Barth, Eric LeVasseur, Mary-Anne Fabok
12/3/04: Think of the name of a well-known company in the transportation business. If you delete one of its letters, then reverse the order of the letters, you'll get a word for a type of festive meal. What are the company and meal? Winners: Siddhartha Bala, Shirley Weyand, Sherry Wright
11/27/04: The letters in the plural word TACOS can be rearranged to form the name of an article of apparel: ASCOT. The letters in what four-letter singular word for a type of food can be rearranged to form the name of an article of apparel? Winners: Sudeep Majumdar, Kathy Noonan, Matthew Schwartz
11/21/04: Adding the letters UN to the beginning of a word usually produces a word with the opposite meaning. What common one-word baseball term becomes a two-word term with the same meaning when the letters UN are added at the end? Winners: Valencia Chapman, Susan Jensen, Phyllis Taibi
11/14/04: The familiar two-word name of what major U.S. university contains only the letters in the word ANTES? Winners: Martin Demko, Dick Park, Jay Sequeira
10/31/04: The words CRABCAKE and INDEFINITE each contain three adjacent consecutive letters of the alphabet. What common uncapitalized word contains four adjacent consecutive letters of the alphabet? Winners: Alison Collins, Alice DeJesus, Glenn Krzeminski
10/24/04: What Oscar-winning actress' first and last names are the surnames of two famous adversaries from American history? Winners: Hannah Beck, Priscilla Olson, Jan Thomas
10/18/04: Most English nouns that end with a consonant form their plurals by adding one letter (S) at the end. The plural of what five-letter noun that ends with a consonant is formed adding three letters at the end, none of which is an S? Winners: Lillian Baum, David Dietrich, Jennifer Willis
10/8/04 (thanks to Randolph Ross): The full name of cartoonist Rube Goldberg has entered the language as an adjective meaning "complex and impractical." The full name of what cartoon character has entered the language as an adjective meaning "worthless" or "petty"? Winners: Paula Anserge, Kirk Springer, Emily Wolfson
10/3/04: What two three-letter homophones (uncapitalized words that have the same pronunciation in American English) have no letters in common with each other? Winners: Chandan Banerjee, Vince Bednarz, Adrienne Greenbaum
9/26/04: Rearrange the letters in the word CHOREOGRAPH to form two words, both of which are the names of animals. Winners: Barry Haldiman, Deborah Kaye, Andrew Mugler
9/19/04: Think of the name of a world city where a Summer Olympics was once held. If you change the last letter, then reverse the order of the letters, you'll get the name of a well-known U.S. company in the food business. What are the city and company? Winners: Lloyd Baum, Arline Haba, Linda Nath
9/12/04: PETROL is the British word for gasoline. The full name of what famous actor from the British Isles uses only six different letters--the letters in PETROL? Winners: Ed Benham, Wendy Ferber, Albert Martinelli
9/5/04: What common five-letter English word becomes the plural of a French word with the same meaning often seen in crosswords (not counting any accent marks), when the word is spelled backwards? Winners: Susan Ferber, Rose Schneider, Anthony Wilson
8/29/04: What chemical element becomes the name of a garden flower when one letter is deleted? Winners: Donald Fulkerson, Craig Strausz, Janice Strell
8/22/04: Think of a common two-word phrase for a type of musician. Move the second word of the phrase before the first word (don't rearrange any letters), and you'll get the name of a musical instrument that renders the musician unnecessary. What are the two phrases? Winners: Robert Kruzykowski, Robert Pugarelli, Ivan Yung
8/15/04: Rearrange the letters in the phrase RIVER CRUISE to get the two last names of famous American business partners. Winners: Marc Enyedy, Bill Olson, Suzy Smith
8/8/04: What six-letter adjective becomes its antonym when its first letter (a consonant) is deleted? Winners: D. Clay, Susan Kimmel, Helen Price
8/1/04: The name of actress LAUREN BACALL contains ABC, three consecutive letters of the alphabet, with other letters in between. What actor's first and last names contain five consecutive letters of the alphabet (with other letters in between)? Winners: Alice Brandsema, Shirley Jensen, Joshua Saks
7/25/04: Combine and rearrange the 11 letters in the words GOPHER and SWINE to get the names of another two types of animals. Winners: Janet Bradlow, Richard Dunning, Andrew Silikovitz
