Some word puzzles I had set for contests at my alma mater, IIT Madras. If you'd like to use any of these for an event at your organization, please write to me first. Originally appeared here and here.
For answers, click here.
Eye rhymes
An eye rhyme is a similarity in spelling between words that are pronounced differently and hence, not an auditory rhyme. Standard pairs: Height and weight; slaughter and laughter; womb and bomb. Now guess these eye rhyme triplets.
1. When Gilchrist _ _ _ _ _ , nobody was seen to _ _ _ _ , but the ball did not reach the boundary since it hit a _ _ _ _.
2. At last she _ _ _ words to her feelings: she knew him inside _ _ _ and wouldn't marry a _ _ _.
3. The rancher's kindness filled me with _ _ _ when he gifted me a _ _ _. I _ _ _ him much.
4. _ _ _ _ stayed back, leaving him the _ _ _ _ man in town. Soon, he, too, was _ _ _ _.
And a quadruplet:
5. "Show me the _ _ _ _ _," said the first guard. When I did, he took some and said "OK, you are _ _ _ _ _ _ ". I was about to enter, when another appeared. "We need more," said he, with a polite _ _ _ _ _. "The times are _ _ _ _ _".
The hardcore one
There's something common to the five phrases given below. One of (a), (b), (c), (d) shares this. Which one? Justify.
(1) Squids overproduce liquors
(2) Blameable. Exculpate!
(3) Aminic phytotoxin
(4) Ancestor allays Soviets
(5) Juvenile lividity: larvicide
(a) Unintelligent design (b) Blacksmith brings cotton (c) Debonair confidence (d) Bridge golden city
Commoners
The words in each set have something in common. Identify it.
Examples:
(i) Bandicoot, juggernaut, bungalow, bandana, shampoo
- words of Indian origin -
(ii) Gypsy, pygmy, nymph, myth, syzygy
- words without vowels -
(1) piano, taxi, perk, pants, pista, pub
(2) (astride, brushed), (selected,rejected), (amounts, contour), (lips, kiss)
[The pairs enclosed in () are related in a paricular way. How?]
(3) chimps, abhors, chintz, begins, biopsy
(4) laudated, sterilized, angered, amoration
(5) bluetooth , bakelite, chauvinist, guy, sideburns, fuchsia, crap, boson
Jumble
Unscramble each word and write the letters in the boxes. Use the underlined letters to make a phrase.
(I)
This one was set by my late friend and word-game collaborator, Nikhil D Kamath.
C E N O T H = |_| | |_| | |
R U F L A T = | |_| | |_| |
F R O G L E = | | |_| |_| |
O F T U S E = |_| | | |_| |
R O B B A S = | | | |_| |_|
B A L D A M = | | |_| | | |
Clue for the phrase:
In the kingdom of digits, the administration was simple and intuitive because it was a _ _ _. (3 words)
II
C I L I T H = | |_| | | |_|
T W H E R C = |_| | |_| | |
N Y S T E R = | |_| | |_| |
S Y C T I M = | | |_| |_| |
T R U E A N = |_| |_| | | |
Y A L T E C = | | | |_| | |
Clue for the phrase:
Tanay: If it’s an oral test, I’m going to flunk tomorrow!
Tanvi: Don’t worry, you’ll ace it. _ _ _ .
(3 words)
Writer's block
Sometimes a name is divisible into two word blocks. Like church + ill, or wins + let. The names of 10 writers (including poets) have been split here into 20 blocks, which are clued below. Get the blocks, join the correct pairs, and get the names.
Six letter block
• Member of learned society
Five letter blocks
• Having a specified value
• Long raised strip
• Sentence components
Four letter blocks
• Desire
• Shaft dug in earth
• A kind of cabbage
• Fence
• Food fish in Greenland
• Turn
• Haste
• Flood-averting barrier
Three letter blocks
• Conveyance
• Tier
• Curve
• Perish
• Of a female
• Expert
Two letter block
• Awake
• Gate
Haunted typewriter
A mischievous devil has taken shelter in my typewriter, and every time I typed a proverb, he perpetrated a special and irritating variety of typo. He substituted one letter in each word of the proverb with some other. He took every liberty with punctuation as well. For instance, when I tried to key in ‘Finders keepers’, it resulted in ‘Fingers — beepers!’. Could you get me the right proverbs?
(1) Brood it, thinker, then waver.
(2) Tie earls, bind matches: toe worn.
(3) I’ll chat, glistens as now good.
(4) I switch on tile, sage’s nice.
(5) Wet sweeping does lip.
(6) Caste maces paste.
(7) Emery Don, he’s hit Dad!
(8) Belter same, thin worry.
(9) Do ‘ear us, He-man! So forgave in divide.
(10) Done site, thy hard teat feels ‘IOU’.
Stinky Pinky
Co-set with Nikhil D Kamath. The answer to each of the following clues is a pair of rhyming words. Example: nocturnally clear: bright night. The rhyming words in the stinky pinkies 1, 2, 4 and 5 are taken from a famous poem. Identify it.
(1) A sheer muddle of things.
(2) Clean-faced coward.
(3) An educatee with sense.
(4) A girl with a burden.
(5) Souvenir in shambles.
(6) Worthless suffering.
(7) Irritating traitor.
Stinky Pinky Ponky
Set as an alumnus for a social media group. Just like a Stinky Pinky, except that the clues rhyme as well.
(1) Shy cry.
(2) Flashing clashing.
(3) Fast mast.
(4) Fake ache [here 'fake' is not an adjective].
(5) Tight fight.
(6) Rum bum.
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