Q: Think of a common Britishism — a word that the British use that's not common in the U.S. Write it in all capital letters. Turn it upside-down (that is, rotate it 180 degrees). The result is a famous hero of books and movies. Who is it?I fell for the initial trap.
Q: Think of the word for a competitor in a particular Olympic sport. It's a compound word with a hyphen in the middle. Remove the hyphen. What remains are two words from a different Olympic sport. What words are these?Don't get distracted by the animated pictograms for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
A: SHOT-PUTTER --> SHOT, PUTTER (Golf)
Q: Take the name of a flower that has a common girl's name in consecutive letters inside it. Remove that name, and the remaining letters, in order, sound like another girl's name. What flower is it?I'm thinking of a folk art and antique collector.
A: AMARYLLIS --> MARY, ALICE
The first country I checked was MADAGASCAR and for once, that isn't the answer.Q: Think of a country. Embedded in consecutive letters is a well-known brand name. The first, second, eighth and ninth letters of the country, in order, spell a former competitor of that brand. Name the country and the brands.
A: SAUDI ARABIA --> AUDI, SAAB
I'm going back to bed and counting sheep.Q: Think of a place where a plant might grow, in two words. Spoonerize it — that is, switch the initial consonant or consonants of the two words. The result will name another place where a plant might grow, and a plant that might grow in either place.
A: FLOWER BOX --> BOWER, PHLOX
Q: Take the name of a major American city. Hidden inside it in consecutive letters is the name of a Japanese food. Remove that. The remaining letters can be rearranged to spell some Mexican foods. Name the city and the foods.At least we aren't looking for a pair of synonyms.
A: SACRAMENTO --> RAMEN, TACOS
Q: Name a make of car. Write it in all capital letters. Rotate one of the letters 90 degrees and another letter 180 degrees to make a woman's name. What is it?I think this might be Will's favorite make of car.
A: MAZDA --> WANDA
Q: Name a famous woman in American history with a three-part name. Change one letter in her first name to a double letter. The resulting first and second parts of her name form the first and last names of a famous athlete. And the last part of the woman's name is a major rival of that athlete. Who are these people?I just noticed something about her initials.
A: Lady Bird Johnson --> Larry Bird, (Magic) Johnson
Q: Write down the name of a country plus its capital, one after the other. Hidden in consecutive letters inside this is the name of a film that won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Name the country, capital, and film.It definitely helps if you put the country FIRST, then the capital. :) Also, didn't we just have a puzzle involving an Oscar winner?
A: BAH(RAIN MAN)AMA
Q: Name a famous city in 10 letters that contains an "S." Drop the "S." Then assign the remaining nine letters their standard value in the alphabet — A = 1, B= 2, C = 3, etc. The total value of the nine letters is only 25. What city is it?Now that I've solved that, I can go back to watching sitcoms.
A: ADDIS ABABA
