Remember: another Wednesday deadline - work at a quick pace!Q: Think of a two-syllable word in four letters. Add two letters in front and one letter behind to make a one-syllable word in seven letters. What words are these?
A: AGUE --> PLAGUED (also accepted: PLAGUES or LEAGUES)
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ReplyDeleteI wonder if there are multiple answers. For the one I got, rearrange the even letters of the seven-letter word to get a body part.
There must be multiple answers because I could take the seven letter word and rearrange the even letters to make something that COMES
DeleteOUT of a body.
Yeah, that fits mine.
DeleteSorry, I meant mine fits Rob's clue. Although I suppose it also fits Dr. P's.
DeleteMine fits Rob's clue, also.
DeleteLiterary clue: Romeo and Juliet.
ReplyDeleteBordering on TMI?
DeleteMy answer involves a seven-letter word that is part of a sci-fi title. It doesn't fit Rob's hint, however.
ReplyDeleteI now have two answers that do fit Rob's hint, as well as the one that doesn't. But all three use the same 4-letter word.
DeleteActually, I guess there are four, depending on which last letter you use. I wasn't sure one of them was a valid word.
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DeleteFrom one 4-letter, 2-syllable (not very common) word, I found four 7-letter, 1-syllable words.
ReplyDeleteI thought I might have figured it out. In a way, that answer would cut to the quick.
ReplyDeleteOne of my answers fits Nodd's clue, and one fits Crito's.
ReplyDeleteIf you are (seven letter word) by the (six letter word), you may experience (four letter word).
ReplyDeleteThis helped me to find an answer that I'm not entirely happy with, but which fits many of the clues here
DeleteI think I have the same answers as Jan. I suspect there are others as well…
ReplyDeleteThe words have similar meanings.
ReplyDeleteAgue, plagued, and plagues are all related to sickness.
DeleteI thought it is beyond my class.. My answer is derived from the on-air puzzle
ReplyDeleteI have two words that could be related, casually and maybe even casually.
ReplyDeleteDid you mean to switch the u and the s?
DeleteYes I did. Causally and casually. Either my poor spelling or the hypersensitive spell checker is the causality.
DeleteI finally got a handle on this--but now it's time to leave.
ReplyDeleteMusical Clue: Billy Joel
ReplyDelete985 correct responses last week.
ReplyDeleteHuh, I just spotted alternative answers.
ReplyDeleteBut all mine use the same four-letter word. Like Nodd, I guess.
I now have four answers, but pretty clearly Jan has others I don't have.
I'm not sure our answers are different.
DeleteOh right. I misread your earlier comment.
DeleteWhat gives me pause about these answers is that the puzzle could have been posed without that letter at the end. Could be a little Lego misdirection.
DeleteDid anyone find an answer where the last letter is really required to form the one-syllable word, not just a modifying morpheme?
Delete@legolambda ?
DeleteMy thanks to all Blainesvillians for your wise and thoughtful comments regarding my puzzle on NPR.
ReplyDeleteFor those who have solved it, or who "want a different cup of puzzletrea," here is my current "Schpuzzle of the Week" on Puzzleria!:
Schpuzzle of the Week:
Poetry Portends Pending Sports
Two words in one line of early-19th-Century poetry correctly predicted the participants in the inaugural playing of a major annual sporting event, nearly 150 years before it was played!
Name this poem, poet, two prophetic words, and how and why they are prophetic.
LegoLambdaA.K.A.JosephYoung
Got it. OK to post the answer now?
DeleteWow, jan. That was quick! Very impressive!
DeleteLet's wait until this Wednesday to post the answer... which is when I post the "official answers" on Puzzleria!
LegoWhoHintsThatThe"TwoPropheticWords"InThePuzzlerianSchpuzzleAreBoth"Wearables"
Good, because it turns out I don't have the answer. A ChatGPT hallucination sent me on a wild goose chase.
DeleteAfter I got my answer (from a list, oh well...), I gave chatgpt a try. It came up unit and squints. I thought, for a second only,
Delete"that's it." Then I looked a little closer. Sad trombone, please. Luckily, I sent in the better answer.
The best puzzle I have ever created (posted above)
Delete... has the following answer:
Answer:
"A Visit from St. Nicholas," penned by Clement Clarke Moore in 1823, includes the line:
"And mamma in her ’KERCHIEF, and I in my CAP..."
("cap" spelled backward is "Pac," which, when followed by "kerchief," spells "Pac+ker" and "Chief" (Green Bay Packers & Kansas City Chiefs) were participants in what was the first-ever Super Bowl (before it was even called a the "Super Bowl!")
Lego"'TwasTheNightBeforeSuperSunday..."
Literary clue: Housman.
ReplyDeleteDr. Awkward, I won't argue with you on this clue.
DeleteAnd Congrats, Joe Y!
"in the deep end of English phonology."
Deleteindeed, we should avoid a protracted argument!
Delete"Agued once like me were they,
DeleteBut I like them shall win my way
Lastly to the bed of mould
Where there's neither heat nor cold."
by A. E. Housman
DeleteWhen you have multiple answers, how do you submit your entry? Just one, hoping that the intern/bot scanning the entries recognizes that it is as valid as Will’s intended? Or all of them, hoping that the multiple answers don’t confuse the verifier?
ReplyDeleteA variant puzzle: Do the same with two proper names
ReplyDeleteHaving spent the last five days battling a wicked chest cold, my head wasn’t clear enough to work on this puzzle earlier. But now that my symptoms are ebbing, I have two seven-letter solutions….with a six letter alternate.
ReplyDeleteI took Blane's advice, so I worked as fast as I could but it still took too long!
ReplyDeleteit was a warm day in Verona.
ReplyDeleteIn prep for my 65th birthday Thursday- I got a COVID and a flu shot.
ReplyDeleteSmart move. Vaccinations have been shown to lead to more birthdays.
DeleteI agree with Jan although I only sent in one of the possibilities.
ReplyDeleteHrmph, my computer finally coughed up only one of the solutions ... and both of its words are way rare although valid. Weirdly, the longer one BACKWARDS is one of our all-time favorite words, and the shorter one backwards ... hmm, I'm not saying ...
ReplyDeleteHuh, your clue enabled me to figure out your words. Maybe because I'd noticed the anadrome before. (A problem and treatment for it.)
DeleteIt would appear I've been subvocalizing the 4-letter word incorrectly my whole life.
ReplyDeleteme too
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ReplyDeleteDefinitely multiple answers. Mine is a 4-letter, 2-syllable word (which bears a linguistic curiosity) and 5 different 7-letter, 1-syllable words made from it according to the puzzle's stipulations.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you, from your comment I seem to have found these 5 words ... no idea why my program only found 1 of them!
DeleteI may be about to make a grave mistake.
DeleteI'm a little late to the party (just back from travels) and was surprised I could only find one 4 letter word that works.....but I guess that's what makes this a really good puzzle.....so I'd give it a very high rating.
ReplyDeleteFinally found an answer that works. It matches Rob’s clue.
ReplyDeleteEverything's better.....
ReplyDeleteWhile showering, I was delighted to find another 4-letter word that works. Both 4-letter words have at least three 7-letter companions.
ReplyDeleteAGUE and either PLAGUES, PLAGUED or LEAGUES
ReplyDeleteESSE and either BLESSED, DRESSED, PRESSED, TRESSED, or GUESSED
My first find was AGUE I kept looking since AGUE is considered archaic.
"While showering, I was delighted to find another 4-letter word that works." >>> AGUE has at least three 7-letter companions and ESSE has at least five 7-letter companions."
My later AHA moment came while looking at an Herbal Essences shampoo bottle:
ESSE (2 syllables and in MW) and BLESSED, DRESSED, PRESSED, and GUESSED.
FROM MW -->
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/esse
May your ESSE be BLESSED.
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DeleteAGUE --> LEAGUED, LEAGUES, PLAGUED, or PLAGUES
ReplyDelete> It's the right time of year.
Flu season.
ESSE —> BLESSED, DRESSED, GUESSED, PRESSED, TRESSED
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing the other answers. It was a challenge. Congrats, Lego!
And Happy New Year, everyone!
Nice, essentially shows great finesse! Hope WS mentions it along with the intended "ague" answer.
DeleteThank you, Nodd.
DeleteAgue + PLxxxxS >>Plagues
ReplyDeleteAgue + PLxxxxD >>Plagued
As my head cold morphed into bronchitis, thoughts of plague came to mind. Only later did I learn that ague had two syllables.
Wishing all a year of peace, health, and love!
AGUE >>> PLAGUES & PLAGUED & LEAGUES & LEAGUED & BLAGUES
ReplyDeleteMy Hint:
"It was a warm day in Verona."
In Romeo and Juliet the two families are admonished: “A plague on both your houses. All are punished." It had heated to a fever pitch.
I gave just "Romeo and Juliet" as my clue!
DeleteWhich I thought was a little TMI
DeleteIf I ever said the word AGUE out loud (which is doubtful), I probably pronounced it the same way the letters sound in PLAGUES. Apparently, it should sound something like one of those French accent marks.
ReplyDeleteague, plagued or ague, plagues
ReplyDeleteAgue, plagued (or plagues). They are related. You can have a fever and chills as an early sign of a plague!
ReplyDeleteAgue --> plagued, plagues, leagues, leagued. My hint referred to the sci-fi novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
ReplyDelete... and TRESSED spelt backwards is better: DESSERT !
ReplyDeleteAGUE, PLAGUED
ReplyDeleteMy musical clue of BILLY JOEL was because of his classic record THE STRANGER.
THE STRANGER was also an important work by ALBERT CAMUS, who also had a notable work in THE PLAUGE.
Thanks to LEGO for the fun puzzle!
Thanks to all regarding your kind comments about my puzzle. I loved all the answers you came up with... (hope that's okay with Will Shortz). My answer (singular word) was ague/plagued.
ReplyDeleteLegoGrateful to all Blainesvillians
Am I a Blainesvillian or a Blainesvillain?
DeleteI can think of no better way to begin a new year than by "uncorking" a puzzle cultivated and bottled by our friend and master puzzle-crafter Bobby Jacobs. And so, this week's Puzzleria! features a timely "Puzzle Fun by Bobby Jacobs" masterpiece-of-a-poser titled “Drink and sing to celebrate the New Year!” In Bobby's puzzle-craft-worthy hands, the name of a New Year's libation transforms into the name of a famous singer.
ReplyDeleteWe will upload this special New Year's edition of Puzzleria! very soon, just a bit later this New Year's Eve afternoon!
Also on our New Year's Eve and Day menu are:
* A Schpuzzle of the Week titled "Tabletop Tools,"
* A Hot-Pepper Hors d’Oeuvre titled "Condiment & Continental Caribbean Shore,"
* A Small Screen Stage & Cinema Slice titled "A Dot, Clot & Sinew,"
* An Alphabetical Shifting & Drifting Dessert titled "Tonic Spiked With Tanqueray?" and
* A few handfuls of Riffing Off Shortz And Young Entrees titled "Egypt’s 10 Plagues... Plus Ague?"
So, join us, why don't you, in ringing in 2026 with a bit of Bobby and Bubbly, drinking and singing, guzzling and puzzling!
LegoPromotingNewYearsConsumptionOfPuzzlesThatProvideANaturalNonAlcoholicBuzz!
The puzzle that I posted on this great blog on Sunday, Dec 28, 12:42:00 PM PST:
ReplyDelete.Schpuzzle of the Week:
Poetry Portends Pending Sports
Two words in one line of early-19th-Century poetry correctly predicted the participants in the inaugural playing of a major annual sporting event, nearly 150 years before it was played!
Name this poem, poet, two prophetic words, and how and why they are prophetic.
(which is my all-time favorite puzzle!)
... has the following answer:
Answer:
"A Visit from St. Nicholas," penned by Clement Clarke Moore in 1823, includes the line:
"And mamma in her ’KERCHIEF, and I in my CAP..."
("cap" spelled backward is "Pac," which, when followed by "kerchief," spells "Pac+ker" and "Chief" (Green Bay Packers & Kansas City Chiefs) were participants in what was the first-ever Super Bowl (before it was even called a the "Super Bowl!")
Note:
[Super Bowl LX is an upcoming American football championship game of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2025 season. The game will be played February 8th, 2026, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.]
Lego...
Proposed so far:
ReplyDeleteAGUE and BLAGUES LEAGUED LEAGUES PLAGUED PLAGUES
ESSE and BLESSED DRESSED GUESSED PRESSED TRESSED
Esse or not esse. That is the question.
DeleteI actually noticed esse too, but when I googled to make sure blessed worked I was informed it is 2 syllables, so I did not look further. I've now looked again and found other sites that say it is only one syllable. Happy New Year to all.
DeleteLancek, I thought perhaps you'd write more of an esse on this topic ;).
DeleteNo, surely those are all one syllable words.
Delete"I got dressed and ran out the door."
I don't believe any native speaker of English pronounces 'dressed' with two syllables in that context. I do believe 'blessed' is two syllables in
"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."
Maybe it is that I looked at this and took the dot to indicate it is 2 syllables.
Deletebless·ed
See the pronunciation of the variant of blessed >>>
Deletehttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blessed
I just now did, and it is 2 syllables. Did you listen to it? It is pronounced by that MW site as, Bless Ed.
DeleteListen to the second entry, the variant. It is one syllable -- blest.
DeleteI did that too, but it is emboldened BLEST, which to me meant they were pointing us in that direction for a different word. I remember looking at both of them earlier in the week and that is why I rejected esse.
DeleteEven if you reject BLESSED (which I definitely do not) there are at least four other 7-letter words that work with ESSE:
DeleteGUESSED
DRESSED
TRESSED
PRESSED
I know that now, but did not look further then.
DeleteIt is also true that that the "esse" answers actually require the letter at the end to form one-syllable words, which seems to be more consistent with the challenge.
Deleteabbe + gr + d = grabbed
ReplyDeleteEarlier this week I said, “I agree with Jan although I only sent in one of the possibilities.” There are a half-dozen or so 7-letter words that work, but I couldn’t see the point in sending in more than one. Anyway, nice job Joe.
This risks descending into Pig Latin, but I guess "abbe" is English, insofar as all French words are English.
Deleteabbe and grabbed
ReplyDeleteI wrote "I finally got a handle on this--but now it's time to leave," a reference to Handel's "Israel in Egypt," which offers musical depictions of the ten plagues of
ReplyDeleteEgypt (sometimes humorous, as in the case of the plague of frogs) as part of an oratorio devoted to that part of Exodus.
My clue: "Everything's better..." The old commercial for Bluebonnet margarine. I always thought it sounded a lot like "Everything's better with bubonic on it." 😂
ReplyDeleteMy clue about this puzzle deserving a very high rating was a reference to a "10", as in the 10 Plagues.
ReplyDeleteWas the attack on Venezuela this morning a trial run?
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge is a numerical one from Ed Pegg Jr., who runs the website mathpuzzle.com. Take the nine digits -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. You can group some of them and add arithmetic operations to get 2011 like this: 1 + 23 ÷ 4 x 5 x 67 - 8 + 9. If you do these operations in order from left to right, you get 2011. Well, 2011 was 15 years ago. Can you group some of the digits and add arithmetic symbols in a different way to make 2026? The digits from 1 to 9 need to stay in that order. I know of two different solutions, but you need to find only one of them.
ReplyDeleteUhhhhhhh.
ReplyDeleteOh ok. You have to ignore the Order of Operations rules and add 1 to 23 before you dividing by 4, etc.
This sort of puzzle is to math what anagrams are to words.
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ReplyDeleteThis is the crux of my complaint. I believe the puzzle creator intended this to be done using standard order of operations (aka PEMDAS) where no parentheses are necessary but multiplication and division are done first. I think Will accidentally broke the puzzle giving an example that with only left to right and stipulating that's what he expects in the answer. It's unsatisfying to mathematicians and confusing to everyone as a result.
DeleteNote that the statement in the puzzle implies an order of operations. In correct math notation, this is indicated using parentheses:
ReplyDelete1 + 23 / 4 * 5 * 67 - 8 + 9 = 1928.25
((1 + 23) / 4) * 5 * 67 - 8 + 9 = 2011