PUZZLES

CHANGE THE LAST LETTER

Make one word into another by changing the last
CHANGE THE FIRST LETTER letter.
Make one word into another by changing the EXAMPLE: Change a color to a welcome. ANSWER:
first letter. green, greet
EXAMPLE: Change a possessive pronoun to not
sweet. ANSWER: your, sour 1- Change a monarch to an adjective describing
a good quality.
1- Change a past tense of BE to an adverb of 2- Change a negative to the present time.
place. 3- Change a female horse to a stain or blemish.
2- Change an adjective meaning not high to an 4- Change alarm or worry to a notable
adverb meaning at the present time. achievement.
3- Change a period of time to a term of 5- Change a reading process to a short dramatic
affection. act.
4- Change was seated to have a meal. 6- Change a person who lacks good judgment to
5- Change a part of the head to international something to eat.
strife. 7- Change a unit of weight to a color.
6- Change a respectful title to atmosphere. 8- Change a part of a plant to a hole or a crack.
7- Change to learn thoroughly to not as slow. 9- Change the top or summit of a mountain to a
8- Change very warm to a negative adverb. fruit.
9- Change a motor vehicle to not near. 10- Change a woman servant to what is
10- Change a man's title to a female relative. delivered by the postal service.

A T- PARTY ANIMALS IN HIDING

Put T before a word to form a new word. Find the animals hiding in the following
EXAMPLE: Add a T to a firearm and get a thing of sentences.
little value. ANSWER: rifle, trifle EXAMPLE: Close the door at once! (rat)

1- Add T to at this place, and get at that place. 1- That will be a real help.
2- Add T to a covering for the head, and get a 2- She came late every day.
demonstrative adjective. 3- He came to America today.
3- Add T to tear, and get a journey. 4- Eric owes me ten cents.
4- Add T to a possessive pronoun, and get a 5- We made errors in each one.
demonstrative adjective. 6- Do good workers succeed?
5- Add T to a part of the head, and get to pull 7- If I shout, he'll hear me.
apart. 8- If Roger comes, we'll begin.
6- Add T to of great age, and get narrated. 9- We will go at two o'clock.
7- Add T to a mistake, and get great fear. 10- Is he the sixth or seventh?
8- Add T to the entire amount, and get of great 11- In April I only came once.
height. 12- I'll sing; you hum on key.
9- Add T to a shower from the sky, and get to 13- I made a Xerox copy of it.
teach. 14- She clothes naked babies.
10- Add T to a kind of vase, and get to rotate. 15- At last, I, Gerald, had won.
16- Was Pilar mad, ill, or glad?
17- That man ate eleven cookies.
CHANGE A LETTER 18- Your comb is on the table.
Change one letter of each word to produce the 19- We're sending only one book.
name of an animal. 20- He regrets having said that.
Example: ax-ox 21- If Al concentrates, he'll win.
1- hat 22- When I withdrew, Al rushed in.
2- house 23- He called Mikko a lazy boy.
3- boat 24- It's only a kilometer away.
4- lamp
5- pie
6- pen HIDDEN COLORS
7- half Find the name of a color hidden in each
8- pear sentence:

1- Some parts of the face are the eye, eyebrow,

nose, and mouth. pronunciation of the number is present, but not
2- I'm not really dumb; lack of sleep made me the spelling.
forget the answers. EXAMPLE: We found Janet well versed on the
3- If I tell you what she said, will you agree subject. (twelve)
never to tell anyone?
4- In the box we found a pencil, a pin, keys, and 1- John is now working as a tutor of English.
a few coins. 2- He answered before I could even finish the
5- Are three zeros enough to write the number question.
one thousand? 3- Mary ate the whole pizza all by herself!
6- The wheelbarrow hit eleven rocks as it rolled 4- We all breathed a sigh of relief when our
down the hill. team finally won the game.
7- When the nurse gives you the injection, just 5- Even I know better than that!
yell "Ow" if it hurts. 6- Turn the radio off if teenagers come into the
8- Elsa and Otto ran gently down the path to the house.
river. 7- We both respect your judgment very much.
9- Before arriving at Kuala Lumpur, please fill 8- Robert ended his speech on a strong note.
out these forms. 9- The zookeeper moved the sick seals to a
10- I play nearly all the stringed instruments: different cage.
violin, cello, bass viol, etc. 10- The baker added leaven and some water to
11- When I opened the window, shining rays of the bread dough.
sunlight flooded the room.
12- We'll go in Jim's car. Let's leave at six
o'clock. HIDDEN CITIES
Each sentence below contains the name of a
capital city. Identify each city and write the
A NUMBERS GAME (SEEN) name of the country in which the city is located
Each of the sentences below contains a hidden on the line provided after each sentence.
number. Try to find them. EXAMPLE: Well, I'm afraid I can't do it. PERU
EXAMPLE: If I’ve said something to hurt you, I'm
sorry, (five) 1- Here is the draft of your letter. If you mark it
"ok," your secretary will type it.
1- Listen carefully to the dialogue on the tape 2- Those who were against the war saw to it that
recording. their voices were heard.
2- It would be better to learn the language 3- To make underground water potable,
thoroughly. scientists first used ammonia, then sand later
3- When the plane took off, I very much wanted on.
to cry. 4- Can karate movies really make children
4- We thought that was the best year of our aggressive?
lives. 5- No slot machine is needed here.
5- Now their team is even with ours. 6- The idiom "on a par" is used to mean "equal."
6- "Honesty is the best policy" is a well-known 7- You can see our colleague in the CAI room at
maxim. lunch. He is always busy doing something there.
7- The papers I xeroxed didn't turn out very 8- Housekeepers usually prefer washing to not
well. doing anything at all.
8- The words were spoken in each of the 9- A cobra battle against a mongoose often ends
languages native to those present. with the defeat of the former.
9- Paul is going to leave today; Robert went 10- If you use this kind of herb on noodles, the
yesterday. result will be fantastic.
10- You replaced the thous and thees of English 11- Tram manufacturing is declining, as nobody
several centuries ago. needs this kind of slow transportation.
11- I hope that our efforts to rectify the error 12- If you have an infection in your colon, don't
will comfort you a little. eat fats or any other rich food.
12- Her remarks about the silent way made
Caleb ill; I on the other hand, thought the points
were well taken. THE ANT FAMILY
13- I wish I could have been present at this The following activities build upon a common
event you are telling us about. base of letters to create new words. What kind
of an ant works with figures? An accountant.
Get it? Now what kind of an ant:
A NUMBERS GAME (HEARD)
The numbers hidden in the following sentences 1- Lives in jungle?
may be heard but not seen. That is, the sound or 2- Is far away?
3- Is extraordinarily large? 3- E------CITY (generates power)
4- Works for a master 4- A---CITY (boldness; rudeness)
5- Is good natured? 5- D----CITY (deception; lying behavior)
6- Is unchanging? 6- F---CITY (fierceness)
7- Is luxurious? 7- S---CITY (an insufficient amount)
8- Is one who takes part? 8- C---CITY (ability to hold or contain)
9- Is a very small child? 9- S---CITY (wisdom)
10- Is sleeping? 10- E-----CITY (A rubber band has this quality)
11- Is very bright? 11- F---CITY (bliss; happiness)
12- Is empty? 12- T---CITY (persistence)
13- Is immediate? 13- E----CITY (group membership defined by
14- Is plentiful? one's national, cultural, religious or linguistic
15- Has moved to a different country? background
16- Is meaningful? 14- V---CITY (truthfulness)
17- Is something that grows? 15- E-------ITY (being centered upon oneself)
18- Has influence over others? 16- R------CITY (a complementary relationship
19- Is unsure and indecisive? often regarding trade and law)
20- Lives in a certain place? 17- C-----CITY (involvement in a crime)
18- D------CITY (being devoted to home)
19- P----CITY (information to attract attention)
AN ARTFUL PUZZLE 20- P----CITY (combative nature; fighting
Each answer to the clues below ends in the attitude)
letters -art. How many can you get?

1- A portion of the whole SIMPLE ARITHMETIC: ? + 1 = X

2- A navigator's map Add one or more letters before the word one to
3- To make a beginning get the word defined.
4- Clever; intelligent 1- ? + one = something that holds ice cream
5- Seat of the emotions; part of the body 2- ? + one = part of a skeleton
6- To leave; go away 3- ? + one = no longer here
7- A two-wheeled horse drawn vehicle 4- ? + one = accomplished; finished
8- To pass on information; communicate 5- ? + one = without anyone else present
knowledge 6- ? + one = a musical sound
9- A fruit-filled pastry 7- ? + one = a rock
10- To frustrate; oppose and defeat a plan 8- ? + one = a geographical region or area
11- One who boasts 9- ? + one = an identical copy
12- The sum of two pints 10- ? + one = a chair for a king or queen
11- ? + one = a windstorm; tornado
12- ? + one = an instrument for talking to
FOUR LETTERS IN COMMON someone far away.
The answer to each of the definitions below is a 13- ? + one = nobody
five-letter word. Each of these words ends in the 14- ? + one = not any
same four letters, but has a different first letter. 15- ? + one = two
What are they?

1- Power TOOLS
2- Vision How many words can you make out of the word
3- Opposite of loose TOOLS? Can you find:
4- Not dark 1- a preposition
5- Opposite of wrong 2- a word meaning "also"
6- Not day 3- a word meaning "implement"
7- Contend, struggle 4- the capital of Norway
8- The number of this clue 5- British slang for lavatory
6- goods taken away unlawfully
7- a poetic word meaning "look"
DO YOU KNOW THESE CITIES? 8- a plot of ground
Use the definitions to identify the words ending 9- very much
in city. The first letter of each word is given as 10- a word meaning "that cannot be found"
an additional clue. 11- a song sung by one person
12- therefore
1- V---CITY (speed) 13- chimney dirt
2- S-----CITY (plainness; lacking anything fancy) 14- a drunk
15- a name for the sun
16- a small narrow opening 1- Our team _ _ _ _ _ _ game and lost three
17- something to sit on games.
2- They agreed _ _ play _ _ _ more games next
week, _ _ _.
STARTLING 3- The _ _ _ _ golfers watched _ _ _ the ball
Can you take out one letter from the word when they heard someone shout "_ _ _ _!"
‘STARTLING’ each time so that the remaining 4- The four of us were so hungry that we _ _ _
letters always spell an English word? HINT: Begin _ _ _ _ _ hamburgers.
by taking out the second "T." That will leave the 5- Each player _ _ _ _ _ the ball _ _ _ _ _ _ _
word starling, which is the name of a bird. (The the hoop at least once.
remaining words are easier and more familiar.) 6- As we approached the coast we could _ _ _
the_ _ _.
7- Anna had _ _ many things to _ _ _ on her
A CODE MESSAGE new machine that she had no time to _ _ _ any
seeds in the garden.
Can you "translate" this letter-code message 8- At the airport the guide said, "Come this _ _ _
into English words, making a four-line verse? so they can _ _ _ _ _ your luggage.
9- We had to _ _ _ _ in line until they
YYUR YYUB ICUR YY4ME determined the _ _ _ _ _ _ of our bags.
10- We _ _ _ _ the boat to the dock so it
wouldn't go out when the _ _ _ _ came in.
THE EMPTY CUPBOARD 11- Unfortunately, we did _ _ _ put a very good
You may know the following nursery rhyme: _ _ _ _ in the rope, and it came unfastened.
Old Mother Hubbard 12- The people on the safari _ _ _ _ _ that a _ _
Went to the cupboard _ _ of elephants was headed their way.
To get her poor dog a bone. 13- If you sit _ _ _ _ very quietly, you can _ _ _
When she got there _ the wind blowing through the trees.
The cupboard was bare 14- The man in the _ _ _ coat _ _ _ _ the notice
And so her poor dog had none. to me.
But what we are not told is that when she 15- We _ _ _ _ on horseback through the tall
opened the cupboard door, Mrs. Hubbard grass until we came to the _ _ _ _ that led to
exclaimed: the town.
OICURMT! Can you tell the meaning of what she 16- Everything looked so familiar; it was as if we
said? (Hint: It is six words.) had _ _ _ _ that _ _ _ _ _ before.
17- We went to where they were selling boats,
and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ boats had a sign on them
LETTER PLAY that said"_ _ _ _ _ _ _."
1- What two letters express the meaning "not 18- The students _ _ _ _ _ down in their
difficult"? notebooks the sentences that they had learned
2- What two letters mean the opposite of "full"? by _ _ _ _.
3- What two letters spell a number? 19- The wind _ _ _ _ the rain clouds away,
4- What two letters spell a word meaning leaving a clear _ _ _ _ sky.
"some"? 20- The father said, "I will sit in the shade out of
5- What two letters mean a kind of short the hot _ _ _’ _ _ _ _ _ while my _ _ _ _ _ _
composition? _ _ _ the roof on the house.
6- What two letters mean "very cold"?
7- What two letters mean the opposite of
"causes" (noun)? SPELLING BEE
8- What letter and number mean "ahead of" or 1- won, one
"in front of"? 2- to, two, too
9- What number and letter spell a popular 3- four, for, fore
outdoor game? 4- ate, eight
10- What number and letter mean "anticipate"? 5- threw, through
6- see, sea
7- so, sew, sow
SPELLING BEE 8- way, weigh
Fill in the blanks in each sentence with two or 9- wait, weight
three words that have the same sound but 10- tied, tide
different spelling and different meanings. The 11- not, knot
number of blanks equals the number of letters in 12- heard, herd
the missing word. 13- here, hear
14- red, read 5- I'm a heavy weight. Reverse me and I'm a
15- rode, road negative.
16- seen, scene 6- I'm a wild animal. Reverse me and I move
17- four sail, for sale like water.
18- wrote, rote 7- I'm a number. Reverse me and I'm an open-
19- blew, blue meshed fabric used for catching fish.
20- sun’s rays, sons raise 8- I'm an obstruction used to hold back water.
Reverse me and I'm crazy.
9- I was victorious. Reverse me and I'm the
PALINDROMES present time.
Try to read the following sentences backwards. 10- I dug minerals out of the ground. Reverse
Strange, isn’t it? me and I'm a coarse cloth that jeans are made
of.
MADAM, I'M ADAM
ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA.
A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL-PANAMA! ANIMAL WORDS
STEP ON NO PETS Match each word or phrase in the first column
LIVE NOT ON EVIL. with the word or phrase in the second column
DRAW, O COWARD! that produces a proverb or idiom.
"TIS IVAN ON A VISIT. 1- A barking dog
LIVE, O DEVIL! REVEL EVER! LIVE! DO 2- Never look a gift horse
EVIL! 3- Curiosity killed
DO O GOD, NO EVIL DEED, LIVE ON, DO 4- Dog eat
GOOD! 5- You can't teach an old dog
WAS IT A RAT I SAW? 6- Let sleeping dogs
WAS IT A CAR OR A CAT I SAW! 7- When the cat's away
WON'T LOVERS REVOLT NOW? 8- Let the cat
DOC, NOTE I DISSENT; A FAST NEVER 9- There's more than one way
PREVENTS A FATNESS. I DIET OK COD. 10- It's raining
STRESSED WAS I ERE I SAW DESSERTS. 11- You may lead a horse to water
DENNIS AND EDNA SINNED. 12- Go to
PAT AND EDNA TAP 13- Go whole
ENID AND EDNA DINE. 14- Hold your
TOO FAR, EDNA, WE WANDER AFOOT. 15- That's a horse
PA'S A SAP and MA IS AS SELFLESS AS I
AM. a- the dogs
A DOG; A PANIC IN A PAGODA b- out of the bag
TEN ANIMALS I SLAM IN A NET. c- but you can't make him drink
YREKA BAKERY d- lie
e- never bites
f- new tricks
REVERSE ME g- of a different color
Related to the palindromes but more accessible h- horses
to our knowledge and imagination, are pairs of i- hog
words whose spellings are the reverse of each j- dog
other. Some such pairs are : pool—loop, era— k- to skin a cat
are, spot—tops, rail—liar, time—emit, pan—nap, l- in the mouth
reward—drawer, dog—god, tap—pat, keep— m- the mice will play
peek, gnat—tang, dial—laid, sag—gas, rat—tar, n- cats and dogs
span—naps, no—on, lap—pal, sleep—peels, o- the cat
snap—pans, live—evil, step—pets (and many
others). Such pairs of words provide the
solutions to the following puzzles:

1- I'm the high point. Reverse me and I'm

something to cook in.
2- I'm uncooked. Reverse me and I'm armed
conflict.
3- I'm a portion of the whole. Reverse me and
I'm something to catch (ensnare) something in.
4- I perceived with the eyes. Reverse me and I
existed.
ANSWERS 11-
12-
lion
monkey
5- Oslo-Norway
6- Paris-France
13- ox 7- Cairo-Egypt
14- snake 8- Washington-USA
CHANGE THE FIRST
15- tiger 9- Rabat-Morocco
LETTER 16- armadillo 10- Bonn-Germany
1- were-here 17- manatee 11- Amman-Jordan
2- low-now
18- bison 12- London-England
3- year-dear 19- dingo
4- sat-eat 20- egret THE ANT FAMILY
5- ear-war 21- falcon 1- elephant
6- sir-air 22- walrus 2- distant
7- master-faster 23- koala 3- giant
8- hot-not 24- yak 4- servant
9- car-far 5- pleasant
10- mister-sister
HIDDEN COLORS 6- constant
1- brown 7- elegant
A T- PARTY 2- black 8- participant
1- here-there
3- green 9- infant
2- hat-that 4- pink 10- dormant
3- rip-trip 5- rose 11- brilliant
4- his-this 6- white 12- vacant
5- ear-tear 7- yellow 13- instant
6- old-told
8- orange 14- abundant
7- error-terror 9- purple 15- immigrant
8- all-tall 10- violet 16- significant
9- rain-train
11- gray 17- plant
10- urn-turn 12- scarlet 18- dominant
19- hesitant
CHANGE A LETTER
A NUMBERS GAME (SEEN) 20- inhabitant
1- cat 1- ten
2- mouse 2- two AN ARTFUL PUZZLE
3- goat 3- five 1- part
4- lamb 4- four 2- chart
5- pig 5- seven 3- start
6- hen 6- one 4- smart
7- calf 7- six 5- heart
8- bear
8- nine 6- depart
9- twenty 7- cart
CHANGE THE LAST LETTER 10- thousand 8- impart
1- king-kind 11- forty 9- tart
2- not-now 12- billion 10- thwart
3- mare-mark 13- seventy 11- braggart
4- fear-feat 12- quart
5- skim-skit A NUMBERS GAME
6- fool-food (HEARD) FOUR LETTERS IN
7- gram-gray 1- two COMMON
8- leaf-leak 2- four 1- might
9- peak-pear 3- eight 2- sight
10- maid-mail 4- one 3- tight
5- nine 4- light
ANIMALS IN HIDING
6- fifteen 5- right
1- bear 7- three 6- night
2- camel 8- ten 7- fight
3- cat 9- six 8- eight
4- cow 10- eleven
5- deer DO YOU KNOW THESE
6- dog HIDDEN CITIES CITIES?
7- fish 1- Tokyo-Japan 1-velocity
8- frog
2- Warsaw-Poland 2-simplicity
9- goat 3- Athens-Greece 3- electricity
10- horse 4- Ankara-Turkey 4- audacity
5- duplicity 8- In
6- ferocity 9- N
7- scarcity
8- capacity A CODE MESSAGE
9- sagacity Too wise you are
10- elasticity Too wise to be
11- felicity I see you are
12- tenacity Too wise for me
13- ethnicity
14- veracity THE EMPTY CUPBOARD
15- egocentricity Oh! I see you are empty
16- reciprocity
17- complicity LETTER PLAY
18- domesticity 1- EZ (easy)
19- publicity 2- MT (empty)
20- pugnacity 3- AT (eighty)
4- NE (any)
SIMPLE ARITHMETIC: ? + 5- SA (essay)
1=X 6- IC (icy)
1- cone 7- FX (effects)
2- bone 8- B4 (before)
3- gone 9- 10S (tennis)
4- done 10- 4C (foresee)
5- alone
6- tone REVERSE ME
7- stone 1- top-pot
8- zone 2- raw-war
9- clone 3- part-trap
10- throne 4- saw-was
11- cyclone 5- ton-not
12- phone 6- wolf-flow
13- no one 7- ten-net
14- none 8- dam-mad
15- none 9- won-now
10- mined-denim
TOOLS
1- to ANIMAL WORDS
2- too 1- e
3- tool 2- l
4- Oslo 3- o
5- loo 4- j
6- loot 5- f
7- lo 6- d
8- lot 7- m
9- lots 8- b
10- lost 9- k
11- solo 10- n
12- so 11- c
13- soot 12- a
14- sot 13- i
15- sol 14- h
16- slot 15- g
17- stool

STARTLING
1- Startling
2- Starling
3- Staring
4- String
5- Sting
6- Sing
7- Sin