What connects the words sitcom, smog, brunch, muppet and cyborg? They are all 'portmanteau' words, ie., combinations of two different words. (Sitcom is derived from situation and comedy; smog from smoke and fog; brunch from breakfast and lunch; muppet from marionette and puppet; cyborg from cybernetic and organism. The term portmanteau as description of word combinations was devised by Lewis Carroll when it first appeared in Carroll's book 'Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There', dated 1872, appeared in 1871. More about portmanteau words, and how to use them in creativity and development activities.)
Which one of these is on the coast: Cairo, Johannesburg, Tripoli, Sarajevo, Nairobi, Khartoum? Tripoli (Libya)
Which one of these is not on the coast: Venice, San Diego, Reykjavik, Marrakesh, Helsinki, Lisbon? Marrakesh (Morocco)
What upper case (capital) letter of the English alphabet (in plain sans serif font) requires that the pen be lifted from the paper twice (providing no lines are re-traced)? H (There are other letters such as A, F, K, N whose capitals can be drawn in three separate strokes, but H is the only sans serif capital which is impossible to draw without lifting the pen twice unless re-tracing a stroke already made. In serif font the letter I - and a few others like S and U - would also require two pen-lifts. Interestingly this font, Tahoma, is sans serif, but contains a serif I. The letters S and U in Tahoma are sans serif. In Times they would be S and U. Note the additional strokes. Thanks M Portwood for helping me clarify this puzzle.)
A famous leader's first name of Mohandas is commonly replaced by a first name that means 'great soul'; who was he? Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian statesman and spiritual leader).
There are four (known to us - perhaps there are more) perfectly recognisable and understandable words in the English language having one of each vowel in reverse alphabetical order (UOIEA), what are the words? Subcontinental, Unoriental, Uncomplimentary and Unnoticeably. (Ack P Fowler for Subcontinental, and R Murphy for Uncomplimentary and Unnoticeably. If you know any other UOIEA words please send them.) See also the AEIOU word puzzle answers.
the spotlight puzzle
A conference room contains three separate wall-mounted spotlights - right, left and front of stage. Each is controlled by its own on-off switch. These three switches are numbered 1, 2 and 3, but they are in a back-room which has no sight of the the spotlights or the conference room (and there are no reflections or shadows or mirrors, and you are alone). How do you identify each switch correctly - right, left, front - if you can only enter the back-room once?Switch on number 1 and leave it on for 30 seconds, then switch it off. Switch on number 2 and leave it on. Enter the conference room. The spotlight that is on is obviously number 2. The spotlight that is warm is switch 1, and the other spotlight is number 3. (Adapted from a suggestion by D Thomasson)
Months of the year that begin on a Sunday (other than February in non-leap-years) always have five Sundays. What other notable feature do they (including all Februarys) contain? Friday the 13th.
What connects these words?... Dram, Colon, Won, Dong, Kip.They are currencies (as at May 2005), specifically: Dram (Armenia), Colon (Costa Rica, El Salvadore), Won (North Korea, South Korea), Dong (Vietnam), Kip (Lao People's Democratic Republic, formerly Laos).
Where was Britain's first escalator installed? Harrods department store, Knightsbridge London, around 1900.
What do these items have in common?... Arrow, Ladder, Spanner, Hockey-Stick, T-Square, Crutch. They all feature as objects to be picked up in the table game 'Jack Straws'.
What is the connection between Ben Corson and Roger Stoughton and riot control? They were two chemists who in 1927 invented CS gas, which takes its name from the initials of their surnames.
A maritime poser: Homo-Sapien ÷ Rent = ? Man overboard.
The bacillus-based invention of French bacteriologists Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin, and the reason for their invention gave rise to two well-known abbreviations, what are they? BCG and TB (the BCG vaccine, named after Bacillus-Calmette-Guérin, and the disease it was invented to counter - TB, or Tuberculosis.
What do these words have in common, and what does each word mean in that common context? They are collective nouns for living creatures:
- string of ponies
- ostentation of peacocks
- smack of jellyfish
- pitying of doves
- crash of rhinosceroses
- unkindness of ravens
- murmuration of starlings
- drove of cattle
- pod of seals
- murder of crows
- knot of toads
- colony of ants
- grist of flies
- brood of hens
- shrewdness of apes
- school of fish
- siege of herons
What is deoxyribonucleic acid? DNA.
What is the only US state which borders with just one other US state? Maine.
What word ends with an S in its plural masculine form, but changes to singular feminine when another S is added to the end? There are now two examples of this known to me. Princes/Princess (Ack D Robinson) and Ogres/Ogress (ack M Trollope).
What twelve animals feature in Chinese astrology? horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, boar, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake.
Joe said to his friend at a new year's eve party."yesterday i was 20, but next year i will be 22."when is Joe's birthday? * dec 31 ans.
A wwoman gave birth to two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year but were not twins.How is this possible? answer this for 3000 plusses 4 d ist to answer and 1k for d next one....... *triplets answer
