Spring Stumpers

by Harold Fox

Last time I left you with the following stumper from Will Shortz, the Puzzlemaster.

Take the word SURE.  If we asked you to add two pairs of doubled letters to it to make an eight-letter word, you would add P’s and S’s [sic] to make SUPPRESS.  Can you add two pairs of doubled letters to RATE to make a common eight-letter word?

The answer is ROOMMATE.  The stumper is Number 48, "ON THE DOUBLE," in Shortz’s The Puzzlemaster Presents, Volume One, Random House, 1996.

Well, that was so much fun, let’s try a few more from Mr. Shortz.

First, here is one he titles "ANIMALS BACKING UP."

Think of two animals that have names of three letters each.  Put these names side by side and read them backward, and you’ll get a common six-letter word.  What is it?  Here’s a hint: The two animal names are general names—not the ones for a particular gender or variety,

Some of you may guess, accurately, that I chose that one because of the linkage to the mention of semordnilaps in the preceding number of CAV.

Here is a second one, titled "S & S, TOO," just because.

Think of a seven-letter word that contains two S’s [sic] in a row.  Drop the S’s to get a five-letter word that means the same as the longer one.  What is it?  Hint:  The same letter of the alphabet immediately precedes and follows the S’s in the longer word.

For a third one, try this, titled "NO RHYME OR REASON."

… the words RAID and SAID end in the same three letters, but they don’t rhyme with each other.  Can you name a third, uncapitalized word that also ends in -AID that doesn’t rhyme with either of the other two?

Finally, try this extended stumper, in which Shortz is asking you for 15 pairs of semordnilaps, even though he doesn’t use that word.  He titles it "TWO WAY."

Put two letters in each pair of dashes to complete a common, uncapitalized four-lettered word that will spell another common, uncapitalized four-letter word in reverse.

     Ex.   A    –    –    T           [ABUT and TUBA]

    1.          D    –    –    W

    2.          G    –    –    T

    3.          E    –    –    L

    4.         G    –    –    F

    5.          P    –    –    G

    6.          B    –    –    D

    7.          D    –    –    A

    8.          W    –    –    F

    9.          O    –    –    E

    10.         D    –    –    L        D    –    –    L        [two answers]

    11.         T    –    –    M    T    –    –    W        [two answers]

    12.         E    –    –    T        E    –    –    T        [two answers]

I hope these stumpers from Will Shortz have entertained you and stimulated your mind.  Maybe they have even encouraged you to seek out the Puzzlemaster’s work on you own.

Until next time, send me your solutions (or suggestions or complaints or stumpers) at hfox@juno.com or 2005 Burroughs Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45406.