On this past weekend's show, quiz guy John Chaneski invited listeners to submit their own single crossers to quizguys@waywordradio.org.
A single crosser is two words that share only a single letter. The most elegant ones will be closely related words that are both nice and long.
For example, "ab" and "gluteus maximus" are both muscles and they share an "A," but that's hardly elegant.
Remember, they should only have one letter in common and they should be from a fairly narrow category (Snow White's seven dwarves, kinds of trees, etc.).
John looks forward to what you come up with—and there's a chance he'll use your submissions to create a quiz for a future show.
Send your single crossers to quizguys@waywordradio.org.
this is a submission from my 12 year old son Dominic
clue: Monarch and Painted Lady in english and spanish
Answer: Butterfly and Mariposa
Very nice, Dominic. And with two of my favorite words!
On the collective noun front:
Kettle of hawKs
paRliament of Rooks
coloNy of aNts
Clowder of Cats
I am sure there are a million more
Can one also “mix” systems of expression? As in, “H?O” and “oxygen” — Things that all human beings require. I don't know, that's probably too broad a category.
How about some triple crossers?
Trees: “apple”, “ash”, “oak”
Languages: Czech, Nzangi¹, Zulu
Musical instruments: “flute”, “oboe”, “pipe” (and naker², for a quadruple crosser)
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¹A Chadic language
²An old term for the kettledrum