Quiz Guy John Chaneski offers a quiz with punning clues from some of the nation’s top crossword-puzzle constructors. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Pun Clues Puzzle” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett. And...
On the menu: necessity mess, potato bargain, and other tasty regional foods that won’t break the bank. Plus, what’s a doomaflatchie? And what do you have to do before you rest on your laurels? Grant and Martha share idioms, proverbs, and...
Our Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a game of cryptic crossword clues called Double Definition. For example, if the clue is “trim a tree,” the answer is “spruce.” Or try this one: “crazy flying mammals.” Did you come up with “bats”? This is part of a...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a word game worthy of the Saturday puzzle called “Cryptic Crosswords.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Cryptic Crosswords Word Game” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett. And I’m...
There’s a frisson you get when you meet a word for the first time—feeling pleasantly stumped in between wondering, “What the heck does that mean?” and hurrying off to find out. Martha and Grant talk about some terms that had just that effect on...
BLUF adj.— «In sharp contrast to the bottom-line-upfront (BLUF) mandate of an operations order, the involuted metaphors of a sonnet are downright cryptic.» —“In the Valley of the Shadow” by Elizabeth D. Samet New York Times Sept. 30, 2007. (source:...