The word conclave comes from Latin con- meaning “together” and clavis meaning “key.” A gathering known as a conclave occurs in “a room that can be locked.” From the same root comes enclave, from the idea of “enclosing,” as well as clavier, a...
This week’s challenge from Quiz Guy John Chaneski involves non-rhyming pairs of words that both end in the letter Y. Try this clue: John and his wife Jennifer recently spent a whole day there last week participating in their civic obligation. What’s...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski shares one of this take-off puzzles, where the object is to remove a letter from the beginning from one word to form another word. In this case, the letter is always S. For example, what two words are clued by “The...
Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to describe how she feels about her age. And: a linguist helps solve a famous kidnapping case, using the...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski doctor told him that in addition to adding more whole grains and vegetables to his diet, he should also replace words in his vocabulary with healthier alternatives. For example, she’d prefer that he say That actor was...
In Cockney rhyming slang, apples and pears is a synonym for “stairs,” and dustbin lids means kids. Plus, sniglets are clever coinages for things we don’t already have words for. Any guesses what incogsneeto means? It’s the...