Terminal Deletions

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Martha Barnette.

And I’m Grant Barrett.

And who’s this handsome fellow?

It’s John Chaneski on the line with a quiz.

Hello, John.

If I’m on the line, how can you tell I’m handsome?

Listen, you know, it’s been a while since we talked about the NPL.

And I’ve got a little quiz here about an NPL flat type.

We talk about the flats, which are the kind of iconic puzzle that the wordplay puzzles that the NPL likes to use.

This is about terminal deletions.

I know it sounds very, very, dun, dun, dun, terminal deletions.

Yeah, very final.

But terminal deletions are an NPL flat style that involves taking a letter from both ends of a word to make another word.

Okay.

I’ll give you a sentence that clues two words.

One word is the other word with both first and last letters deleted.

Okay?

Okay.

The shorter the word, the easier it is, but I’ll give you the enumeration if you need it.

And the first blank will always be the longer word in these examples.

Okay?

Okay, great.

Here we go.

It was very blank this December morning, and it’s still cold, but it’s clear right blank.

Snowy and now.

Snowy and now.

Yes, Grant.

Very good.

Snowy and now.

It was very snowy this December morning, and it’s still cold, but it’s clear right now.

It was a typical physical.

He listened to my blank and stuck a thermometer in my blank.

Heart and ear.

Heart and ear, yeah.

It was a typical physical. He listened to my heart and stuck a thermometer in my ear.

I gave the farmer’s daughter a ring with an expensive blank, but she’d rather I gave her a blank or a lamb.

A jewel or a u?

Nice. Very good.

Yes, a jewel or a u. Nicely done.

I gave the farmer’s daughter a ring with an expensive jewel, but she’d rather I gave her a u or a lamb.

The blank of the dance was prim and proper, so the blank of Mary’s skirt was much too high.

The theme and the hem.

Yes, nicely done, Martha.

The theme of the dance was prim and proper, so the hem of Mary’s skirt was much too high.

All right.

Oh, you’ve just got a little blank in your finger.

I know it hurts, but you’ll blank.

Splinter?

No, sliver and live.

Sliver and live.

Sliver and live.

Sliver and live is correct.

That’s right.

Oh, you’ve just got a little sliver in your finger.

I know it hurts, but you’ll live.

You’ll quickly become a blank among the other sopranos if you can’t sing a simple operatic blank.

Pariah and aria.

Yes, pariah and aria.

You’ll quickly become a pariah among the other sopranos if you can’t sing a simple operatic aria.

Right.

Now, in Tolkien’s world, you’ll find elves in the blank.

While dwarves search for all kinds of blank in their minds.

That’s your field, Grant.

Woods and…

Woods and ood?

No,

And forests and oars.

Forest and oars, yes.

In Tolkien’s world, you’ll find elves in the forest,

While dwarves search for all kinds of oars in their minds.

Nice.

For just a blank, I thought that everything would be okay.

Then a black cat appeared

Which I knew was a horrible blank.

Moment and omen.

Yes.

For just a moment,

I thought that everything would be okay.

Then a black cat appeared

Which I knew was a horrible omen.

All right, guys.

Now we’ve come to the terminal part of my quiz.

That’s the end of the quiz.

So way to go.

Thanks, John.

Outstanding.

Thank you, John.

As Martha did it.

She was great.

We were great.

We’ll talk to you again next week, buddy, all right?

Bye.

Talk to you then, bye-bye.

Take care.

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