Quiz Guy Greg Pliska shares a puzzle in verse, challenging the hosts to fill in the blanks with words that differ by just one letter. Like this: “I never count ___ when I’m going to ___; that method does not work for me. Right around five’s when I burst into hives: I’m allergic to wool, don’t you see?” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Word Puzzle in Verse”
You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette, and we are joined by our lovely and talented Mr. Quiz, Greg Pliska.
Lovely and talented.
Oh, gorgeous. Just fabulous.
Oh, what a stunning gown he’s got on today as he comes up the carpet.
Nice shoes.
What to say after that introduction?
The lovely and talented. Yeah, I do feel like I’m at the Oscars.
Do you have a quiz there somewhere?
No, let’s just make jokes about my physique all day.
Yes, I do.
Today’s puzzle comes straight from the National Puzzlers League monthly publication called The Enigma.
Where can we find that?
Well, you can find out all about the National Puzzlers League at www.puzzlers.org.
In The Enigma, we have a type of verse puzzle that we call a flat, and today’s examples all involve letter changes.
Each short verse that I’ll read you clues two words, and each word is only one letter different from the other, like the words cough and rough where you change the C to an R.
Okay.
Except mine will be harder than that.
-oh.
All you have to do is fill in the blanks so that the verse makes sense.
For example, I never count blank when I’m going to blank.
That method does not work for me.
Right around fives when I burst into hives.
I’m allergic to wool, don’t you see?
So it’s sheep and sleep.
I never count sheep when I’m going to sleep.
Nice.
Okay, okay.
I think we can do this.
I think we can do this.
We can do this, right, Mark?
Nice.
Oh, yeah, and these are all in rhyme?
These are all little verse puzzles.
Excellent.
All right, and remember, you’re changing just one letter in each word.
Okay.
All right, here we go.
I’m such a spaz, I can’t play jazz.
Not Miles, Bird, or Ellington.
With take the blank, I fight and blank, like Napoleon facing Wellington.
So take the A train and attain.
No?
No.
What was that second blank?
I fight and blank.
Strain.
Strain.
Yeah, strain.
With take the A train, I fight and strain, like Napoleon facing Wellington.
Nice.
Wellington and Ellington.
Very nice.
Holy orthodonture, Robin cried, beholding joker’s blank and leering rictus.
We’ve tracked you to your blank, but now inside, the joke’s on us.
It seems, you fiend, you’ve tricked us.
So it’s not leer and leer, because it’s two letters.
That’s correct.
It’s seven-letter words.
Can we hear it one more time?
Sure.
Holy orthodonture, Robin cried,
Beholding Joker’s blank and leering rictus.
We’ve tracked you to your blank,
But now inside, the joke’s on us.
It seems, you fiend, you’ve tricked us.
Wow.
Where have they tracked Joker to?
Where would you track any villain to?
His lair.
His hideout?
His hideout.
And Robin cries out, beholding Joker’s blank and leering rictus.
Hideous.
Oh, that’s brilliant.
Very nice.
Hideous and hideout.
That’s kind of a classic letter change example.
No kidding.
Yeah.
Different syllables.
Amateurs over here.
It’s such a great pair of words.
The change of the letter changes the whole construction of the word.
I was all excited about rictus and trictus.
I think that’s great.
Rictus is one of my favorite words.
I love that word.
It’s a good word.
It’s on my website.
Don’t stress what you’re wearing for a radio airing, since no one can see they don’t care
That the shirt worn by Barrett’s the color of carrots or that blank has a blank in her hair.
Barnette has a barrette in her hair.
Yes, exactly.
Very nice.
And I have to say, I don’t really know if she has a barrette in her hair, but I can imagine it.
But Grant’s shirt is certainly the color of carrots.
So I should tell you up front in the next one you’ve got one two-word phrase and one word.
So the two answers was a word and one is a two-word phrase.
Okay.
When Mama calls blank, Papa runs to her flank to make sure there’s enough in the pot.
She makes a great bisque, but there’s always the risk that a blank will be all that she’s got.
Wow.
One more time, please.
When Mama calls blank, Papa runs to her flank to make sure there’s enough in the pot.
She makes a great bisque, but there’s always the risk that a blank will be all that she’s got.
Okay, it’s not dinner and winner.
No.
Yeah, what would you not want to have in the pot?
What would you call to make Papa come and run to your flank?
Okay, well, you got the right idea.
And I used bisque in there.
So that’s a clue to the first phrase, when mama calls blank.
Bisque is a clue to that?
Well, bisque.
Soup’s on.
There you go.
Soup’s on.
A soup’s on?
And soup’s on.
Exactly.
Change the S in the phrase soup’s on to a C to get soup’s on.
Soup’s on.
Nice.
It’s a little something.
A little something.
And that C has a little sedia.
That was a hoot.
Great.
Well, if you enjoy these puzzles, you can find more of them and more about the National Puzzlers League at www.puzzlers.org.
Okay.
Thanks, Greg.
And if you’d like to talk about grammar, slang, punctuation, or words and how we use them, the number is 1-877-929-9673.
That’s 1-877-W-A-Y-W-O-R-D.
Or you can send an email to words@waywordradio.org.
