I didn’t do so well on my spelling test. My teacher gave me a passing grade for effort, but wrote four random letters on the paper, which confused me. They looked like they were describing a U.S. state, which made no sense. What grade did I get (3 words, across) and what did my teacher mean when they described my work (1 word, down)?
I found these helpful pictures, but they got mixed up.
Your efforts earned you...
A C MINUS, and your teacher considers your spelling CURIOUS (i.e. strange, as per the title).
Because you have made a strange repetitive error...
In this test, you always miss out a C, a U and an O, in that order.
The obscure words you were supposed to spell were:
1. CALUMNIOUS
2. CU[C]ULIFORM
3. C[U]PULIFORM
4. CUMULIFO[R]M
5. CERUM[I]NOUS
6. CADUCICORN
7. CA[O]UTCHOUC
8. C[U]CUMIFORM
9. ?????????[S] (to be explained shortly...)
Here, the replaced C, U and O are in bold font, and the previously unknown letters marked by question marks are indicated in square brackets.
The meanings of these words are reflected in the images. They are (in list order):
1. CALUMNIOUS = False and defamatory (the red X);
2. CUCULIFORM = A member of the cuckoo family;
3. CUPULIFORM = Dome-shaped (the acorn);
4. CUMULIFORM = Like a cumulus cloud;
5. CERUMINOUS = Secreting ear wax;
6. CADUCICORN = Having deciduous horns;
7. CAOUTCHOUC = Natural rubber;
8. CUCUMIFORM = Shaped like a cucumber.
This leaves one image unaccounted for, meaning that to complete the puzzle we need to identify...
A 10-letter word containing C, U and O in that order and ending in S (since it appears we are spelling out 'CURIOUS' with the missing letters), and that also means something to do with a tetrahedron. Luckily (thank you, Google) such a word exists - CACUMINOUS ("having a pointed or pyramidal top"), which you may have written as ACMINUS once the starting C, first U and O are removed.
And look at that - it spells A C MINUS, a three-word grade that we've been seeking!
As for your teacher's 4 letters...
They would have been RI, US, which very much looks like a reference to the American state Rhode Island, as this is how it's abbreviated. However, this is actually your teacher having some fun and removing the C, U and O from CURIOUS in tribute to your very curious test paper!
One final note - there's another pattern at play here in the puzzle's construction too...
The C, U and O you omit are always the 1st, 4th and 8th letters of the word too.
