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Each of these sets of five words has an odd member out. The other four words fall under a specific category, which can then be further generalized with a single word. Once you discover each of the five odd words out, those five words will come together to form a category of their own! Are you up to the challenge?

Word sets:

1.

Coffee
Kale
Bananas
Beer
Artichokes

2.

Hard Rock
Jazz
Funk
Disco
New Age

3.

Sea Star
Whale
Mussel
Bird
Bull

4.

Skunk
Red Rose
Rain
Trash
Carrion Flower

5.

Balderdash
Monopoly
Trouble
Life
Parcheesi

EDIT: I wasn't clear enough with one facet of the puzzle. The categories that each group is sorted into can be generalized into one word "super-categories", which very generally (or in some cases, specifically) describe how each group is perceived. These one word super-categories then will become their own category, at which point the puzzle should end with a pretty clear understanding of how the words were chosen.

EDIT2: To see if I can nudge this along, here's a hint:

The backbone of the puzzle is the category which can be formed by the single-word "super-categories" of the five existing categories. The number of elements in the category is an important hint that can potentially guide you towards the solution.

EDIT3: Another day, another hint!

I used the phrase "how each group is perceived" earlier when describing the one word super-categories - that terminology was very specifically on purpose. Your perception of these groups will be very important to really figuring out the crux of the puzzle.

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3 Answers 3

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Group 1:

Bananas, which are sweet while the others are bitter.

Group 2:

Jazz, which was popularized in the 1920s while the rest are iconic of the 1970s or so.

Group 3:

Bull, which lacks the seaside association that the rest have.

Group 4:

Trash, which is man-made while the rest are part of nature.

Group 5:

Balderdash, which is the only one not currently the intellectual property of Hasbro.

These words are all ways of saying

"Crazy talk!" or "Nonsense!"

You might hear them used like so:

Bananas: That's just bananas.
Jazz: Don't give me any of that jazz.
Bull: That's a bunch of bull.
Trash: What trash are you saying now?
Balderdash: What?! Balderdash!

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  • $\begingroup$ You've done a splendid job identifying the odd words out and the final group, but your reasoning for 1, 3, and 5 are not the ones I had in mind (I'd say your reasoning for 5 is probably slightly stronger than mine, while my reasoning for 1 is much stronger than yours and 3 could go either way). I've added a hint that may or may not help you on the path to figuring out the backbone of the puzzle! $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Commented May 14, 2015 at 3:09
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks! After I figured out the rest of them, I knew the first one had to be bananas, but the reason why stumps me! If not for the beer, I would have said the first category is "better when served warm". $\endgroup$
    – februaryInk
    Commented May 14, 2015 at 3:45
  • $\begingroup$ @BaileyM Oh wait, I just Googled it, and I guess some people do prefer their beer warm. So I guess the question is, are you one of those people? ;) $\endgroup$
    – februaryInk
    Commented May 14, 2015 at 3:52
  • $\begingroup$ I can confirm that I am not, in fact, one of those people. :) $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Commented May 14, 2015 at 12:50
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I forgot this puzzle was still outstanding. My categories were: bitter foods (taste), iconic music from the 1970s (sound), 'blue' animals (sight), natural scents (smell), games with moving pieces (touch). The overarching category then was "senses", while the category of the odd ones out was "non-sense". Heh. Wonderful job either way! :) $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Commented Jun 17, 2015 at 17:07
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  1. The odd word out is

Beer

since the other four are all

fruit and vegetables.

  1. Sorry - I don't know anything about this kind of music!

  2. The odd word out is

Mussel?

since the other four all have

limbs (wings, legs, flippers).

  1. The odd word out is

Rain

since the other four all

smell (whether sweetly or horribly).

  1. The odd word out is

Life

since the other four are all

board games, while the Game of Life is something quite different.

Now our new collection of five words is

Beer
???
Mussel(?)
Rain
Life

Not sure what these have in common ... maybe they can all

be seen as food and drink (metaphorically in the case of Life),

in which case the answer to 2 would be

Hard Rock (as in seaside rock).

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  • $\begingroup$ Life is also a board game en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_of_Life $\endgroup$
    – VictorHenry
    Commented May 13, 2015 at 22:37
  • $\begingroup$ One of the problems with puzzles like this is that multiple "correct" answers can pop up from places I never saw coming. This is not the answer I was looking for, but a definite +1 anyways! $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Commented May 14, 2015 at 3:10
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I think I have the 5 odd words out and their category, plus the category for the fifth group, but I'm stumped on groups 1-4. Maybe someone can help me with the others, or use my answer to make a better answer. Also I might be completely wrong =P

Here we go:

Group 1:

Odd word out is "Artichokes". Category: UNKNOWN

Group 2:

Odd word out is "Hard Rock". Category: UNKNOWN

Group 3:

Odd word out is "Bird". Category: UNKNOWN (could be as simple as "animals that don't have wings)

Group 4:

Odd word out is "Carrion Flower". Category: UNKNOWN

Group 5:

Odd word out is "Parcheesi". Category: Board Games with names that are already English words.

Odd words out:

Category: Contain words that sound like or reference golf terms
Artichokes - "Choke"
Hard Rock - "Draw"
Bird - "Birdie"
Carrion Flower - "Carry"
Parcheesi - "Par"
Golf terms taken from this website: http://www.pga.com/golf-instruction/instruction-feature/fundamentals/golf-glossary-and-golf-terms

If nothing else, the category for the five words out is an interesting coincidence. =P

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  • $\begingroup$ One of the problems with puzzles like this is that multiple "correct" answers can pop up from places I never saw coming. You definitely found an answer that makes sense, and somehow none of the words that I had as my "odd ones out" are among your list of "odd ones out". Just goes to show how funny minds can be, eh? +1 for sure, even though this was not the answer I was expecting. $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Commented May 14, 2015 at 3:12

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