9
$\begingroup$

Here we go again, identifying a Puzzling SE tag from 16 words you would have no idea of any similarity between them. I have made this one harder than the others though.

        huge         feline        obese       untruth

       friend        before       succeed      joyful

        wok        policeman     trashcan      insect

      follower       expert       pastry        cork

And if you know something, please post it as a partial answer.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
4
  • $\begingroup$ Well, I notice a thing that (almost?) all these words have in common, but so far I have been unable to make any plausible groups of 4 using it... $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Dec 11, 2018 at 17:30
  • $\begingroup$ Well maybe you could post a partial answer to help others chance upon the mythical solution. $\endgroup$
    – TakingNotes
    Dec 11, 2018 at 17:32
  • $\begingroup$ Nah, I have too little to want to post a partial with it. If someone else notices the same thing as me and thinks otherwise, they can have the credit :-). $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Dec 11, 2018 at 17:53
  • $\begingroup$ @GarethMcCaughan I think I understand where you are getting at but I also don't see how to continue with that, to make groups of 4. $\endgroup$
    – Sid
    Dec 11, 2018 at 18:12

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
7
$\begingroup$

[EDITED a bit in the light of OP's comments. Might actually be right now.]

The given grid of words

can be rewritten thus:

big cat fat lie
pal pre win fun
pan cop bin bug
fan pro pie cap

and now

an obvious thing to do is to find word-ladders (so the missing tag would be [word-ladder]) using these words. Here are some that partition our words into four fours:

bug big bin win
pro pre pie lie
pal pan fan fun
fat cat cap cop

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
5
  • $\begingroup$ The first two you said were correct. The last two were not. You also have the right tag in mind. (duh...) and I'm actually surprised you've gotten this far already! Also you have every single synonym correct except gay. $\endgroup$
    – TakingNotes
    Dec 11, 2018 at 20:02
  • $\begingroup$ You have written pig instead of cop. Do, edit that in. $\endgroup$
    – Sid
    Dec 12, 2018 at 5:33
  • $\begingroup$ Well done, this is the intended answer. $\endgroup$
    – TakingNotes
    Dec 12, 2018 at 7:50
  • $\begingroup$ I hoped the solution might have been a word-grid, but +1 anyway! $\endgroup$
    – JMP
    Dec 12, 2018 at 8:11
  • $\begingroup$ @Sid ah yes. Too many alternatives :-). Fixed now. $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Dec 12, 2018 at 10:29
0
$\begingroup$

Here is an alternative solution:

untruth, pastry, expert, trashcan: contain a 't' and an 'r' adjacent to each other.
feline, obese, before, succeed: two 'e's and one other vowel.
huge, friend, joyful, insect: exactly two different vowels.
wok, policeman, follower, cork: second letter 'o' and a noun.

And the tag:

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Name the tag connected to this. $\endgroup$
    – TakingNotes
    Dec 12, 2018 at 8:14

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.