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Another variant of the Tyobrien riddle of the week.

With two, I’m similar
With three, I’m grey
With four, I lose
With five, I’m loud
With six, I’ve suffered
With seven, I’ve fought

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5
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ If ItsPete's answer is correct, we need to clarify what is meant by a Tyobrien riddle. The example pointed to doesn't define it, and shows by example that it is composed of a series of words where each successive word is the prior word with a single letter appended. At the time these were created that was the convention. At least one variant appeared where it was a series of words with each successor being the prior word with one letter prepended, and we've seen others since (pseudo-Tyobriens?) where each successor word was the previous with one new letter added to one of its ends. $\endgroup$
    – Rubio
    Commented Mar 11, 2020 at 6:24
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    $\begingroup$ I am unaware of examples where a puzzle with arbitrary slices of increasing length out of a principal word was called a "Tyobrien" and, given that someone with no prior knowledge of the puzzle type would get an entirely wrong impression from the non-explanatory link to the archetype puzzle given here, this puzzle is actually not defined (or, arguably, is misdefined), which is unfair to the solver. You should probably include the rules you're using as part of the puzzle, rather than leave it to the reader to guess from (not provided!) historical context. $\endgroup$
    – Rubio
    Commented Mar 11, 2020 at 6:29
  • $\begingroup$ @Rubio I understand your concern on how this differs from Tyobrien’s original interpretation. Nevertheless, he did not impose a restriction that subsequent words in length should encompass all letters of the smaller substring. That pattern is only inferred from the answer. Riddles have evolved over time, many vastly differ from their first interpretation. Take the Vowelburgers for example; the buns were supposed to be consonants while there is at least one riddle with a vowel bun. $\endgroup$
    – Ébe Isaac
    Commented Mar 11, 2020 at 9:23
  • $\begingroup$ Rules variations are fine - when disclosed. But labeling a puzzle as something people (believe they) understand the rules for, and then not following those rules, is something altogether different. The vowelburger variants are advertised as variants so there’s no surprise. That makes a difference. $\endgroup$
    – Rubio
    Commented Mar 11, 2020 at 9:27
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    $\begingroup$ @Rubio I do agree, but I still believe that the link provided does not mislead the solvers. To add on, consider the famous Riley riddle: the affixes overlap. However, many of the most voted riddles don’t. But I must agree with you on the grounds that this is a variant. That I suppose must be edited into the puzzle :) $\endgroup$
    – Ébe Isaac
    Commented Mar 11, 2020 at 9:32

1 Answer 1

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I think it could be:

Clashed

With two, I’m similar

as

With three, I’m grey

ash

With four, I lose

shed

With five, I’m loud

clash

With six, I’ve suffered

lashed

With seven, I’ve fought

clashed

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1
  • $\begingroup$ Welcome to Puzzing, and congrats on your first accepted answer, Pete! $\endgroup$
    – Ébe Isaac
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 6:37

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