Questions tagged [english]
Puzzles that crucially depend on some feature of the English language or that only work in an English formulation.
319
questions
12
votes
1answer
207 views
Bill and Dan's Journey
What is this story about?
(Apologies if at the end I improperly announce the answer.)
Bill and Dan bravely ventured forth, eagerly hiking towards a notorious outcrop. Traipsing through the water ...
9
votes
1answer
199 views
Foul Psychology Question
According to our psychology examination, Mr. X
Is afraid of heights as well as the cookie monster under his bed (1)
Prefers to work late into the night (2)
Has 20/20 vision with perfect ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
What do we call not being behind on time but rather “stuck” or with the times? [closed]
Behind on time, and haven't caught up. No one cares, except those who's time is stuck. Stuck where? Not behind. It's stuck with the times.
mention: it's only 1 word
note: I have no idea what's the ...
8
votes
1answer
166 views
What are T Words and M Words?
I have two categories of English words. (Some English words are in neither category, and some are in both.) Use the examples below to determine the categories' membership criteria and explain the ...
0
votes
0answers
142 views
What is a TRUE Union Word™?
In the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee, a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.
More specifically, this is an extended Word™ puzzle, built on the base of What Is a ...
6
votes
3answers
362 views
Who / what am I?
I can be in many places when you talk, and there is more to me than just intention.
Some say I am bad. I mean, I am... but maybe you will understand that sometimes I am needed for a happy ending.
...
5
votes
3answers
251 views
0
votes
2answers
135 views
iEnglish word and its secret Puzzle [closed]
Many students pass their A-Levels (UK), High School Degree or their countries' equivalent. Most of them passionately have to study mathematics and in one of their courses, they might have heard:
...
6
votes
2answers
264 views
A Fairy Chess Ladder
This is yet a fairyly ordinary word ladder on the chessboard.
Sequence:
PAWN > KNIGHT > ROOK > QUEEN > KING
Rules:
Each step you can do ONE of the following:
1) Add a letter
2) ...
12
votes
2answers
239 views
I Want Some Ice Cream
This is similar to the What is a Word/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles. Giving credit where credit is due.
I was sitting at Landra Hort's Mystery Ice ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
Unconventional Opposites
We all know that many words can be made opposite by adding 'un' or 'ir' in front, but have you ever heard of opposites made by adding other letters in the middle?
I've given the letters that you ...
5
votes
1answer
102 views
What is an Outside Word™?
In the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee, a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.
If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it an Outside Word™.
Use the examples ...
3
votes
1answer
121 views
Minimum number puzzle!
What is the minimum number of letters required to satisfy all the following clues?
"especially bad" "earth's counterpart" "flows one-way,
strictly" "release as outward flow"
"being this is ...
-2
votes
1answer
55 views
Archive Trouble
Inspired by The Vowel Eater. Thanks, @JonMark Perry!
A vowel,-space,-and-punctuation-eating monster and a paper-ripping monster have broken into the Federal Archives of the United States! (oh no!)
...
12
votes
1answer
462 views
My suffix is short for the place where you are…
My suffix is short for the place where you are,
My infix for who,
My prefix for where you can learn about what's
Mistaken for me in a crowd at least two.
To echo a riddle that's ...
34
votes
1answer
2k views
Took a trip to a parallel universe, need help deciphering
I recently traveled to a parallel universe where the people wrote in a symbol-heavy language seemingly derived from English. While there, I attended various sorts of collegiate lectures to get a feel ...
13
votes
3answers
1k views
From jafe to El-Guest
Largely inspired by From Puzzling to StackExchange by CodeNewbie
From jafe to El-Guest
jafe > cafe > cate > cete > cet > get > gest > egest > e gest > e guest > el guest
Rules:
In any move, you ...
9
votes
3answers
348 views
Between two walls
For each box, the given words can be divided into four groups of four words each, according to some criteria. The names of the resulting categories can in turn be used to find out a final two-word ...
3
votes
3answers
575 views
Word-Letter Ladder
Inspired by this
What is the longest word you can form by using other words arranged in alphabetical order, and making a ladder out of their letters.
Example: (8 letters - Identity)
...
17
votes
5answers
2k views
Second-rate spelling
Find the longest word which can be spelled with the second letters of a group words in alphabetical order. An example with incomprehensible (16 letters):
a...
40
votes
1answer
3k views
The Late Queen Gives in to Remorse - Reverse Hangman
Add a "C", I am what has been,
Add a "G", I might be a queen,
Add a "P", I'll turn away from sin
Add an "L" and I may just give in.
This is a Reverse Hangman puzzle, see here for an example.
...
8
votes
4answers
621 views
Unusual letter combinations 2
I really liked this puzzle so I made my own version of it!
I'll give you an unusual set of letters which are present consicutively in one* word in the English language (and possibly its derivatives, ...
5
votes
2answers
255 views
Word Rectangle #2
As with my previous puzzle, this is an unfinished word rectangle:
Can you fill in the blanks?
When completed, every row will contain a common English word with five letters, and every column will ...
4
votes
12answers
2k views
English Logic Puzzle [closed]
On this site, I found this:
"If some Smaugs are Thors and some Thors are Thrains, then some Smaugs are definitely Thrains."
Options: TRUE, FALSE, NEITHER
The answer given is FALSE. However, I ...
5
votes
2answers
668 views
Incomplete Word Rectangle
This is an incomplete word rectangle:
When completed, every row will contain a common English word with four letters, and every column will contain a word with five letters. All of these are common ...
14
votes
2answers
629 views
What can this rebus solve? How can this rebus be solved?
This is my first rebus, constructive suggestions are welcome. Enjoy!
Mistake: the diagonal of the green circle on the right should be from the top right to the bottom left instead of from the top ...
0
votes
1answer
153 views
ENCRYPTED MESSAGE
I have been given a code to break, and I did frequency analysis on it, but I cannot go any further due to the fact that I am not clear on where are the spaces between words, so in example I present ...
3
votes
4answers
153 views
Cyclical sentences
Are there any sentences that could be written on a cylinder and merge their finish into their start, such that they form a valid sentence no matter where the reader begins?
11
votes
3answers
379 views
A unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds? Inexorably!
With great economy and without superfluous, exaggerated, flowery speech, please elucidate how to determine clearly and precisely what the beautiful, ornate, stupendous Word Of The Day is.
My extreme ...
19
votes
2answers
505 views
Vole Wizard Hovels
The following nine ten words (thank you Bass) are the only words in the entire English language* that have a certain extraordinary property:
bevy
by
girt
grit
hovels
lo
vole
wizard
wold
What is that ...
21
votes
4answers
2k views
Rarer for younger, yet also the opposite
I am a common word that refers to a person.
I rarely refer to very young people – in fact, the older a person is, the more likely they are to be called me.
However, if you pick two random ...
3
votes
1answer
119 views
An unexpected storyteller (2)
This puzzle is a little similar to a previous one of mine: An unexpected storyteller
In the story, you are ultimately looking for 26 words. Although finding all the words is part of the puzzle, the ...
7
votes
1answer
122 views
Statements in Java
Each code block translates to a specific statement in English. There is a theme behind the statements. As code puzzles tend to be "easier" (relative to other PSE puzzles) than expected, it will not be ...
4
votes
3answers
376 views
Who is John's favourite painter?
John being his usual self forgot the name of his favourite painter. He went to the Oracle for assistance but inadvertently walked in on her while she was busy eating pie. Angry at the interruption, ...
7
votes
5answers
217 views
Find the phrases
There are 4 words: A, B, C, and D
A and B are synonymous verbs.
C and D are two letter words.
A C D and B C D are English phrases (mostly American) with opposite meaning from each other.
What ...
13
votes
7answers
4k views
Basic manners in the UK [closed]
You are a foreigner with heavy accent living in the UK. If you want to be polite getting off public transport, you can say a number and a letter to the driver.
Which number and which letter?
9
votes
3answers
213 views
The Word Am I (Riley riddle)
This Riley I hope you like!
Out there, out there, my prefix you cannot find
An endless line, a stanza, is what my infix is
Lost one in many, and my suffix I become
The word am I, as you are ...
10
votes
1answer
240 views
A Geography-ish Riddle
Here's another riddle of mine, albeit one that's not as hard:
The name of which national capital city sounds as if it's composed of two Greek letters?
29
votes
7answers
1k views
A Riddle of Mine
I came up with this riddle a few years ago, and so far very few people have been able to solve it:
Think of a four-letter word (“_ _ _ _”) such that adding an A to the beginning (“a _ _ _ _”) changes ...
41
votes
5answers
3k views
Unusual letter combinations
This is an entry in the Fortnightly Topic Challenge #41: Short and Sweet.
English spelling is very strange. Sometimes you encounter words with letter combinations that would seem entirely ...
21
votes
2answers
1k views
Sharp or surprising?
Sharp
BR
C
CH
DH
H
N
PR
V
W
Surprising
BL
CR
FL
GL
KN
L
M
SH
SL
SN
ST
THR
T
Both sharp and surprising
B
R
S
Question
Is GR sharp, surprising or both? Why?
-5
votes
3answers
185 views
Simple and political question [closed]
I'm a man who rule my country,
I'm the only rule my country,
While others are my troops, my commanders, and my commoners,
My system was "one-person".
What am i?
-5
votes
1answer
97 views
“Place a single square on the soil, place a firs…” [duplicate]
Place a single piece of square on the soil,
place a first stick vertically on above of a single piece of square,
place a second stick horizontally on above of the first stick,
What symbol did you get?
-3
votes
2answers
126 views
Place a single ring on the soil, Place a fir [closed]
Place a single piece of ring on the soil,
Place a first stick vertically on above of a single piece of ring,
Place a second stick vertically on below of a single piece of ring.
What symbol did you get?...
5
votes
6answers
1k views
My First Mosquito Bite
Help! I just moved houses into an area with many mosquitoes. However, I haven't been outside all week - ever since the first bump appeared on my skin. What's happening to me? Is this some weird sort ...
20
votes
9answers
6k views
Why will my friend have to grow his beard out?
Knowledge required for this riddle: English-language proverbs.
My friend Leonard came to me with a problem the other day. He said, “Tanner, I want to have a clean-shaven face. But every time I use a ...
11
votes
4answers
2k views
This is simple: Just fill in the blank
Newspaper Headline
Insect Researcher Carroll Appleton alongside grandson Adam discover
underground wormhole networks.
Recover ________ earthworms.
Fill in the blank. Following are the choices
...
12
votes
2answers
347 views
Cannibalistic Words
Drawing from the word pool below, find the twelve Cannibalistic Words.
(Note the no-computers and logical-deduction tags.)
WILD
_ _ ☐ _ _ _ _ ☐
PENS
☐ _ _ _ _ ☐ _ _
DEED
_ _ _ ☐ ☐ _ _ _
BLED
...
34
votes
1answer
2k views
Can you follow Directions?
Unemployed? Lk no further!
Are you:
Able to follow directions?
Able to read Flowcharts?
Highly motivated?
Able to count on your hands and feet without utilizing your big toes and thumbs?
Well ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views
A New Simple Riley
I have created another Riley in my down time today and I hope it is neither too easy, nor hard. As always, good luck to all of you, and have fun!
I see the prefix, a letter you seek; look to the ...
