Friday Word Puzzle

Sometimes, a small word is contained in a longer word. For example, you can see the three-letter word rid tucked nicely inside Friday in the title for this post, and zip can be found in the middle of marzipan.

Some folks have told me that the following word-in-a-word is particularly appropriate for this blog…

…since my puns put the UGH in LAUGHTER.

Words within words are the basis of today’s puzzle.

Complete each of the nine words below by placing a three-letter word in the blank. The three-letter words that you use all belong to the same category. But there is a tenth three-letter word from the same category that is not used below. What is the category, and what is the missing word?

1. OB _ _ _ D
2. C _ _ _ PY
3. M _ _ _ OT
4. PH _ _ _ M
5. H _ _ _ SE
6. VE _ _ _ D
7. CA _ _ _ OU
8. EL _ _ _ SE
9. LE _ _ _ E

When I started to create this puzzle, I was hoping to give you a similar list in which a short math word was found in a longer word. I found several, but they seem pretty darn hard, and the missing words aren’t always obviously mathy. But for fun, you can try your hand at these, too…

1. D _ _ _ Y
2. AS _ _  _ E
3. SE _ _ _ H
4. BU _ _ _ _ SS
5. EL _ _ _ _ TH
6. C _ _ _ _ RA
7. RU _ _ _ _ NT
8. SH _ _ _ _ BLE
9. BRA _ _ _ _ ILD
10. HU _ _ _ _ D
11. PR _ _ _ _ _ IFY
12. RE _ _ _ _ NT
13. WA _ _ _ _ ELON
14. DE _ _ _ _ OR
15. HO _ _ _ _ SS
16. H _ _ _ _ HOG
17. IM _ _ _ _ ST

 

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ANSWERS

1. OB eye D
2. C hip PY
3. M arm OT
4. PH leg M
5. H ear SE
6. VE toe D
7. CA rib OU
8. EL lip SE
9. LE gum E

The three-letter words are all parts of the body. The tenth word in that category is jaw, which never appears in the interior of a longer word (only at the beginning or end, such as jawbone or lockjaw).

1. D add Y
2. AS sum E
3. SE arc H
4. BU sine SS
5. EL even TH
6. C hole RA
7. RU dime NT
8. SH area BLE
9. BRA inch ILD
10. HU more D
11. PR equal IFY
12. RE side NT
13. WA term ELON
14. DE mean OR
15. HO line SS
16. H edge HOG
17. IM mode ST