When I saw an email in my inbox earlier this week from Will Shortz, I assumed it was a form letter. When I opened it to see this Sunday’s date and the upcoming puzzle, I thought somehow the email had inadvertently been sent to me.
And then I realized it was one of my puzzles – the first one I’ve ever had used on the NPR Sunday Puzzle.
“This week’s challenge: This puzzle also involves rhymes. It comes from listener James Matthews of Little Rock, Ark. Think of a common 7-letter word. Drop its second letter, and you’ll get a 6-letter word that does not rhyme with the first. Alternatively, you can drop the third letter from the 7-letter word to get a 6-letter word that doesn’t rhyme with either of the first two. Further, you can drop both the second and third letters from the 7-letter word to get a 5-letter word that doesn’t rhyme with any of the others. What words are these?”