Find the common theme

I’ve posted things like this before and somebody always gets the answer almost as soon as I post it, but I thought this one was tough enough to risk it again.

The answer is a 5-letter word.

It’s the common theme of these things:

Tight Fit
Base Runner
Issue
Lock
Bridge Bid
Smile

I had to do a web search on combinations of these words/phrases before I could even get close.

What’s you best guess? (I’ll use the source of this puzzle as the “definitive” answer.)

With 51 views and no replies I can only assume this is as tough for you folks as it was for me.

Hint: the answer is a 5-letter verb

force?

Squeeze?

Uh, the Dutch version with only five letters.

That’s the one. Tough one, right?

:smack: Of course.

Gah. See, it’s one of those things where when you say it, I know it.
That makes no sense. Stop throwing sticks at me!

I thought of that and even “close” but they didn’t work.

Say, Robot Arm, since you got the one from the OP, why not post a new one of your own? No point letting a good thread go to waste.

Well, I read this before you posted the hint and was pretty lost. But there wasn’t any context; was this in a Mensa test, a magazine, were there other, similar questions? Were you looking for a word that meant the same as each item in the list, or a word that could go with them to make another phrase, or what? Posted the way you did, it was kinda hard to know what sort of answer you were looking for.

Try this one, though; it’s not nearly so difficult:

nest
sterile
Mrs. Robinson

On preview: I wrote that without seeing the previous post. Now that you’ve issued the challenge, I’ll try to come up with a better one.

Well, the idea for the thread came directly from today’s “Common Knowledge” puzzle at Puzzability which is one of my daily stops for puzzles and games. Most of the time they’re fairly easy, but now and then they throw in a real head-scratcher and it takes waiting a day to get the answer.

As for your three-clue thing, all that jumps to mind is “cuckoo” with some doubt about the Mrs. Robinson connection. Is it the “coo coo coochoo” thing? Or am I totally off base?

Coo-coo-ca-choo, Zeldar; correct, of course.

They do these kinds of puzzles sometimes on one of my favorite radio shows, Says You! Not only does the panel usually get them right, they’re very funny while doing it. One that I remember:

“Banjo, Bartok and Bloodsucker”
“Those are my attorneys.”

I’m better at Odd-Man-Out than Common-Threads; I’ve got a few good ones of those.

I keep meaning to listen to Says You! but since I get Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me online I just never remember to check the radio version of Says You.

Maybe the Odd-Man-Out twist would be a good way to go. Give us an example one.

Would it be something like:

First
Second
Shortstop
Eighth

My favorite that I came up with is:

Who’s the odd-man-out of…

George Lazenby
Pope Pius XII
Hugh Downs
Benjamin Harrison

There is some trait shared by three of those people that’s not shared by the fourth. Five points for telling me who is the odd man out, an additional five for telling me why. (Channeling the host of Says You! there.)

It doesn’t have to be people either. Could be almost anything, for any reason.

saw
blue
lemon
fern
[ul]
[/ul]

That’d be fern - the others go with grass.

Yes.

The other one is kinda tough. I’ll give a hint:Benjamin Harrison was not chosen at random. Among U.S. presidents, there’s something unique about him.

deleted

Maybe another clue/hint? This one has me baffled since I know so little about any of these folks. Lazenby did one shot at James Bond, Hugh Downs was a sidekick for a long time before getting his own show, but I can’t think of anything about the other two guys. At first I thought bachelors, but Hugh has been married.

Go to Benjamin Harrison’s page at Wikipedia. Under his picture are some basic facts about him. One (or two) of them might be important.

tea
pizza
heaven
prophecy