Note: the directions to this puzzle only SEEM complicated, so shed no tears…
I don’t know whether it’s the heat or the humidity, but something sure is causing a lot of shedding in my house. Every day I come home from work and lie out in front of the air conditioner-- after shedding most of my clothes. My poor panting dog is putting out hairs everywhere. The three cats, all of whom are normally quite tidy, are now leaving fur balls in every nook and cranny of the home. Heck, even the guinea pig is shedding! I guess it is just that time of year. So it comes as no surprise that the puzzle words are shedding too.
This week’s puzzle centers around a group of words with something in common. That is, they all relate to the same key theme word in the same certain way. My plan was to define these, the original words, but before I could do so, all the words shed either a single letter or a segment block of 2 or more letters. After the shedding occured, new words were formed. It is these new words, in alphabetical order, that are defined below.
Example:
Original word: BIOTOP
New word: BOP
Shedding: IOT
Definition of new word: “___ 'til you drop.” (3)
Once you have answered the somewhat easy definitions, add back in a shed letter or letter segment to each new word. A shed segment of letters is never separated and should be inserted before, after, or into the new word as is. It is up to you to determine which shed letter or segment goes with which new word. Once you have found most of the original words, the key theme word should be obvious.
One final problem: a few of the new words and a few of the shed letters or letter segments won’t match up. The solver may, however, take the few unmatchable new words, order them properly, and read them out loud. He/she would then find the event that inspired this puzzle.
And, if the solver takes the remaining unused shed letters and letter segments and orders them correctly, the result will be a refreshing way to deal with all of this.
Definitions of the new words:
- Exist (2)
- Hamburger Roll (3)
- “___ unto others as…” (2)
- Follow, as advice (4)
- Cads (5)
- Garden waterer (4)
- Whip, or part of the eye (4)
- Past due (4)
- Masculine (4)
- Horse–the type that might be seen at night on Elm Street? (4)
- “____ if by land…”(3)
- New England football team, for short (4)
- For each, as in “1 ____ customer only!” (3)
- Weed or grass (3)
- Rover, wine, or light (3)
- Defeat the contract, in bridge (3)
- Performs in the choir (5)
- Undersides of shoes or feet (5)
- More than a few, but less than many (4)
- Drunkard (3)
- “____ the season to be…” (3)
- Doll or similar plaything (3)
- Overhead direction (2)
- WWF’s Raw is _______ (3)
- To have on, as a shirt (4)
Shed letter and letter segments:
A, AD, ATO, D, DD, EA, ED, EPP, F, G, H, IC, N, P, PR, SO, T, TA, TE, TEMPE, THE, TTO, U, W, Z
What are the new words? What are the original words? What is the key theme word? What is the event? What is the leftover shed letter result?