The usual – what do the following words have in common?
BY
CASE
COLD
COPE
DO
FOND
GAZE
HE
MOTH
SATE
STANCH
TAPE
Not quite as usual, there’s one that will totally give it away, so I’ll put it in a spoiler box:
POPLAR
Returning to the usual – pls. guess either by adding additional possibilities, or by stating your guess in a spoiler box, so that those coming along more than five minutes from now can also play. 
You were right; the spoiler definitely gave it away. Now I’m cursing my fingers for being so irresistibly drawn to spoiler boxes. Don’t give in!
CLOD
PROD
POND
And yes, the spoiler box word gave it away–although I’m not entirely sure that it wasn’t just because it was treated as a spoiler rather than as a regular member of the pile.
Only one of these works. Which one?
Deleted because all three looked good to me.
I have no idea. There is apparently a subtlety I’m missing.
Nope, sorry, “deleted” doesn’t work.
POND!
I feel smart today - I finally got one of your word play threads 
POND
psst… Eureka
The U has to be inserted in the middle.
Then why don’t the other 2 work?
Oh, you mean the EXACT middle.
Nice work, all!
Gotcha. I spent way too much time pouring over the list . . .
checking whether the U had to be added before the vowel, or after the vowel, and not enough time checking the overall number of letters. Oh, well.
I don’t know if it’s stretching the rule, but you can do odd-lettered ones too:
BAD
FAN
DAB
LAD
AROSE
TROPE
But then the placement isn’t in the exact middle, which was part of the premise.
ROSE
BOND