A very minor bagatelle this time – in hopes that someone can help me expand this list.
What do the following words have in common?
AHA
MAT
TAO
TOOT
WOW
YAM
Words that failed their audition:
AWAY
EMIT
MOTTO
MOUTH
TOMATO
WHY
They all form a legitimate word when spelled backward.
Except that emit spells time.
So close and yet…
Hint:
Look more closely.
Don’t know if it’s what you had in mind but:
Having the first and last letter change places produces a legitimate word (either the same for the palindromes, or different for the others) among the first group, but not for the second set.
They don’t reverse in a mirror?
ala “choice”, like in Still Life With Woodpecker.
And brujaja gets it – they’re words that are also words if you look at them in a mirror.
twicks, who’s glimpsed herself in the mirror wearing a CAPE MAY sweatshirt once too often
Here’s one:
What do these words have in common?
ELBOWS
BALANCED
GRIMACES
SHAKESPEARE
CROSSWORDS
They all contain weapons? Bow(s), Lance, Mace(s), Spear, and Sword(s), respectively.
I like that game where you take a word, and change one letter at a time to make another word, until you reach its opposite. (they have to be the same # of letters) The only one I have tried that won’t work is changing “spring” to “winter”. You know, like
HATE
LATE
LAVE
LOVE
That is correct. Only about 30 minutes too.
How about:
Mellow
Slack
Clue
Grown
Bold
Change one letter to make a color. Yellow, Black, Blue, Brown, Gold; respectively. 
You are really smart.
Yeah, I quit.
Actually, here’s one more set.
Winnebago
Tobacco
Chinook
Laguna
Mobile
Mono
Yazoo
Easy actually.
Native American tribes? Just a guess based on a few that fit the description.
I give up!
But I’ll be back with more tomorrow!
Haha, that one was a lucky guess. I’m usually better at actual manipulation of words and numbers, rather than the “what’s missing from this group” or “what do these have in common” type, if you know what I mean.
“Mobile” was a Native American tribe? “Yazoo”? Wow…