Braingle: 'Foursome' Brain Teaser

Foursome

Language brain teasers are those that involve the English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.

Puzzle ID:	#14660
Fun:	(3.04)
Difficulty:	(2.25)
Category:	Language
Submitted By:	geniusboy
Corrected By:	rashad

What is special about these four words?

what, hole, ales, test

Show Hint

Answer

If you take each corresponding letter from each word, the same words are formed again:

What Hole Ales Test

wHat hOle aLes tEst

whAt hoLe alEs teSt

whaT holE aleS tesT
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Comments

Gerd Sep 07, 2003	Wow! That's a great one.
geniusboy Sep 07, 2003	thanks! when i was thinking of it, the idea was to have the four words, and then take the first, second, third... letter of each to make four OTHER words, but they turned out to be the same words!! weird hey?!
Smithy Sep 07, 2003	What a great first teaser for you! Now you've got the highest average popularity on the whole site!
MrIxolite Sep 09, 2003	I was really impressed when I saw this in the editors section. Great teaser
marrianna Oct 06, 2003	Great Teaser!
crystalstar Jul 14, 2004	That was pretty easy, but it must have been harder thinking of all the words Good Job!
razor188 Oct 04, 2004	Great one. Caught me completley off guard. Took me forever and I still couldn't get it.
I_am_the_Omega Oct 04, 2004	what, hole, ales, test You can also (almost) make words out of the first letter and the other words. What+hole (W+hole)=Whole. Hole+ales (H+ales) = Hales. Ales+test (A+test)= Atest (not quite attest) lol
Isaiah4031 Oct 04, 2004	If you take the first letter of every word and pair them and the second letter of every word and the third letter of every word and the last letter of every word and pair them up with each other then you will get the same words.
henritku Oct 04, 2004
prty Oct 04, 2004	I think that this brain teser was a little 2 easy.
roddickgal90 Oct 04, 2004	I liked this teaser A LOT
mzpuddn Oct 05, 2004	I was stumped on this one until I read the hint, honestly, very nice one
catsrule101 Oct 10, 2004	Wow! That was really really cool. It was so clever. Excellent
Icykillamonkie Apr 16, 2005	Nice i liked that one
darthforman May 10, 2005	That is so weird Cool, man!!!!
Sunrose Oct 01, 2005	WOW!! Good Teaser, I enjoyed this one!!
redraptor50 Oct 04, 2005	I thought it was "what", oh well maybe next time..
NTaliesen Oct 04, 2005	Fun teaser I definately needed the hint.
NTaliesen Oct 04, 2005	Fun teaser I definately needed the hint.
bluehawk Oct 04, 2005	now that was good!!! i got it.
bluehawk Oct 04, 2005	now that was good!!! i got it.
shabz4lyf Oct 04, 2005	Better than good
ceeyaaa Oct 04, 2005	I got it immediately Amazing set of words...kind of spooky actually....love it
Angelli Oct 04, 2005	I actually liked this one, I'm Angelli and I am kinda new here, can I join in?
don_antonini Oct 04, 2005	harder pls...
jabdr Oct 04, 2005	Easy one but fun. Good job.
PENANDINK Oct 04, 2005	Great one! Clever!
gotabody Oct 04, 2005	I got it from d hint, yeah!!!!
mekaboo27 Oct 04, 2005	I could not figure out what the heck you were doing. When I saw the answer I was like what the heck I get it now. good one.
mekaboo27 Oct 04, 2005	I could not figure out what the heck you were doing. When I saw the answer I was like what the heck I get it now. good one.
terry Oct 04, 2005	very clever!
jbray Oct 04, 2005	way simple...but clever. someone should try a five or six letter word with that.
bund76 Oct 04, 2005	Very good!
neomajic Oct 04, 2005	I did it this way: what hole ales test
signmeup74 Oct 04, 2005	Excellent!!
Aarghonauts Oct 04, 2005	Dang! Fooled again! That was great!! Going into the favorites bin
maximo3491 Oct 04, 2005	Good Job, Well done. I got it!!
quantumpbrane Oct 04, 2005	clevvahhhh. i like it.
chaskey Oct 04, 2005	Too tough for me, but I enjoyed finding out the answer!
Trickster1992 Oct 04, 2005	Wow... That must've been the best teaser of the day yet! And I got it! WOOHOO!!!
lazy-boy Oct 04, 2005	very ingenious do more
ddoottie Oct 04, 2005	very cool, it was easy if you think about it ... MORE PLEASE!
jimmyb Oct 04, 2005	Eureka!!! WHAT glory HOLE is this?! We're rich, me boys! Let's go to the fleshpots and enjoy the cabaret girls, wine whiskey and ALES!! I can't think of anything else to do with all the gold. Have I failed the TEST? Sorry, I couldn't resist. This was such a lame-o braingle
iteachkids Oct 04, 2005	Lame, my big toe. It was BRILLIANT!
neomajic Oct 04, 2005	For those that didn't get my answer: Read the words vertically.
redneck_woman Oct 04, 2005	Exstremely clever, and in my faves. I regret to say I did not figure it out
brainybrain Oct 04, 2005	very nice!! did u make that up??? if u did... im looking foward to more of ur teasers!!!
jessjspieks Oct 04, 2005	Great job, really loved this teaser. I did not get it though
upper90xox Oct 04, 2005	wow! great one keep up the good work. WOW! im impressed
srichardson1066 Oct 04, 2005	Good one! I liked it a lot!
gumdrop480 Oct 04, 2005	Good job! I neva woulda got it! but thats just me...
Misty Oct 04, 2005	I just thouht It was WHAT but I didnt think about the other words! Good one!
brimama132 Oct 04, 2005	That's a great one!!! I'm gonna e-mail this to my friends!!!
dogboy Oct 04, 2005	i liked it... ..but... ...i didnt get it good teaser though
boriqua Oct 04, 2005	Cool
lindquist_25 Oct 04, 2005	That was pretty sweet.
POPS Oct 04, 2005	One of the best teasers I have ever seen. And I GOT IT , wow. Great job Will be added to my favorites
POPS Oct 04, 2005	One of the best teasers I have ever seen. And I GOT IT , wow. Great job Will be added to my favorites
Caim Oct 04, 2005	Teaser of the day! Great job, I added it to my favorites.
likeaboss92 Oct 04, 2005	Easy but fun.
DJNic Oct 04, 2005	wow great one very clever
shmily_me Oct 04, 2005	that is so cool
timon_dmlybots Oct 04, 2005	zzzzzzzz!!!!
bowwows1 Oct 04, 2005	wow...im speechless...
soccer_chick70 Oct 04, 2005	wow! that's Nifty!
mbunap Oct 04, 2005	Danced all around the answer, looking for something along those lines but still missed this one. I try to limit my time on language teasers. This is one of those on which I wish I had taken a bit more time. Good.
ginacs Oct 04, 2005	cool....zzzzzzzh
chinadoll_87 Oct 04, 2005	this was great! I was somewhere along the lines of the answer but I think i was thinking a little "too" hard... loved the teaser though...definitely going into lmy fav's...keep up the good work!
thimblenoggin Oct 05, 2005	How serendipitous!
ramjee Oct 05, 2005	Good One indeed!
litt1eME Oct 05, 2005	cool.
dbs241 Oct 06, 2005	Love it!
smarty_blondy Oct 09, 2005	Very well done, good job!
Haylie1506 Oct 10, 2005	Sadly...sniff...I didn't get it...
lifeisgood812 Oct 10, 2005	i loved this one!! it is one of my firsts, but i loved it
me-me Oct 16, 2005	if guys think this is easy than i must be relly bad at teasers or w/e this was but neways great job!!!!! it was awesome i just look at the answer cause i was nevah gonna get it
michelle3617 Oct 16, 2005	Yay! I actually got it!! That was good.
exterminator Dec 21, 2005	Excellent teaser!
sweetmama Jan 12, 2006	That was an excellent teaser. Keep that brain workin' so you can come up with some more of those.
iis2hyper4u Jun 28, 2006	i actually got it! in like less than a minute haha
kaakramer Oct 05, 2006	Good one. I got it right after I clicked on 'answer', but right before I looked at it...
Badger Oct 05, 2006	I got lucky and saw it as a word square right off. Perhaps because we've had so many word square anagrams as TOTD recently! Always fascinating. I'm curious to see how many more get it this time, than three years ago. Thanks for submitting!
tmking Oct 05, 2006	realy fun hint made it easy with out it i would never have gotten it
coachpisco Oct 05, 2006	Good one. I wonder how many more words you could do that with. Hmmmm....
bradon182001 Oct 05, 2006	I got it before looking at the hint, but the hint confirmed my decision.We've had so many tricky ones lately, I sometimes doubt my first impressions. Thanks for the great teaser.
Littlegal Oct 05, 2006	Clever teaser.
(user deleted) Oct 05, 2006	ok, ok. it's acceptable, but where did you come up with "ales"? Come on, a lot of people can come up with this "teaser".
kman613 Oct 05, 2006	For some reason, I saw the answer right away - but it was a fun and clever teaser.
saleprice Oct 05, 2006	Very clever, I got the `what` but couldn`t see the rest, WHAT a silly goose lol
locutus13ds Oct 05, 2006	I got the first word, but didn't realise that the other three wer also in positions 2-3-4-. Good one.
FatHead Oct 05, 2006	I was thinking slightly differently. They form a "word square"!
speedqueenkmw Oct 05, 2006	never had heard of a word square maybe I'll get the next one
schmedley9 Oct 05, 2006	So I like that one cuz it was simple and easy, not too hard. Or anything and it didn't waist my time like some of thee others that are fricken mailed t me!!!! Oh well have to go. -Schmeldy9
luvdoritos706 Oct 05, 2006	humm.....thats interesting.....good oone
patpat553 Oct 05, 2006	That was a hard one! Not really good at word anagrams. Didn't get it at all. Not even with the hint!
Badger Oct 05, 2006	It does make you wonder... GeniusBoy's overall score is zero. What's up with that? Not the first time I've seen this. Is he even getting our comments or pithy remarks, or has he long since left Braingle? Genius Boy, are you out there?
(user deleted) Oct 05, 2006	That was a great one.
geniusboy Oct 05, 2006	hey!! Yes i am out here still!! just have been quite dormant on this site for.. erm.. a couple of years! hehe.. thanks for all your comments though, and hopefully ill be able to start being more active on the site soon! take care all
FeaerFactorY666 Oct 05, 2006	Nice!
ari_1 Oct 05, 2006	lol sweeto
POPS Oct 05, 2006	Did not get it BUT it was fun trying
OhEmGee Oct 05, 2006	wow good one i liked it alot i couldnt guess it but i still liked it i think most of these teasers are to smart for me but i still like it!
OhEmGee Oct 05, 2006	i am so bored so resond to this comment!!!!!!!!! ok? thanks bye!
Shadowmist Oct 05, 2006	Simple and fun, I like it
SemiCharmedLife Oct 05, 2006	Very Cool~I liked this! And Jaxie just go away, you can't even SPELL Braingle! LOL!
RRAMMOHAN Oct 05, 2006	How nice! I was trying to interchange one letter from any one pair of the given words and make new words, but this didnt work out well in all cases. This is a fine word square in a slightly different form and so put me off.
blondebookworm Oct 05, 2006	wow
blondebookworm Oct 05, 2006	anyone who thinks this teaser is easy is crazy. That teaser was incredible! I added it to my favorites. I could never come up with someting like that
patpat553 Oct 05, 2006	Jaxie,since you're on this site,then I guess you're one of us now,huh? Welcome from all of us nerds!
marschie Oct 06, 2006	Isn't the answer some kind of word square?? I liked it!
jmg092548 Oct 07, 2006	Very fun. I'd suggest one small improvement: say "What's special about this set of four words (without the asterisks). I think that'd be slightly clearer than the way it's worded now. I'm planning on showing this to the students in my high school math class, where we're starting to study matrices. I bet they'll like it. What's it called when you have a square of words like that? I know it has a certain name ... Thanks again. Jim G.
vlerma Oct 09, 2006	Very nice job and I sure wasn't expecting a word square, but enjoyed it anyway. More please.
Qrystal Oct 13, 2006	I was sure I was stumped... clicked the answer link in the word of the day email, and while the page was loading I glanced down at where I had written my notes, to see if any last minute inspirations came to me.... and aha! I had written them like this: what hole ales test and I saw WHAT down the first column! and HOLE down the second! then ALES and TEST! And I was like, wow, it's a word square, cool, and I got it! (Much like neomajic did, I presume.) Before I got it, all I could think of was: "let's test what hole is for ales!" (because it would be a great excuse to open a beer and pour some down my throat!) (and because I didn't see the hint until after I got the answer)
ViaTunisi Jan 26, 2007	got it without the hint
solarsistim321 Feb 20, 2007	Very well written. I would have never thought of that.
gamer6 Jul 01, 2007	awesome!!!
princesspt Sep 28, 2007	thats pretty neat
Shelilah Jun 21, 2009	Wow, that's cool!
valencia Jul 28, 2009	that was really cool
dalfamnest Oct 05, 2009	Good one! Thanks.
quesadillaman12 Oct 05, 2009	You can also put it in a 4x4 square, but it's basically the same thing. WHAT HOLE ALES TEST Reading across or down gets you the same 4 words.
doehead Oct 05, 2009	I thought it was on the easy side.But it was interesting.
jcann Oct 05, 2009	I couldn't get it till I read the hint. That gave it away right away. I thought it was a good teaser!
auntiesis Oct 05, 2009	I used to love doing word squares, so I got it right away. Great job.
UptheHill Oct 05, 2009	NICE!
avonma Oct 05, 2009	It WAS easy, but fun! I don't know how you made it up, but it works, and that's neat!
hubbamutt777 Oct 05, 2009	AWESOME TEASER!!!! i luvd it!!!! i did't get it, but i feel insanely happy right now, so it must have been a good one. def going into my faves!!
leroyleroy Oct 05, 2009	AWESOME
precious1026 Oct 05, 2009	It's good to see a clue, its answer in a common vein. Everyone seems to understand the clue and the answer. I have NO idea as to what either means. Common Ground is or could be nature's way. This Teaser made no sense to me at all. PM and explain. I don't like being the odd or only one OUT or ALONe
hubbamutt777 Oct 07, 2009	the question was "what is special about these words?", meaning, what special thing can you do with all of them? the hint said "this wouldn't work if the words were listed in a different order" meaning if you put the words in a square: WHAT HOLE ALES TEST and changed it HOLE TEST ALES WHAT they wouldn't say each other if you looked down each row do u get it now? -Hailee a.k.a. hubbamutt777
Babe Oct 05, 2012	I agree with precious! Trust me, you are not alone. I enjoy the comments more than the teaser. All you people saying it is easy must have been doing this sort of thing for a long time. I had no idea what to even look for!
gaylewolf Oct 05, 2012	I didn't get this one, but I loved it! Very clever.
iggy39 Oct 05, 2012	great one. I loved it.