Brain Teasers
Triple Homophones
See if you can figure out three words that are homophones of each other in each of the five problems below.
1. Worthless - flat piece moving with the air - blood vessel
2. Path or direction - to measure weight - watery part of milk
3. Having no money - careful study; microscopic hole - to flow freely
4. Warty frog - having toes - pulled ahead
5. A cry - welt; corduroy ridge - large oceanic mammal
1. Worthless - flat piece moving with the air - blood vessel
2. Path or direction - to measure weight - watery part of milk
3. Having no money - careful study; microscopic hole - to flow freely
4. Warty frog - having toes - pulled ahead
5. A cry - welt; corduroy ridge - large oceanic mammal
Answer
1. Vain - vane - vein2. Way - weigh - whey
3. Poor - pore - pour
4. Toad - toed - towed
5. Wail - wale - whale
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Comments
Good, got stuck with number two.
great teaser
Vain does not mean worthless; it means conceited.
"CSLANE Vain does not mean worthless; it means conceited. "
Actually CSLANE, there are four definitions for the v-a-i-n you make reference to. According to Merriam-Webster, the word is defined:
1 : having no real value : IDLE, WORTHLESS
2 : marked by futility or ineffectualness : UNSUCCESSFUL, USELESS *vain efforts to escape*
3 archaic : FOOLISH, SILLY
4 : having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements : CONCEITED
Actually CSLANE, there are four definitions for the v-a-i-n you make reference to. According to Merriam-Webster, the word is defined:
1 : having no real value : IDLE, WORTHLESS
2 : marked by futility or ineffectualness : UNSUCCESSFUL, USELESS *vain efforts to escape*
3 archaic : FOOLISH, SILLY
4 : having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements : CONCEITED
good teaser. I finally thought it out correctly.
No, Vein spelled with an E is an blood vessel, small, but a body part. Vain with an A is conceit, and vain, again with an A, is useless or without effort, result or without hope, but not Worthless. Just wanted to add my two, too to cents, sense or scents.
If you do something "in vain" it had no worthwhile result, hence, worthless.
Before the above comment became applicable, I wanted to say that, as you can see by my name, I loved this quiz and got them all immediately. Thanks!
Before the above comment became applicable, I wanted to say that, as you can see by my name, I loved this quiz and got them all immediately. Thanks!
Very good teaser! I tried, in vain, on #1, but got the others! How ironic!
According to the pronunciation key in my dictionary, "poor" is not a homophone of "pore" or "pour"
Nice1!!!
I'm not sure where you're from, but in my parts of the USA, "poor", "whey", and "whale" are not homophones of their two associated words. Once I figured out your loose standards (there just aren't that many triples in English), the puzzle was still interesting. I suggest adding "near-" in the instructions, just for us pedants.
I my dialect, "poor" does not rhyme with the other two. The clue should not include a form of the word, so "measure weight" should be "measure mass" (technically different, but correct in riddle space). Also "having toes" should be "having pedal digits". Good teaser.
Norcekri, what is your problem with "whey" and "whale"? Very few people distinguish "wh" from "w".
Any good dictionary should have a pronunciation key. The parentheses after a bold entry contains the prunciation(s) of the word. 'Whey" and "weigh" are both pronounced as "way". 'Whale" and "'wale" are pronounced as "wail" Look it up!
Picky, picky. Poor worked for me, as did whey. Fun, easy teaser Worthless is a bit off for vain, but its close enough that you could still get the teaser with ease.
This the English Language we are dealing with. Their are formal rules about meaning, spelling and pronunciation. There is a refrence work to use if a quetion arises concerning any of those items for a given word. It isnn't a matter of personal opinion. "Vain" has several meanings, as do many English words, one of those is : with out value; worthless. Look it up!
Some people don't like the aspect of having fun with the teasers and must be to the point of perfection and seriousness in order to ruin the fun for others. Thanks for the comments either way. Or should I say whey, eh?
Very nice reddragon!
Though I agree with some of the comment regarding the pronunciation of some of the "homophones" I still think it was a fun teaser. If we want to get techincal, a toad and a frog are not the same animal, so warty frog for toad is not valid either.
I agree with an above poster that we should just have fun with the teasers and quizzes and not make such a big deal out fo them not being perfect. Unless of course you yourself ARE perfect then feel free to criticize others. It is much harder than you may think to make a unique and interesting teaser.
I agree with an above poster that we should just have fun with the teasers and quizzes and not make such a big deal out fo them not being perfect. Unless of course you yourself ARE perfect then feel free to criticize others. It is much harder than you may think to make a unique and interesting teaser.
Nice teaser! Couldn't figure out number 4 though But i figured out the other 4
Missed #5
I loved it! I missed the first one, but loved the 'aha' moments I got from the other four! Thank you-
I loved this one too. I got them all - by just recognizing one of the words in each example, I was able to get them all. Thanks for a fun one that's right up my alley!
You should really amend it to NEAR-homophones to be honest.
4. Warty frog - having toes - pulled ahead
A toad is not always a frog or vice versa - it's mainly down to local custom. Towing requires the item to be behind, not ahead ( I know how you meant it) - we push things ahead and pull along behind. Try it like this instead:
4. Frog-like animal - having toes - pulled along.
Good effort though.
4. Warty frog - having toes - pulled ahead
A toad is not always a frog or vice versa - it's mainly down to local custom. Towing requires the item to be behind, not ahead ( I know how you meant it) - we push things ahead and pull along behind. Try it like this instead:
4. Frog-like animal - having toes - pulled along.
Good effort though.
Also commenting on towed, toad, toed. In the northern US if you "pulled ahead" you passed somebody/something. When something is towed, it is behind (hopefully) the towing or tow vehicle.
I have been told to keep my cute comments to myself and so I will however I'd like the quiz Not mention any names but it bugs Me.
I couldn't come up with poor/pore/pour.
Nice one. I enjoyed it.
Nice one. I enjoyed it.
My goodness, where is everyone? Here in East Tenn. it is 8:30. Okay. Good teaser. I got all but the first one, and I, too, can hear a difference in MY pronounciation of whey, but so what? it was a good one.
Nicely done, reddragon. Superb teaser.
And the weeping and wailing about "close" homophones should be reserved for the anal-perfectionists.
This is not a PhD language exam. It's a brain teaser puzzle-site. As such it is given that it allows (nay, REQUIRES) a bit of the "intuitive leap" to solve, sometimes. And "intuitive leaping" - by definition - is something far less than precise.
Else that ... it's no fun at all.
_________________________
Here's the latest update on the five most recent teaser submittals and the current number of comments:
"Pump It Up", 3
"Many Forms", 0
"Anagram Dictionary 4", 0
"Line Drawings 5", 0
"Try to Spy the Odd One Out", 2
Anyone who wishes to contest, differ, squeal, deny, or argue about these facts please PM me.
There are those - here - who wish to be insulated against such "uncomfortable truths".
(still laughing)
US
And the weeping and wailing about "close" homophones should be reserved for the anal-perfectionists.
This is not a PhD language exam. It's a brain teaser puzzle-site. As such it is given that it allows (nay, REQUIRES) a bit of the "intuitive leap" to solve, sometimes. And "intuitive leaping" - by definition - is something far less than precise.
Else that ... it's no fun at all.
_________________________
Here's the latest update on the five most recent teaser submittals and the current number of comments:
"Pump It Up", 3
"Many Forms", 0
"Anagram Dictionary 4", 0
"Line Drawings 5", 0
"Try to Spy the Odd One Out", 2
Anyone who wishes to contest, differ, squeal, deny, or argue about these facts please PM me.
There are those - here - who wish to be insulated against such "uncomfortable truths".
(still laughing)
US
... correction ...
"Anagram Dictionary 4" has ... 1
"Anagram Dictionary 4" has ... 1
Fairly easy, but in my neck of the woods poor and pore do not sound alike. But they are close enough that I didn't have any trouble getting it. Liked it a lot. Fun.
I should have mentioned earlier ....
About the "intuitive leap" in problem-solving.
Those of you who can't do it ....
And you KNOW who you are .....
Must, therefore, rely on somebody else's printed page - or opinion - on what is true ... and not true.
US (BadBunnee, LittlelBrownElf, BadBunnee02, LGM)
About the "intuitive leap" in problem-solving.
Those of you who can't do it ....
And you KNOW who you are .....
Must, therefore, rely on somebody else's printed page - or opinion - on what is true ... and not true.
US (BadBunnee, LittlelBrownElf, BadBunnee02, LGM)
Initially I was dismayed by the use of only approximate homophones that were included with the actual homophones. Poor, whey and whale didn't seem to belong in the homophone sets. Amazingly, though, my spouse pronounced poor, pour and pore alike, and agreed with the teaser on each of the sets of homophones. How could that be? I looked up the Cambridge online dictionary, and, at least in American English, poor has a pronunciation different from that of pore and pour. There were two pronunciations for whale, the first, with the "h" sound, the second, without. The second would sound like wail or wale. For whey, the same pronunciation was given as for way, though I pronounce them differently. In the article, "Phonological history of wh" in Wikipedia, I found some answers for these inconsistencies. There has been a w/wh merger. In accents with the merger, pairs like wine/whine, wet/whet, weather/whether, wail/whale, wear/where, don't have the"h" pronounced and sound alike. The merger is not found in Scotland, Ireland, and parts of the U.S. In the U.S., the Southeast is the area most likely not to have this merger, and almost 50% pronounce wine/whine as separate pronunciations. My spouse and I live in the Southeast U.S. and split 50/50 on this.
But I'm not in the majority. In all, in the U.S. and Canada, about 83% of respondents in a survey had the merger completely, while about 17% had at least some trace of the distinction. So it appears, for most of us, this teaser works fine. Despite the toad/frog bit and the pulled ahead/pulled behind difference, it was a fun, and I have to admit, valid teaser.
But I'm not in the majority. In all, in the U.S. and Canada, about 83% of respondents in a survey had the merger completely, while about 17% had at least some trace of the distinction. So it appears, for most of us, this teaser works fine. Despite the toad/frog bit and the pulled ahead/pulled behind difference, it was a fun, and I have to admit, valid teaser.
I love homophones. Thanks for this puzzle.
I love homophones. Thanks for this puzzle.
I loved this puzzle. Very fun, and requiring just enough thinking to solve.
I also enjoyed the comments regarding homophones, although I wish they were more directed at pointing out differences in dialect than disparaging the teaser. I find dialects very interesting.
I had a roommate in college who pronounced most silent 'L's, like in walk and talk. He was just odd.
I actually noticed last night while listening to my own speech that I start some 't' words with a 'ch' sound, almost as if 'truth' and 'chair' start with the same consonant. I am now listening to see if others do this. Maybe I'm just lazy, or I had a mild stroke. Who knows?
Great teaser, interesting coments. That's what it's all about.
I also enjoyed the comments regarding homophones, although I wish they were more directed at pointing out differences in dialect than disparaging the teaser. I find dialects very interesting.
I had a roommate in college who pronounced most silent 'L's, like in walk and talk. He was just odd.
I actually noticed last night while listening to my own speech that I start some 't' words with a 'ch' sound, almost as if 'truth' and 'chair' start with the same consonant. I am now listening to see if others do this. Maybe I'm just lazy, or I had a mild stroke. Who knows?
Great teaser, interesting coments. That's what it's all about.
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