Curio Cabinet / Teaser Curio

We here at Curious do love our word puzzles because language is so much fun to play with. Take those venerable antonyms: "up" and "down." Usually, they just give a direction to an action, like "look up" vs. "look down" or "sit up" vs. "sit down". The underlying action doesn't really change, but the direction does. But now "up" and "down" are just trying to mess with us. What else can explain why "throw up" (ewww...) is so different from "throw down" (You wanna piece of me?!?)? Or why you "come up" with an idea, but "come down" with the flu? Whatever the reason, it's time to get up, then get down to business solving this word riddle. This is a common 7-letter English word. (The original word) Get something down (Remove the 1st letter) Get down in the mud (Remove the 2nd letter) How someone who's feeling down might look (Remove the 1st and 2nd letters) OK because you're down with that What's the original word?
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #221" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

"Home is where the heart is." "There's no place like home." "Home is where love resides."   There is no shortage of heart-wrenchingly loving quotes about home. There is, however, a shortage of brain teasers that dispassionately use home as a way to distract you from the fact that four words have nothing to do with each other. We aim to please.   Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:   CAT AGO TOY   Below are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it? A way to protect your palatial home A way to look through your home People who work at home, for short Your door at home probably has one
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #220" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

So... do you have a new year's resolution? Or have you already violated your first one? If your new treadmill is already gathering dust in the corner, don't worry; all is not lost. We here at Curious want to help you with a new year's goal of growing your mind with lessons, Curios, and of course, teasers. Can you make a word ladder from GOAL to GROW that satisfies the clue below? GOAL        Solving all teasers for a year would be one of these         GROW Remember: a word ladder is a series of words, starting from one word and ending with another, where each subsequent word is a one-letter change from the previous word (without rearranging, adding, or removing letters). And, of course, each step is a common, valid English word. For instance, you can change CAT to DOG like this: CAT => COT => DOT => DOG.
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #219" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Pidge and Pudge have a problem. They purchased a pepperoni pizza, previously parted into 16 slices. Both parties point to the same portion, professing their preference. Pidge and Pudge agree to a plan to pick a different piece. In the first turn, Pidge will count clockwise 9 pieces and Pudge will count counterclockwise 5 pieces starting from their primarily preferred piece. Each turn after that, Pidge will continue counting 9 pieces clockwise and Pudge will count 5 pieces counterclockwise. Then they agree to a total number of turns. And here is where Pidge and Pudge produced the problem: after taking that number of turns, the both were pointing to the same piece (same as each other, though not necessarily the preferred piece that started this whole pickle). What is the fewest number of turns they could have taken?
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #218" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Welcome to our Top 15 of 2019 countdown! As the year comes to an end, we're looking back at this year's most loved Curios across all categories. Enjoy the walk down memory lane in your entire Curio Cabinet.
 

Have you tried Word Genius yet? What? Haven't you heard that it's the most important app of the day? It's chock full of wholesome brains, well-balanced cognition, fortified with Vitamin S(mart), and goes best with excessive amounts of warm maple syrup.
 
Here's a sample puzzle from Word Genius. Give it a taste!
 

 
Did you get it? Get more (a LOT more) in Word Genius, available for iOS and Android.

Welcome to our Top 15 of 2019 countdown! As the year comes to an end, we're looking back at this year's most loved Curios across all categories. Enjoy the walk down memory lane in your entire Curio Cabinet .
 

So one morning, Josh struggled to get out of bed, his head groggy from the previous night's excesses (studying, booze, or "Game of Thrones" marathon; it's unclear). He stumbled into the bathroom and looked at the digital clock in his bathroom (ya know, the kind where each digit is made up from as many as 7 lit segments). This clock does not show the first 0 if the hour is a single digit; i.e., if it's 7am, the clock shows "7:00" not "07:00".
 
Even through his brain fog, Josh noticed that the clock showed 4 different digits. That's not particularly odd, but then it got weird. As he reached for his toothbrush, he knocked over the clock, and it landed upside down. "Bah! I don't care," he thought. He turned back to the mirror and noticed the reflection of the upside down clock and... what?!? The reflection showed the same time as when he saw it the first time.
 
What time is it?
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #183" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

'Tis the season to be blessed... Blessed with family and friends. Blessed with piles of freshly ripped wrapping paper. Blessed with cake, pie, cookies, then more pie. Blessed with the first rule of the holidays: calories don't count if you're wearing a Christmas sweater. Blessed with the unmatched joy you feel when you throw your foe into a volcano...

Feeling crispy? The end of this quote from Hamilton Wright Mabie has been scrambled. The phrase of the original quote has the number of words and letters shown below. Can you figure out the original phrase before you get thrown into the volcano? Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a crispy foe volcano. Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a (10) (2) (4).

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #217" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

If you don't mind, we're going to plant this teaser in the corner of your mind for the weekend. The nutrients in your brain will feed it. Your natural curiosity will shine upon it to help it grow. Just add in the water leaking into your ears in the shower, and the answer to this word riddle will spring forth like a weed. A brain weed. OK, this metaphor may have gone too far. This is a common 6-letter English word. (The original word) A vine visitor (Remove the 3rd letter) A plant you dig up, quickly (Remove the 1st letter) A flower (Remove the last letter) It can be influenced by fragrance What's the original word?
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #216" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Thanksgiving is over. As you work through your leftovers, piles of dirty dishes, and residual guilt, save some holiday weekend time for this week's brain teaser. It won't help with those leftovers, dishes, or guilt, but at least it won't make them any worse. Unless you like doing brain teasers while doing shots of gravy, but that's on you.   Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:   CAT AGO TOY   Below are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it? What some do before Thanksgiving What some do after Thanksgiving A mistake How you might feel after a physical mistake
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #215" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Happy Thanksgiving! Of all the traditions of Thanksgiving (football, Black Friday, awkward political conversation), the most... caloric... is the epic feast. This week's teaser can help you prepare your stomach (and arteries) for the deluge of calories heading your way. Let's get ready to overeat!
 
Can you make a word ladder from OVER to FEED that satisfies the clue below?
 

OVER
 
 
 
 Some artificial ingredients
 
 
 
FEED

 
Remember: a word ladder is a series of words, starting from one word and ending with another, where each subsequent word is a one-letter change from the previous word (without rearranging, adding, or removing letters). And, of course, each step is a common, valid English word. For instance, you can change CAT to DOG like this: CAT => COT => DOT => DOG.
 
Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #214" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Danny Estuary has it in his head that he wants to rob a bank of its gold coins, and he knows the exact 10 unnaturally good-looking friends he wants to invite to join him on his escapade. After extensive planning, they arrive at an overcomplicated scheme that involves haute couture costume changes, heart-rate-raising music, fake British accents, and quick cuts. It's on. After the successful heist (was there ever any doubt?), the 11 burglars retreat to the hideout to divvy up the gold coins evenly. Then, Danny realizes that the plan was even more perfect than he thought. If there were 2 burglars, there would have been one gold coin leftover and they would have fought over it. If there were 3 burglars, there would have been one gold coin left and they would have fought over it. If there were 4 burglars, there would have been one gold coin left and they would have fought over it. In fact, there would have been one coin leftover (and fighting) if there were 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 burglars to split the coins. But there were 11 burglars and the haul was split evenly. What's the smallest number of coins Danny and team could have stolen?
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #213" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Technology advances so quickly these days, it's hard to keep up. All this time we've all been training to sketch metal deer is completely for naught. The secret? Move to Burbank, CA and run a daytime talk show, even if you fail at it. Confused? Two phrases from this Alvin Toffler quote have been scrambled. The phrases of the original quote have the number of words and letters shown below. The phrases were scrambled independently (i.e., the letters from the first phrase aren't scrambled into the second phrase). Can you figure out the original phrases? The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot draw a tin deer, but those who cannot near LA, run an 'Ellen', and err. The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot (4) (3) (5), but those who cannot (5) (7) (3) (7).

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #212" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!
 

Do you take delight in feeling bright? Or erudite? Whether by candlelight or with alight anthracite, we invite you tonight to write the answer with the forthright might of an uptight White Knight with an appetite for dolomite. Alright? Dynamite! This is a common 6-letter English word. (The original word) Having an audible bite (Change the first letter to a T) It tends to excite (Remove the 1st & 3rd letters) Mound of adequate height (Remove the 1st three letters) Not feeling quite right What's the original word?
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #211" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Saint Francis of Assisi once wrote "For it is in giving that we receive." We assume he meant that it is through charity that we receive the higher benefits of doing good, but it's possible he was a free market capitalist who was describing how money can be exchanged for goods and services. Today's teaser is to submit a 30-page essay discussing how the relevance of this quote has changed over the last 800 years since he wrote it.   Just kidding. Please don't send in any essays; we're not going to read them. Instead, just do our word square about giving and receiving. It's definitely easier.   Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:   CAT AGO TOY   Below are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it? Send something away Something to send away Received It comes back

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #210" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

It's October, and peaches are way, way, way out of season. But now, it's clearly peach emoji season (though still a distant second to pumpkin spice season in the ranking of current non-fruit season popularity). This season may last a while, so this week, we give you a longer word ladder to take you from the delicious PEACH to the not-delicious peachy ICONS. Can you make a word ladder from PEACH to ICONS that satisfies the clues below? PEACH      Agreement        Getting warm    An old woman (not common)  A trusted friend     ICONS Remember: a word ladder is a series of words, starting from one word and ending with another, where each subsequent word is a one-letter change from the previous word (without rearranging, adding, or removing letters). And, of course, each step is a common, valid English word. For instance, you can change CAT to DOG like this: CAT => COT => DOT => DOG.
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #209" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

In an attempt to resolve their differences on the correct way to macaronage when making French macarons, Larry, Moe, and Curly have decided to step into the Octagon. As all fine bakers know, that's the only way to settle disputes. After a disturbingly brutal Round 1, the referee sent each of them to random corners of the Octagon for the break before Round 2 (of course, octagons have corners; they're just not right angles). Unfortunately, they're so angry with each other that if two of them end up on adjacent corners, they'll just continue fighting. What is the probability we'll have a peaceful break between rounds?
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #208" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

At this point, we should have a joke here that somehow combines "see right through you" and "baaaa" but well, we're just not that clever. If you can think of a good one, send it in!
 
Two phrases from this Alexander Graham Bell quote have been scrambled. The phrases of the original quote have the number of words and letters shown below. The phrases were scrambled independently (i.e., the letters from the first phrase aren't scrambled into the second phrase). Can you figure out the original phrases?

Sometimes we stare so long at a radiologist's notch that we see too late the sheep notation. — Alexander Graham Bell
 
Sometimes we stare so long at a (4) (4) (2) (7) that we see too late the (3) (4) (2) (4). — Alexander Graham Bell

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #207" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

It's quite hard to make teasers that you like. Balancing the difficulty, injecting the creativity, finding the "oh, that's cool" factor are all really quite tricky. So we'll just lower your expectations and say that you're going to hate this word riddle that is basically about hate. Enjoy. Or not. This is a common 7-letter English word. (The original word) Harmful or hostile (Remove the 2nd letter) Definitely not a fan of (Remove the 1st two letters) Many are about lost loves (Remove the last two letters and add a B on the end) Disgustingly, revoltingly, or reluctantly What's the original word?
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #206" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Words are incredibly useful. Talking, for instance. And warnings on dangerous chemicals. For us, however, words are best used for brain teasers, and today, we're using them in a word square about talking.   Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:   CAT AGO TOY   Below are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it? It's basically someone talking alone. It's basically someone talking to someone else. A group who works together, often by talking. You usually have to talk to a lot of people to find one of these.
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #205" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!

Are you ready for some football? We hope so because whether or not you like the sport, football season is in full swing. Unfortunately for Panthers fans, not every player is in full swing. Punt returner Ray-Ray McCloud "muffed" two punts last night; "muff" is football's fantastically fun name for trying to catch a kicked ball but flubbing it. To celebrate that word, and really not to harass Ray-Ray about it, can you make a word ladder from MUFF to PUNT that satisfies the clues below? MUFF      A sport where dropping the ball isn't necessarily a bad thing        Do this well to stay on the ball     PUNT Remember: a word ladder is a series of words, starting from one word and ending with another, where each subsequent word is a one-letter change from the previous word (without rearranging, adding, or removing letters). And, of course, each step is a common, valid English word. For instance, you can change CAT to DOG like this: CAT => COT => DOT => DOG.
 

Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #204" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!