Clay Lane

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New posts, old posts, and a few brainteasers

December 6 November 23 OS

The Story of Miss

A stray cat helps the Red Army to baffle the advancing Nazis.

The Story of Miss

I recently added this post, The Story of Miss.

It is my own version of events during the Second World War; the essential facts come originally from Soviet War News. It all happened as part of the blockade organised by Germany and Finland on Russia’s northwest from the summer of 1941, when the USSR joined the British Empire’s resistance to Nazi Germany (the USA was still neutral at this point). The star of the story is a stray cat.

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Composition

Join each group of ideas together into one sentence, in at least two different ways.

1 The Russians erected telephone lines. The Germans shot them down. This happened repeatedly.

2 They tried to bury the lines. The ground was stony. They could not dig.

3 Nikolai saw a manhole. He thought of the water mains. He imagined using them for the wires.

Yen

Make as many words as you can using the letters of one nine-letter word. Can you beat our score?

Yen

From Polywords

I have added a new Polyword to the collection.

Make as many words as you can using only the nine letters you are given below. Your words should all be four letters or more in length, and they should all contain the letter highlighted in the centre of the grid. You may not use the same letter twice. There is one nine-letter word to find.

See All Words

acne aeon annoy annoyance anon anyone cane cannon canny canoe canon canyon cone coney cony cyan naan nanny neon none ocean once
annoyance anyone cannon canyon annoy canny canoe canon nanny ocean acne anon aeon cane cone cyan naan neon none once
acne aeon annoy annoyance anon anyone cane cannon canny canoe canon canyon cone coney cony cyan naan nanny neon none ocean once

Near Synonyms

These words have very similar meaning but they are not the same — can you show the difference?

To what extent are these words synonymous? Give examples.

1 Isolated.

2 Lonely.

3 Remote.

Crossword No. 4

Fill the empty boxes with letters, using the clues to help you find the right ones.

Crossword No. 4

From Crosswords

A new crossword for the collection.

Fill the empty boxes with letters to make words running across and down. Use the numbered clues to help you find the right words. Click any box to get started.

SCUD*DAWN*O*E*E*I**VIRULENT*E*I*U*K*PRODIGAL**T*E*E*E*

1 across Pass along like fast-moving clouds. 4 letters

4 across Sunrise. 4 letters

6 across Very powerful and harmful in effect, like a disease. 8 letters

7 across A spendthrift, one who throws away his money. 8 letters

2 down (Of an act) hidden, done amid secrecy. 6 letters

3 down Mock scornfully. 6 letters

4 down Flood. 6 letters

5 down Extract something with difficulty, as if from a shell; Nathaniel ______, a character in Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. 6 letters

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Phrase and Fable

What well-known phrase do we take from this little piece of history, and can you use it?

This exercise is based on NL Clay’s Advanced English Exercises (1939).

Read the following snippet from history. To which well-known saying has this tradition given rise? How might you use the phrase today?

In times past, it was customary that, after a successful hunt for deer, the venison would be divided among the huntsmen. The gentlemen would take the choice cuts, and these would be served to them at their high table upon the dais. Those of inferior rank were led to lower tables, where they were served with a pie containing the leftover entrails or umbles (a word derived from Middle French nombles).

Show Example

Nice

Make as many words as you can using the letters of one nine-letter word. Can you beat our score?

Nice

From Polywords

I have added a new Polyword to the collection.

Make as many words as you can using only the nine letters you are given below. Your words should all be four letters or more in length, and they should all contain the letter highlighted in the centre of the grid. You may not use the same letter twice. There is one nine-letter word to find.

See All Words

cell cent cine cite client elect elite entice entitle inlet intellect lent lentil lice lien lilt line lint lintel lite little nett nettle nice niece teen tell tenet tent tile till tilt tine tint title
intellect entitle lintel client nettle little entice lentil tenet niece title elite elect inlet lent teen tint tilt till tile tent tell nice cite lice cent lint line lilt cell
cell cent cine cite client elect elite entice entitle inlet intellect lent lentil lice lien lilt line lint lintel lite little nett nettle nice niece teen tell tenet tent tile till tilt tine tint title