Monday, January 10, 2011

One Reason Spelling Reform Would Be Bad

The NPR Sunday Puzzle by Will Shortz reminded me of something that would be lost if we ever managed to bring about English spelling reform (here's my earlier post on that topic).

Shortz provided a two-word hint phrase. The contestant was supposed to think of a synonymous two-word phrase in which the words look like they should rhyme, but they don't. (Listen to it here.)

The phrases were:

White swan with red circle around it and diagonal line through the circlehears bears
shows cows
clasps wasps
gives wives
bans swans
rolls dolls
wounds hounds
halves valves
sands wands
breaks streaks
does toes

It's pretty silly that those sets of words don't rhyme, but the fact that they don't makes for a nifty puzzle.
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2 comments:

  1. Nancy/BLissed-Out GrandmaJanuary 10, 2011 at 6:36 PM

    These would be pretty difficult to come with no matter what his clues were!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unemployed DragonJanuary 10, 2011 at 11:26 PM

    Glad to see another Weekend Edition puzzle fan! It's what gets me to wake up on Sunday morning, having to try to figure out his puzzle!

    ReplyDelete

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