Finding Phrases with First 2 Letters of Each Given Word (from NPR Sunday Puzzle)

Time to play the puzzle! This is the latest NPR Sunday Puzzle (created by Will Shortz) aired on December 13^th, 2020.

Every answer today is a familiar phrase in the form "___ & ___," in which the first two letters of the first word plus the first two letters of the last word themselves spell a word. I'll give you that word as well as a definition of the phrase. You tell me the phrase.

 

Example: SODA — combination performance --> Song & dance

 

1. BOAR — Native American weapon

 

2. CAMO — cunning game that a feline and rodent might play

 

3. EVAN — old-fashioned phrase meaning "occasionally"

 

4. ABBE — more than could possibly be expected

 

5. LASE — amphibious

 

6. SHAW — overwhelm through a show of force

 

7. BACH — heavy restraint to keep a prisoner from escaping

 

8. HOVE — like the positions of the x and y axes on a graph

 

 

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Bow and Arrow

    2.  Cat and Mouse

    3.  Ever and Anon

    4.  Above Beyond

    5.  Land and Sea

    6.  Shock and Awe

    7.  Ball and Chain

    8.  Horizontal and Vertical