Let's give the latest Sunday Puzzle a try!

I'm going to give you clues for two words. The first one has six letters, in which the middle letter is doubled. Drop one of the doubled letters and read the result backward to get the answer to the second clue.

 

Ex. Drooped / French Impressionist Edgar --> SAGGED, DEGAS

 

1. Texas home to the Cowboys / Dieter's lunch

 

2. Soldiers / Basketball or football

 

3. Sort of music for Bob Marley / Impatient

 

4. Faints from extreme emotion / Blizzards

 

5. Did one better than / Train station

 

6. Candies / Goulash and gumbo dishes

 

7. One who works the soil / Ignited again, as a candle

 

8. Move unsteadily from side to side / Joint in the arm

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Dallas/ Salad

    2.  Troops/ Sport

    3.  Reggae/ Eager

    4.  Swoon/ Snow

    5.  Topped/ Depot

    6.  Sweets/ Stews

    7.  Tiller/ Relit

    8.  Wobble/ Elbow

Let's dig into an easy word with a lot of different meanings.

Quite often time, English learners get confused with a variety of usage and definitions of a simple word. Today, let’s dig into the word “TENDER”.

 

Definition #1.

soft and chewable/ easily cuttable

A: Do you use this hammer-like tool to make beef more tender?

B: Yes, that’s why we call the tool “tenderizer”.

 

Definition #2.

compassionate/ kind/ warm/ gentle

When her six-month-old baby smiled at her, Janet’s heart melted away and gave back a tender, loving smile to him.

 

Definition# 3.

physically sensitive/ hurting/ sore/ uncomfortable/ painful spot of a body

My pilates instructor tells me to stop moving my arm if I ever feel tender around my shoulder.

 

Definition #4.

young and immature

Liz started her acting career since her tender age of twelve. She used to say she missed out on a lot of things in her childhood.

 

Definition#5.

to express/ announce/ indicate/ state one's intention to do …

Joseph is planning to tender resignation at work this year. He thinks that it’s time to depart from the company.

Definition #6.

tender offer is a public solicitation to all shareholders requesting that they tender their stock for sale at a specific price during a certain time

Dell announced it closed a tender offer to repurchase shares of the company's securities.

 

Definition #7.

fragile, sensitive, easily bruised or gentle

I guess Peter is too tender to face up to such a tough trial process.

Let's go over some new slang expressions added to English in 2023

We are living in a fast-paced world where a ton of newly coined words or slangy expressions are added to the )day-to-day colloquial expressions in English. Want to test yourself to see how ‘slang savvy’ you are? The following sentences have some new expressions added to English this past year or two. Try to fill in the blanks with those expressions.

 

    1.  Are you seriously wearing that tacky shirt to the party, Wes? Hey, try on this oversized sweatshirt that’d zh___________ up your style instantly! (*expression meaning “to jazz up/ improve something”)

 

    2.   That guy might think he got the ______zz, but every single lady at the ice cream social must have thought that he was in the middle of his mid-life crisis. (*expression meaning “charisma/style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic partner)

 

 

    3.   Jeff is a _______fluencer whose doggo became the star in the world of social media. (*expression meaning a person who gains a large following on social media by posting entertaining images or videos of their cat, dog, or other pet

 

 

    4.   The arctic blast here in Texas a couple of years ago was one for the book. Such an unimaginable winter disaster was not on our ___________ card. (*expression meaning a list of possible, expected, or likely scenarios)

 

 

    5.   When the huge homemade ice cream Sundae was served, all the kids shouted “Bu_______!!!” (*expression meaning awesome/ tasty/ super)

 

 

    6.   Cory is too naïve to catch the hidden agenda of these politicians’, and that is why his fellow partisans call him a young pad___________. (*expression meaning a youthful, naive, or untrained person)

 

7.   Have you seen this Japanese horror flick? My brother says it’s just m_____ and a waste of time. (*expression meaning lower than average/ boring/    mediocre)

 

8.   This new pair of racing shoes are GOA_____! It just gave me the whole new underfoot experience! (*expression meaning ‘being the Greatest of All Time”)

 

9.   Don’t be such a si_______, bro. She doesn’t deserve your time and money! (*expression meaning an insult for men who are seen as too attentive and submissive to women, especially out of a failed hope of winning some entitled sexual attention or activity from them)

 

    10. We thought things would get better in every way after the pandemic is officially over, but the effect it had on the economy put us in a perma_________. (*expression meaning a long period of great difficulty, confusion, or suffering that seems to have no end)

 

 

Answer Keys  

   1.  zhuzh up 

   2.  rizz

   3.  petfluencer

   4.  bingo card 

   5.  Bussin’

   6.  Padawan

   7.  mid

   8.  GOATED

   9.  simp

   10. permacrisis

 

 

Find the words beginning with letters TA- !!! (from the latest NPR Sunday Puzzle)

Every answer today is a word that starts with the letters TA-, as in "teaching assistant." Get them from their anagrams.

 

Ex. BLEAT --> TABLE

1. STATE

 

2. PRATE

 

3. TITAN

 

4. TONAL

 

5. ATTIC

 

6. LATTICE

 

7. ALPINIST

 

 

Answer Keys

1.  TASTE

2.  TAPER

3.  TAINT

4.  TALON

5.  TACIT

6.  TACTILE

7.  TAILSPIN

Find two words in each given sentence that sound like to other words of synonyms! (The Latest NPR Word Puzzle)

Here are some sentences. In each one, find two words that sound like to other words that are synonyms.

 

Example: I can pare an apple, too. => "pair & two"

 

1. My dog's paws got stuck under the cars break.

 

2. Today's spelling lesson is about words with silence "e's".

 

3. In India, several lower castes are in the throes of change.

 

4. The wild hare has a hankering for bagels and lox.

 

5. After his shift ended, the worker hied to the bank to cash his paycheck.

 

6. The seamstress would vary the way she'd sewed.

 

 

 

Answer Keys

1.  “paws & break” (sound like “pause and brake”)

2.  “lesson & e’s” (sound like “lesson and ease”)

3.  “throes & castes”)

4.  “hare & lox” (sound like “hair and locks”)

5.  “hied and cash” (sound like “hide and cache”)

6.  “vary and sew” (sound like “very and so”)

Find the hidden names of the U.S. cities in the sentences!

I am going to give a sentence for each question. Each sentence conceals the name of a well-known U.S. city PHONETICALLY.  

Ex. The lumberjacks unlaced their boots. --> JACKSON (Miss.)

(*For those who are not able to read the following sentences at normal native speakers' speed, I underlined the parts of each sentence you need to focus on in terms of phonetic sounds.)

1. I'd like you to meet my amiable sister. (Fla.)

 

2. The CPR pro gave Diane a Heimlich maneuver. (Calif.)

 

3. Did anyone who's sincere accuse me of doing that? (N.Y.)

 

4. The hockey player got semipro vocational training. (Utah)

 

5. A neighbor gave Thoreau an oak tree. (Va.)

 

6. The emcee led the chanteuse onto the stage. (Ariz.)

 

7. The pet owner would on tiptoe lead obedient dogs downstairs. (Ohio)

 

8. In the end it was the whole shebang Gorbachev lost. (Me.)

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Miami (Florida)

    2.  Anaheim (California)

    3.  Syracuse (New York)

    4.  Provo (Utah)

    5.  Roanoke (Virginia)

    6.  Tucson (Arizona)

    7.  Toledo (Ohio)

    8.  Bangor (Maine)

Thanksgiving

The month of November has the most important national holidays in the United States and is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. In 2023, it will be observed on November 23. Let us go over a brief history of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving history is shrouded in mystery and myths. What is reliably known is that the first “official” Thanksgiving in the US took place in 1621. It was celebrated by Pilgrim settlers from England, who established Plymouth Colony in 1. (which state?: ________________________) in 1620. Despite the poor food supplies and various diseases, they had survived through a severe winter. The following spring, Wampanoag Native Americans helped the colonists plant 2. (which crop?:_________________). When the first crop was gathered in the autumn, governor William Bradford proclaimed a huge feast and invited them to celebrate together.

American Thanksgiving was established as a national holiday in 1863 by President 3. ____________________. There is a story that this decision was taken because of Sarah Josepha Hale, a writer, and editor who had written to President Lincoln for 17 years, asking to proclaim this day as a holiday.

Traditionally, this is the day for families and friends to gather together around a holiday table for a special meal. Many families have a holiday tradition of praying together and sharing what they’re grateful for around the table. Thanksgiving food usually includes roast turkey, turkey stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato, yams, gravy, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, apple pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie. Different people have variations on the Thanksgiving dinner, but generally, these foods are the most popular.

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Massachusetts

    2.  Corn

    3.  Abraham Lincoln

 

** Fill in the following blanks with proper idioms containing THANKSGIVING-RELATED WORDS.

    4.   Jeffrey’s physician told him to go “cold _______________” (meaning “to do something completely and suddenly”) on smoking to start a healthy life.

 

    5.  Inflation has “_________________ up” (meaning “to use, buy, or occupy all of something”) our wage increases.

 

    6.   Tim is going to participate in the “Turkey ______________” (meaning “a fun long-distance run”) this year.

 

    7.   My friends are vegetarians, so instead of turkey, they eat “______________” (meaning “the combination of the words “tofu” and “turkey”) on Thanksgiving.

 

    8.   I am waiting for “____________________ Friday” sales to get my husband a nice golf jacket.

 

    9.   Brian was presented with “___________________” (meaning of a large amount or supply of something) of job opportunities.

 

    10. After a big Thanksgiving feast, all his family fell into a “food _____________” (meaning a state of drowsiness after eating a large quantity of food).

 

Answer Keys

4. turkey

5. gobbled

6. trot

7. tofurkey

8. Black

9. cornucopia

10. coma

 

*source from The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2023 & https://preply.com/en/blog/english-words-and-phrases-for-thanksgiving/