Word building

Check it makes both bracketed words real

HintOne try, two jobs — the same choice has to finish the first and open the second.

The whyRun through the alphabet if you are stuck, sounding each finished pair in your head — most letters fail one word instantly, which narrows things fast.

Both words are still real words

HintTaking the letter out must leave sense behind — and adding it must make sense too.

The whyThe letter comes off the front or back of the first word and joins the front or back of the second. Check the leftover word as carefully as the new one.

One real word, using a word from each group

HintTwo halves, one whole — try the pairings out loud in your head.

The whyJoin them in the order given — "cup" and "board" make cupboard, but reversing the halves usually makes nothing.

A compound word

HintSnowball, footpath and teacup are all this kind of thing.

The whyBoth halves keep their spelling: foot + path = footpath. Verbal reasoning papers build and break these all the time.

One — the same letter fits both

HintA single choice must repair the first gap and the second together.

The whyTry a letter in the first word; if it works, test it in the second before you settle. Only a letter that mends both is the answer.

Across the join of the two words

HintSay the sentence smoothly — something new appears where one thing finishes and the next begins.

The whyIt starts inside the first word and finishes inside the second, letters in order with no gaps. Sliding a finger across the boundary helps you hear it.

No — the letters stay in their printed order

HintThis is not an anagram — read straight through, left to right.

The whyA hidden word is a run of neighbouring letters, nothing rearranged and nothing skipped. If you find yourself jumping about, you have drifted into a different kind of puzzle.

last and first

HintIt sits at the seam, closing one word and opening the other.

The whyThat seam position is why a single letter can mend two words at once — it belongs to both of them.

The front or the back of the first word

HintEnds only — nothing gets pulled out of the middle.

The whyIt is added to the front or the back of the second word, too. Middles never move — which keeps the puzzle quick to check by eye.

Raincoat joins two whole words; quickly is one word with an ending

HintSplit each in half and see whether the halves can stand alone.

The why"Rain" and "coat" both live on their own; "quick" does, but "-ly" does not. A compound needs two words that survive the split.