The Volokh Conspiracy

[Puzzleblogger Kevan Choset, January 6, 2006 at 12:16pm] Trackbacks

Word Categories:

By what rule have I divided these words into the four groups below?

Elephant, Benedict
Fiend, Hell, Child
Cat, Life, Child
Human, Lymph

Note: I adapted this from questions (answers?) on last night's Jeopardy!, so if you saw it, don't post the answer (question?).

(link)

Eduardo S:

(these are awful, but intended to serve as examples of the rules):

* medic, exam

* shrew, self

* sportsman

* ????

1.6.2006 1:28pm

(link)

Sully:

These are the roots of adjectives, divided according to the ending used to create the adjective. Thus:

- elephantine, benedictine
- fiendish, hellish, childish
- catlike, lifelike, childlike
- humanoid, lymphoid

I didn't see the show or anything, but Eduardo's comment was an excellent hint. His first example is misleading, though. By using "medic" and "exam" in the first category, he sloughs off the adjective component of the rule. Doing so is misleading for the purposes of discovering the pattern, since you could otherwise use the roots to make words that lead to the wrong conclusion (e.g., medical, medicate, examination, example).

1.6.2006 1:48pm

(link)

Tom R.:

Maybe grouped according to suffixes they take to form adjectives:

elephantine and benedictine
fiendish, hellish and childish
catlike, lifelike, and childlike
humanoid and lymphoid

1.6.2006 1:49pm

(link)

AJStrata (mail) (www):

words ending in:

(1) -ine
(2) -ish
(3) -like
(4) -oid

And no, I did not watch jeopardy

1.6.2006 4:05pm

(link)

Malvolio:

And "childlike" isn't a word?

1.6.2006 6:17pm

(link)

Malvolio:

benedictory, lymphatic, humane, catty?

1.6.2006 6:41pm

(link)

Scotty:

this puzzle was pure cruft, choset

1.6.2006 10:25pm

(link)

Just John:

Malvolio: Yes, it is; "childlike" usually denotes an innocence or playfulness. Used in phrases like "childlike wonder," "childlike but not childish," and "the Childlike Empress."

1.9.2006 7:40pm