I googles "subatomic particles" and they had the regulars (electron, proton, neutron) and a list of quarks (up, down, charmed, strange, top, bottom) and some other things I'd never heard of.
And yeah, top/to works.
Recap (so I don't have to keep looking back!).
So far we think:
2 ort/tort, leaving t
3 nought/ought, leaving n
5 rank/crank, leaving c
6 baths/bathos, leaving o
7 cave/crave, leaving r
And maybe's
1 bail/basil, leaving s or cover/clover, leaving l
9 top/atop or to, leaving a or p
11 mot/moot, leaving o
so most likely: t n c o r
perhaps: s/l a/p o
Still need
4 A progenitor turns into a dolt
8 A chorus member adds on through water purification
10 A mongrel turns into a parish priest
mother becomes a mouther
cur becomes a cure (with an accent on the e)
Oh yes!
I'd been working on cur/curate but couldn't find any derivations that would fit! Excellent.
My dictionary defines "mouther" as one who mouths, an affected speaker - is that the same as a dolt?
Reread the clue. you are changing "nothing" to "a duty" via a loss. Nought/ought is great answer. Interesting that "ought" can also mean nothing.
Which country are we working with for these clues? I would think a "mouther" is one that mouths the words when he reads. My cousin uses the term "mouth breather" to define a dolt. Not applicable here but I just find it very descriptive.
I'm thinking "mouther" does work then!
I think nought/ought is sure-fire.
So now we have: t n c o r u e
Perhaps: s/l a/p o
And: 8 A chorus member adds on through water purification
I started with: "alto, bass, basso, tenor and baritone" but didn't get anywhere so I started thinking "singer, dancer" but haven't gotten far with that either.
Wateer purification? Heat? Boil? Chlorine? Iodine? I'm lost!
Quote:Reread the clue. you are changing "nothing" to "a duty" via a loss. Nought/ought is great answer. Interesting that "ought" can also mean nothing.
Thanks for that. I have been working on this so long I forgot where I got nought. I was double checking my answers and for some reason started looking at loss and then couldn't match it. Too many late nights!
11. The end of a unit of measure becomes irrelevant or debatable
What's wrong with my original suggestion?
(f)oot > moot
"oot" is the end of "foot" which is a unit of measure. The "(f)" was just to show where "oot" came from.
Did you figure it all out?
Is that why you want the thread deleted?
I really think you need to tell us all the answer!
I don't think they can delete threads, what?.
People who are googling for answers to this puzzle always have the option of NOT reading the thread. Of course, their will power would have to beat out their curiosity!
Maybe you could go back and edit your first post with a "spoiler alert" warning those who want to do the puzzle themselves not to read the posts.
You got my interest - what's the deal here?
Somebody get a snuggy or wedgie ?
Don't apologize - it was fun!
Even if the puzzle is flawed it was still a great excersize in thinking in a very non-linear way.
I enjoyed the puzzle a lot and I hope you post some more like it in the future.
