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Quiz about Cryptic AddaLetter
Quiz about Cryptic AddaLetter

Cryptic Add-a-Letter Trivia Quiz


Each question contains a definition or cryptic clue about a word which is part of the answer, one for a letter to be added either before or after the first word to get the answer, and a definition of the answer. Photos may relate to any of the three.
This is a renovated/adopted version of an old quiz by author minch

A photo quiz by looney_tunes. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
looney_tunes
Time
4 mins
Type
Photo Quiz
Quiz #
178,851
Updated
Apr 26 23
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
81
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
Author's Note: For example, "First game infatuation with hand covering (5 letters)" could give GLOVE. First game gives G, the first letter of the word game; infatuation is a kind of love; putting them together gives the answer. The letter can come afterwards: "Roman head on a promontory skips around" gives R + cape = caper.
Question 1 of 10
1. South portal guard

Answer: (6 letters)
Question 2 of 10
2. Second-rate bird dog

Answer: (6 letters)
Question 3 of 10
3. Capital of Portugal place for dramatic entertainment

Answer: (4 letters)
Question 4 of 10
4. A hundred do not win but block passage

Answer: (5 letters)
Question 5 of 10
5. Desire pale sort of shirt

Answer: (4 letters)
Question 6 of 10
6. Male pig comes to a bad end as food provided at a lodging house

Answer: (5 letters)
Question 7 of 10
7. Wander to western terminus

Answer: (4 letters)
Question 8 of 10
8. Piece of writing about first person's flower

Answer: (5 letters)
Question 9 of 10
9. Pull north for large village

Answer: (4 letters)
Question 10 of 10
10. One says bad things about Hawaiians

Answer: (9 letters)

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. South portal guard

Answer: sentry

South is a common cryptic clue for the letter S.
A portal is a type of entry, usually a large and impressive doorway.
S + entry gives sentry, someone who stands guard, possibly at an entry.

The photo shows a sentry on duty.
2. Second-rate bird dog

Answer: beagle

Something second-rate may be called B-grade.
The kind of bird that fits to giver the answer shown in the picture is an eagle.
B + eagle gives beagle, a type of dog bred for hunting hares, now commonly used to detect prohibited substances at customs stations.
3. Capital of Portugal place for dramatic entertainment

Answer: play

The cryptic clue "capital" often tells you to use the first letter of a word, so capital of Portugal indicates the letter P.
As a verb, lay can mean to place something down on a flat surface. As an adjective, lay refers to the common people, for example the members of a religious group who are not the clergy. As a noun, it may be used to describe the kind of songs and poems performed by medieval troubadours.
Putting them together, P + lay gives play, which can refer to a dramatic production on the stage, or to any of a range of activities that provide entertainment.

The photo shows an 1813 etching by Thomas Rowlandson of a performance at the theatre in Scarborough.
4. A hundred do not win but block passage

Answer: close

A hundred is a standard cryptic clue for the letter C, which is the Roman numeral for 100.
Those who do not win may be said to lose (or tie, but let's keep it dichotomous).
Putting them together, C + lose gives close. When it is not possible to use some route of travel, authorities will close the road (bridge, footpath, doorway, etc.) and indicate it with some physical barrier that prevents passage.

The picture shows a blocked bridge, with part of a Bridge Closed sign at the edge.
5. Desire pale sort of shirt

Answer: want

This time the order is reversed, with the full definition at the start, and the letter at the end.
There are many types of shirt, but the one-letter one we want is a tee-shirt, or T.
A three-letter word meaning pale is wan.
Putting them together, wan + T gives want.

The photo shows a drawing of a tee-shirt, which is not only the easiest of the three parts to suggest pictorially, but also possibly the most important one to identify as you grapple with the clue.
6. Male pig comes to a bad end as food provided at a lodging house

Answer: board

An adult male pig is a boar.
The cryptic clue signal "end" usually means you need to use the last letter of a word, so it suggests D, the last letter of the preceding word. (Did you spend time trying to use the signal "bad", for an anagram, to use the letters of "end" somehow? I did; it doesn't work.)
Some lodging houses offer room and board, meaning that you get a room to sleep in, and at least one meal a day is provided.

The photo shows some floorboards.
7. Wander to western terminus

Answer: wend

The cryptic clue "west" or "western" often refers to the letter W.
A terminus is the place where something stops. It is used, for example, to describe the last stop on a bus or train line, where the conveyance stops before starting to travel in the opposite direction - the end of the line.
Putting them together gives W + end, or wend. A word now seen mostly in crossword puzzles, the verb wend describes the process of taking a winding, meandering path, and may be applied to a road or a river or just someone wandering across an open area.

The picture shows a wending stream approaching a weir.
8. Piece of writing about first person's flower

Answer: prose

First person is a cryptic clue for the letter P, the first letter of the word person.
There are lots of flowers whose names have four letters, so the photo was chosen to help players narrow the field down to a rose.
Putting them together, P + rose = prose, which describes a non-metrical piece of writing. In other words, it is language resembling ordinary speech, not poetry.
9. Pull north for large village

Answer: town

The word north is a cryptic clue for the letter N.
The word pull must define a three-letter word, and both tug and tow come to mind. The photo of a tow truck was selected to guide players towards the latter word.
Putting them together, tow + N gives town, a settlement larger than a village and smaller than a city. The technical definition of what constitutes a town varies widely around the world, sometimes being based on population, area, form of government, or other criteria.
10. One says bad things about Hawaiians

Answer: islanders

The word one is often a cryptic clue for the letter I.
Saying bad things about someone or something can be described by several different terms, some with specific legal meaning and some more commonplace. The act of slander is making false and detrimental statements about someone, which could loosely be described as bad things. (Don't consider suing for slander, however, if the bad thing that hurts your feelings or damages your reputation happens to be true!)
Putting them together gives I + slanders, or islanders. Islanders are people who live on islands, and Hawaiians often refer to themselves as islanders, in contrast to the tourists who visit.

The photo shows a poster from the 1938 film 'Slander House', following the romantic intrigues of the patrons of a beauty salon.
Source: Author looney_tunes

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Fifiona81 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
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