Wordwise Puzzler No. 6 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Two peas in a pod

"Two peas in a pod" mean two of a kind of anything that are alike in every way. Identical twins would be a good example of this.

Answer: A diamond in the rough

The expression "A diamond in the rough", if applied to a person for example, could be someone who isn't very cultured or well spoken, and possibly covered in tattoos, but yet spends all his or her time working with the poor and needy of the world for free. That person has a heart of gold under a rough looking exterior.

Answer: A fish out of water

If someone is described as "a fish out of water", that person is in a situation over which they have no control, or in which they feel very uncomfortable or unable to perform. Putting someone with only a first aid certificate into an operating theatre to help out with brain surgery would be a drastic example of this term, or placing a person with no dancing experience into the ballet "Swan Lake" to take part in the Danse des petits cygnes.

Answer: Missing in action

"Missing in action" is a sorrowful term usually applied to any member of the defence forces who has disappeared under battle conditions and cannot be located. It could also be applied in a more light-hearted fashion to anyone who has disappeared when they're supposed to be doing a task such as, perhaps, painting the front fence.

Answer: A plague on both your houses

"A plague on both your houses" is a term taken from the closing pages of William Shakespeare's tragic play "Romeo and Juliet" (1595). In this play, the ongoing feud between two leading families of Verona results in the death of several people, and in particular the young lovers, Romeo Montagu and Juliet Capulet, who are children of those two feuding families.

Answer: Sea Change

A "sea change" is a massive change in a previous life style that involves a complete reshuffle of that lifestyle and living place and/or occupation. This has usually been made in an attempt to live a less stressful lifestyle and to allow one to become closer to nature. The expression dates back to Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" (1611) in which Ferdinand's father has well and truly had a sea change by apparently drowning. The expression could also be applied to someone's personality as well at a pinch, wherein a hitherto objectionable person overnight becomes a far more genial soul.

(The seas that have changed in the clue are the Black, Mediterranean and Caribbean.)

Answer: A skeleton in the closet

If someone is said to have "a skeleton in the closet", this means that that person has some unpleasant fact about his or herself or family that has been kept as quiet as possible, and is not generally known to most people. If you were the grandchild of a serial killer, for example, that is not a fact that you would willingly divulge to anyone else unless absolutely necessary.

Answer: A word in edgeways

If anyone says that they can't get "a word in edgeways" this term means he or she has been trying to say something, but can't get a word into any ongoing conversation because some people, or one person, simply won't stop talking long enough to allow this to happen.

Answer: A man after my own heart

If someone is said to "a man after my own heart" that person has usually done something that the speaker of such a phrase thoroughly approves of, or is a person who is in complete agreement with the speaker over any given issue.

Answer: About face

"About face!" is a command given to any member of an army marching unit, or civilian marching band perhaps, in order for that unit or band members to do a 180 degree turn and start marching back in the direction from which they came. Not a 360 degree turn, mind you, as some people mistakenly believe, as that would leave them exactly where they were before the order was given.