Losing Letters in an Orderly Fashion Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. LEAST gives an archaic word of caution

The word LEST, which can be formed from the word LEAST be removing the letter A, is not commonly heard in contemporary conversation, but fans of Shakespeare and of 19th century literature may find it familiar. One should not brandish a sword when people are near, lest someone receive an injury. It implies that one must be careful to avoid some negative consequence.

In Australian culture, it is heard regularly in the phrase "Lest we forget", part of the standard war-remembrance ceremonies conducted on ANZAC Day, usually following the minute of silence or a bugle playing 'The Last Post'. The line comes from Rudyard Kipling's poem 'Recessional', which in turn may have been inspired by the Bible - specifically, Deuteronomy 4:7-9.

2. BEAST gives a compass direction

The four main compass directions are north, south, east and west. Of these, only EAST can be formed from the word BEAST by removing the letter B.

3. CLOVER gives an inamorata

The word inamorata actually refers to a female with whom there is a romantic relationship; the male equivalent is inamorato - but that is used less commonly. So we are looking for a word that might describe someone's girlfriend, or someone who inspires a feeling of passion, such as a LOVER. The letter that must be removed from CLOVER, then, is C.

4. GRAND gives a parent's mother, shortened

Your parent's mother may be referred to by many terms, but the full word in English that describes the relationship is grandmother. This is often used in a shortened form as the term of address for children to use - grandma, granny and gran are all commonly heard. To get one of these from GRAND, it is necessary to drop the letter D, leaving GRAN.

5. WING gives a victory

There are a lot of synonyms for victory, including triumph, success, conquest, master, rout, and more. None of these, however, can be formed from the word WING by removing a letter. The word we want is WIN, obtained by removing the letter G.

6. KEEL gives an elongated fish

The keel of a boat may or may not be seen in the company of an EEL, one of a family of elongated fish that resemble sea snakes, but their name can be found hiding in KEEL, lurking next to the letter K.

7. TONE gives a pedal digit

The word pedal, meaning something related to the feet, is derived from the Latin word for a foot, 'pes, pedis'. While the word digit on its own usually refers to a finger (or a numeral, but not here), the foot also has five digits, called toes. The word TOE can be formed by removing the N from the word TONE.

8. FOUND gives a financial resource

A financial resource is something that can be used (or called on) to obtain money as needed. A fund is a pool of money, usually collected from multiple contributors who can recall their money under specified conditions; often a fund is used as capital to generate more money, and increase the money available for investors.

There are a lot of other financial resources in the world (such as a bank, or my personal savings account), but FOUND is definitely concealing the word FUND, when the letter O is removed.

9. ROVER gives a set of six cricket balls

While Rover may be a wandering dog, one would hope it is not chasing those cricket balls! In cricket, a player bowls (not, repeat not, throws) a ball towards an opponent at the other end of the pitch, who tries to hit it and score runs. Play has the deliveries coming from one end of the playing area for a group of six balls, called an over, before a different bowler makes six deliveries from the other end, while the two batsmen run back and forth scoring runs.

That potted introduction to the wonderful game of cricket and its esoteric vocabulary is intended to make it clear that the word OVER can be formed from ROVER by removing the initial R.

10. UNIT gives a louse egg

Lice are small wingless insects that are parasites on warm-blooded hosts. One of them is called a louse. The most familiar of the several thousand species are those that commonly infest human scalps, and are readily transmitted between children in schools. The lice lay their eggs near the root of their host's hair, so one of the steps in clearing up an infestation is the removal of the eggs, often using a fine-toothed comb to scrape them off the shaft of the hair. These eggs are called nits.

Hence, following that long-winded explanation, the word UNIT reveals a NIT when the letter U is removed.

Source: Author looney_tunes

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor spanishliz before going online.
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What's the Correct Order?	Choices
1.	WING gives a victory
2.	LEAST gives an archaic word of caution
3.	ROVER gives a set of six cricket balls
4.	KEEL gives an elongated fish
5.	BEAST gives a compass direction
6.	FOUND gives a financial resource
7.	CLOVER gives an inamorata
8.	UNIT gives a louse egg
9.	TONE gives a pedal digit
10.	GRAND gives a parent's mother, shortened

After you find the letter which is the answer to each question, place them in alphabetical order.