Nutty As a Chameleon Online Quiz | Letter Quizzes

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Let's start with a simple example. I'll give you the following word pairs: b o O - O u t p a N - N e t d u E - E l d The capital letters spell out "ONE". If you correctly replace these capital letters, you get "TWO": b o T - T u t p a W - W e t d u O - O l d Likewise you could replace the C in "a r C - C a t" by an E to get the first letter of the word "ELEPHANTS". Of course the question asks for another letter. To offer a better readability, all the letters in the words to be replaced, have been capitalized. Note: all words obtained by substituting the correct letters, are valid words according to the Scrabble dictionary. Now the question: replace the C in "R E C - C A T" so that you get two new valid words of which the first one ends with the initial of the last one. Hint: one of the resulting words is someone on a sports field.

Answer: F

The common letters form the first nine questions will spell out "CHAMELEON" top to bottom. Each and every letter in the word "CHAMELEON" will have to be replaced by another letter. I'll mention in the question (as a running example) how the C can be replaced by an E, the H by an L, the A by an E, the M by a P, the first E by an H, the L by an A, the second E by an N, the O by a T and the N by an S - so that one CHAMELEON hides multiple ELEPHANTS. Yes we can!
When you don't take into account the last sentence of the question, there would be the following solutions: B - E - F - M - P - S - T
So the resulting words could be .REB - BAT , REE - EAT, REF - FAT, REM - MAT, REP - PAT, RES - SAT or RET - TAT.
REB (capitalized or not) can be short for rebel, or informal for a confederate soldier during the American Civil War. Only the capitalized Reb can also be used as a Jewish honorific, similar to Sir.
REE is an archaic word for the stone walls around pastures in Scotland.
REM is a unit for absorbed radiation.
REP is a ribbed fabric.
RES is a thing (usually in legal matters).
To RET is to soak fibres such as flax.
To TAT is to mark with ink.
REF is short for referee, the umpire in sports such as soccer.
I'm quite convinced you know the meaning of all the other words, as they are very common in English.
So you need here the F.

2. Another example shows how I could go from SEA to AIR. Look at the following word pairs: y e S - S i t l e E - E l l b a A - A i m and replace by y e A - A i t l e I - I l l b a R - R i m In the example of the CHAMELEON hiding ELEPHANTS, the task would consist of "p a H - H a y" to be replaced by "p a L - L a y". Now the question: replace the H in "Y A H - H A P" so that you get two new valid words of which the first one ends with the initial of the last one. One of the resulting words is a sailing term for easy to handle or to manoeuvre.

Answer: R

The question word yah is a rare form of yes, but can also be used as an interjection to ridicule a suggestion. When capitalized, it refers to the deity in Rastafarianism. Hap is short for happen or happening.
Which letters can replace the H according to the rules set out before?
Well, one could use G - M - P - R - W - Y
Resulting in the word pairs YAG - GAP, YAM - MAP, YAP - PAP, YAR - RAP, YAW - WAP and YAY - YAP.
YAG is an artificial garnet, containing yttrium and aluminium.
YAM is a root vegetable, similar in taste to a sweet potato (but botanically different).
YAP is a short noise such as made by small dogs.
PAP has many meanings, including a kind of porridge or something that resembles a nipple.
To YAW is a nautical term meaning to drift off the right track for a while.
A WAP can be either a bundle of straw or an unexpected storm.
YAR is the sailing term mentioned in the clue.
The other words are quite familiar. So here you need the R.

3. You might need one more elaborate example. Let's turn "HE" into "IS". I'd give you the following word pairs: r a H - H o n h a E - E o n and you'd have to come up with r a I - I o n h a S - S o n. Likewise, the A of "CHAMELEON" would become an E using the word pair "s e A - A r e". Now your question: which letter would replace the A in "P I A - A D O" so that you get two new valid words of which the first one ends with the initial of the last one? Only one possible solution is available.

Answer: U

Which letters could answer this riddle? Well, the second word excludes any consonants. So we're left with only the vowels. EDO is the ancient name for the city of Tokyo and may thus not be used in Scrabble, and I DO has to be written as two words. ODO is the real first name of Pope Urban II and is thus also forbidden in Scrabble. So that leaves us with UDO, an Asian perennial plant with edible shoots (also known as mountain asparagus).
The other word, PIU, comes from Italian and is a common adjective for musical notations: piu forte means louder, piu piano is softer.
So the third letter you need is U.

4. In the running example of a "CHAMELEON" hiding "ELEPHANTS", we would now have the task of replacing the M by a P in the word pairing "t o M - M a n". You'd have to come up with the solution "t o P - P a n". Your question is something else: replace the M in the word pair "C H A M - M O N" so that you get two new valid words of which the first one ends with the initial of the last one. Clue: one of the resulting words is a beverage, usually consumed hot. By the way, CHAM is an ancient synonym for Khan and needs not always to be capitalized. MON is a Scottish equivalent for man.

Answer: I

First of all here are the possible solutions when discarding the clue: D - I - W - Y
This leads up to the following word pairs:
CHAD - DON, CHAI - ION, CHAW - WON and CHAY - YON.
CHAD is a scrap of paper (and thus permitted in Scrabble) or a large African country.
To DON is to put on clothes, while a DON is a Spanish nobleman (as in Don Juan).
To CHAW means to chew, but is only used for tobacco.
CHAY is a plant found in India, related to the madder (the source of natural indigo).
YON is either archaic for the obsolete yonder (over there), or informal for "that one over there".
ION is an electrically charged molecule.
CHAI is a beverage made with black tea and some extra flavourers: in the basic version milk and sugar or honey, but it can also contain herbs and spices.
So here you need the I.

5. In the running example of a "CHAMELEON" hiding "ELEPHANTS", we would now have the task of replacing the E by an H in the word pairing "i c E - E a t". You would need the word pair "i c H - H a t". Now the real question: replace the (first) E in both words "D O E - E O N" so that you get two new valid words of which the first one ends with the initial of the last one. One resulting word can indicate a number, while the other can indicate a tiny thing.

Answer: T

Theoretically the following letters could give a valid solution: C - M - T - W - Y.
The resulting word pairs would then be DOC - CON, DOM - MON, DOT - TON, DOW - WON or DOY - YON.
This list contains several unusual words, to explain hereafter.
DOM is a title for certain catholic monks, and was also a title used for (mostly Portuguese) nobility.
MON, in the meaning that is acceptable in Scrabble, is a Scottish slang word for man. There is also a people named the Mon (always capitalized and thus not available in Scrabble), living in Myanmar and Thailand.
DOW is an ancient Scottish verb meaning to be able. The past participle DOUGHT may be a bit more familiar.
DOY is a Northern-English slang word of endearment. It may be translated to darling.
YON is short for yonder, the old word for over there. So I could imagine hearing the strange phrase "That's my doy, yon."
With regard to the hint, we need a combination of two very common words: DOT - TON, as in "Give me a TON of DOTs." If TON has to be counted, it is usually equivalent to 100 (in snooker) or 100,000. This gives us a T.
On the Commodore 64 there was a game in which you almost literally could use such phrase, and then the computer would print on screen exactly 100,000 dots.

6. In the running example of a "CHAMELEON" hiding "ELEPHANTS", we would now have the task of replacing the L by a H in the word pairing " b a L - L a p". This leads to the word pair "b a H - H a p". Your question is to replace the L by another letter in the word pair "P A L - L A T" so that you get two new valid words of which the first one ends with the initial of the last one. Clue: superstitious Americans dislike the black examples of one of the resulting words. By the way, LAT is one of the muscles in the back just below the shoulders.

Answer: C

Here is the list of the viable answers: C - H - M - P - R - S - T - W
That would give us the following word pairs:
PAC - CAT, PAH - HAT, PAM - MAT, PAP - PAT, PAR - RAT, PAS - SAT, PAT - TAT, PAW - WAT.
Many of these words are quite familiar. Let's explain the other ones.
A PAC is a soft shoe.
PAH is an exclamation of dislike.
PAM (not the girl's name) is the knave of clubs in certain card games, and in these games usually the upper trump card.
PAP can mean some soft food like porridge, or a thing resembling a nipple.
PAS is a dance step, especially in ballet (pas de deux).
TAT can mean to apply a tattoo. It can also be the verb for doing some macram� or crocheting.
A WAT is a Buddhist temple, especially in Thailand or Cambodia.
So what is the correct answer? There are many superstitions about black cats, but not about black rats nor (as far as I know) about black hats. Superstitions about rats and hats usually make no difference whatever the colour.
In the USA a black cat was seen as an omen of bad luck, while in several other countries (Scotland, Italy, Japan...) a black cat was seen as an omen of good fortune.
Let's go thus for the letter C.

7. In the running example of a "CHAMELEON" hiding "ELEPHANTS", we would now have the task of replacing the E by an N in the word pairing "p i E - E t h". The result would be "p i N - N t h", where NTH means position number N in a mathematical series. And here is your question: replace the E by another letter in the word pair "S E E - E R E" so that you get two new valid words of which the first one ends with the initial of the last one. Clue: the answer does NOT have a species of whale as a resulting word.

Answer: A

Resulting letters could be E - I.
This makes the word pairs SEA - ARE and SEI - IRE.
The most uncommon word of these four is the SEI, a species of whale. But as this animal is excluded per the clue, we need the A as solution.

8. In the running example of a "CHAMELEON" hiding "ELEPHANTS", we would now have the task of replacing the O by a T in the word pairing "n o O - O a r". The result is "n o T - T a r". And now your question: replace the O by another letter in the word pair "F I N O - O A F" so that you get two new valid words of which the first one ends with the initial of the last one. Clue: oddly there is only one possible solution, but both resulting words are quite unfamiliar.

Answer: K

On the basis of the left word you could form a valid Scrabble word by replacing the O by one of these three letters: D - E - K.
But I found neither DAF nor EAF in a dictionary. So it has to be the K we need here.
FINO is a very dry pale sherry. OAF is a clumsy or stupid person. And after replacing the O by a K, we find FINK - any person you loath (originally used for a manual labourer who replaces those on strike) and KAF - an alternate spelling for the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet, better known as kaph.

9. In the running example of a "CHAMELEON" hiding "ELEPHANTS", we would now have the task of replacing the N by an S in the word pairing "b u N - N o w". The replacing pair would then be "b u S - S o w". Your question is to replace the letter N by another letter in the following word pair: "F I N - N A V E" so that you get two new valid words of which the first one ends with the initial of the last one. The NAVE is the central part of a church. Clue: one of the resulting words is an architectural term.

Answer: E

Correct solutions (when ignoring the clue) could be the E - G - L - R.
Resulting word pairs could thus be FIE - EAVE, FIG - GAVE, FIL - LAVE or FIR - RAVE.
FIG, GAVE and RAVE are very familiar words. FIR is an evergreen tree, as most of you also know.
FIL is very rarely used: it is one of the subdivisions of a dinar (in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan or Kuwait), a dirham (in the United Arab Emirates) or a rial (in Yemen). But as these monetary units represent only a small value, the fils were discontinued.
To LAVE is archaic for to wash or to bathe.
FIE is an obsolete interjection to express disgust.
An EAVE is an overhanging roof (and thus this term is used in architecture).
So here we need the letter E.

10. I'll reiterate the different word pairs forming the previous questions here: R E C - C A T Y A H - H A P P I A - A D O C H A M - M O N D O E - E O N P A L - L A T S E E - E R E F I N O - O A F F I N - N A V E You can clearly read out the original nine letter word "CHAMELEON". Replacing the common letters as indicated in the previous questions, also gives a nine letter word from top to bottom. Which is this word we're looking for?

Answer: fruitcake

Don't dare to tell me that you never thought the author of this quiz was nuts - perhaps you even did think I'm as nutty as a fruitcake. Indeed, the FRUITCAKE was the correct answer.
I recall having once tried to explain another far-fetched concept for a brain teaser on a pub quiz dedicated to strong Belgian beer. Many teams started throwing used beer mats in my direction, as they clearly thought I was "nutty as a fruitcake".
The origin for the idiom "nutty as a fruitcake" is not entirely clear. Several US television series made ridiculous jokes about fruitcakes, and especially those baked by southern bakeries who could obtain nuts at a price below the standard in the northern states.

Source: Author JanIQ

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Fifiona81 before going online.
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Nutty As a Chameleon Trivia Quiz

You'll get 9 word pairs in which the last letter of the first word is also the first letter of the last word. Replace this common letter by another letter having the same effect. The correct solution will give you (9 for 10) a word top to bottom.

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