Spinifex is a coastal grass common to places like Australia, New Zealand and Africa, helping to stabilise sand on beaches. Spinach is a leafy green commonly eaten as a vegetable. Spiny in this sense means prickly or thorny, though it is also the name of a Polish village where you might find a spinster, typically an older unmarried woman. The village might also have a spinney nearby, which is another name for a small wood or grove.
On the topic of spinning ('twisting' in the quiz), the spinneret is the part of the spider's abdomen where the silk emerges from. On a spinning wheel, the bobbin containing the thread sits on a pin or spindle. In the game of cricket, bowlers have different styles of delivery with spinners applying spin to the ball. While an off spin is a type of delivery, a spinoff is an offshoot such as where a business hives off part of its business as a separate unit.
In the nautical arena, one type of sail is the spinnaker and in windy conditions you might see spindrift, sea spray being lifted off wave tops. Having spine or being spineless are opposites, having backbone or being cowardly in this case. You might use the wordy weedy or spindly for the latter.
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