Games

So You Think You Can Think: Puzzle #6

Hello again, puzzlists! Glad to be here to sprinkle a little frustration into your day. This time we’re going with a classic pun format and curling it up into a puzzle. Also, there’s a special note after the puzzle clues I’d like to direct your attention to. But first: our answer key for Puzzle 5.

[spoiler]

  1. Club (Canadian, Cotton, Culture, Escape, Sandwich)
  2. Second (Hand, Helping, Life, Rate, Split)
  3. Talking (Heads, Jive, Smack, Trash, Turkey)
  4. Stones or Stone (Corner, Gem, Rolling, Skipping, Throw)
  5. Devil (Dare, Dirt, Dizzy, Dog, Dust)
  6. Gravy (Boat, Pan, Red-eye, Train, Wavy)
  7. Jack (Flap, Free, Man, Pot, Union)
  8. Jelly (Fish, Jar, Mint, Petroleum, Royal)
  9. Mustard (Colonel, Gas, Greens, Plaster, Seed)
  10. Super Mario (Galaxy, Land, Run, Sunshine, World)

[/spoiler]

So, hopefully you all have heard of Tom Swifties. They’re a structured pun that plays off of unusual interpretations of adverbs or adverb phrases that describe a method of saying something. The image above is an example of the accepted structure for a Tom Swifty, where you’re given a sentence said by Tom, and the way he says it plays off of the words in his statement.

Today, I’m going to give you a bunch of Swifties with the adverb missing. It’s up to you to figure out the most appropriate word or words to fit into the blank to make the pun funny (if any pun can actually be described as “funny”). Keep in mind that the answer may NOT be a single word ending in “-ly.” Also, be aware that sometimes the missing adverb plays off of the conditions that would result in Tom’s statement, rather than just the words in the statement itself. (For example: “I’ll never sleep on the railroad tracks again,” said Tom, beside himself, or “I’ve got multiple personality disorder,” said Tom, being frank.) Likewise, any alterations in the usual pattern should be taken into account! (Clues 13 and Y, f’rinstance.)

Good luck!

  1. “Drop your weapons,” Tom said __________
  2. “A toast to the SNL Executive Producer,” Tom said __________
  3. “Which of you tiny creatures is seeing the doctor next?” Tom asked __________
  4. “He’s gone to play golf,” Tom said __________
  5. “I’ll have to send the coded message again,” Tom said __________
  6. “Go to sleep, Mr. Nielsen,” Tom said __________
  7. “This sensation is irritating,” Tom said __________
  8. “It looks like these seats are taken,” Tom said __________
  9. “This plane is going over 760MPH!” Tom said __________
  10. “So many parties,” Tom said __________
  11. “I shall write an insulting letter,” Tom said __________
  12. “Remember when we used to play cards?” Tom asked __________
  13. “Look at that flow of prisoners,” Tom and Rachel said __________
  14. “My bouquet seems to be a flower short,” Tom said __________
  15. “Have one of my flowers, I’ve got plenty,” Rachel replied __________
  16. “I’m not the ambassador to Nicaragua anymore,” Tom said __________
  17. “That’s Ursa Major in the sky,” Tom said __________
  18. “Sometimes I just think about Captain Hook,” Tom said __________
  19. “NASA got fubar’d by its snafus a.s.a.p.,” Tom said __________
  20. “Help me soak up some of this moisture,” Tom said __________
  21. “This colony-member can’t be the queen,” Tom said __________
  22. “No, this is the dog you let me borrow,” Tom said __________
  23. “There are no more ghosts in this house,” Tom said __________
  24. “Hhhhhhhhhh…” Tom said __________
  25. “Oooh, look at meeee, I’m in the band Rush!” Tom said __________
  26. “Check out my biceps again,” Tom said __________
  27. “Let’s go on a little trip,” Tom said __________
  28. “Summer’s nearly over,” Tom said __________
  29. “We’re trying to prevent flooding,” Tom said __________
  30. “Well, we didn’t lose all the games,” Tom said __________
  31. “Most of my grade is based on this last exam,” Tom said __________
  32. “This happens every single Friday,” Tom said __________
  33. “I just blew out the candles,” Tom said __________
  34. “These worms were delicious!” Tom said __________
  35. “There was no way I could stop him from shooting the moon this hand,” Tom said __________

 

Special note: I’m eager to get some feedback about how you think this series has been going so far. I won’t be able to hang out in the comments section as often, offering guidance and feedback as people come up with answers. I’m also not sure how necessary posting the answers to last week’s puzzle is. I was wondering if making an answer-post the next day would make sense to people. It’ll allow folks to work on the puzzle, and not have to wait a whole week to see how they’ve done.
Additionally, how’s the level of difficulty for these puzzles feeling? Would you like some more challenging puzzles, or some variance from week to week? Should I be prettier and smile more? Any and all suggestions are welcome in the comments!