A word ladder is a puzzle where you are given two words of the same length, one at the top of the ladder and one at the bottom. You then must change one letter of the word to reach the next rung on the ladder, and so on until you reach the bottom word. For example, CAT to DOG would be like this:
CAT
COT
DOT
DOG
Usually, there are clues to help you deduce the next word as most word ladders have more rungs than the example. Such as this little puzzle I have created in honour of the Maple Leafs performance against the Senators, with last night's 4-0 loss ending any hope of the Core 4 ever achieving playoff success, even if they manage to eliminate Ottawa. In this case, the first and last words are not given, but you can figure them out pretty easily from the clues. It might help to write out the answers as some might not be intuitive from the clue alone.
1. Toronto's embarrassing hockey team: _ _ _ _ _
2. What they blow every spring: _ _ _ _ _
3. Club recently promoted to the EPL: _ _ _ _ _
4. Higher ones get home advantage, doesn't help the Leafs: _ _ _ _ _
5. It _____ like the Leafs are a good team until playoff time: _ _ _ _ _
6. Something the opposition exploits in the Leafs defense: _ _ _ _ _
7. The Core 4 are exposed as _____ come playoff time: _ _ _ _ _
8. Leaf fans' feeling every spring: _ _ _ _ _
9. The players deserve more than their _____ of the blame: _ _ _ _ _
10. All-time hockey great Eddie: _ _ _ _ _
11. Following the Leafs is a: _ _ _ _ _
12. What the Leafs do every spring: _ _ _ _ _
If you can't figure out the answers, one wise reader has posted them in the comments.
Update: The Leafs surprisingly won Game 6 over Ottawa after blowing a 2-0 lead and now face Florida. Still, this post will remain as I'm sure more playoff disappointments are on the way. Update 2: Yep, after winning the first two games and going up 3-1 in Game 3, the Leafs were outscored 12-1 over the next 170 minutes. A surprise Game 6 win set up the inevitable Game 7 home loss and the end of the Core 4, who had 9 consecutive playoff appearances and not a single trip to the conference final.
Best,
Sean
Looks brilliant. I am too dumb to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteLeafs Choke
ReplyDeleteBeing almost as heavily into game/quiz shows as sports, I appreciate this little bit of "crossover" you've gotten going here, Sean :)
ReplyDelete(...although, does this mean the show, "LINGO", counts as one of ^those^?)
1: LEAFS;
2: LEADS;
3: LEEDS (United);
4: RANKS/SEEDS(?);
5: LOOKS;
6: HOLES/LEADS(?);
7: if this had been six letters, I'd have said "FRAUDS" - otherwise, no clue;
8: GLOOM(?);
9: SHARE;
10: SHORE;
11: CHORE;
12: CHOKE...
(...also, *bonus*, 13: Leafs' biggest social media booster: STEVE ("Dangle" Glynn)
DeleteMostly there! 4 is seeds, 5 is seems, 6 is seams, 7 is shams, 8 is shame
DeleteYes, you've got them all!
Delete