| WEEK | TITLE | SYNOPSIS | INK Types |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1491 | The add biz | Choose any word, name or phrase beginning with A throough E, then add any single letter of the alphabet to it -- one or more times -- and define the result or show how it would be used. | L H |
| 1463 | Fork over some (new) Spoonerisms | Write and original Q-A joke featuring a spoonerism. | H |
| 1422 | The Collaboratory | Think of a book, movie or song title. Then pair its creator, star, singer, etc., with an unrelated "collaborator" to produce a wordplay on the title. | 4 |
| 1387 | Movie clips -- drop letters from the middle of a title | Delete one or more letters (they must be consecutive) from the middle of a movie title, and describe the resulting new movie. | 4 |
| 1341 | Portmanteautapping from E to R | Coin a portmanteau word beginning with E through R, in which the words overlap by at least two letters, and describe it. | H H |
| 1340 | Not-ables -- slightly alter a famous name | Slightly alter the name (make sure the original is obvious) of a famous personage -- past or present, real or fictional -- and describe the resulting nonpersonage, or offer a quote from that person, or both. | H |
| 1307 | One-for-one for all | Replace one letter in an existing word, name or multi-word phrase with one different letter (in the same place in the word) and define or describe the result. | H 2 |
| 1286 | Mind your P's and B's (and more) | Replace one or more P's in a word, name, or multi-word term with a B or with another letter and define or describe the results. | H H |
| 1247 | Script tease | Offer a quote from a script whose title you've given a different plot. | H |
| 1202 | Don't be afraid of the dark | Write lyrics to a song that, in some way, express hope. | H |
| 1011 | Top these! | Try your hand at any of the contests mentioned in this look back. | H H |
| 1000 | We now have 4 digits; you now have 7 letters | Choose any word, name or two-word term beginning anywhere from T through Z; then add one letter, drop one letter, substitute one letter for another, or transpose two adjacent letters, and define the result. | H |
| 962 | Questionable journalism | Take any sentence (or a major part of it) that appears in the Post or in an article on washingtonpost.com anytime from now through March 19 and supply a question it could answer. | H |
| 946 | Another round of Bierce | Write a clever definition of a word, name or multi-word term. | H |
| 919 | Good Luck With 13 | Alter a 13-letter word, phrase or name by one letter (add a letter, drop a letter, switch two letters somewhere in the word, or substitute one letter for another) and describe the result. | H |
| 886 | Look both ways | Give us a new term that's a palindrome and define it. | H H |
| 769 | Splice Work If You Can Get It | Combine two words -- overlapping by at least two letters -- into what's known by polysyllabic types as a portmanteau word, and by the rest of us as mash word, and define it. | H |
| 699 | Our Greatest Hit | Take a word, term or name that begins with E, F, G or H; either add one letter, subtract one letter, replace one letter, or transpose two letters; and define the new word. | H |
| 653 | It's the Eponymy, Stupid | Coin a word or expression based on the name of a well-known person, define it, and perhaps use it in a sentence | H |
| 643 | The Post's Mortems | Give us a rhyming poem about some notable who died in 2005. | H |
| 617 | Best the Best | Write something about any famous personage that uses only the letters in his or her name. | H |
| 603 | Sui Genesis | Take one or two of the 50 chapters of the KJV Book of Genesis and draw thou from them, using words in the order in which they appear in the original, your own passage. | H |
| 589 | Hyphen the Terrible (New Edition!) | Combine the beginning of any multi-syllabic word in this week's Invitational with the end of any other multi-syllabic word in this column (or in this week's Web supplement) to coin a new word, and then define it. | H |
| 577 | Teledubbies | Slightly change the title of a TV show, past or present, and describe it. | H |
| 571 | A Tour de Fours | Create and define a word that includes T, H, E, and S in any order. The letters must appear consecutively. | W |
| 565 | Anthem Is as Anthem Does | Give us a verse for an alternative U.S. national anthem, set to any well-known tune. | H |
| 524 | Around Things Moving | Take the title of any book or movie, rearrange the words, and explain what the new book or movie is about. | 2 |
| 521 | Hyphen the Terrible | Take the first half of any hyphenated word in today's Washington Post (or Tuesday's USA Today) and combine it with the second half of any other hyphenated word in the same story, and define the new word it produces. | H |
| 508 | Letter Rip | Take a word from the dictionary, add, change, or delete a single letter, and redefine the word. | 5 |
| 499 | What Kind of Foal Am I? | Mate any two of the horses qualifying for this year's Triple Crown and tell us the name of their foal. Maximum 18 characters, including spaces. | H H |
| 489 | Combo, First Blood | Combine two people whose names contain a common element, as in the examples above. Then describe the person, or provide a quote he or she might have uttered. | H |
| 476 | Portmanteautapping | Make a new word by squishing together two existing words. The constituent words must share at least two letters. | H H |
| 470 | Czar Har | Take the name of someone famous, rhyme it with a product, and describe the unholy union. | H H |
| 469 | Playing Check-In | Suggest appropriate hotel check-in names for any celebrities, past or present, living or dead. | H |
| 468 | Ism This Stupid? | Take any common prefix and attach it to any well-known "ism" and define the new term. | H |
| 459 | Stock Humor | Look at any of the abbreviated company names in the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange listings in any newspaper's business section and suggest what business the companies might be in. | H H 4 |
| 449 | Cut and Pastiche | Create a new, funny headline from the words of any headlines appearing anywhere in today's Post. You cannot subdivide words. | H H |
| 445 | Another Round of Bierce | Add a few entries to Ambrose Bierce's famous "Devil's Dictionary. | H H |
| 442 | Titletales | Take any real book or movie, change one word slightly, and describe the resulting new product. | H |
| 438 | What's the Pun Line? | Ask a question and answer it, somewhere incorporating the name of a least one famous person. | H |