It used to be that the daily NY Times had only the crossword puzzle and KenKen, a number puzzle. During the pandemic they have added what they call Two Not Touch, originally known as Star Battle, and brain teaser. On Tuesdays and Thursday the brain teaser is a cryptogram, of which I am a long-time fan.
I was able to solve this puzzle even though proper nouns were not marked. I had never heard of a supervocalic, so I poked around the web a little. So much fun!
Sequoia is the shortest example of a supervocalic. Other examples are cauliflower and malnourished. The person who coined the word has four categories
- Untainted Words: solidly-written dictionary-sanctioned entries, which have been the focus of many previous Word Ways investigations
- Multiword Phrases: hyphenated and otherwise 'tainted' items
- Popular Items: generally-known supervocalic people, places and things
- Fun Coinages: sometime cute, sometimes contrived items not covered by other categories
Some of my favorites are
- Jay Leno Quits
- Dueling banjos
- Fountain pens
- Organic butter
- Musical comedy
Of course there is a Facebook group dedicated to supervocalics, but I am going to be happy finding some on my own or any that you would like to share.
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