Have fun with these puzzlers:

Scramble Clambers

Can you make a new word by rearranging the letters in each of these words? No. 1: report No. 2: student No. 3: finagle No. 4: stranded No. 5: demand (two words can be made) No. 6: races (three words can be made)

Insider Trading

How many words of three letters or more can you find inside? No. 7: learn No. 8: team No. 9: bear

State Department

No. 10: What is the one letter of the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any state?

No. 11: What is the only state capital name that contains no letter appearing in the name of its state?

No. 12: What two state capital names, when combined with the names of their respective states, have the largest number of letters (22)? (Hint: The states are contiguous.)

Capital Ideas

No. 13: Five state capitals end in two letters that are the first letters of other state capitals. Example: Sacramen(to) — (To)peka. Can you name the other four?

No. 14: The first two letters of this state capital are the two-letter postal abbreviation for its state.

No. 15: The last two letters of this state capital are the two-letter postal abbreviation for its state.

No. 16: Can you name four state capitals that are named for U.S. presidents?

Answers:

No. 1: porter No. 2: stunted No. 3: leafing No. 4: darndest No. 5: damned, madden No. 6: scare, acres, cares

No. 7: learn — ale, are, ear, earl, earn, elan, lane, lean, near, ran, real, renal; also: lea (a pasture) and rale (an abnormal sound made during respiration)

No. 8: team — ate, eat, mat, mate, meat, met, tam, tame, tea

No. 9: bear — are, bar, bare, bra, ear, era; also: brae (a hillside)

No. 10: Q. No. 11: Pierre, South Dakota. No. 12: Harrisburg plus Pennsylvania and Charleston plus West Virginia.

No. 13: Augusta — Tallahassee; Atlanta — Tallahassee; Austin — Indianapolis; Helena — Nashville. No. 14: Oklahoma City (OK) No. 15: Albany (NY). No. 16: Jackson (Mississippi), Jefferson City (Missouri), Lincoln (Nebraska), Madison (Wisconsin). Bonus: Trump (Canada) — just kidding!

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Photo credit: chris robert at Unsplash