Wordwise Refurbished Trivia Quiz

Answer: foursome

Foursomes is a type of team game in golf where four players form teams of two to play against each other. The players from each team take alternate shots with the duo who take the fewest shots winning the hole. This format is known as match play, and is seen most often in team challenges such as the Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup.

The clue shows the word 'some' repeated four times to create the answer 'foursome'.

Answer: broken reed

A broken reed is the most common version of this expression and refers to someone who turns out be unreliable or breaks under pressure. If someone lets you down, that's when you're likely to refer to them as a 'broken reed'.

The words originate from the Bible. In the Book of Isaiah, chapter 36, the quotation 'Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed'.

In the clue, the word 'reed' is split in half to denote a 'broken reed'. A couple of alternative answers are given to avoid upsetting those who come up with them.

Answer: to be under the gun

If you are 'under the gun' you are under pressure to perform a particular task. The expression is believed to derive from competitive races, as in athletics (track and field) which are started by the firing of a gun. Once the starting gun has gone off, those taking part are under pressure to perform at their best.

Variations are 'under the cosh' and 'under the pump', but they all mean much the same.

The clue gives you 2B, meaning to be, written underneath the word rifle, denoting the gun, giving the full expression of 'to be under the gun'.

Answer: rolling in money

If you are rolling in money you are vey rich. The expression conjures up the picture of someone throwing wads of bank notes into the air and then throwing themselves into the middle of the cash to demonstrate how filthy rich they are. How ostentatious.

The expression has been in common use since the 1500s according to some sources.

The clue shows the word 'rolling' in the middle of the word 'money' so rolling is inside money to create the phrase 'rolling in money'.

Answer: morning star

Historically, Venus was known as both the morning star and the evening star, even though it is not actually a star. Venus is often, although not always, the brightest light in the sky as it gets dark (the evening) and in the early hours of the day (the morning) and the name has stuck.

The clue shows the letters AM, denoting ante meridian - the morning - followed by an asterisk, or 'star' to create the answer of 'morning star'.

Answer: repeat after me

This might remind you of being at school when the teacher tells you something by prefacing it with these words. The expression can be meant as a teaching aid, perhaps when teaching a language when reiterating what the teacher has said might help the student retain it more easily. It can come across as a peremptory demand, too, and has (for me at least) an association with punishment.

In the clue, the word 'me' appears first followed by 'repeat', so the expression literally depicts 'repeat' after 'me'.

Answer: skating on thin ice

If you are skating on thin ice you are undertaking something risky which may not have a good outcome. The literal meaning is that ice is not always thick enough to bear someone's weight, so walking or skating on it runs the risk of it breaking and plunging that person into the icy water below. Some sources refer to Ralph Waldo Emerson as being an early user of the term, which may have originated in the Netherlands.

To solve the rebus, look at the expression 'thin iiii'. The iiiis give you the word ice, and this part appears under the word 'skating', so skating appears 'on thin ice'.

Answer: long ago

Long ago refers to something which happened in the past, usually, although not always, beyond living memory. As an expression some sources refer to it coming into common usage in the early 1800s while others date it as being much older, in the fourteenth century. That really is long ago.

The word 'ago' is spread out to make it a much longer word, so it is a 'long ago'.

Answer: Head in the clouds

If you have your head in the clouds, you are absent-minded, impractical and not paying attention to what is happening around you. As an expression, this dates from the 1600s with the same meaning than as now.

The clue shows the word 'head' in the middle of the word 'clouds' to create the answer of 'head in the clouds'. As is usual, the word 'the' is implied in this type of puzzle rather than being explicit.

Answer: downcast

Someone who is downcast is upset, sad or depressed following a set back. The word has been used to mean dejected since the first quarter of the seventeenth century and is likely to derive from the fact that someone who is feeling this way is likely to be looking at their feet.

The solution to the question is found by noticing that the word 'cast' is written downwards to create the one word 'downcast'. Cast down is also accepted as an alternative correct answer.