An Orderly Word Ladder Trivia Quiz

Eradicates is a synonym of "eliminates" and the two words can both be used to refer to the act of removing or destroying something. It typically implies completeness and totality - there is no coming back! Eradicate has a second meaning that means to "pull up by the roots" which, when you think about it, isn't so far away from the definition of "elimination".

Starting word: ELIMINATES

Melanite is one of a number of varieties of andradite, a species of garnet. Melanite is also known as "titanian andradite" or "Ti-andradite" due to the presence of titanium within the crystal structure; the titanium is what provides melanite with its distinctive black colour. Other varieties of andradite include colophonite (brown/red), demantoid (green) and topazolite (yellow/green).

As the word "melanite" is countable, it can be pluralised. It can also be uncountable.

Anagram (ELIMINATES - I) = MELANITES

What is considered masculine differs by country and culture and also changes as the decades and centuries pass by. Whatever characteristics may define masculinity, "manliest" would apply as the superlative form of the adjective "manly". "Manliest" tends to turn up on the British television show 'Countdown' fairly often due to the word consisting of letters that occur with high frequency in the English language.

Anagram (MELANITES - E) = MANLIEST

More often than not the use of the word "ailment" tends to refer to a medical condition or complaint that is on the minor side such as rashes, toothache, coughs and migraines. That said, any of the aforementioned afflictions can be severe. The big question is, when does an ailment become something more than an ailment? Answers on a postcard.

Anagram (MANLIEST - S) = AILMENT

Mickey Mantle was a baseball player from Oklahoma who played for the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968. The Yankees won the World Series seven times during that time, the last of which came in the form of a famous and very close 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants in 1962.

Anagram (AILMENT - I) = MANTLE

"Meant" can be used as both a past participle and as the past tense of the verb "mean". It is a fairly mundane word but can be an emotionally charged word when it takes on the meaning of "intended". Dr. Seuss makes frequent use of the word in his children's book of 1940, 'Horton Hatches the Egg'; Horton often says, "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent!"

Anagram (MANTLE - L) = MEANT

The ante could be considered to be the "ground rent" of a game of poker; it must be paid by every player at the start of every hand just for the privilege of sitting there. Indeed, part of the purpose of the ante is to prevent overly defensive strategies that result in very high "fold" rates. Much like rent, the price of the ante often rises as the game progresses.

Due to its combination of letters, "ante" is a commonly seen word in drop-a-letter quizzes at FunTrivia and is worth looking out for as an entry point on to a word ladder.

Anagram (MEANT - M) = ANTE

The 'Oxford Dictionary of English' defines a formicarium as "an ant's nest, especially one in an artificial container for purposes of study". The word derives from "formica" which is the Latin for ant. Continuing with the form- stem, various species of ant produce formic acid, a carboxylic acid with the chemical formula HCOOH - it stings!

ANTE - E = ANT

The indefinite article in English is "a" or "an" and is used in conjunction with a noun where there is a lack of specificity. The indefinite article is particularly prevalent across the Indo-European languages but there are exceptions such as Welsh (Cymraeg), which makes use of the definite article but not the indefinite article.

ANT - T = AN

Nitrogen (N) is the seventh entry on the periodic table and this abundant element plays a significant role in sustaining life on Earth. Nitrogen gas (two atoms of nitrogen held together by a triple bond) constitutes approximately 78% of our planet's atmosphere and, under certain demanding conditions, can react with hydrogen gas to create ammonia.

AN - A = N