Puzzle o' the Day 322!
Here's a silly little word puzzle for you all. Consider the 51 US postal abbreviations (one for each of the states, plus DC). Your task is to find the shortest Scrabble-acceptable word that contains each. Sixteen are two-letter words in and of themselves, and another nineteen appear in three-letter words (like "sky", which includes Kentucky's KY); those aren't interesting. Let's examine the remaining sixteen.
a. (Medium-easy). Seven appear in a word of length four (but no shorter). Can you find those abbreviations and a minimum-length word for each? I suggest looking at the abbreviations, but I've left them in white in case you don't want to.
The abbreviations (in white): KS, MN, NV, NH, NC, SC, TN
Number of solutions (in white): 17, 3, 1, 2, 6, 18, 1, respectively.
b. (Medium-easy). Five appear in a word of length five (but no shorter).
The abbreviations (in white): MD (my favorite), MT, NJ, NM, SD
Number of solutions (in white): 1, 1, 6, 4, 2, respectively.
c. (Medium-easy). One appears in a word of length six (but no shorter).
The abbreviation (in white): DC
Number of solutions (in white): 5.
Three don't appear in any North-American Scrabble word. However:
d.1. (Medium-easy). One appears in the first name of a famous Grand Slam tennis champion (she won four singles titles).
d.2. (Medium-hard). One appears in a single awesome ten-letter British Scrabble word.
d.3. (Hard). One appears in a seven-letter British Scrabble word, and its plural.
The abbreviations (in white): TX, VT, WV, respectively
a. (Medium-easy). Seven appear in a word of length four (but no shorter). Can you find those abbreviations and a minimum-length word for each? I suggest looking at the abbreviations, but I've left them in white in case you don't want to.
The abbreviations (in white): KS, MN, NV, NH, NC, SC, TN
Number of solutions (in white): 17, 3, 1, 2, 6, 18, 1, respectively.
b. (Medium-easy). Five appear in a word of length five (but no shorter).
The abbreviations (in white): MD (my favorite), MT, NJ, NM, SD
Number of solutions (in white): 1, 1, 6, 4, 2, respectively.
c. (Medium-easy). One appears in a word of length six (but no shorter).
The abbreviation (in white): DC
Number of solutions (in white): 5.
Three don't appear in any North-American Scrabble word. However:
d.1. (Medium-easy). One appears in the first name of a famous Grand Slam tennis champion (she won four singles titles).
d.2. (Medium-hard). One appears in a single awesome ten-letter British Scrabble word.
d.3. (Hard). One appears in a seven-letter British Scrabble word, and its plural.
The abbreviations (in white): TX, VT, WV, respectively