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Show the word gridAll 16 words — you figure out the groups
Show the themesCategory names only, no words revealed
One word per groupTheme name + one word per category
Full solutionAll words and explanations
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Word grid
All 16 words, sorted alphabetically. Group them into four categories of four.
À LA
ACTUALLY
AIRPLANE
ASEA
BEAST
BY
DARK
FLAX
LIKE
LORD
OLGA
PER
SO
THROUGH
VIA
WELL
Themes
The four category names, easiest to hardest. No words revealed yet.
FILLER WORDSStraightforward
BY MEANS OFModerate
___ MODETricky
U.S. AIRPORT CODES PLUS STARTING LETTERDevious
One word per group
Theme name plus one word from each category.
FILLER WORDSStraightforward
WORDS THAT BUY TIME OR HEDGE WHILE SPEAKING+ 3 more…
BY MEANS OFModerate
WORDS MEANING 'USING' OR 'GOING THROUGH'+ 3 more…
___ MODETricky
EACH PRECEDES THE WORD MODE+ 3 more…
U.S. AIRPORT CODES PLUS STARTING LETTERDevious
EACH IS A U.S. AIRPORT CODE WITH A LETTER ADDED TO THE FRONT+ 3 more…
Full solution
FILLER WORDSStraightforward
ACTUALLY,LIKE,SO,WELL
ACTUALLY, LIKE, SO, and WELL are all common filler words used in casual conversation to fill pauses or hedge statements.
BY MEANS OFModerate
BY,PER,THROUGH,VIA
BY, PER, THROUGH, and VIA all mean 'by means of' or 'using a particular method or route.'
___ MODETricky
AIRPLANE,BEAST,DARK,À LA
AIRPLANE MODE, BEAST MODE, DARK MODE, and À LA MODE are all common phrases using the word MODE.
U.S. AIRPORT CODES PLUS STARTING LETTERDevious
ASEA,FLAX,LORD,OLGA
ASEA contains SEA (Seattle), FLAX contains LAX (Los Angeles), LORD contains ORD (Chicago O'Hare), and OLGA contains LGA (New York LaGuardia) — each is a U.S. airport code with a starting letter prepended.