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Download complete ZIPPuzzles · difficulty 1–5
Word and letter
Anagrams, letter series, analogies and odd-one-out items built on ordinary English words. Every puzzle is solved by working on the letters themselves and on the relations between words rather than by recalling facts, and every explanation names the technique it used.
What this category trains
Letter-position reasoning
Analogy and relation mapping
Category and structure discrimination
Anagram search strategy
25 puzzles · about 45 minutes end to end, as a guide only · untimed
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The ladder
The puzzles below run in difficulty order, easiest first. Each one checks on its own and shows its explanation straight away, so you get the method for one rung before you attempt the next.
Work the ladder in order. The early puzzles apply one transformation to a short word; the last few compose two rules or run a mirrored alphabet, and reward writing the steps down. Nothing here is timed and nothing is scored, so read the explanation after every attempt, including the ones you get right: the method it names is the part that carries over to the next puzzle. Paper and pencil help on the letter series, though none of these puzzles needs them.
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1. Furniture in five letters
The letters A, B, E, L and T can be rearranged to spell a common five-letter word. That word names a piece of furniture. Which word is it?
Show a hint
Two of these use exactly the letters you were given. Separate them with the category cue, not by which looks more familiar.
2. One step at a time
Every letter in this series stands one step further along the alphabet than the letter before it. Which letter belongs in the gap?
Letter series, five terms.
- J
- K
- missing term, position 3 of 5
- M
- N
Show a hint
Say the alphabet aloud starting from the letter before the gap and stop at the letter after it.
3. Three of a kind
Three of these words belong to the same everyday category. Which word does not belong with the other three?
Show a hint
Group the words first, then see which single word has no group left to join.
4. Same meaning, second pair
BEGIN is to START as FINISH is to which word?
Show a hint
Turn the leading pair into a sentence, then use that identical sentence on the second word.
5. Hidden across the gap
A six-letter everyday word is hidden in this sentence: Kindly ask for estimates today. Its letters run in order, straight across the space between two adjacent words. Which word is hidden?
Show a hint
Write the sentence out with the spaces removed, then read it slowly from left to right.
6. Two steps, alternating
The gaps between these letters are not all the same size. Which letter belongs in the gap?
Letter series, six terms.
- B
- D
- E
- G
- missing term, position 5 of 6
- J
Show a hint
Write the size of each gap under the series and work with the sizes, not with the letters.
7. Seven letters, one room
The letters C, E, H, I, K, N and T can be rearranged to spell a common seven-letter word naming the room in which meals are cooked. Which word is it?
Show a hint
Start from the cue and list rooms, then test each one against the letters rather than the reverse.
8. Opposites in pairs
ANCIENT is to MODERN as SHALLOW is to which word?
Show a hint
Decide what relation joins the leading two words before you read the rest, then apply exactly that relation.
9. Look at the spelling
Three of these words share a feature of their spelling that has nothing to do with meaning. Which word lacks that feature?
Show a hint
Nothing here depends on what the words mean. Read each word letter by letter and compare neighbours.
10. One letter changed
Which word can be made from HEAT by changing exactly one letter and leaving the other three letters where they are?
Show a hint
Write the starting word above each candidate and line the letters up in columns before deciding.
11. The word in the middle
Which word makes an ordinary compound word both when it follows SUN and when it comes before HOUSE?
Show a hint
Say both compounds aloud for every candidate. A word that works on one side only is not the bridge.
12. Pairs on the move
Each term in this series is a pair of letters. Which pair belongs in the gap?
Letter pairs, five terms.
- AC
- BD
- missing term, position 3 of 5
- DF
- EG
Show a hint
Read all the leading letters as one series and all the trailing letters as another.
13. Part and whole
PETAL is to FLOWER as PAGE is to which word?
Show a hint
Say the leading pair as a sentence containing the words one part of, then reuse that exact sentence.
14. Seven letters, one meaning
Rearrange all seven of the letters A, D, E, I, L, S and T into one word meaning the small points of a plan or description. Which word uses exactly these letters?
Show a hint
Cross each letter off the given list as you use it and make sure nothing is left over at the end.
15. Vowels and consonants
Three of these words share the same pattern of vowels and consonants. Which word does not share it?
Show a hint
Write a V under every vowel and a C under every consonant, then compare the four patterns.
16. Two steps between words
CAST becomes COAT in two steps. Each step changes exactly one letter, leaves the other letters in place, and must produce a real word. What is the word in between?
Show a hint
Compare the first and last words position by position; only the positions where they differ may change.
17. Hidden over three words
An eight-letter everyday word is hidden in this sentence: They watch and someone waves back. Its letters run in order across three consecutive words. Which word is hidden?
Show a hint
The stated length is part of the puzzle. Keep sliding your window until a run of exactly that size appears.
18. Numbers in, letters out
Replace each letter of COLD with its position in the alphabet, where A is 1 and Z is 26. Add 3 to every number, then turn the numbers back into letters. Which word do you get?
Show a hint
Write the four position numbers in a row first, do the arithmetic on the row, and only then convert back.
19. Instrument and measure
A RULER is to LENGTH as a THERMOMETER is to which word?
Show a hint
Write the leading pair as a sentence containing the word measures, then check that your candidate keeps the same kind of word on each side.
20. A phrase in nine letters
The letters B, B, G, H, I, L, L, T and U can be rearranged into an everyday two-word phrase for something that lights a room. Which phrase uses exactly those nine letters?
Show a hint
Sort the given letters alphabetically, sort each candidate the same way, and compare the two lists.
21. A step that grows
The gaps in this series are neither all equal nor repeating. Which letter belongs in the gap?
Letter series, six terms.
- A
- B
- D
- G
- missing term, position 5 of 6
- P
Show a hint
Work out the size of each gap, then look at how the gaps themselves change from one to the next.
22. The rule applied twice
Apply this two-part rule to PLANT: first swap the two letters at the front, then move the letter now at the end to the front. Apply the whole rule a second time to the result. Which string do you finish with?
Show a hint
Write each intermediate string on its own line and label which of the two moves produced it.
23. Three conditions at once
Which word satisfies all three conditions? It has exactly seven letters; its first and last letters are the same; and it contains exactly three vowels, no two of them next to each other. Count A, E, I, O and U as vowels and treat Y as a consonant.
Show a hint
Check the fastest condition first and drop a candidate the moment it fails one; you should not need all three tests on every word.
24. Forward and mirrored
Two different runs are interleaved in this series. Which letter belongs in the gap?
Letter series, eight terms.
- B
- Y
- E
- V
- H
- missing term, position 6 of 8
- K
- P
Show a hint
Read the letters in the odd positions on their own, then the even ones, and ask how the two runs relate.
25. Two steps in order
In the chain WINDOW to GLASS to SAND, the first step names what the object is made of and the second step names the raw material that substance is made from. Apply the same two steps, in the same order, to a wooden table. Where does the chain end?
Show a hint
Do the two steps separately and write the middle word down before you take the second one.
Skills these puzzles practise
Each category maps onto the shared aptitude constructs, so a puzzle that interests you has a lesson and a larger practice bank behind it:
Drawing conclusions from written information without relying on outside assumptions.
Applying symbol, letter, number, and substitution rules.
Understanding passages, instructions, policies, technical material, and workplace documents.
Sustained focus, selective attention, and accuracy under time pressure.
Identifying general rules from examples, sequences, and observations.
Inferring rules from shapes, symbols, matrices, and non-verbal patterns.
Comparing strings, records, transactions, forms, and data for mistakes.
Arithmetic, fractions, percentages, ratios, rates, estimation, word problems, and number relationships.
Holding, updating, and manipulating short sequences, rules, or instructions.