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Celebrity Doublets
Challenging doublet puzzles that also test your knowledge of movie stars
Posted March 23, 2015
Celebrity Doublets
By Marcel Danesi, Ph.D. in Brain Workout
In previous blogs I have discussed Lewis Carroll’s marvelous Doublet Puzzle and provided various puzzles in the genre. As you may recall, the objective is to transform one word into another in a “word ladder” arrangement by changing only one letter at a time, forming a genuine new word (not a proper name) with each letter change. For example, turn the word LIFE (at the top of the ladder) into LOVE (at the bottom) with just one “step” in between:
LIFE
______
LOVE
The first step is to change the F in LIFE to V and we get LIVE. Changing the I in LIVE to O leads to the bottom step: LOVE:
LIFE
LIVE
LOVE
Now, let’s play on Carroll’s idea somewhat, with a version that can be called “celebrity doublet.” The objective here is to get the last name of a movie celebrity in the final step, which is not given to you, unlike in the original puzzle. Moreover, in this case you can use proper names in any of the steps (if required). Here’s an example.
TART
______
______
______
______
You must fill in all the given steps—deletions or additions of steps are not allowed. The answer is shown below:
TART
TARA (proper name)
SARA (proper name)
SAGA
GAGA (Lady Gaga)
As you can see, this type of puzzle is not easy. So, as a hint, you will be given the title of one of the movies in which the celebrity starred. As in some of the puzzles of previous blogs, you might come up with different steps to the solution. If so, I sure would like to hear from you.
1. Movie: Se7en
WINE
_______
_______
_______
2. Movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
RATE
_______
_______
_______
3. Movie: Four Weddings and a Funeral
BLAND
_______
_______
_______
4. Movie: The Deer Hunter
TANKER
_______
_______
_______
5. Movie: Blade Runner
TONY (proper name)
_______
_______
_______
_______
6. Movie: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
BRUCE (proper name)
_______
_______
_______
7. Movie: Die Another Day
HAIRY
_______
_______
_______
8. Movie: Fatal Attraction
SHORE
_______
_______
_______
9. Movie: Basic Instinct
SPARE
_______
_______
_______
10. Movie: From Here to Eternity
LEND
_______
_______
_______
Answers
1.
WINE
PINE
PINT
PITT (Brad Pitt)
2.
RATE
RARE
CARE
CAGE (Nicholas Cage)
3.
BLAND
BRAND
GRAND
GRANT (Hugh Grant)
OR
BLAND
GLAND
GRAND
GRANT (Hugh Grant)
4.
TANKER
TALKER
WALKER
WALKEN (Christopher Walken)
5.
TONY
PONY
POND
FOND
FORD (Harrison Ford)
6.
BRUCE
BRACE
TRACE
TRACY (Spencer Tracy)
OR
BRUCE
TRUCE
TRACE
TRACY (Spencer Tracy)
7.
HAIRY
HARRY (proper name)
BARRY (proper name)
BERRY (Halle Berry)
8.
SHORE
CHORE
CHOSE
CLOSE (Glenn Close)
9.
SPARE
STARE
STORE
STONE (Sharon Stone)
OR
SPARE
SHARE
SHONE
STONE (Sharon Stone)
10.
LEND
SEND
SEED
REED (Donna Reed)
