WordFixx

This will be another quick case of extending a word by adding letters progressively.  I like how this batch crosses a variety of sciences: An ION is any atom with a charge due to having excess or missing electrons.  If missing an electron, it will be a positive ion.  If it has an extra electron to share, it will be a negative ion.  Table salt is made up of a positive sodium (Na+) and a negative chlorine (Cl-) ion.  (In the simplest form, or when in solution in water.)  That is basic chemistry. Now a PION is a subatomic particle, coming from physics.  The name is shortened from pi-meson.  The exact nature of this particle can be found here .  For our purposes, it's just a useful word to know in Scrabble or other games. Next in line is the PRION, which comes from biology .  Believe it or not, there are infectious particles that are smaller than bacteria, even smaller than viruses ... PRIONS are simply misfolded mutant proteins that can cau...

In word games, it often makes sense to start with a small word and look for progressively longer words with the same letters.  Here is on that was bouncing around in my head this weekend. SOL is the sun, the center of the SOLAR System. SOLE is either the only item, or a fish.  Of course, acting as the SOLE participant means going SOLO.  This can also apply to a musical part, where you break off from the rest of the band and do your own thing: playing a SOLO. From SOLE we can insert a V to get SOLVE.  This word has some interesting branches.  It could mean coming up with the answer to a problem, SOLVING the problem.  That answer is the SOLUTION.   What's interesting about SOLVE and SOLUTION is that they also applies to mixing something into a liquid.  You DISSOLVE salt into water, for example, in which case the salt (the SOLUTE) is SOLUBLE in the water (the SOLVENT), and the resulting mix is the SOLUTION.   This just feels like an odd parallel...

As I came to see DEUCE and DUCE more frequently in the word games we play, I thought they were just two spellings of the same word -- maybe one was American English and the other was British -- but they are not even close.  A DEUCE is a two, or specifically the face of a die that shows two spots.  It does not seem to apply generally to a pair of something, as you would never say a deuce of shoes or a deuce of daisies.   Another set of expressions uses "deuce" as the devil, as in "there's the deuce to pay," suggesting a lot of trouble is coming.  I have also heard, "to the deuce with you."  Deuce = Devil in these cases. A less common usage is for "deuce" to mean something remarkable, as in "a deuce of a situation."  Merriam Webster's definition 3b is: "something notable of its kind", and their example is: "a deuce of a mess."  This fits with deuce as the devil.  It's not unheard of to say "a devil of ...