Doubled for Sunday, March 31, 2024
One picture, one hidden three-word chain. The first two words make a familiar phrase, the last two make another, and the middle word belongs to both. New to the game? Read how to play first.
Hints
Open them one at a time. Each one gives away a little more than the last.
Hint 1
The answer is 5 words long, with 5, 5, 5, 3 and 5 letters.
Hint 2
The shared word - the one that belongs to both phrases - has 5 letters and starts with T.
Hint 3
The first phrase is 3 words, the second is 3, and they overlap on one of them.
Hint 4
Seventeenth-century Massachusetts hysteria, then learning by trying things until one works.
The answer
Stuck, or want to check? Opening this reveals the whole answer.
Reveal the answer
Salem Witch And Error
Salem witch trial and Trial and error, joined on Trial.
Salem witch trial
The Salem witch trials were the prosecutions for witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts in 1692, in which a wave of accusations led to executions.
Trial and error
Trial and error is solving a problem by trying possibilities until one works, learning from each failure.
How players did
Across 2,541 plays, 32% got the whole answer in one guess, 20% solved it without a miss, 16% got there after at least one wrong guess, 18% used a hint or finished on their last chance, and 14% did not get it.
This puzzle ran on March 31, 2024, December 27, 2024, March 31, 2025, December 27, 2025 and March 31, 2026.