Doubled for Thursday, May 2, 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 4 words long, with 8, 4, 1 and 5 letters.
Hint 2
The shared word - the one that belongs to both phrases - has 4 letters and starts with S.
Hint 3
The first phrase is 2 words, the second is 3, and they overlap on one of them.
Hint 4
Saying what you were really thinking by mistake, then a backyard sheet of wet plastic.
The answer
Stuck, or want to check? Opening this reveals the whole answer.
Reveal the answer
Freudian N Slide
Freudian slip and Slip n slide, joined on Slip.
Freudian slip
A Freudian slip is a slip of the tongue that seems to reveal what the speaker really thinks, named for Sigmund Freud's theory of the unconscious.
Slip n slide
A Slip 'N Slide is the backyard toy: a long sheet of plastic you wet with a hose and dive along on your belly.
How players did
Across 1,621 plays, 36% got the whole answer in one guess, 9% solved it without a miss, 19% got there after at least one wrong guess, 17% used a hint or finished on their last chance, and 20% did not get it.
This puzzle ran on May 2, 2024, May 2, 2025 and May 2, 2026.