Doubled for Sunday, August 4, 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 6, 3, 3 and 5 letters.
Hint 2
The shared word - the one that belongs to both phrases - has 3 letters and starts with G.
Hint 3
The first phrase is 2 words, the second is 3, and they overlap on one of them.
Hint 4
A machine that separates fibre from seed, then a highball with a wedge of lime.
The answer
Stuck, or want to check? Opening this reveals the whole answer.
Reveal the answer
Cotton And Tonic
Cotton gin and Gin and tonic, joined on Gin.
Cotton gin
The cotton gin is the machine that separates cotton fibre from its seeds, whose invention transformed the American South.
Gin and tonic
A gin and tonic is the highball of gin topped with tonic water, served over ice with a slice of lime or lemon.
How players did
Across 1,230 plays, 50% got the whole answer in one guess, 13% solved it without a miss, 11% got there after at least one wrong guess, 19% used a hint or finished on their last chance, and 8% did not get it.
This puzzle ran on August 4, 2024, August 4, 2025 and August 4, 2026.