Doubled for Monday, September 16, 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 3 words long, with 4, 4 and 4 letters.
Hint 2
The shared word - the one that belongs to both phrases - has 4 letters and starts with J.
Hint 3
The first phrase is 2 words, the second is 2, and they overlap on one of them.
Hint 4
A stereotype about athletes, then a fungal complaint from the locker room.
The answer
Stuck, or want to check? Opening this reveals the whole answer.
Reveal the answer
Dumb Itch
Dumb jock and Jock itch, joined on Jock.
Dumb jock
A dumb jock is the stereotype of an athlete who is all muscle and no brain.
Jock itch
Jock itch is the fungal infection of the groin common among athletes, named for the jockstrap.
How players did
Across 1,096 plays, 12% got the whole answer in one guess, 9% solved it without a miss, 9% got there after at least one wrong guess, 38% used a hint or finished on their last chance, and 31% did not get it.
This puzzle ran on September 16, 2024, September 16, 2025 and September 16, 2026.