Doubled for Saturday, October 26, 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 7, 4, 2, 3 and 6 letters.
Hint 2
The shared word - the one that belongs to both phrases - has 4 letters and starts with B.
Hint 3
The first phrase is 2 words, the second is 4, and they overlap on one of them.
Hint 4
The player who throws the passes, then a rough calculation.
The answer
Stuck, or want to check? Opening this reveals the whole answer.
Reveal the answer
Quarter Of The Napkin
Quarterback and Back of the napkin, joined on Back.
Quarterback
The quarterback is the American football player who calls the plays and throws the passes.
Back of the napkin
A back-of-the-napkin calculation is a rough estimate worked out quickly on whatever is to hand.
How players did
Across 893 plays, 45% got the whole answer in one guess, 7% solved it without a miss, 18% got there after at least one wrong guess, 20% used a hint or finished on their last chance, and 10% did not get it.
This puzzle ran on October 26, 2024 and October 26, 2025.