Doubled for Monday, October 28, 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 4, 3, 5 and 7 letters.
Hint 2
The shared word - the one that belongs to both phrases - has 5 letters and starts with C.
Hint 3
The first phrase is 3 words, the second is 2, and they overlap on one of them.
Hint 4
A jokey name for a spouse, then lighting the next one off the last.
The answer
Stuck, or want to check? Opening this reveals the whole answer.
Reveal the answer
Ball And Smoking
Ball and chain and Chain smoking, joined on Chain.
Ball and chain
The ball and chain is the iron weight shackled to a prisoner's leg, and the jokey name for a spouse.
Chain smoking
Chain smoking is smoking cigarettes one after another, lighting each from the last.
How players did
Across 1,079 plays, 48% got the whole answer in one guess, 21% solved it without a miss, 16% got there after at least one wrong guess, 7% used a hint or finished on their last chance, and 8% did not get it.
This puzzle ran on October 28, 2024 and October 28, 2025.