Doubled for Monday, December 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 8, 6 and 3 letters.
Hint 2
The shared word - the one that belongs to both phrases - has 6 letters and starts with G.
Hint 3
The first phrase is 2 words, the second is 2, and they overlap on one of them.
Hint 4
Sacred earth, then the rodent that predicts the end of winter.
The answer
Stuck, or want to check? Opening this reveals the whole answer.
Reveal the answer
Hallowed Hog
Hallowed ground and Groundhog, joined on Ground.
Hallowed ground
Hallowed ground is land made sacred, such as a churchyard or a battlefield.
Groundhog
A groundhog is the burrowing North American rodent that, on Groundhog Day, supposedly predicts how long winter will last.
How players did
Across 758 plays, 30% got the whole answer in one guess, 12% solved it without a miss, 6% got there after at least one wrong guess, 21% used a hint or finished on their last chance, and 32% did not get it.
This puzzle ran on December 16, 2024 and December 16, 2025.