Sandy Wood
Brain Game: The Perthshire Puzzle
by Sandy Wood - February 9, 2010 - 7:30 AM

A FEW POPULAR ANSWERS (there are several others):

BACKSTROKE, BIRTHPLACE, BREASTSTROKE, CORKSCREW, DOWNSTREAM, DUMBSTRUCK, EARTHSHAKING, ERSTWHILE, FILMSTRIP, HANDSPRING, JOCKSTRAP, LENGTHWISE, MATCHSTICK, NIGHTSHIRT, NIGHTSPOT, OFFSPRING, PITCHBLENDE, SONGSTRESS, SPENDTHRIFT, SPORTSWRITER, SWITCHBLADE, THUMBSCREW, WITCHCRAFT.

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Comments (49)

  1. Strengths, Catchphrase (6 consonants)

    posted by Adam on 2-9-2010 at 7:40 am

  2. STRENGTHS. Which has the advantage of not being a [quasi-]compound word.

    posted by Hugh on 2-9-2010 at 7:50 am

  3. Does ‘lunchbreak’ count? I doubt that’s an official word but it sure is a commonly used phrase.

    posted by Blaine on 2-9-2010 at 7:55 am

  4. Angstrom and birthplace

    posted by Michelle on 2-9-2010 at 8:09 am

  5. blaCKSTRap
    joCKSTRap

    posted by Doc Rock on 2-9-2010 at 8:24 am

  6. ERSTWHILE

    posted by Rus on 2-9-2010 at 8:29 am

  7. lengths

    posted by Katie on 2-9-2010 at 8:35 am

  8. Twelfths.

    posted by Matthew E on 2-9-2010 at 8:44 am

  9. phenoLPHTHalein-it’s an acid/base indicator

    posted by Nick on 2-9-2010 at 8:45 am

  10. oFFSPRing

    posted by Ryan on 2-9-2010 at 8:45 am

  11. ThousaNDTHS

    posted by Chris on 2-9-2010 at 8:47 am

  12. witchcraft…

    posted by Alex B on 2-9-2010 at 8:54 am

  13. nightstick

    posted by JD on 2-9-2010 at 9:00 am

  14. switchblade

    posted by Bryan on 2-9-2010 at 9:00 am

  15. corkscrew

    posted by KevinGA on 2-9-2010 at 9:03 am

  16. The gate to our backyard has a laTCHSTRing, and the factoid about it having six consecutive consonants appeared at a local spelling bee just a few days ago.

    posted by Trivia Why's Guy on 2-9-2010 at 9:11 am

  17. syzygy

    posted by k on 2-9-2010 at 9:27 am

  18. Hardscrabble

    posted by Shawn on 2-9-2010 at 9:46 am

  19. Worthwhile

    posted by Kevin on 2-9-2010 at 10:10 am

  20. SYNCHRonize …. 6.

    posted by Munnster11 on 2-9-2010 at 10:50 am

  21. heaRTSTRings

    posted by Doc Rock on 2-9-2010 at 10:53 am

  22. heaRTHSTone

    posted by Tracy on 2-9-2010 at 11:15 am

  23. EIGHTHS

    posted by giles on 2-9-2010 at 11:23 am

  24. The real trick is finding one that is not a compound word, pluralization, or using y as a vowel. Not that I’ve been able to do it, but I’m trying!

    posted by Rob on 2-9-2010 at 12:27 pm

  25. crwth

    posted by Matt on 2-9-2010 at 12:39 pm

  26. So far, 20% of the repondents didn’t follow the instructions.

    I wonder if that’s average for any task for which instructions are given?

    posted by B on 2-9-2010 at 12:56 pm

  27. Downstream?

    B … the math puzzles go the same way. Usually about the 5th or 6th comment is from some yayhoo with another answer that either doesn’t use digits 1 through 9 or doesn’t follow the rules of arithmetic … which is all explained in the directions.

    posted by Dinosaur on 2-9-2010 at 1:44 pm

  28. BORSCHT! I know, foreign word, but it’s part of the English language now.

    posted by Mark on 2-9-2010 at 2:01 pm

  29. Angsts

    posted by Sharon on 2-9-2010 at 2:09 pm

  30. matchstick

    posted by Dani on 2-9-2010 at 2:27 pm

  31. lengthwise

    posted by Ed on 2-9-2010 at 3:09 pm

  32. Highstrung

    Eighthstreet? (7 consonants)

    posted by Jeffrey on 2-9-2010 at 3:14 pm

  33. niGHTSHade (the deadly flower)

    reCaptcha: Mr depleted

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 2-9-2010 at 3:30 pm

  34. How about “Perthshire?”

    posted by Jason G on 2-9-2010 at 5:26 pm

  35. aSYMPTote, a favorite of my math teacher because there are five consonants in a row. It’s some sort of graph term about going to infinity…it was awhile ago.

    posted by Jen on 2-9-2010 at 6:40 pm

  36. niGHTSHade

    posted by Melissima on 2-9-2010 at 8:23 pm

  37. Earthshine — which illuminated the astronauts.

    posted by John Land on 2-9-2010 at 9:27 pm

  38. wellspring

    posted by Rathwel on 2-9-2010 at 10:06 pm

  39. crwth

    posted by First Post on 2-9-2010 at 10:32 pm

  40. suBMISSible

    ReCaptcha: knead or

    posted by Lain on 2-9-2010 at 11:57 pm

  41. Tetragrammaton

    posted by Chucklz on 2-10-2010 at 12:10 am

  42. breaststroke

    posted by TV on 2-10-2010 at 3:56 am

  43. ooh there are lots but my favourite would probably be muckspreader

    posted by zy on 2-10-2010 at 6:36 am

  44. Lightswitch

    posted by Betsy on 2-11-2010 at 11:05 am

  45. aRMSTRong I know it’s a proper name, but I figure it’s a common enough surname.

    posted by Mishael on 2-11-2010 at 1:04 pm

  46. zyzyx – like zyzyx road

    posted by kelly on 2-11-2010 at 6:58 pm

  47. sanskrit

    posted by yayer on 2-17-2010 at 10:19 pm

  48. nightclub

    posted by rd on 3-9-2010 at 4:45 pm

  49. CaTCHPHRase… 6 consonants, and I believe it is now a single word

    posted by Rick on 6-25-2010 at 11:14 pm

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