Ten Sets of Match Ups—A Great Way to Learn Synonyms.

Match up is a game on my i-Google page. Luckily it is refreshed only once a day or I would become an addict. It has a bunch of words on one side and a bunch of synonyms on the other. The words are often madly obtuse though. Love it! Maybe some will stick and I can use them. This list will be composed of two: questions and answers. In the first are the words followed by the synonyms. Match them up yourself and then check the answers. I will show off by adding my score. This will not always be showing off of the positive kind.

Questions:
1. quiescence, howdah, hydroponics, seamster, cayuse:
    Indian pony, aquiculture, houdah, tailor, dormancy.
2. castigate, variegate, abnegate, macerate, apprise:
    vary, advise, chasten, deny, soften.
3. clandestine, mawkish, circuitous, wizened, gauche:
    hush-hush, roundabout, unpolished, hokey, shriveled.
4. vendetta, singlet, troika, drachma, verisimilitude:
    dram, III, blood feud, vraisemblence, vest.
5. tympan, phagocyte, harangue, arboretum, zealot:
    scavenger cell, botanical garden, drum, drumbeater, screed.
6. occlude, imbibe, obviate, cogitate, descry:
    close up, sop up, rid of, mull, spot.
7. circumspect, pellucid, languorous, picayune, cacophonous:
    dreamy, cacophonic, discreet, crystal clear, niggling.
8.alumna, rancor, vendee, affront, entrepot:
    buyer, resentment, insult, graduate, transshipment centre.
9. heathenish, hexangular, pompous, inalienable, isochronal:
    pagan, hexagonal, portentous, isochronous, unalienable.
10. sheepcote, genuflection, fief, balustrade, dolmen:
     fold, handrail, demesne, obeisance, cromlech.


Answers:
1. quiescence=dormancy; howdah=houdah; hydroponics=aquiculture; seamster=tailor; cayuse=Indian pony. Okay, all that stuff about the words being obtuse. Today they weren't. Five out of five.
2. castigate=chasten; variegate=vary; adnegate=deny; macerate=soften; apprise=advise. Is it wrong that the reason I know macerate is from cocktail menus? Two out of five.
3. clandestine=hush-hush; mawkish=hokey; circuitous=roundabout; wizened=shriveled; gauche=unpolished. Gauche is one of my favourite words, its one of those words that emotes what it means. It is fabulously forties. Five out of five.
4. vendetta=blood feud; singlet=vest; troika=III; drachma=dram; verisimilitude=vraisemblence. Five out of five. Nil out of one 'witty' comments.
5. tympan=drum; phagocyte=scavenger cell; harangue=screed; arboretum=botanical garden; zealot=drumbeater. Harangue is also one of my favourite words. I often harangue about how good a word it is. It is also good to know that although I tend to make it a lot more verby than it appears to normally be, I am using it fairly accurately. Five out of five.
6. occlude=close up; imbibe=sop up; obviate=rid of; cogitate=mull; descry=spot. Who'd'a thought it would go one to one across the grid. That's randomness for you, perfect order. I didn't think it, but I am also not a good puzzle doer today because I am cogitating over something and it's taking all my focus. Two from five.
7. circumspect=discreet; pellucid=crystal clear; languorous=dreamy; picayune=niggling; cacophonous=cacophonic. Those matches should have all been pellucid. Isn't picayune some sort of a mexican mammal? Three out of five.
8. alumna=graduate; rancor=resentment; vendee=buyer; affront=insult; entrepot=transshipment centre. I love theses things. Why do game makers not realise the huge potential word games have in an open market. If that was the case though, why would I be the only person I know who wants to play scrabble. Five out of five.
9. heathenish=pagan; hexangular=hexagonal; pompous=portentous; inalienable=unalienable; isochronal=isochronous. That was almost too easy. I'd like the in- and un-s to mean different things. Five out of five.
10. sheepcote=fold; genuflection=obeisance; fief=demesne; balustrade=handrail; dolmen=cromlech. Sometimes I think that words pre-exist in your head until you activate them and they become a part of your working vocabulary. It explains why you have a subconscious feeling of knowing about them, without being able to say why, or how to use them. Three out of five.

Forty out of fifty. Yay, a HD.