Joey is not a kangaroo word in kangaroo, but joy is the joey in jollity

July 3, 2019 10:10 AM

What's more fun than a game you can play with words? If you're asking the dictionary, the answer is nothing ... which is why we are talking about kangaroo words today. (Dictionary.com, with ten tests of your ability to identify the hidden words) Kangaroo words contain the letters of a synonym in the correct order. The synonyms nestled inside a kangaroo word are called joey words. (ProEdit.com, with some bonus twin kangaroos joeys, and anti-kangaroos) Appendix: Kangaroo words (Wictionary list)
posted by filthy light thief (4 comments total)

I love this idea. Games Magazine needs to make these puzzles, if they haven't already.

Minor crankiness: It is not a game if your slideshow gives the answer in the first paragraph. I wanted to guess .
posted by soelo at 10:23 AM on July 3, 2019 [3 favorites]

Good point.

If you want to play along, here's the de-emphasized list of words starting with A, from Wictionary's appendix list:

aberrant
abnormality
abide
acclimatize
accustomed
acrid
action
admixture
admonish
adroitness
adventuresome
adventurous
affect
aggravated
allocate
allurement
alone
alternative
amicable
amicability
analogue
antiquated
applaud
applaudatory
apposite
appropriate
arch
arena
arouse
artifice
artistry
asseverate
astound
avocation

And here's a pastebin link with the entire list, un-emphasized ... but I missed a few solutions in my haste to paste.

Tip: there are two "grand kangaroo words" in the master list where there's a smaller joey in the first joey's pouch, so to speak. They're the tur-duck-ens of kangaroo words ;)
posted by filthy light thief at 1:39 PM on July 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

What is the joey word in kangaroo? Only one I can think of is "roo," which seems kind of like cheating since it's just the shortened nickname for kangaroo?
posted by GoblinHoney at 9:48 AM on July 4, 2019

What is the joey word in kangaroo? Only one I can think of is "roo," which seems kind of like cheating since it's just the shortened nickname for kangaroo?
Karo, as in light corn syrup?
posted by PollyWaffle at 10:33 PM on July 4, 2019