Olympiad: word puzzles — anagrams, palindromes, word ladders
Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★★★ · Understood: 6 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 56 of the english course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.
Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.
Test 1 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
Kai says FLYTABLE is a word; his sister says, "Nah, that's not a word, bruv." Who is right?
- 1. Neither: chains don't need real words — score 1
- 2. His sister: it is not a real word — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Both: it counts as half a word — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 4. Kai: any two words joined make a word — score 4
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 16, line 11: «The five-finger test: on one page, count the words you can't read or don't know; four or five means the book is too hard to read alone for now.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «count» (+3); the same circumstance (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★★★ · right ✓
Your mate says, "An anagram can drop a letter if it's hard, innit." Put him right.
- 1. Every letter must be used exactly once — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
- 2. You may drop up to two letters — no support
- 3. You may add in any letter you like — no support
- 4. One letter may be dropped if it is hard — score 4
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 7, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 56, line 2: «An anagram uses exactly the same letters in a new order: LISTEN becomes SILENT, and DORMITORY becomes DIRTY ROOM.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «use» (+3); the same thing acted on «same letters» (+3); the same doer «anagram» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★★★ · right ✓
Change CAT into DOG, one letter at a time. Which ladder is legal?
- 1. CAT, COT, COG, DOG — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 2. CAT, BAT, BOG, DOG — score 4
- 3. CAT, DOT, DOG — score 4
- 4. CAT, CAG, DOG — score 4
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 2, line 3: «Long words are read in chunks called syllables, the beats you can clap: sand-wich, pic-nic, fan-tas-tic. You blend each chunk, then glue the chunks together. A…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «dog» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★★★ · right ✓
What would happen to the palindrome "level" if its last letter became "s"?
- 1. It would turn into a pangram — score 4
- 2. It would be an anagram of "level" — no support
- 3. It would still be a palindrome — no support
- 4. It would stop being a palindrome — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 14, line 5: «These words live in letters and formal writing. A polite letter ending «Yours sincerely» that suggests a sufficient number of chairs uses three list words at o…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «end» (+3); the same doer «polite letter» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
Nan from Yorkshire: "Ey up, love, 'noon' reads t'same both ways, dun't it?" ("Ey up" means hello; "dun't it" means doesn't it.) Is she right?
- 1. No, only names can be palindromes — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Yes, noon is a palindrome — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Yes, but only in capital letters — no support
- 4. No, noon has three letters — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
A cartoon says "dad" and "add" are both palindromes. Fix it.
- 1. "add" is a palindrome, but "dad" is not — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. "dad" is, but "add" backwards is "dda" — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Neither of them is a palindrome at all — no support
- 4. They are both palindromes, so it's right — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
Which pair are anagrams of each other?
- 1. hear and heart — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. heart and earth — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. heat and earth — no support
- 4. heart and hearth — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★★★ · right ✓
A pal says, "Any long sentence is a pangram, no cap." ("No cap" means no lie.) Which one is a pangram?
- 1. Twelve happy children played in the snowy park. — no support
- 2. A cat and a dog ran over the green hill today. — no support
- 3. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
- 4. The big brown bear sat on a very lazy log. — no support
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 56, line 13: «A pangram uses every letter of the alphabet; "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is the famous one, used to test keyboards and to show what a typefac…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «quick brown fox» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★★★ · right ✓
Why can't a word ladder go from CAT to HORSE?
- 1. The words have different numbers of letters — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. HORSE has an S in it, and CAT has not — no support
- 3. It can, in exactly six careful steps — no support
- 4. Horses and cats are not related animals — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
Which word uses exactly the letters of TEACHER?
- 1. HEATER — ← Mova's choice · score 9
- 2. THEATRE — score 9
- 3. HECTARE — ✓ the right answer · score 9
- 4. CHARTER — score 9
Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 9, tied with another option at 9 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 17, line 15: «Using your own words is fine if the meaning stays exactly the same, but in tests the text's own words are safest.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «use» (+5); the same thing acted on «own words» (+4). The right option, 3, scored 9. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★★★ · wrong ✗
An old teacher is said to have told a student, "You have hissed my mystery lectures." What did he mean?
- 1. You have hissed at all my lectures — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. You have kissed my mister lectures — no support
- 3. You have mist my hysterical lectures — no support
- 4. You have missed my history lectures — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the term for a word or sentence that reads identically forwards and backwards.
- 1. A pangram — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. An anagram — no support
- 3. A palindrome — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. A spoonerism — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
Ascertain which of the following constitutes an anagram of "listen" bearing the meaning "quiet".
- 1. Tinsel — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Silent — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Inlets — no support
- 4. Enlist — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓
It is given that in a word ladder exactly one letter may be altered at each step. Select the sequence that complies.
- 1. cold, cord, card, ward, warm — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. cold, card, ward, warm — no support
- 3. cold, cord, ward, warm — no support
- 4. cold, word, warm — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗
Determine the term denoting a sentence comprising every letter of the alphabet.
- 1. A lipogram — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. A kenning — no support
- 3. A palindrome — no support
- 4. A pangram — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/56-olympiad-word-puzzles-anagrams-palindromes-word-ladders/