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First Time Poster...
While on a monotonous drive recently, I invented a game to pass the time more quickly. Many license plates in the US now have three letters followed by three numbers as the standard plate template. This led me to try to discover the shortest English word (and then alternately the longest) that contains the three letters in the exact sequence that they appear on each plate. For example:
AAG would lead to the shortest answer ADAGE (5 letters) and perhaps the longest of INTERNATIONALIZING (18 letters)
HCV would give WHICHEVER (9 letters) and perhaps HALLUCINATIVE (13 letters)
etc.
I realize that not all 3 letter combinations (of which there are 26^3 = 17576) have solutions since combinations like JVB, OQP, or RXF seem to have no English words that contain those letters in those sequences, and thus appear intractable. I offer the following 20 three letter combinations to be solved for the shortest answer below:
1. CJY
2. AUQ
3. FBF
4. GFM
5. GJG
6. GMV
7. IMJ
8. IQB
9. JZT
10. KXY
11. MZB
12. OKV
13. SVF
14. TFV
15. TZU
16. WJE
17. XQA
18. YVC
19. QDM
20. PZB
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Pooh-Bah
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Dear BankrollBets,
Welcome!
I tried to do this quickly and did get a few (number 9 must surely be Jazzoctopus), but if you were able to come up with answers to all these off the top of your head then I am seriously impressed. Its a good game, but gives me a headache and I think I would need a paper and pencil to play it so could not do so while driving.
Its too easy to cheat however, so I wont put any answers in. Taking some of your letter sets and checking them out left me even more impressed, some of them throw up very odd words!
dxb.
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Nice one FallibleFiend (#1 ConJurY), and I must confess a shorter (hence better) answer than mine (CaJolerY). I have been shamed at my own game.
dxb, being a new poster here I was momentarily perplexed by your answer to #9, but quickly caught on that there must be a Jazzoctopus posting on AWAD, and I was shortly thereafter distracted by a whimsical discussion about the proper formation of the plural of said name.
I must admit that having been stumped once too often by certain 3 letter combinations, and having written them down on scraps of paper while speeding down the highway, I was driven to "solve" once and for all this insidious game. Now I could have begun the post with some more common combinations like IES, RES, ING, AES, EES, ERS, but what fun would that have been. While I realize that "cheating" might end the thread quickly, I respect the integrity of all of the anonymous masses who read posts here. Call me a naive newbie if you must :)
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Pooh-Bah
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We are brimming over with integrity here. I was the one having to resist cheating - there is at least one website that will solve conundrums like this, and that is where I found that it would take unusual words to include some of your combinations. I guess I could put in the ones I worked out myself - and I think I've forgotten most of the others already. If you don't know the meaning of a word you never before encountered its pretty easy to forget it. Or p'raps its just old age!
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Pooh-Bah
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OK, well here goes:
1 - I had ConJugallY for number 1, but it is longer than Conjury.
3 - FeBriFuge
7 - I like CanIs MaJor, but I guess its two words so doesn't count.
10 - Can I get away with KlaXonophY: noise produced when playing a Klaxon?
11 - Mozambique or Marion Zimmer Bradley?
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Carpal Tunnel
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EXCELLENT GAME
19. QDM = quondam
Welcome to our ranks!
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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18. YVC -- polyvinylchloride, though that's more than likely two words.
OK. polyvalence.
TEd
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UPDATE... Nice start....
1. CJY Conjury (the Fallible Fiend), Cajolery (my poor answer which was trumped by TFF for shortest and then by dxb for longest), Conjugally (dxb)
2. AUQ stAtUesQue (dxb) this is the one I had (autosequence will probably be a word shortly TFF)
3. FBF febrifuge (dxb.... longer than the word I have, but it is a derivative)
4. GFM (engulfment ... tsuwm....good but 10 letters bigger than 8)
5. GJG
6. GMV
7. IMJ
8. IQB
9. JZT jazziest (good one tsuwm)
10. KXY
11. MZB
12. OKV
13. SVF
14. TFV
15. TZU
16. WJE
17. XQA
18. YVC (Polyvalence 11 letters.... TEd REmington), but there is a shorter one... and polyvinyl chloride is two words
19. QDM Quondam (TEd REmington), this is the one I had in mind
20. PZB (polarizable.... tsuwm 11 letters better than my 12 letter hypnotizable)
I'm not saying I have definitive answers as evidenced by #1, but I do have at least one answer for each of them.
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Carpal Tunnel
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well, here are three:
PZB - polarizable (polarizability!)
GFM - ?forms are probably longer, but engulfment works
JZT - jazziest
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Very Nice...
Once again I've been trumped.
#20 PZB polarizable.... tsuwm 11 letters better than my 12 letter hypnotizable
#9 JZT jazziest..... that's the same word I had
#4 GFM while engulfment is a good one (10 letters), I still have an 8 letter word, and you seem to be on the right track with your comment.
While finding the longest word was mentioned as part of the game, I prefer finding the shortest words for the very reason that you demonstrated with "polarizability." It seems one can always append another suffix or two to generate a longer "acceptable" English word.
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Carpal Tunnel
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It seems one can always append another suffix or two
How about a tougher longest word version with the added requirement that the first and last letters of the three letter grouping be also the first and last letters of the final word?
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Carpal Tunnel
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>added requirement that the first and last letters of the three letter grouping be also the first and last letters of the final word?
as a veteran of these games, this restriction makes very many groupings nigh onto unplayable (and for a pretty boring highway game). alternatively, you can disallow affixes, rule that the first shall be first, etc.
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REVISED... (Please excuse my poor formatting as I am a new poster with no skill in this arena)
I'll play along. Here is a hastily arranged list of 20 more examples (I'll call them #21 to #40) that have this added criteria that the first and last letters must be the first and last letters of the three letter combination. I'm unsure whether this makes it more or less difficult to derive answers since you have MORE information, but I like the variation.
The list from 41 to 65 is a more carefully constructed list with the added twist that I will give what I think to be the shortest word (correct me if I'm wrong) that fits the new criteria. See if you can come up with a longer word that fits the new criteria.
21. HBC..........41. kpy kelpy
22. DKF..........42. tzy tizzy
23. DZM.........43. sza stanza
24. EFA..........44. hoi houri
25. FPC..........45. hrb herb
26. AYX.........46. usc unrealistic
27. BWF.........47. jek jerk
28. ILH..........48. mqn mannequin
29. KCL..........49. qme quagmire
30. LBH..........50. nlk niblick
31. NPP..........51. hnb hobnob
32. RAB..........52. ifo info
33. UYT..........53. vno vino
34. WTM.........54. mqg misquoting
35. XER..........55. dbf debrief
36. NYD.........56. voc voltaic
37. LKL..........57. ibx ibex
38. ATF..........58. lnx lynx
39. CTB..........59. gzn galvanization
40. OYY..........60. fnp fingertip
.....................61. mbl mislabel
.....................62. hzt haziest
.....................63. rbb rhubarb
.....................64. ebo embryo
.....................65. wro weirdo
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Cool game, BankrollBets...and welcome!  #2. AUQ -- quaff #4. GFM -- framing #7. IMJ -- jimmy
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juan, I think you're sposed to keep 'em in order..
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juan, I think you're sposed to keep 'em in order..They are in order...2, 4, and 7!...what????  oops
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Carpal Tunnel
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#15 tzu -- tzuwm! 
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hmmmm...... autosequencer is that what they used to map the human genome? Is it really a word? Any opinions?
A quick Google search turns up slightly more hits on "AUTO SEQUENCER" (265) than the one word construct AUTOSEQUENCER (233), not that this proves anything at all.
I like your answer FallibleFiend. I'm just not sure it officially qualifies.
I have another word in mind for AUQ that is only 10 letters in length.
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Pooh-Bah
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AUQ - Statuesque? 10 letters.
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Is autosequencer a word?
Well, I don't know. I'm sure I've seen it used in the context of genomics, but I've never looked it up till just this moment. No entries on OneLook, so I guess not. Statuesque is much better anyway.
k
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56 voc Gosh, how about vocal?
TEd
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VOC The word must start with a "V" and end with a "C" for the new list.... like VOltaiC.
Can you find a longer word to fit this criteria?
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Pooh-Bah
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Volcanic is one letter longer!
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Voltaic - 7 letters
Volcanic - 8 letters
Can you come up with a 9 letter word?
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Vitriolic 9 letters ....that's the one I had in mind Faldage.
WOW!! Ventriloquistic at 15 letters does seem to qualify as well AnnaStrophic.
And I shouldn't have been as quick to nix TEd Rem's suggestion of vocal, as VOCALIC seems to work as another example of the shortest, along with VOLTAIC (7 letters).
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Sniper New Jersey License Plate? NDA 21Z
NDA.... shortest word NaDA as in "nothing", which is what the sniper has proven with his cowardly actions
longest word? couNterDemonstrAtions.... 21 letters (hmmm same as the number contained in the plate)
Adding the "Z" into the equation: NDAZ
shortest? vaNDAliZe (9 letters)
longest? iNDustriAliZations (18 letters)
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Either my examples are just too tough, everyone is reluctant to cheat due to such a high level of integrity, or (and ALAS this is likely the answer) this just doesn't interest anyone :(
That said, here are some clues/answers to the first unanswered 20...I will eventually learn to let go and let the thread die its natural death. It's just so hard to let go of one's first posted thread <sob> <sob> <sniffle>
3. FBF febrific < febrifuge (dxb)
4. GFM gasiform shorter than engulfment (tsuwm)
5. GJG it sometimes happens on airplanes
6. GMV form of the word argue
7. IMJ jimjams (Slang)
8. IQB (solid, gas, ...) form of the third state of matter
10. KXY alkoxy
11. MZB it has poles.....form of the word
12. OKV not as uncommon a combination as I originally thought when I posted here...outknave, booklover, shockwave, bookshelves, pocketknives
13. SVF having the power to bring redemption
14. TFV putrefactive
15. TZU tzuris
16. WJE swarajes (probably just too obscure a word)
17. XQA exequial (of or relating to funerals)
18. YVC sylvatic (affecting only wild animals)... polyvalence (TED)
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8. IQB (solid, gas, ...) form of the third state of matter
Wait, wait, don't tell me. Liquib, right?
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I guess I dumbed it down to just about the right level for some.  For some reason this reminds me of a professor of mine who, rather than hurt a student's feelings by telling him his answer was flat wrong, would say, "You would have been more nearly correct if you had said," followed by the right answer. So, you would have been more nearly correct if you had said LIQUEFIABLE.
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<sob> sonofabitch actually, I have been enjoying this thread a lot; I just haven't taken the time necessary to figure out any of the puzzles! MZB Mozambique
formerly known as etaoin...
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BrB, you've had over 250 hits. Not bad for a newbie. Or for any oldie, for that matter.
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ExTrAOrdINary ETAOIN.... that's the spirit at least on SOB IRRESPONSIBILITIES is a longer one Here are some more just for you: <FUK> fruitcakes, <FUC> fulcrum
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don't forget firetruck
btw, it's pronounced "Mo-zam-b-coo"
formerly known as etaoin...
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