{"id":98716,"date":"2016-05-31T13:19:50","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T17:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=98716"},"modified":"2016-06-01T19:21:39","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T23:21:39","slug":"thirty-malapropisms-the-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"14780803823_0ea202f98d_o\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ed. Note:\u00a0last week\u2019s puzzle contest<\/a> is officially over\u2014thanks to all who entered. Our winner this time is Jonathan Harkey, who got twenty-five out of thirty malapropisms. He gets\u00a0a free subscription to the\u00a0<\/em>Review and a copy of Dylan\u2019s new novel,\u00a0<\/em>Amateurs<\/a>.\u00a0Congratulations, Jonathan! Below, the solutions.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Malapropian Answers:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Fractal<\/em> should be dactyl<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Hobbesian<\/em> should be Hobson\u2019s<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. Charmin <\/em>should be Harmon<\/em><\/li>\n
  4. Finial <\/em>should be filial<\/em><\/li>\n
  5. Consubstantial <\/em>should be constabulary<\/em><\/li>\n
  6. Dobie Gillis <\/em>should be Wade-Giles<\/em><\/li>\n
  7. Oscillation <\/em>should be osculation<\/em><\/li>\n
  8. Cortisone <\/em>should be corticene<\/em><\/li>\n
  9. Valetudinary <\/em>should be valedictory<\/em><\/li>\n
  10. Sommelier <\/em>should be Somali <\/em>(A typo originally rendered \u201clapel pin\u201d as \u201clabel pin,\u201d so we also accepted \u201cLabel <\/em>should be lapel\u201d\u00a0<\/em>from those who responded before the typo was corrected.)<\/li>\n
  11. Gumbo <\/em>should be Gambit<\/em><\/li>\n
  12. Gibbous <\/em>should be glabrous<\/em><\/li>\n
  13. Elated <\/em>should be alighted<\/em><\/li>\n
  14. Netscape <\/em>should be netsuke<\/em><\/li>\n
  15. Stalagmite <\/em>should be Stakhanovite<\/em><\/li>\n
  16. Ignoramus <\/em>should be igneous<\/em><\/li>\n
  17. Organ <\/em>should be orgone<\/em><\/li>\n
  18. Horticultural <\/em>should be hortatory<\/em><\/li>\n
  19. Intransitive <\/em>should be intransigent<\/em><\/li>\n
  20. Lutefisk <\/em>should be lutenist<\/em><\/li>\n
  21. Cloaca <\/em>should be cloque <\/em>(or cloqu\u00e9<\/em>)<\/li>\n
  22. Vibraculum <\/em>should be viaticum<\/em><\/li>\n
  23. Grenadine <\/em>should be Grenadier<\/em><\/li>\n
  24. Purveyor <\/em>should be purview<\/em><\/li>\n
  25. Fallibility <\/em>should be Volatility<\/em><\/li>\n
  26. Laminal <\/em>should be liminal<\/em><\/li>\n
  27. Serbia <\/em>should be Cerberus<\/em><\/li>\n
  28. Metronomic <\/em>should be matroynymic <\/em>(or metronymic<\/em>)<\/li>\n
  29. Linemen <\/em>should be lineaments<\/em><\/li>\n
  30. Quadrupeds <\/em>should be quadriceps<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Dylan Hicks is a writer and musician. His second novel,\u00a0<\/em>Amateurs<\/a>, is out now from Coffee House Press. He contributes a monthly puzzle<\/a> to the\u00a0<\/em>Daily.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ed. Note:\u00a0last week\u2019s puzzle contest is officially over\u2014thanks to all who entered. Our winner this time is Jonathan Harkey, who got twenty-five out of thirty malapropisms. He gets\u00a0a free subscription to the\u00a0Review and a copy of Dylan\u2019s new novel,\u00a0Amateurs.\u00a0Congratulations, Jonathan! Below, the solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":923,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21168],"tags":[20937,22165,21220,19554,10301,22553,16274,22469,13012,13013,21183],"class_list":["post-98716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-really-difficult-puzzles","tag-answers","tag-dylan-hicks","tag-head-scratchers","tag-malapropisms","tag-puns","tag-puzzle-contest","tag-puzzles","tag-really-difficult-puzzles","tag-riddles","tag-word-games","tag-word-play"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThirty Malapropisms: The Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The answers to last week\u2019s puzzle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers by Dylan Hicks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 31, 2016 \u2013 Ed. Note:\u00a0last week\u2019s puzzle contest is officially over\u2014thanks to all who entered. Our winner this time is Jonathan Harkey, who got twenty-five out of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-31T17:19:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-06-01T23:21:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"779\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"685\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dylan Hicks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dylan Hicks\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dylan Hicks\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dc6e1d0006a4685e659a9b4d89a9a756\"},\"headline\":\"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-31T17:19:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-01T23:21:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/\"},\"wordCount\":235,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"answers\",\"Dylan Hicks\",\"head-scratchers\",\"malapropisms\",\"puns\",\"puzzle contest\",\"puzzles\",\"Really Difficult Puzzles\",\"riddles\",\"word games\",\"word play\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Really Difficult Puzzles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/\",\"name\":\"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-31T17:19:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-01T23:21:39+00:00\",\"description\":\"The answers to last week\u2019s puzzle.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dc6e1d0006a4685e659a9b4d89a9a756\",\"name\":\"Dylan Hicks\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e17b139b79e0ee622f98c92b91a79a17ab38989daf314d228e200d50de204335?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e17b139b79e0ee622f98c92b91a79a17ab38989daf314d228e200d50de204335?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dylan Hicks\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/dhicks\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers","description":"The answers to last week\u2019s puzzle.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers by Dylan Hicks","og_description":"May 31, 2016 \u2013 Ed. Note:\u00a0last week\u2019s puzzle contest is officially over\u2014thanks to all who entered. Our winner this time is Jonathan Harkey, who got twenty-five out of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2016-05-31T17:19:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-06-01T23:21:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":779,"height":685,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dylan Hicks","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dylan Hicks","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/"},"author":{"name":"Dylan Hicks","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dc6e1d0006a4685e659a9b4d89a9a756"},"headline":"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers","datePublished":"2016-05-31T17:19:50+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-01T23:21:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/"},"wordCount":235,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg","keywords":["answers","Dylan Hicks","head-scratchers","malapropisms","puns","puzzle contest","puzzles","Really Difficult Puzzles","riddles","word games","word play"],"articleSection":["Really Difficult Puzzles"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/","name":"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg","datePublished":"2016-05-31T17:19:50+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-01T23:21:39+00:00","description":"The answers to last week\u2019s puzzle.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/14780803823_0ea202f98d_o.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/31\/thirty-malapropisms-the-answers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dc6e1d0006a4685e659a9b4d89a9a756","name":"Dylan Hicks","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e17b139b79e0ee622f98c92b91a79a17ab38989daf314d228e200d50de204335?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e17b139b79e0ee622f98c92b91a79a17ab38989daf314d228e200d50de204335?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dylan Hicks"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/dhicks\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/923"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98716"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98821,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98716\/revisions\/98821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}