Anagram-o-rama

YEGwords No. 016

Author

Brandon Cathcart
May 30, 2025

Happy Friday morning! It’s looking like a gorgeous day (he said, writing this on Wednesday) and there is a 100% chance I will be on a patio just outside the sun’s searing touch later today. Just because the sun is too hot and constantly threatens to burn me doesn’t mean I’m not going to try my damnedest to enjoy it!

Me in my SPF-60 bubble from April to August

Today’s puzzle dives into the world of anagrams. And I know some of you just groaned out there - anagrams do get flak sometimes. But here at YEGwords, we don’t do cheap word tricks, except when we do, but not today. Today’s word tricks are high-quality, buy-it-for-life material.

Discussion (and spoilers!) below the break.

Play

Play Online

Print & Play

Puzzle Solution

Thanks to our generous patrons!

Thanks to this month’s donors, who help cover YEGwords costs like printing and web hosting.

Noah K, PFlo, izzy, J Cox, Russell, @katroran, Laura, Steph M, Julia & Lee, Ana and Ken (crossword extraordinaires), Aadil, Ellen, and Zayn, Carson, Comet, 604catreviews, Sylvie, Erin, Daisy the Dog, Tony M, and Aidan L

YEGwords is free for everyone! However, if you’d support us with a tip, you can give a one-time donation or monthly donation. Donors get sporadic bonus content as I feel inspired. Thanks for your support!

Discussion

Hot Rod is one of my favourite movies, and it was this scene in my mind as I was cluing RIOT. Talk about an iconic soundtrack!

Reminder: if you like making pop culture references and wordplay, you should try making a crossword! Shoot me a message and I’ll help get you set up - who knows, maybe you can be a guest constructor for YEGwords :)

Today’s Theme

An anagram isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A self-describing anagram. Each of the themed clues in capital letters are both clues to the answers, and anagrams of the answers themselves. CASH LOST IN ‘EM = SLOT MACHINES, MAY LIMIT ROT = IMMORTALITY, DIRTY ROOM = DORMATORY, and HINT: HOTEL = THE HILTON. Now that gets the wordplay blood pumping!

Tricky Clues

1A. The answer isn’t all that tricky but the reference is fun. A viral TikTok from about a year ago satirizing women being picky about dating was not only goofy, but played by David Guetta. The internet can be a good place.

2A. [Meme movement?] should be read as “a meme that involves a moving action”. Things like Orange Justice fit this bill, but for 3 letters, we’re looking for DAB, that thing that became a part of internet/meme culture like 10 years ago (yikes, that made me feel old).

43A. [It comes after pi (if yer inta plunderin')] is part one of a fun clue pair, one of my favourite bits in this puzzle. Hopefully you quickly got (pi)RATE for this one…

9D. Since [They come before pi (if yer inta books about a boy and a tiger)] was less easy if you aren’t familiar with the book/movie it’s referencing. Now sadly, I’ve never read or seen it, but I’m aware of LIFE OF (pi), and its many awards (4 Oscars for the movie and the Booker Prize for the novel!)

10D. [Second-guessing question] can be tricky because it’s a 3-word answer. I’ve debated marking the number of words in clues to aid solvers, as some outlets do, but landed on the NYT standard of “ah, they’ll figure it out”. Regardless, OR IS IT is a great phrase addition to your life to make yourself seem more dark and mysterious. xkcd knows what I mean.

31D. It always hurts me to throw out so much good food since broccoli STEMS are often seen as less valuable. If you peel the tough outside off, there’s lots of broccoli goodness inside! Chop it up and add it to your stir fry. This is my PSA of the week.

I hope you enjoyed this puzzle!

Until next Friday,

Brandon

Reply

or to participate.