Past Daily Challenge
September 12, 2026
Original clues, answers and explanations from this round. Historical versions may differ from today's catalog; that alone does not mean an answer was wrong. Recorded quality issues appear beside the affected questions. Your saved round and score are unchanged.
Question 1 · verb
To express criticism toward someone
Answer: reproach
Original choices and explanations
- reproach
- To express criticism toward someone
- serenade
- To sing and play music for someone
- downplay
- Present as less important than it is
- dissuade
- To persuade someone not to do something
Question 2 · adjective
Requiring both hands or designed for two people
Answer: bimanual
a machine designed for bimanual operation
Original choices and explanations
- citified
- Having the customs, manners, or dress of an urban person
- bimanual
- Requiring both hands or designed for two people
- stannous
- Related to or containing tin
- bibulous
- Given to or marked by drinking alcohol
Question 3 · adjective
Having a soothing or softening effect
Answer: demulcent
Original choices and explanations
- agrestic
- Characteristic of the countryside
- cuspidal
- Having pointed projections
- demulcent
- Having a soothing or softening effect
- rubicund
- Having a healthy reddish color
Question 4 · adjective
Excessively or insincerely emotional
Answer: bathetic
a bathetic novel
Original choices and explanations
- zenithal
- Located at or near the point directly overhead
- rubicund
- Having a healthy reddish color
- uxorious
- Excessively devoted or submissive to one's wife
- bathetic
- Excessively or insincerely emotional
Question 5 · noun
Eyeglasses held to the eyes by a long handle
Answer: lorgnette
Original choices and explanations
- lorgnette
- Eyeglasses held to the eyes by a long handle
- graticule
- A set of reference lines in an optical instrument
- defilade
- A protective arrangement shielding troops from fire
- hackamore
- A bitless bridle used to control a horse
Definitions and examples adapted from Princeton WordNet and the Open English WordNet team’s 2025 data. Lexifour rewrites clues and explanations and blanks example sentences; this archive preserves the game’s original wording and choice order. License and attribution notices; Open English WordNet development is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Reference: McCrae, Rademaker, Bond, Rudnicka, and Fellbaum (2019), English WordNet 2019 – An Open-Source WordNet for English.
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