Work through the levels. Reveal the Spangram only when you’re truly ready.
Today’s clue: “Oozing”
A gentle direction — no specifics.
Closer — the category is coming into focus.
Near-direct — only read if you’re stuck.
Direction only.
Getting closer.
Near-direct.
7 theme words — lengths in random order
Spaces not counted in total
All theme words — shuffled
These words fit the theme on the surface, but aren’t part of today’s solution. Knowing them ahead of time can save you minutes of searching.
It fits the rhyme pattern and the clue 'Oozing' might evoke liquid, but it's not a theme word.
Perfect phonetic match, but the puzzle sticks to a different set of rhyming words.
Sounds just like the theme words but was left out of the final list.
a textbook decoy
The puzzle’s main challenge is decoding a phonetic hint—'Oozing'—into a group of words that all rhyme with 'ooze' despite wildly different spellings. Once you spot BLUES or SHOES, the rhyme pattern collapses the rest: BREWS, CRUISE, and FUSE become obvious, though SCHMOOZE’s spelling can still trick the eye. The spangram RHYMETIME confirms the concept, but its 9-letter construction can be elusive until you vocalize the phrase 'rhyme time.' The set feels harder than simple rhymes because the spellings diverge so drastically—choose, cruise, and shoes look nothing alike. It rewards listening over scanning.
The clue 'Oozing' is a playful hint that points to the common endpoint of all the theme words: they all share the /uːz/ sound. By turning the noun 'ooze' into a verb, the editor winks at the liquid, flowing quality of the rhyme—words like BLUES, BREWS, and SCHMOOZE all glide to the same finish. The spangram RHYMETIME then makes the concept explicit, combining 'rhyme' and 'time' into a single label.
The puzzle unites seven everyday words not by meaning but by their terminal sound—/uːz/. This auditory set showcases the capricious nature of English spelling: BLUES, BREWS, CHOOSE, CRUISE, FUSE, SCHMOOZE, and SHOES all end identically despite looking nothing alike. The editor’s choice to focus on a single rhyme rather than a semantic category makes the puzzle a test of listening, not just reading. The spangram RHYMETIME cleverly announces the game’s structure, tying the sound-alikes together.
