It is once again March and the lovely EnigMarch people have challenged puzzle designers to write a puzzle inspired by today's word: "heart".
Oh no! The USA clown President Trump and his buffoonish adviser Elon Musk have canceled hundreds of contracts while accomplishing nothing! Alas, they have disrupted government operations, breaking many things.
Below are clues for many broken things, specifically broken seven-letter words. Each word was broken in half. We gathered up the left-halves and the right-halves. Whoopsie, we lost the middles, the "hearts," as it were. Using the clues, can you figure out the broken words? You can see how we figured out "Madison" from mad and son.
Some might think Trump and Musk are heartless, but when you've figured out the words' missing hearts, you'll find another adjective.
Father of the Constitution: | M a d / Ⓘ / s o n |
Source of hot air: | _ _ _ / ◯ / _ _ _ |
Place for a cabinet: | _ _ _ / ◯ / _ _ _ |
Out of control: | _ _ _ / ◯ / _ _ _ |
Captain or one who flees town: | _ _ _ / ◯ / _ _ _ |
Group of vehicles(!): | _ _ _ / ◯ / _ _ _ |
$, slangily: | _ _ _ / ◯ / _ _ _ |
Swamp, e.g., Washington DC: | _ _ _ / ◯ / _ _ _ |
Tried to make a deal: | _ _ _ / ◯ / _ _ _ |
Left-hand words: cab, car, fur, kit, mad, off, run, ski, wet
Right-hand words: ace, age, and, hen, per, red, son, van, way
Some hints, rot-13'd
- Gur svefg frg bs sbhe urneg-yrggref sbezf n jbeq. Fb qbrf gur ynfg frg bs sbhe urneg-yrggref.
- Fxv naq cre tb gbtrgure
- Pnoontr vf byq-gvzrl fynat sbe zbarl
Puzzle solution, also rot-13'd:
znqvfba / Sngure bs gur Pbafgvghgvba sheanpr / Fbhepr bs ubg nve xvgpura / Cynpr sbe n pnovarg ehanjnl / Bhg bs pbageby fxvccre / Pncgnva be bar jub syrrf gbja pnenina / Tebhc bs iruvpyrf(!) pnoontr / $, fynatvyl jrgynaq / Fjnzc, r.t., Jnfuvatgba QP bssrerq / Gevrq gb znxr n qrny