The American Civil War has ended. Can you repatriate the Confederacy (gray) into the Union (blue) by changing one letter at a time? Each step must create a valid word in the English language. President Abraham Lincoln made the change in 6 steps (for the history buffs out there, Abe planned these changes before he was assassinated). Can you do as well ... or better?

GRAY ---- BLUE

The countries of Russia and Egypt share a characteristic that only one of the countries in the following list also shares. Which country and for what reason? It has nothing to do with spelling or pronunciation.

Austria
France
Iran
Japan
Mexico
Nigeria
Pakistan
Spain
Turkey
Venezuela

(Hint: The answer covers a lot of ground ...)

Harry took a hike away from home. Unfortunately, birds ate his trail of bread crumbs. Can you help Harry return home by changing one letter at a time? Each step must create a valid word in the English language. Harry made the change in 8 steps. Can you do as well ... or better?

AWAY ---- HOME

Which word in Group B can be added to Group A? Why?

Group A: ambler, ingrate, leash, steal
Group B: crushed, pudding, singes, tundra

Mike and Dave like to play Scrabble. Mike never cheats. He always plays valid words and never plays out of turn. Dave, however, cheats. Sometimes he plays invalid words, but Mike never challenges. Sometimes he makes two plays in one turn. Mike never notices. Today, Mike and Dave have started playing a game. Mike played first. After 7 plays, the board looked like this:

SPUD
PORE
OPEN
TEAT

As usual, Dave has already cheated ...

The following three equations represent words that have a common relationship. The first letter of each word is given. Where will you find the following equations to be true? (Be sure to 'check' your answer carefully.)

Q = 1, B = 2, P = 8