Tips & tricks
I've always loved playing around with letters and words, it stretches the mind and can make you very creative and, more often that not, results in fun. The English language is a beautiful thing as it is steeped in history but is always developing, it never stands still. I have used various tried and tested techniques to 'think of a link', there is nothing novel in my methods, it's just a case of combining these techniques using trial and error until you hit on something. There are two sides to 'Thinkalink', the fun of solving a puzzle, i.e linking a word to a word, to a number or to a phrase and the satisfaction and fun of learning a fact, whether it be educational, trivial or something you feel you ought to know. There are a number of ways in which one word can be linked to another, some of which are described in more detail here:
1. Numbers
Linking a word to a number is not as difficult as it may seem. As these examples demonstrate, it is just a question of digging a little deeper and more imaginatively.
Words that signify or imply a certain number
(0) 0 - love (tennis), duck (cricket), oh
(1) once, single, first, i, aye, eye, Juan, won, won/wan(der)
(2) twice, double, couple, second, twin, to, too, ..tu..(in a word), twosome, pair
(3) treble, third, triple, free, tree, furry, ...thery (at the end of a word), threesome, prial, hat-trick
(4) phwoar, for, fore, fore! (in Golf), fir, ...fer (at the end of a word)
(5) V for Victory, a handful, vive (at the end of a word), v (versus)
(6) half a dozen, sick, sex, sax, socks, sucks
(8) hate, ate, figure of 8
(9) nein (German for no)
(10) perfect (10 out of 10), dix (French)Expressions with numbers in them
(3) 3 kings, 3 stooges, 3 blind mice, 3 little pigs, 3 in 1 (Holy Trinity), a Ram's horns at 90 degrees
(4) Four poster bed, World Cup & Olympics are every 4 years, the Fab Four (the Beatles), Channel 4, 4 runs
(5) A high 5, Channel 5, 5th Avenue, 9 to 5, Renault 5 (Ren05), 5 star treatment
(6) 6 of 1 half a dozen of the other, 6 runs, all at 6s & 7s, 6 pack, 6 games in a set of tennis
(7) 7th heaven, 7 days/nights of the week, lucky 7, the 7 dwarfs, all at 6s & 7s, 7 points in a tie break at tennis, 7 Wonders of the World, the 7 year itch, Rugby 7s
(8) '8 days a week' (song), Octopus, Octagon, 8 rowers in a boat
(9) 9 bob note, 9 lives, 9 to 5, on cloud 9
(11) 11-a-side teams in sport, Legs 11.
(12) Dozen (as in 'doesn't'), 12 hours & months, number 12 i.e substitute, 12 days of Christmas,
(13) a Jury Unlucky 13,
(14) for teenagers (14agers), 2 week holiday (14)
(15) 15 Rugby players, 15 questions in 'Who wants to be a millionaire?'
(18) 18 holes of Golf,
(19) the 19th hole (The Clubhouse),
(20's) Score (20 from 'the Bible'), The key of the door i.e 21, Two little ducks is 22, 22 players on a pitch 24 hours, 4 & 20 blackbirds, Pony is 25, Over 25s in xFactor (!), Quarter i.e 25%
(30's) A third 33%, 36 runs in an over,
(40's) life begins at 40, Lent is 40 days long 4x4 cars (44), 45 rpm Records, Colt 45, 48 hours,
(50's) Half 50% 52 weeks in a year, 52 playing cards, 57 varieties of Heinz
(60's) 64 squares on a Chessboard, 'When I'm 64', Six Five Special, 66 World Cup
(70's) 72 Holes of Golf, Three-quarters 75%, 76 Trombones,
(80's) Ate tea i.e 80, 2 fat ladies 88,
(90's) Nightie 90, 99 Ice-cream,
(100) 100 %Signifying a letter in the alphabet
The numbers 1 to 9 signify the first 9 letters of the Alphabet, i.e 1 = a, 2 = b... etc.
So if you want to say...
Methuselah lived to be 969 years old
''Cor, his breath must have been a bit IFI !!! (letters 9, 6 & 9 of the alphabet)''
Out of Africa won best film Oscar in 1985 His Excellency (HE) Geldof created the Live Aid concert to take poverty out of Africa. 'H' signifies 8 and 'E' signifies 5, i.e 85Latin
Latin can be very useful for certain numbers, i.e i = 1, ii = 2, iv = 4, v = 5, ix = 9, x = 10, xi = 11, l = 50, c = 100, d = 500
For example...
4 could mean the IVy Restaurant in London, 58 could be allev8 (Gigi - best film Oscar 1958), 10 could be x-rated.
