Over the past week in our household, both Max and Nora have taken a liking to “The Name Game,” the late 1960’s Top 40 Hit. As seen on both American Bandstand and The Merv Griffin Show, the song is both simple to sing and a lot more fun if you are the singer (as compared to the hopefully very patient parent.)
Basically, the song creates rhymes with any name. The rhyme is “forced” by truncating the first letter or sound of the target word, and then repeating it in succession after pre-pending “B,” “F,” and finally “M.” Per the rules of the song, if the starting word/name actually begins with the letter “B,” “F,” or “M,” that specific letter is dropped at that part in the song.
Lost or confused? Here are two samples, with “Nora,” and “Max” as the target words.
Nora, Nora, bo-bora
Banana-fana fo-fora,
Fee-fi fo-mora,
Nora!Max, Max, bo-bax
Banana-fana fo-fax
Fee-fi fo-ax,
Max!
Note that in the “Max” sequence, because “Max” begins with “M,” the “M” is omitted in “Fee-fi fo-ax,” (instead of “Fee-fi fo-max.”)
So, how is this a GeekDad Puzzle of the Week?
Most of the time, the created words (like “bora,” “fora,” “mora,” and “bax”) are nonsense words. In some instances, like with “fax,” and “ax,” above, the words created are actual English words.
This week’s GeekDad Puzzle of the Week is to send in as many word sets where all three words created by The Name Game are actual English words, or at least sound like them. Spelling doesn’t necessarily count, and the base words don’t have to be names, but the created words can be.
Each quartet of words (like “runny/bunny/funny/money”) sent in will count as an entry into the random drawing for this week’s fabulous prize, a $50 Gift Certificate from the fine folks over at ThinkGeek. As always, please send your solutions to GeekDad Central for entry into the drawing.
Be sure to enter both early and often! Good luck, and happy puzzling.
