The Tail Is Half The Length

Underwater researchers recently discovered that thresher sharks sometimes stun their prey with a powerful shockwave generated by their tail. Their tail is half the length of the whole shark.

Being a literal thinker I wondered how many words there were where the tail was half the length. In other words how many words are there that fit the following pattern:

_ _ _ _ T A I L

I won’t tell you how many words there are that fit that pattern. Just find as many as you can before you move on to the answers.

When you have seen the answers you can then decide whether you found enough to consider yourself a scrabble shark!

Best of Luck

AVENTAIL The moveable front of a helmet

BANGTAIL A wild stallion whose tail hair is squared at the tuft

BOATTAIL A North American bird

BRANTAIL A bird similar to a thrush that is also known as a redstart

BUCKTAIL A fishing lure

COATTAIL The lower part of a coat

COCKTAIL Can be used as a verb meaning to dock a horse’s tail

DOGSTAIL A grass with spike flower heads – also DOGTAIL

DOVETAIL To fit together closely

DUCKTAIL A style of haircut

FISHTAIL To swing the tail of a moving vehicle from side to side

FORKTAIL A hawk-like bird

GOLDTAIL A European moth with a yellow tufted tail

HAIRTAIL A group of marine fishes with long whiplike bodies

HARDTAIL A motorbike with no suspension at the rear

HIGHTAIL To retreat rapidly

HORNTAIL An insect which is also known as the wood wasp

MILLTAIL The channel in which water runs away below a millwheel

MOCKTAIL A cocktail which contains no alcohol

PLOWTAIL The end of a plow where the handles are

PONYTAIL A hairstyle in which the hair is tied at the back

RINGTAIL An animal whose tail has ringlike markings

SILKTAIL A bird which is similar to the waxwing

WHIPTAIL A lizard with a long, slender tail

There were 24 words which completed that pattern. How many did you find?

If that wasn’t enough for you I will put the cart before the horse and give you another 23 words of 8 letters where TAIL makes up the first half of the word.

TAILARDS An obsolete term to describe people with a tail

TAILBACK A member of a formation in American football

TAILBONE The coccyx, which is at the end of the spine

TAILCOAT A formal coat which has long tails at the back

TAILERON Either part of a two piece tailplane

TAILFANS Fanlike swimming organs of some crustaceans

TAILFINS Decorative projections at the back of a car

TAILGATE To drive dangerously close behind another vehicle

TAILHOOK A hook lowered from the tail of an aircraft

TAILINGS The refuse parts of mined ore

TAILLAMP A light at the rear of the vehicle

TAILLESS Without a tail

TAILLEUR A woman’s tailored suit

TAILLIES Deeds where the normal legal course of succession is cut off

TAILLIKE Like a tail

TAILORED Fitted with clothes

TAILPIPE A verb meaning to tie cans to the rear of a vehicle

TAILRACE The channel in which water runs away from a mill

TAILSKID A support on which the tail of a plane rests

TAILSPIN To perform a kind of spin in an airplane

TAILSPUN Performed a tailspin

TAILWIND A wind coming from behind

TAILZIES Deeds where the normal legal course of succession is cut off

We have now come to the end of this week’s tail.

Happy Scrabbling

Patrick