One-Word Substitution

At a glance 9 rules

1. 1Tick every clueThe right word covers every part of the definition; a near word misses one. A sceptic doubts claims, but a cynic doubts people's motives.
2. 2Parts can misleadRoots help, but read the whole word: thrift means saving, yet a spendthrift is someone who wastes money.
3. 3Person, act or qualityMatch the form the definition asks for: 'a person who' needs a person (plagiarist), 'the act of' an action (plagiarism), 'that cannot be' an adjective.
4. 4Look-alike trapsOne letter changes the meaning: incorrigible (cannot be reformed) vs incorruptible (cannot be bribed), ascetic (self-denying) vs aesthete (lover of beauty).
5. 5Rule: -cracy, -archyRule by the people: democracy; the rich: plutocracy; a few: oligarchy; one all-powerful ruler: autocracy; a king or queen: monarchy; no one: anarchy.
6. 6Killing: -cidefratricide (brother), patricide (father), matricide (mother), regicide (king), infanticide (infant), genocide (a whole people), homicide (any person).
7. 7Experts and collectorsentomologist (insects), etymologist (word origins), ornithologist (birds), numismatist (coins), philatelist (stamps), cartographer (maps), lexicographer (dictionaries).
8. 8Cannot be: in-, il-illegible (cannot be read), indelible (cannot be erased), incorrigible (cannot be reformed), invincible (cannot be defeated), inevitable (cannot be avoided).
9. 9Where things are keptaviary (birds), apiary (bees), aquarium (fish), armoury (weapons), granary (grain), hangar (aircraft), observatory (stars).