Series of interestingly increasing words!

Question

What is the next word(more than one is possible!) in the below sequence of words:

NO, ATE, OPTS, _ _ _ _ _ ?

Note:

1 Only standard English words(as per Oxford English Dictionary) are to be provided.

2 As multiple answers are possible, first correct entry wins

3 There can be other sets of words(which are altogether different from the above)- which can form such a sequence. This is /may not be the only one

4 Based on David R's answer, this is getting added: All the letters of the words are different OR there is no repeated letter in any of the words.

rot13(Vf gurer fbzrguvat havdhr nobhg gur yrggref, engure guna gur jbeqf gurl sbez?) — David Robie, Feb 13 '20 at 14:30
I'm not sure I get clue 4: There are two 'O's and two 'T's already... — Darrel Hoffman, Feb 13 '20 at 21:11
@Darrel Hoffman In each word, individually, there are no repeated letters. — Mea Culpa Nay, Feb 14 '20 at 00:41

hexomino · Answer 1 · 2020-02-13T11:09:54.307

15

I think that it could be

PARSE (or any anagram thereof)

Reasoning

I think the $n$th term in the sequence is a word with $n$ letters which has the maximal number of anagrams so PARSE has APERS, APRES, ASPER, PARES, PEARS, PRASE, PRESA, RAPES, REAPS, SPARE, SPEAR (12 anagrams which I think is the most possible for 5 letters).

edited Feb 13 '20 at 11:09

answered Feb 13 '20 at 10:07

hexomino

135,910
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Well, hexomino, a good try, though intended answer is different. RAPERS is not possible. – Mea Culpa Nay Feb 13 '20 at 10:33
@MeaCulpaNay Sorry that was a typo, fixed now. – hexomino Feb 13 '20 at 11:10
2

I guess the answer should be the lexicographically smallest one. – athin Feb 13 '20 at 12:00

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 13 '20 at 12:55

I think the next word is

Queue

Because

Each word has only one vowel or consonant, alternating each word. NO is 1 of each, ATE is one consonant, OPTS is one vowel, and QUEUE is again one consonant.

Other options in English are

AUDIO, AERIE, and EERIE

With this logic, the 6 letter word could be

SNITCH and SPRING with possible entries for THIRTY, TWENTY, and SYSTEM, depending on whether or not you count the Y.

No 7 letter words follow this rule though.

interesting answer, not the intended answer, though. – Mea Culpa Nay Feb 13 '20 at 14:24 — Mea Culpa Nay, Feb 13 '20 at 14:24

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 13 '20 at 21:32

6

My guess:

ITEMS

Reasoning:

ITEMS -> ITEMS, TIMES, EMITS, MITES, SMITE (each letter begins its own anagram).

answered Feb 13 '20 at 21:32

tecu

341
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Yes, you got it correct, well done! – Mea Culpa Nay Feb 13 '20 at 23:27
Hmm, I should've gotten this, since I posted almost the exact same puzzle six months ago... – Darrel Hoffman Feb 14 '20 at 14:29

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 13 '20 at 19:52

2

I believe the answer could be

Stare, or its other 4 anagrams: tears, rates, stear (old timey synonym of steer, as in, to stear a car) and earst (which means long ago).

Reason:

No has two anagrams: on, no, and two letters.
Ate has three anagrams: tea, eat, ate, and three letters. Opts has four anagrams: pots, stop, opts, tops, and 4 letters. Therefore the next must have five anagrams and five letters.

answered Feb 13 '20 at 19:52

GridAlien

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rot13("bcgf" unf gjb zber nantenzf: "cbfg" naq "fcbg". Vg vf cebonoyl gur zbfg nantenznoyr frg bs 4 yrggref.) – Darrel Hoffman Feb 13 '20 at 21:08
@GridAlien: Yes, you are almost there, but missed by one word, that starts with E. Erst is a correct word, while earst is not, I am afraid. Nice try! – Mea Culpa Nay Feb 18 '20 at 14:12

Series of interestingly increasing words!

4 Answers4