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The 16 words below may be partitioned into 4 groups of 4 connected words.
Additionally, each of the four groups can be represented by a single group-word.
Finally, the four group-words are connected by a single five-letter word.
BALLET BRAIN BRIE BUTTER
CANDLE JELLY SON FIRE
WEED HOUSE ELEVATOR SICK
MONK MAY LION WILL

Can you identify the four groups and the associated group-words?
What is the five letter word that links the group-words together?

Stiv
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hexomino
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  • The words 'My Lovely [noun]' are so indelibly linked to the ultimate answer Stiv came to that it was almost easier to start there and work backwards for me. – Tonks May 27 '20 at 13:27

1 Answers1

16

This is a tricky one! Some of the words could fit into many categories, but I think the final categorisation yielding four groups of four is:

Group 1: SEA

- SeaWEED
- SeaSON
- SeaLION
- SeaSICK

Group 2: FLY

- HOUSEfly
- MAYfly
- BRIEfly
- BUTTERfly

Group 3: SHOE(S)

- JELLY shoe
- MONK shoe
- BALLET shoe
- ELEVATOR shoe

Group 4: POWER

- CANDLEpower
- BRAINpower
- WILLpower
- FIREpower

The connection between these four categories is then:

HORSE (SEAHORSE, HORSEFLY, HORSESHOE, HORSEPOWER)

As for the title:

It's a reference to one of the finest songs ever created, instantly recognisable to all Father Ted fans!

Stiv
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  • Nice work! I had your 1 and 2 plus jellyfish, monkfish, lionfish, candlefish & house music, ballet music, elevator music... The only thing remaining would have been to find out what on Earth "will music" is! – Jafe May 27 '20 at 12:43
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    @Jafe Thanks :) And yes, that's exactly what I meant about so many categories! I think hexomino did really well to put so many red herrings in this one. Even once you find the four correct categories, FIRE, MONK and HOUSE can all fit in at least two of them, and finding which one they're needed in is key! – Stiv May 27 '20 at 12:49
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    +1 just for that iconic song - how they did not win Eurovision I will never know :P – Beastly Gerbil May 27 '20 at 12:52
  • All perfect, well done! – hexomino May 27 '20 at 13:50