Wordplay Wed: Take the first two letters off country names

[jbenz]

(From the blog...)Wordplay Wednesday! Here’s another vaguely geographical thing, because I have that book about maps and all (that you should all buy and read). Take the first two letters off certain country names and you get other words: Yemen is “men,” for example. What nation would you behead by two letters to make…

A Greek god?
A mammal?
A bird?
A terrorist organization?
A Beatles song?
A board game?
A British prime minister?
One of the 12 tribes of Israel?

These are pretty hard, but a quick circuit through the world should give you at least a few of them.

I'll name two:

Beatles song: Kuwait

Bird: Somalia

[MStuhr]

Hopefully these are right:


A Greek god? Ja(Pan)
A mammal? Ic(Eland)
A bird? So(Malia)
A terrorist organization? Ba(Hamas)
A Beatles song? Ku(Wait)
A board game? To(Go)
A British prime minister? Sw(Eden)
One of the 12 tribes of Israel? Su(Dan)

[PhygLeGuy]

.
.
.
.
And Your Bird Can Swing: SA(MOA)

[marpocky]

For the Beatles song, would you accept Hrain or Raine?

[marpocky]

Which country, when its first 2 letters are removed becomes:

* the name of a language spoken in that country
* a Spanish word which was also a notable Ken Jennings response on Jeopardy
* the first name of a well-known chef
* an article
* an emotional state
* a city in Kyrgyzstan

[SMWinnie]

Which country, when its first 2 letters are removed becomes:

Hmm...on the take one; leave one principle

* an article

Answer: IrAN

New question: * Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

[eoyount]

New question: * Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Gotta be CaNADA

[marpocky]

New question: * Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Not as new as you might have thought

* a Spanish word which was also a notable Ken Jennings response on Jeopardy