A Word, Please: Some compound modifiers don’t need a hyphen to make sense. By June Casagrande. Jan. 2, 2020 1:36 PM PT . ... Short answer: no. But there’s some gray area here, too.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with KUER listener Elisabeth Larsen and Weekend Edition Puzzlemaster Will Shortz.

You give me a fourth word that can follow each of mine to complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase. Ex. Toad, Step, Bar --> STOOL (toadstool, stepstool, bar stool) 1.

For each set, give a fourth word that can follow to complete compound words or familiar two-word phrases. Example: Chain, Priority, Registered --> MAIL (chain mail, priority mail, registered mail) 1.