See if you can solve these rebuses which range from easy to hard. They are all linked by a topic.

  1. On e

  2. luu (-4)

  3. enter image description here

  4. enter image description here

  5. enter image description here



2. I could have added a space to make it make easier.

4. Treat the 4+image as one unit. Keep reading it aloud.

5. rlord3534 has the interpretation for the 3 images correct. Now see if you can make sense of them. It would help if you keep thinking about what exactly you are trying to solve.

[Note that I have now posted the solutions to this puzzle below]

*Note the images of the flags, bus, spring, trophy outline and the text for 'tumn' do not belong to me (all obtained online).

  • $\begingroup$ Ok could you maybe give us a hint? $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Apr 6 '16 at 19:36
  • $\begingroup$ Does it have to do with an event? $\endgroup$ – rlord3534 Apr 6 '16 at 19:45
  • $\begingroup$ Think I got 3... Are they all different sports? $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Apr 6 '16 at 20:02
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ For those who insist on trying to solve the hardest one without having got the easier ones, you'll know you have the answer when you have it. So stop wasting paper doing it :p $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 7 '16 at 20:11
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Given the number of attempts and amount of struggling involved in solving this (and there is still no complete answer), I'm tempted to say that this is only difficult because the answer is obscure, or the puzzle is poorly constructed. It is for this reason that I have downvoted. $\endgroup$ – Ian MacDonald Apr 18 '16 at 18:19

Incomplete answer?

Looks like linked by sports.

Number 1:

Hole in one. (Golf) confirmed


LBW (Cricket) -- L before double U -4(-fore) confirmed
Credit to Volatility


Triangle missing and angle is a try. (Rugby) confirmed
Credit to rlord


Fork Upright? Possibly referencing bike racks or a goalpost?


(Gold -au) tumn, spring, (win)ter, (summ)er. -> cycle.
Bus - u's + cycle = b cycle or bicycle.

  • $\begingroup$ Those blanks scared me, haha. Yes - correct for the first one, and the topic. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 6 '16 at 19:53
  • $\begingroup$ Think I got 3? But still could be wrong. $\endgroup$ – Z. Dailey Apr 6 '16 at 20:03
  • $\begingroup$ I'm afraid not. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 6 '16 at 20:09
  • $\begingroup$ in 5, the final image represents the 4 seasons (winter, spring, summer, autumn) $\endgroup$ – rlord3534 Apr 6 '16 at 20:09
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ 2 is LBW in cricket ('l' be(-fore) double 'u') $\endgroup$ – Volatility Apr 10 '16 at 0:04




Hole in one - Thanks to @Raystafarian


lose by four?


The triangle is missing one of its angles. Therefore, by removing "angle" from "triangle" you are left with tri. The answer is try, a term used for a score in rugby.


The four flags represent the united kingdom. The arrow could be pointing norway/scandonavia? 4 + Norway


Another shot in the dark. Bus + u's + cycle. Could possibly sound like bicycle. Bicycle kick?

  • $\begingroup$ I'm thinking that too for 2, but still having a hard time with the answer. $\endgroup$ – Z. Dailey Apr 6 '16 at 19:56
  • $\begingroup$ I'm afraid the others had the theme right - my knowledge in sport kinda things is more general and thin. If you want to know how patchy my knowledge is: I had to google 'The masters' :p $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 6 '16 at 19:56
  • $\begingroup$ Fair enough, figured it was worth a shot $\endgroup$ – rlord3534 Apr 6 '16 at 19:59
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Nice one! You have number 3 solved. The rest are off, I'm afraid. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 7 '16 at 19:51
  • $\begingroup$ Very nice! You have the interpretation of the 3 mini-rebuses correct for 5. But the whole rebus isn't solved yet.. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 9 '16 at 18:12

I may have part of the fifth. It's actually missing the connection with the topic.... Thanks to rlord3534 for the interpretation and to the OP for the hint :)


Reduce reuse recycle
Cycle bus and u's = Re-bus re-use
If you want to cycle cycle, there's also re-cycle
Rebus sounds like reduce

  • $\begingroup$ You are inches away. Keep staring at the first line you have written in your answer and see how it relates with the interpretation of the images. I can assure you the answer is related to sport. Not everything has to be included in the final answer. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 13 '16 at 15:06
  • $\begingroup$ I've awarded the bounty to this answer, as it is pretty much there, although incorrect, and the bounty has expired. See if you can still get it, though. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 16 '16 at 14:08

Given that not all of them have been solved, and the solutions are scattered through several answers, I shall post the full solutions here.

  1. Solver: This was solved quite quickly, and I cannot attribute anyone in particular with it (as several people got it).

    Quite literally:

    A hole in one

Given the solution for 1, the topic is most likely to be (and is):

Sports (although it actually is slightly more refined than this, as I have posted in the side note at the very bottom of this answer)

although some guessed that it might be:


  1. Solver: Volatility

    This was quite mean, and I could have made it easier to get by writing it as:

    l uu (-4)

    Nevertheless, it's

    l before double u $\to$ l b4 w $\to$

    lbw (cricket)

    The '-4' is optional, as

    the b stands for 'before' anyway, hence the brackets.

  1. Solver: rlord3534

    [triangle] - [angle] = tri

    which sounds like:

    Try (rugby)

  1. Unsolved

    I could have perhaps made it easier by drawing the arrow in a more helpful place. However, the point of giving rebuses linked by a certain topic was so that solvers could try to 'guess' the solution by thinking of common phrases which I might have put in, and this was the case for this rebus.

    In the hint, I said it would be helpful to consider the 4+image as one unit.

    The image represents the flags of the countries in the uk

    So that part of the rebus says:

    4 + uk $\to$ four add uk

    The arrow represents:


    So combining these, we get:

    out four add uk

    Reading this out loud:

    out four a-dduk (pronouncing uk as "uck" rather than "you kay")

    Which sounds like:

    Out for a duck (cricket)

  1. Partial solvers: rlord3534 (got all of the mini-rebuses), Aleeeeee (almost got there afterwards)

    First, get the interpretation of the 3 images:

    The first one wasn't hard:


    The second one was slightly harder, but was guessed by some:

    u's (plural of the letter 'u')

    The third was made up of 4 images:

    spring $\to$ Spring
    some 'er' $\to$ Summer
    gold 'tumn' $\to$ Au 'tumn' (chemistry) $\to$ Autumn
    win 'ter' $\to$ Winter

    So these 4 images represent:

    the seasons

    However, this is not the correct interpretation for this final part, and I did say to some that the arrows were the most important.

    Note that we are trying to solve a rebus, and I underlined the importance of this in my hint.

    The word ‘rebus’ is quite close to the first image, but with an extra ‘re’.

    If we apply this ‘re’ to the next image, we get ‘re[u’s]', which sounds like ‘reuse’.

    This might lead to the interpretation of the final image which is ‘cycle’. If we add ‘re’ to it, we get ‘recycle’.

    This now gives us:

    rebus, reuse, recycle

    This is quite similar to the phrase:

    reduce reuse recycle (which Aleeeeee managed to spot)

    Yet the key to solving this puzzle is:

    The word 'reduce' is replaced with 'rebus'.

    This perhaps indicates that the solution of the original rebus is ‘reduce’.

    But this isn’t sports related, and that’s because:

    The original rebus did not have any ‘re’s in it — they were placed there by us in order to help solve the puzzle. The image which would have completed the rebus (the image which should have replaced the ‘bus’), should’ve been ‘duce’, or something which sounded like that in order to complete the pattern.

    Therefore the final solution is:

    reduce $\to$ duce

    Which sounds like:

    Deuce (tennis)

    Side note:

    The sport doesn’t have to be tennis, but it most often is associated with it. Note that the theme is more specifically terminology (words/phrases) used in sport.

  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I stand by my downvote. That last one is too convoluted and poorly constructed. $\endgroup$ – Ian MacDonald Apr 19 '16 at 21:24
  • $\begingroup$ @IanMacDonald I disagree. It's convoluted, because I have to explain how to solve it rather than how to solve it. It certainly is not poorly constructed considering the layers of logic/puzzle I've put into it which is clear from my solution. It was not something which was thought up in a short time. Nevertheless, you can stand by your opinion. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 19 '16 at 21:27




Hole in 1


Lose the albatross?


The Open


Scotland win the foursomes?


Double decker (driving ranges) ooze all year round

Probably not all correct, but worth a shot.

  • $\begingroup$ I had originally put the masters as my answer but, it was clarified that the theme is just sports in general $\endgroup$ – rlord3534 Apr 7 '16 at 15:06
  • $\begingroup$ Nope - only hole in 1 is correct. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 7 '16 at 19:52

Trying again for the unsolved ones:




4 in a row?


Musical? (Taking the B from bus, "use", "cycle") sounds like "Musical"

  • $\begingroup$ I'm afraid not. You'll have to think harder for this one as it's not so simple. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 7 '16 at 19:51
  • $\begingroup$ @QuestionAsker I gave it another go. How did I do? $\endgroup$ – stackErr Apr 13 '16 at 0:42
  • $\begingroup$ Still no, I'm afraid. Others have been slightly more successful. $\endgroup$ – Shuri2060 Apr 13 '16 at 14:56
  • $\begingroup$ @QuestionAsker haha no worries. I am new to Rebus puzzles so going to fail hard at them :D $\endgroup$ – stackErr Apr 13 '16 at 14:57

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