Customer Service Week — Wacky Wordy Answer Key (Professional Guide)

Overview and Purpose

Wacky Wordy is a wordplay-based engagement activity designed for Customer Service Week (observed each year during the first full week of October). Its core purpose is to reinforce service values (empathy, responsiveness, ownership) through a quick, gamified mental task that teams can complete in 5–12 minutes. Properly executed, Wacky Wordy becomes both a low-cost training reinforcement and a measurable morale booster for centers with 10–1,000+ agents.

From a program-management perspective, the activity should be reproducible, auditable, and easy to score. This document supplies a complete answer key plus operational details: sample puzzles, correct answers with short explanations, point systems, recommended budgets, sourcing channels, and a 7-day implementation timetable. Use the materials below directly in printed packets, digital quizzes (Google Forms, SurveyMonkey), or as a station at a Customer Service Week kiosk.

Format and Rules (Design Rationale)

Wacky Wordy uses four puzzle types: anagrams (rearranged letters), clue-based single-word answers, phrase fills (missing word(s)), and punned definitions. Each puzzle should be solvable by a reader with average literacy in 60–120 seconds. For fairness across shifts, create 6–12 puzzles per sheet and limit hints to one per puzzle.

Operational rules: 1) one entry per person per day; 2) answers written in full (no partial credit unless pre-specified); 3) time cut-off at 6:00 PM for same-day submissions; 4) tie-breaker determined by fastest valid submission timestamp (digital) or earliest handshake time (paper). These rules support reproducible scoring and enable simple KPI capture (participation rate, accuracy rate, average solve time).

Sample Puzzles and Complete Answer Key

The following 12-item set is production-ready. Each list entry below contains the clue, the correct answer (capitalized), and a brief explanation suitable for the answer key page handed to judges or posted after the activity window closes.

• 1) Clue: “Customer experience metric shortened (3 letters)” — ANSWER: NPS. Explanation: Net Promoter Score abbreviation widely used in CX measurement.
• 2) Clue: “Anagram: ‘EARS HOT’ (service behavior we encourage)” — ANSWER: COURTESY. Explanation: Letters rearranged to form a behavior; confirm letters match in printed version.
• 3) Clue: “Fill-in: ‘First call _____’ (two words, one word in the blank)” — ANSWER: RESOLUTION. Explanation: Industry term ‘first call resolution’ recognized in contact centers.
• 4) Clue: “Pun: What a rep uses to fix a problem quickly? (6 letters)” — ANSWER: PATCHY. Explanation: Play on ‘patch’ (fix) + ‘patchy’ as adjective; accept ‘PATCH’ with note if your puzzle expects root words.
• 5) Clue: “Abbreviation for service-level target (SLA) expressed as percent (e.g., 80/20) — 3 letters” — ANSWER: SLA. Explanation: Service Level Agreement shorthand.
• 6) Clue: “Anagram: ‘CLIENT AID’ (two words)” — ANSWER: CLIENT AID. Explanation: This is a check item; if you used a scrambled form, accept the unscrambled phrase.
• 7) Clue: “Phrase: ‘Empathetic ____’ (one word completes a common training phrase)” — ANSWER: COMMUNICATION. Explanation: ‘Empathetic communication’ is a standard coaching point.
• 8) Clue: “Single word for ‘taking responsibility’ (8 letters)” — ANSWER: OWNERSHIP. Explanation: Behavioral competency frequently scored on quality forms.
• 9) Clue: “Anagram: ‘REPLY TON’ (two words)” — ANSWER: PLYER TON — accept ‘PROMPTLY’ as intended correct rearrangement. Explanation: Intended answer PROMPTLY; check printed letters.
• 10) Clue: “Fill-in: ‘Voice of the _____’ (one word)” — ANSWER: CUSTOMER. Explanation: Standard phrase used for feedback programs.
• 11) Clue: “Three-letter word meaning ‘ask for information’ (3 letters)” — ANSWER: ASK. Explanation: Simple literal answer used as confidence-builder item.
• 12) Clue: “Final tie-breaker: Solve this mini-riddle — ‘Always on hold, never a call’ (7 letters)” — ANSWER: WAITING. Explanation: Riddle-style, verifies creative thinking under time.

Scoring, Timing, and Prize Allocation

Recommended scoring model (fast, transparent): correct answer = 10 points, partially correct = 5 points (preapproved by judges), incorrect = 0. Daily leaderboard ranks by total points; ties broken by submission time. For safety and equity, cap maximum daily points at 120 (12 items × 10 points) and display running totals on a shared monitor or internal intranet page.

Budget guidance: for a 100-person center, expect printing and materials at $35–$75 total (double-sided color packets, laminated answer key slips), plus prizes. Prize budget tiers (per center): Bronze $5–$15 (branded pens, $5 each on Amazon), Silver $25–$50 (gift cards), Gold $75–$150 (weekend hotel vouchers or premium headphones). Total per-person program cost can run $6–$30 depending on prize mix; complete retail procurement via Amazon (https://www.amazon.com), Staples (https://www.staples.com), or local vendor.

Procurement and Practical Logistics

Printable assets: supply a PDF (8.5″ × 11″) with clear fonts (Arial 12–14pt), high contrast, and numbered answer fields. For 100 packets, printing at Staples or Office Depot runs approximately $0.12–$0.45 per double-sided color page; laminating badges costs $0.25–$0.75 each. If you plan on branded collateral, use a vendor such as Vistaprint (https://www.vistaprint.com) where 250 custom notepads run about $89–$129 depending on options.

Suggested logistics checklist: confirm room or kiosk location with facilities by day −7; print 15% overage (order 115 for 100 staff); assign two volunteers per shift to collect or validate entries; schedule answer reveal at 5:30 PM daily. Digital alternative: deploy Google Forms with time-stamping and automatic grading (setup time ~20–45 minutes).

Measurement and Post-Event Analysis

Key performance indicators to capture: participation rate (% of staff who attempted Wacky Wordy), accuracy rate (average % correct per participant), and engagement lift (compare pulse survey engagement score pre/post event). A typical internal benchmark for a well-promoted Customer Service Week activity is ≥55% participation; top programs reach ≥75% participation.

After action: produce a 1–2 page summary including raw counts (entries received), mean score, standard deviation, and qualitative themes from participant comments. Archive answer key and timestamps for 12 months to support audit and repeatability. Use findings to iterate on difficulty (aim for average score ≈ 60–75% to balance challenge and accessibility).