A punctuation question with two changing marks tests how the parts of a sentence fit together. Read around the blank to see where the main sentence pauses and picks up again. To test extra information, cross it out; the sentence must still work. In the middle of a sentence, match the opening and closing marks. Then test the next break: a colon introduces an explanation after a full sentence, while a semicolon joins two full sentences.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look at the comma after clue. Ask what words it separates from the main sentence.
- Hint 2
Where does the main sentence pick up again? Try removing the description of the clue and see what remains.
- Hint 3
After the blank, check whether the words naming the flake can stand alone. Do they have a main verb of their own?
Step-by-step
Find the insert, then test the final detail
Step 1Find the insert’s end
The comma in one clue, overlooked by the other starts a description of the clue. Where does the main sentence pick up again? Every choice includes resolves the mystery, which tells us what the clue does, so the description ends at characters. Cross out that description, and the sentence says that one clue resolves the mystery. That leaves a complete sentence, so the description is an insert, extra information the sentence can do without.
- Step 2
Close the insert
What must close the insert? The opening mark in one clue, is a comma, so a comma must close it after characters, before resolves. The version with no mark after characters leaves the insert open. The version with a semicolon after characters makes a break before the clue has its main verb. A semicolon joins complete sentences, but the words before this one haven't yet said what the clue does.
- Step 3
Introduce the wax detail
After mystery, do we get another complete sentence? a flake of the deed's distinctive red sealing wax inside the gardener's glove names the clue but has no verb, so it can't stand alone. A semicolon would leave a fragment, a group of words that can't stand alone as a sentence. A colon can attach a phrase that explains a full sentence, and the main sentence here is complete at mystery. The flake tells us which clue solves the mystery, so a colon introduces that explanation. Choice B.