Origins Quiz — Thursday, October 29, 2026

What phrase for a person, or a country, that has stopped functioning was, in January 1919, a rumour an army hospital had to deny? The story was that it held soldiers who had lost all four limbs. None existed. The figurative sense was being applied to countries by 1938, and the literal one came back for a Jack Benny joke in 1942. (Two words: 6, 4 letters)

Ten clues, one 10-letter answer built one row at a time. Play today’s Origins Quiz.

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