RAY: I'm going to read a list of words. Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to tell me what these words have in common. Here they are: "Deft"; like, he made a deft move. "First"; he came in first. "Calmness"; he was overcome by calmness. "Canopy"; he opened a can of peas and carrots for dinner.

TOM: Wait a minute. Shouldn't you be using the plural, "canopies"?

RAY: Right. Let's try that again. "Canopy"; a canopy covered the boat so he wouldn't get wet. "Laughing"; it was no laughing matter. "Stupid"; needs no further explanation. "Crab cake," as in, "My brother made me crab cakes for dinner, and I ate a bottle of antacid when I got home." And "hijack"; I was hoping that our producer's flight would be hijacked to Bora Bora.

Got any idea what these words have in common?

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]