Cost an Arm and a Leg
What it means
Be painfully, memorably expensive.
Where it comes from
The tale that portrait painters charged extra for limbs is invented. The phrase is American and only about eighty years old, from a time when losing a limb was the plainest way to say something cost you dearly.
Read the longer story behind Cost an Arm and a Leg →
The puzzle it came from
Cost an Arm and a Leg was the answer to the Phrasicle of April 7, 2025. The clue read ____ an ____ and a ____, and the words came out of a grid where every neighbouring pair makes a two-word phrase.
Play today's Phrasicle Play the April 7, 2025 puzzle
Show the solved grid (this spoils the April 7, 2025 puzzle)
pillow
case
study
group
project
fixed
cost
control
panel
discussion
camp
fire
arm
rest
stop
boot
leg
room
service
fee
Phrasicle: Cost an Arm and a Leg