Crafty, Craf+tea= Craftea
Overwhelming, Over+whale+ming= Overwhaleming
cutie, Cu+tea= Cutea
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2These are probably portmanteaus, but it depends on what the mean. – jejorda2 Jul 19 '17 at 12:26
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@jejorda2 I don't think that's what they mean. 'Overwhaleming' isn't really a portmanteau because it isn't actually a word. I think they're talking about the homonymity of them. – marcellothearcane Jul 19 '17 at 13:23
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...although they aren't really homonyms (see comments below on Chris H's answer). – marcellothearcane Jul 19 '17 at 13:33
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1@Shasca where is this from? a crossword? We need context! – marcellothearcane Jul 19 '17 at 13:33
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1Since all three examples are not words as the title asks, they are puns. Many a long-winded joke sets up such puns through twists: Kicks are for Trids (from Trix are for kids), Mairzy Doats (sings like 'Mares eat oats'), and Spoonerisms (Are you nucking futs?). – Yosef Baskin Jul 19 '17 at 14:49
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As suggested in an answer in the linked question, I think a good word for this is "oronym" A string of words or phrase that sounds the same as another string of words or phrase but is spelt differently; e.g. ice cream and I scream. – RaceYouAnytime Jul 19 '17 at 17:52
1 Answers
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In cryptic crosswords soundalike is used for clues resulting in homophones.
The running together of two words to form the answer is known as a charade.
When both are used at the same time it would be logical to call this a soundalike charade, but this isn't standard. Of course as the concept of sounds like or soundalike is an important one in the game of charades, the whole construction could just be called a charade.
Chris H
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@marcellothearcane while homonym does have a secondary definition that means "sounds like", homophone** is the more common term. Even that is usually reserved for 1:1 word<->word matches. I'd be willing to use the adjective "homophonous" to describe two phrases that sound the same, though this may not be standard or correct. Even that doesn't really fit the OP's examples (for the last, queue+tea is homophonous to cutie, but Cu is normally pronounced "copper"; craf in the first isn't a word, and craft+tea duplicates the t so doesn't work either) – Chris H Jul 19 '17 at 13:29
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... the last example using a chemical symbol was what made me think of crosswords – Chris H Jul 19 '17 at 13:30
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3If some of the elements were presented as pictures (a teapot, a whale) you could call them rebus puzzles. – Kate Bunting Jul 19 '17 at 14:34