Question

put the words in alphabetical order. cry wagon under wag crystal submit

Explanation:

Step1: List the words

The words are: cry, wagon, under, wag, crystal.

Step2: Compare first letters

- 'cry' and 'crystal' start with 'c', 'under' with 'u', 'wagon' and 'wag' with 'w'.
- 'c' comes before 'u' and 'w', so 'cry' and 'crystal' are before 'under', 'wagon', 'wag'.

Step3: Compare 'cry' and 'crystal'

- 'cry' is shorter, and at the third letter, 'cry' has 'y' and 'crystal' has 's'? Wait, no: 'cry' is c-r-y, 'crystal' is c-r-y-s-t-a-l. Wait, no, alphabetical order is by each letter. Let's write the full spellings:
cry: c, r, y
crystal: c, r, y, s, t, a, l
Wait, no, when comparing, we look at each position. First three letters: c-r-y for both. Then 'cry' has no more letters, 'crystal' has more. In alphabetical order, shorter words come before longer ones with the same prefix? Wait, no, actually, we compare letter by letter. Let's index the letters:

For 'cry' (length 3) and 'crystal' (length 7):

Position 1: c (same)
Position 2: r (same)
Position 3: y (same)
Position 4: 'cry' has no letter, 'crystal' has s. Since 'cry' has no letter, it comes before 'crystal'? Wait, no, actually, when one word is a prefix of the other, the shorter one comes first. So 'cry' comes before 'crystal'? Wait, no, wait: 'cry' is c-r-y, 'crystal' is c-r-y-s-t-a-l. So at position 4, 'cry' has no character, which is considered as coming before 's' (since 's' is after nothing? Wait, no, the correct way is: when comparing two words, we compare each corresponding letter. If one word is shorter and all the corresponding letters are the same, the shorter word comes first. So 'cry' (3 letters) and 'crystal' (7 letters): first 3 letters same, so 'cry' comes before 'crystal'.

Then, next, 'under' (u-n-d-e-r) comes after 'c' words, since 'u' is after 'c'.

Then, 'wagon' and 'wag': 'wag' is w-a-g, 'wagon' is w-a-g-o-n. So 'wag' is shorter, and at position 4, 'wag' has no letter, 'wagon' has 'o'. So 'wag' comes before 'wagon'.

So now, let's list all words:

1. cry
2. crystal? Wait, no, wait, I made a mistake. Wait, 'cry' is c-r-y, 'crystal' is c-r-y-s-t-a-l. Wait, no, the third letter: 'cry' is y, 'crystal' at third letter is y, then fourth letter: 'cry' has no letter, 'crystal' has s. But in alphabetical order, when you have two words, the first one that differs determines the order. Wait, no, let's write the words with their letters:

cry: c, r, y

crystal: c, r, y, s, t, a, l

Wait, no, the fourth letter of 'crystal' is s, but 'cry' has no fourth letter. So when comparing 'cry' and 'crystal', we look at each position:

Position 1: c (same)

Position 2: r (same)

Position 3: y (same)

Position 4: 'cry' has no character, 'crystal' has s. Since 'cry' has no character, it is considered as coming before 's' (because a missing character is like a blank, which is before any letter). So 'cry' comes before 'crystal'.

Then, 'under' (u-n-d-e-r) comes next, since 'u' is after 'c'.

Then, 'wag' and 'wagon': 'wag' is w-a-g, 'wagon' is w-a-g-o-n. So comparing letter by letter:

Position 1: w (same)

Position 2: a (same)

Position 3: g (same)

Position 4: 'wag' has no character, 'wagon' has o. So 'wag' comes before 'wagon' (since no character is before 'o').

Wait, but wait, let's check the correct alphabetical order:

List of words: cry, wagon, under, wag, crystal.

Let's write all words:

cry, crystal, under, wag, wagon? Wait, no, let's do it properly.

First, list all words: cry, wagon, under, wag, crystal.

Let's sort them:

1. cry (c)
2. crystal (c) – wait, no, 'cry' is c-r-y, 'crystal' is c-r-y-s-t-a-l. Wait, no, the first three letters are c-r-y for both. Then, 'cry' is shorter, so it comes before 'crystal'? Wait, no, actually, when you have 'cry' and 'crystal', 'cry' is c-r-y, 'crystal' is c-r-y-s-t-a-l. So at the fourth letter, 'cry' has no letter, 'crystal' has 's'. Since 's' is after nothing, 'cry' comes before 'crystal'.

Then, 'under' (u) comes next, since 'u' is after 'c'.

Then, 'wag' (w) and 'wagon' (w). 'wag' is w-a-g, 'wagon' is w-a-g-o-n. So 'wag' comes before 'wagon' because it's shorter and the first three letters are the same.

Wait, but let's check the correct order:

Let's list all words with their spellings:

cry: c r y

crystal: c r y s t a l

under: u n d e r

wagon: w a g o n

wag: w a g

Now, sort by each letter:

First, group by first letter:

c: cry, crystal

u: under

w: wagon, wag

Now, sort the c group:

cry and crystal: compare letter by letter.

Position 1: c (same)

Position 2: r (same)

Position 3: y (same)

Position 4: cry has no letter, crystal has s. Since cry has no letter, it comes before crystal (because a missing letter is considered as coming before any letter, so cry < crystal).

Then, u group: under (only one word)

Then, w group: wag and wagon.

Compare wag (w a g) and wagon (w a g o n):

Position 1: w (same)

Position 2: a (same)

Position 3: g (same)

Position 4: wag has no letter, wagon has o. So wag comes before wagon (wag < wagon).

Now, put all together:

cry, crystal, under, wag, wagon? Wait, no, wait: c group first (cry, crystal), then u group (under), then w group (wag, wagon). Wait, but 'under' starts with u, which is after c, so c group (cry, crystal) first, then u (under), then w (wag, wagon).

Wait, but let's check the alphabetical order of the first letters: c (3), u (21), w (23). So c < u < w. So c group first, then u, then w.

Within c group: cry and crystal. As above, cry comes before crystal.

Within w group: wag and wagon. Wag comes before wagon.

So the order is:

1. cry

2. crystal

3. under

4. wag

5. wagon

Wait, but let's verify with a dictionary:

- cry: c-r-y

- crystal: c-r-y-s-t-a-l

So in dictionary, cry comes before crystal (since cry is shorter and the first three letters are same, so shorter comes first).

- under: u-n-d-e-r

- wag: w-a-g

- wagon: w-a-g-o-n

So under comes after crystal (since u is after c), then wag, then wagon.

Yes, that makes sense.

So the correct alphabetical order is: cry, crystal, under, wag, wagon.

Wait, but let's check the original words: the given words are cry, wagon, under, wag, crystal. So we need to arrange them in alphabetical order.

So the steps are:

1. Identify all words: cry, wagon, under, wag, crystal.

2. Sort them by their first letter:

- c: cry, crystal

- u: under

- w: wagon, wag

3. Sort the c group: cry (shorter) before crystal.

4. Sort the w group: wag (shorter) before wagon.

5. Combine all groups in order of first letters (c, u, w): cry, crystal, under, wag, wagon.

Answer:

cry, crystal, under, wag, wagon