matching pairs

The four words in the top row of the following grid have different variants of the same ‘property’:

On that basis, place the following four words in the four empty cells in the grid so that each word is directly below a word that has the same variant of the unknown property:

ASPECT EFFECT REJECT SELECT

There are 4! (=24) ways in which these four words can be arranged, only one of which is correct. The fact that both groups of four words are in alphabetical order is not relevant to the solution of this puzzle, although the order in which the words in the top row of the grid has been arranged is significant.

connecting the dots

I don’t usually post puzzles around this time, but I’ve been struggling with writing for the past couple of months, and I thought that this recently devised poser might serve as a welcome distraction from the more serious matters plaguing the world.

*  *  *

What connects the following six words to the Latin word for ‘bread’?

CHAIN LAITY MAIL PANEL PURE RAIN

This is probably quite easy, but I have another, which I will post in the next couple of days, that I believe is much harder.