Which of the following alternatives to the underlined portion would be LEAST acceptable?

Question

This puzzle is aptly named, since the misplacement of a single number spells the beginning of an incorrect solution.

*
1 point
named because
named, as
named, while
named;

Answer 1

The least acceptable alternative to the underlined portion in the sentence would be "named;". The use of a semicolon here would create a grammatical error because it incorrectly separates two independent clauses that are not closely related in this context. The other options ("named because," "named, as," and "named, while") are all more acceptable in connecting the clauses appropriately.