word game HELP!

[thai-lakorn-fan-forever]

okay sarnies! i need your help!

i'm currently working on this one word game that i found in a magazine...i'm nearly done, BUT i'm stuck on the very last part of it! it's so frustrating! how the game works: a word pyramid must be completed according to clues...there are 9 rows and each row contains one word...the next row (beneath it) is a different word BUT uses all of the letters from the word above it, IN ADDITION to a new letter, and so on down...

Clues:
1. Darjeeling or oolong 1. TEA
2. Volcano on the island of Sicily 2. ETNA
3. Worker who arranges travel plans 3. AGENT
4. Activity in a bistro or trattoria (small restaurant) 4. EATING
5. City of northern Morocco 5. TANGIER
6. Igneous rocks used in monuments 6. GRANITES
7. Shapes of the lateral faces of a 3-D pyramid 7. TRIANGLES
8. Covering a wall with mortar or "mud" 8. PLASTERING
9. (the one i'm stuck on!) BIG PART OF THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES 9. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ <-- must be 2 words & must
(meaning all 48 land states, excluding Alaska and Hawaii) -- 2 words use all letters from #8 plus
one additional letter

HELP ME PLEASE!

 

[ChenrukNote]

I think its the Great Plains. First i was thinking eastern something but then it wouldn't work so the great plains are a big part of the continental U.S plus it's a two letter word. How do I find out if I'm right though? LOL.

 

[amikrazie]

ahh nai_1_1 got it already!...lol good exercise for the brain!!!

 

[thai-lakorn-fan-forever]

I think its the Great Plains. First i was thinking eastern something but then it wouldn't work so the great plains are a big part of the continental U.S plus it's a two letter word. How do I find out if I'm right though? LOL.

THANK YOU Nai_1_1! you are the BEST! i think that this is definitely the correct answer...but i couldn't think of it! THANK YOU again!

 

[ChenrukNote]

No problem at all thai-lakorn-fan-lover. I love playing scramble games too since I used to play Jumble everyday in the local newspaper lol.