Do the middle letters have to be next to each other?

No. They only have to appear in the given order somewhere between the first and last letter, with any number of other letters around them.

Words starting with B and ending in O

There are 66 of them. The shortest listed are bambino, bamboo, banjo, barrio, bimbo.

66 words fit this spine. They're all listed below. They start with B and end with O, with anything in between.

A near miss

bio, boo, bro

bolo, boyo, bozo, brio, broo, bubo

baboo, banco, banjo, basso, bazoo, beano, bilbo, bimbo, bingo, boffo, bongo, bravo, bromo, bucko, buffo, bunco, bunko, burro, buteo

bagnio, bamboo, barrio, bayamo, bistro, blotto, bolero, bonito, booboo, boohoo, bronco, burgoo

bacalao, bambino, beefalo, bracero, bravado, broncho, buffalo, bugaboo, burrito, bushido

ballyhoo, barbasco, bargello, barranco, bocaccio, bordello, buckaroo, buckayro, buckeroo

barricado, bastinado, boliviano, burladero

baldachino

braggadocio

banderillero

Try today's puzzle

Every word above follows this rule — see if you can find them under a clock.