NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 28, 2025): Places to See Actresses

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 28, 2025): Places to See Actresses

Q: Name a famous actress (five letters in the first name, six letters in the last name). Change the first and third letters of her first name and the first letter of her last name. The resulting letters in order from left to right will name a place where you might see this actress.

There's a connection to Ben Kingsley and this place.

Edit: Ben Kingsley played Salvador Dali in "Daliland". Dali's "In Voluptas Mors" is used as the skull on the death head moth on the iconic "Silence of the Lambs" movie poster.

A: JODIE FOSTER --> MOVIE POSTER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 21, 2025): ET Phone Home

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 21, 2025): ET Phone Home

Q: Take the phrase EASTERN TIME. Change one letter and rearrange the result to name a place that observes Eastern Time.

Could it be in the 410 area code?

Edit: It took 410 days to build the Empire State Building

A: EMPIRE STATE (New York)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 14, 2025): Loose Cannons

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 14, 2025): Loose Cannons

Q: In a certain classic film, the protagonist uses two weapons. The name of one of these has 10 letters. If you take its first letter and last six letters, you can rearrange them all to name the other weapon this protagonist uses, in seven letters. What weapons are these?

The protagonist uses a different pair of weapons towards the end of the movie.

Edit: [spoiler]Toward the end of the "classic" film, Star Wars, Luke Skywalker fires a pair of proton torpedos into the exhaust port to destroy the Death Star[/spoiler]

A: LIGHTSABER, BLASTER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 7, 2025): Male Animals and NFL Included

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 7, 2025): Male Animals and NFL Included

Q: Think of a popular commercial name that ends with the names of two male animals one after the other. If you have the right commercial name, its first six letters can be rearranged to spell the name of an N.F.L. team. What is this commercial name?

If you change the fifth letter in the commercial name to an H and rearrange the letters, you get a part of the lower body.

Edit: Hamstring

A: INSTAGRAM --> STAG, RAM --> GIANTS

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 31, 2025): English Writer Goes to the City

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 31, 2025): English Writer Goes to the City

Q: Name a famous English author. Change the first letter of the last name to an S. Then move the first, second, and final letters of that last name in front of the first name. The resulting string of letters reading from left to right will name a major American city. What city is it?

[redacted]

Edit: My hint was that the author might be my sixth cousin which was a reference to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

A: FRANCIS BACON --> SAN FRANCISCO

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 24, 2025): A Tale of Two Athletes

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 24, 2025): A Tale of Two Athletes

Q: Take the first and last names of a famous athlete. Change the first letter of the last name to L, and rearrange the result to get the first and last names of another famous athlete. In each case the first name has 6 letters and the last name has 5. These are athletes everyone knows. Who are they?

Drop the last two letters of the first athlete's first name and add a P. I tried to rearrange the result, but I couldn't do it.

Edit: Follow the steps and you get IMPOSSIBLE.

A: SIMON BILES --> LIONEL MESSI

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 17, 2025): Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 17, 2025): Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Q: Take the classic illustrated children's book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Rearrange its 26 letters to name a famous film director (first and last names) and a noted role on stage (in two words).Who is the director and what is the role?

I removed the letters AVSI.

Edit: I removed (or took out) AVSI which refer to Act V, Scene I of Macbeth. The sentence ended with a period (or a damned spot).

A: Steven Spielberg, Lady Macbeth

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 10, 2025): What's Up, Doc?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 10, 2025): What's Up, Doc?

Q: Name something many hospitals have, in 7 letters. Rearrange the letters to name two things you can get inside a hospital (4 and 3 letters each).

I wasn't looking in the right place.

Edit: Don't look inside the hospital. The title was a hint, to look UP.

A: HELIPAD --> HELP, AID

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 3, 2025): What's on TV?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 3, 2025): What's on TV?

Q: "I turned on the TV and saw anger, evil, slander, and ruin. It was all pleasant news. What channel was I watching and what specifically was on the screen?"

I remember watching this channel back in the days of standard definition CRTs. Anyone else?

Edit: CRTs often exhibit overscan where part of the TV signal is outside the visible region of the screen. Broadcasters had to be careful not to put titles in these areas or else they might get cutoff, like in this puzzle. "Anyone" (NE-one) was a clue to the states being in the North East.

A: They were watching ice hockey (NHL Eastern division) probably on ESPN. The particular teams are the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 27, 2025): Spot's IQ is Tops! (continued)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 27, 2025): Spot's IQ is Tops! (continued)

Q: This is a two-week creative challenge, and it's a tough one. Most people are familiar with palindromes, which read backward and forward the same. For example:

Rise to vote, sir.

Lid off a daffodil.

The object is to write a palindrome that contains the letter Q. Entries will be judged on sense, naturalness of syntax, and overall elegance. The person who submits what Will considers to be the best palindrome containing the letter Q will play the puzzle on the air with him next week.

Edit:I guess I should be pleased that the winning answer was an extension of mine.

A: God y'know Spot's IQ is tops. Wonky dog!