Sunday, May 19, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 19, 2013): Read the Book, Watched the Film

Books to FilmNPR Sunday Puzzle (May 19, 2013): Read the Book, Watched the Film:
Q: Name a category of books, in two words. Add one letter to each word — the same letter of the alphabet in each case. Rearrange the letters of the first word plus the added letter to make a new word. For the second word simply insert the new letter somewhere inside it. The result will be the two-word title of a famous movie, which is based on a book, which is definitely not found in the category of books you originally named. Name the category of books and the movie.
The initials of the director relate to the puzzle in a couple ways.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 12, 2013): On a Scale of One to Ten...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 12, 2013): On a Scale of One to Ten...:
Definition of AttractiveQ: Name a famous American man, first and last names. Change the first letter of his first name from T to H. The result will sound like a term for an attractive person. Who is it?
He is a very colorful character, isn't he...

Edit: He received flak for broadcasting colorized versions of classic movies on his network.
A: Ted Turner --> "Head Turner"

Thursday, May 09, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 5, 2013): Famous Performer

Duck on a Piano WallpaperNPR Sunday Puzzle (May 5, 2013): Famous Performer:
Q: Name a famous performer whose last name has six letters. Move the first three letters to the end — without otherwise changing the order of the letters — and add one more letter at the end. The result, in seven letters, will name a place where this person famously performed. Who is it, and what's the place?
Reminds me of the joke, "What's the difference between a piano and a fish?" You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish.

Edit: How is a piano like a fish? They both have scales... This puzzle was previously featured in November 2008
A: MARIA CALLAS --> LA SCALA

Thursday, May 02, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 28, 2013): Six-word Proverb Puzzle

Proverbs from around the World, TotallySevere.comNPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 28, 2013): Six-word Proverb Puzzle:
Q: The first 12 letters of the alphabet are A to L. Think of a familiar, six-word proverb that contains 11 of these 12 letters. The letters may be used more than once, and you may use additional letters from the second half of the alphabet. What proverb is this?
Will has given us a task that's akin to finding a needle in a haystack, but I'm not one to judge a book by its cover. Let's not count our chickens before they hatch, but we can figure this out, can't we?

Edit: Several proverbs get close to using most of the letters in A through L, but the ones I gave weren't the answer. But if we work together...
A: Birds of a feather flock together

Friday, April 26, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 21, 2013): Location, Location, Location...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 21, 2013): Location, Location, Location...:
Q: Name a geographical location in two words — nine letters altogether — that, when spoken aloud, sounds roughly like four letters of the alphabet. What is it?
Hint: It's 261m.

Edit: The oil tanker "Aegean Sea" responsible for the oil spill in 1992 was 261 meters long.
A: Aegean Sea = AGNC

Thursday, April 18, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 14, 2013): 90° Letter Rotation

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 14, 2013): 90° Letter Rotation:
Q: Take a common English word. Write it in capital letters. Move the first letter to the end and rotate it 90 degrees. You'll get a new word that is pronounced exactly the same as the first word. What words are these?
I think it is a foregone conclusion that Will intends us to get creative with how we write our letters.

Edit: The two hints were "foregone" and "write" which contain hints to two possible pairs. The picture gives an example of how you might write a W so it looks like an E when rotated. By the way, the picture is of a set of Ambigrammic Letter Tiles created by Eric Harshbarger.
A: WON, ONE or WRY, RYE

Thursday, April 11, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 7, 2013): Commonly Read on Sunday Morning

Sunday FunniesNPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 7, 2013): Commonly Read on Sunday Morning:
Q: Name something in nine letters that is commonly read on Sunday morning. If you have the right thing, you can rearrange all the letters to name a bygone car model that you still see on the road today. What are they?
I have a really great clue, but I'm going to save it for when I have the answer. :)

Update: 562-87-4193 is not my social security number.

Edit: Assuming the first word is 123456789, the second rearrangement is 562874193.
A: SCRIPTURE --> PT CRUISER

Thursday, April 04, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 31, 2013): Resistance is Futile (Ohm)...

100 Ohm, 1/4W Resistor, oskay@flickrNPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 31, 2013): Resistance is Futile (Ohm)...:
Q: Name something in four letters that you use every day. Add the letters O, H and M, and rearrange all seven letters. You will name something else you probably use every day. This seven-letter thing is usually found near the four-letter thing. What are they?
If you search for the answer words, the first results are from people that don't use each of these every day. By the way, the answer is not LANE and MANHOLE.

A: SOAP and SHAMPOO

Thursday, March 28, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 24, 2013): [Solution] Five by Five Word Square

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 24, 2013): [Solution] Five by Five Word Square:
5x5 solutionA: PANDA, APART, NASAL, DRAMA, ATLAS
The hints in the original post were "Aside from" = APART, "Subjecting" = things you might study as in PANDA (zoology), DRAMA and ATLAS (geography). The last clue was "& let" since the consonants in "aMPeRSaND LeT" are the ones used in the puzzle.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 24, 2013): Five by Five Word Square

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 24, 2013): Five by Five Word Square:
Nasal 5x5Q: Take the four words "salt," "afar," "lava" and "trap." Write them one under the other, and the words will read the same vertically as horizontally. This is a word square of four-letter words. Note that the only vowel in this example square is an A. The object of the challenge is to create a five-letter word square using only common, uncapitalized English words, in which the only vowel in the entire square is A. The word in the center row, and column, is NASAL.
Aside from subjecting you to some obvious clues, there isn't much I can add, so I'll just give you a picture of the grid & let you figure it out from there.