Thursday, September 25, 2008

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 21): Opposites Attract

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 21): Opposites Attract:
Q: Take a common two-word phrase with four letters in each word. Each word has a single O as its vowel. If you add an R somewhere in the second word, the two words become opposites. What is the phrase?
Well at least Will is leaning toward puzzles that take more than 30 seconds to solve...the last one took several days for some people. Your solving time will be quicker if you remember the words are opposites once you add the 'R' (I started searching for synonyms.) Don't give away the answer before the Thursday deadline, but feel to take a shot at posting some "hints".

Edit: My hints weren't very good, but there were some references to Will (Shortz), length of time (long and short), and the obvious inclusion of the word "shot".
A: LONG SHOT --> LONG, SHORT
Posted by Blaine at 3:32 PM
Labels: , ,

27 comments:

  1. On Sept. 14, geri asked if 300 was a new low for correct answers. Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. The lowest number I am aware of is 5. Unfortunately, I lost the notes I made for that puzzle. There are other totals less than 300 that I do remember.
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  2. "Wolfgang Puck-Pack" had around 250 correct entries.
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  3. Missed Will on the radio today. Too busy watching my home team, the Kansas City Chiefs get beat again (0-3). What do you think their chances are of making it to the playoffs now?
    Tough puzzle this week.
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  4. phredo, Pretty low score. I'd say
    the ODDS are good that they will
    make it. Maybe they will get
    lucky.

    I got lucky with this week's puzzle.
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  5. phredo, Pretty low score. I'd say
    the ODDS are good that they will
    make it. Maybe they will get
    lucky.

    I got lucky with this week's puzzle.
    ReplyDelete
  6. I would use a howitzer for this one!
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  7. I'm having a tough time with this puzzle. I've thought of a few phrases, but none of them work because I don't get anything out of the second word when I add in the "R."
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  8. Danpendry, don't get too frustrated; remember that even the most talented puzzle solvers put their pants on one leg at a time. Unless, of course, it's summer time... when they might be inclined to wear something a little more weather appropriate...

    The nice thing about this blog is we have the opportunity to pool our mental capacity, so we're not feeling so snookered by a tougher than usual challenge... a challenge not unlike having to bank from the far end of the table and back to knock in the eight ball...
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  9. This puzzle reminds me of
    Evel Knievel's ambition to
    jump the Grand Canyon.
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  10. how do you people figure these out so fast? geez
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  11. Remember that when you add the "r" to the second word, it becomes a 5 letter word. I wasted a couple of hours substituting the "r" for another letter in the second word.
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  12. The puzzle sounded like it was created by Will himself!
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  13. ah! i just got it!!!

    thanks, puzzlers!
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  14. plummew, I'd use a Pennsylvania
    rifle if I were desperate.
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  15. But geri, you can get a lot more RANGE with a howitzer!
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  16. don't lose scope of common phrases when wading through the lottery of four-letter words. when rifling though previous clues, keep in mind that four letters juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust might turn into five.

    shoot, my clues suck.
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  17. Is this a clue contest?
    Sing a song, shout it out.
    How close are we?
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  18. Joe W, It certainly is. Blaine told
    us to "feel [free] to take a shot at
    posting some 'hints.'"
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  19. The puzzle that only had 5 correct entries was from November 2005. It was about making a 3x3 grid of 2 letter periodic table elements so that 6 six letter word are formed. I spent a long time on that one.
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  20. Five correct entries: here's the link to listen to the Nov.27,2005 program and read the solution:

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5028506

    Sheilah Kast said about one hundred people tried to solve the puzzle and only five did it perfectly.
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  21. Hey Mandy! You had said you came up with two workable answers for last week's puzzle. What was your second animal? Dying! Dying to know!

    No, really, what was it?
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  22. One More Hint:
    Philadelphia Weekly
    "Oxymoronic"
    by Emily Cox
    and Henry Rathvon
    Look at 31 down. The clue
    says "60-minute film?" (nine
    spaces)
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  23. Carl, the animal I thought of was giant antelope.
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  24. Anyone still stumped by the puzzle this week? So many hints on this site!!!
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  25. p.s.
    puzzle date: September 17, 2008
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  26. Speaking of (the answer to the puzzle)s, wonder if any of you saw this cartoon in the New Yorker several (maybe eight or ten) years ago:

    City street scene with people in line to buy tickets under the marquee of a movie theater, while patrons are beginning to come out from the previous show. A man who is leaving the theater with (probably) his wife is saying, obviously in response to a question from a man in the line, something very much like, "I really couldn't say if it was a good film or not, but I think it was worth the price of admission to see the illusion of motion created by what is actually a series of rapidly projected still pictures."

    Loved that one, wish I'd saved it.
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  27. Quite a coincidence, Geri! Essentially, 31 Down in the Oxymoronic puzzle is the answer to this week's NPR Sunday Puzzle. Here's the link to Cox and Rathvon's "Oxymoronic"

    http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/articles/17650/a-e--crossword-puzzle

    Spoiler warning: here's the link to the Oxymoronic answers:

    http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/articles/17652/a-e--crossword-solution
    ReplyDelete

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