Thursday, December 04, 2008

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 30): All Points Bulletin...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 30): All Points Bulletin...:
Q: Think of the name of a lawbreaker that starts with S. Remove the S and one other letter, and the remaining letters, in order, will name another lawbreaker.
Not to sound confident, but I'm positive I have the right answer. Note: when I first heard the puzzle, I was thinking they might want the *names* of specific criminals (e.g. Jesse James). If you made that mistake you will find yourself struggling with this puzzle. :-)

Edit: Not to sound smug, but I know the intended answer. An alternate answer that was submitted by some was "stalker --> taker"
A: SMUGGLER --> MUGGER
Posted by Blaine at 5:16 PM
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31 comments:

  1. Couldn't post an answer last week, as I know nothing about opera. But I still kept my eye on this site for hints, as usual. I think I have the answer to this week's, but I'm not 100% sure and I don't want to steal anyone's thunder.
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  2. Well, this one is tricky enough so you should feel really smug when you get it, as Natasha must have felt last week! But the answer this time doesn't require any wizardry of the Harry Potter sort, and you will know it when you see it. Interestingly, the solution has a seasonal aspect, albeit a few weeks early.
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  3. What is REALLY puzzling is how to post on this blog from a Mac! Once in a while I can get through, but it is very difficult!
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  4. I'm confident as well Blaine. Figured it out after hours at the local pub downing draughts and watching football. Good clue Blaine!
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  5. I think it's harder to come up with a helpful clue that doesn't give the answer away than to solve this week's puzzle... Fortunately it's easy enough that you'd probably be okay if someone pulled a gun on you and demanded the answer.

    Geri, I bought the Sunday puzzle earlier and did Reagle's Crossword Crossword puzzle just a bit ago. Took maybe half an hour. But I've been a crossword junkie since I was about 14, and that was kind of a long time ago... I'm supposed to be an adult now but I still do things like sneaking my own treats into the movie theater...
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  6. I meant Sunday paper, obviously. Bought a new laptop the other day and beginning to worry I might have to return it... weird things happen when I type on it. Lost my previous post a few minutes ago when it was almost finished; something made my browser go back one page.
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  7. Blaines suggests we're not looking for proper names. Are we looking for a -kind- of lawbreaker?
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  8. I'm confident I figured this puzzle out. A clue from Carl in last week's responses really helped me.

    Michael, we're looking for the specific names given to the people who commit the crimes in question.:)
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  9. OK, I see that my answer was most definitely not correct - Carl's clue on last week's puzzle helps and his clue from 4:14 PST this week has both.
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  11. Hmm. I see what you all were going for, but I had a completely different answer which I think still qualifies, although you have to stretch the lawbreaker aspect a bit. And I was so proud to get the answer in just a few minutes. I wonder if Will will take more than one answer.
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  12. Rick, if I follow you, I think I know what your answer is. Your second term is a little general, but it could still qualify as a lawbreaker. I take it that this is the answer you are submitting?
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  15. Perhaps I sounded cocky when I wrote "piece of cake"?

    In fact, I hail from Brooklyn NY, as does our puzzle creator, Henry Hyde. And we have both types of lawbreaker here, hence my confidence.

    Our sister borough, Queens, has two airports though and may therefore have more of the type of lawbreaker with the lengthier name.
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  16. I started playing the puzzle about three months ago and this is the first time I got the answer! thanks a lot everyone!
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  17. What is up with Will?? Last week an opera singer and this week criminals. I almost did not want to deal with this week's puzzle.
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  18. The real Ben here. (What up, Other Ben!)

    1. Blaine, you might want to delete Minncognito's comment hint above; it's a dead giveaway.

    2. For the record, Other Ben said Henry Hyde but he meant Henry Hook. Hook is the puzzle savant, Hyde is the disgraced former Illinois congressman who sanctimoniously waxed profound on President Clinton's moral failings only to be found to have himself engaged in a lengthy extramarital affair. Imagine that, a hypocrite in the U.S. Congress.

    3. I spent a few minutes on this puzzle trying to condense the words "shoplifter" and "swindler" into some other type of criminal. Unfortunately, "holifer" and "windle" don't cut it.
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  19. oops, I guess that would have been "hoplifer"
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  20. Blaine clearly has it, and also has the one Rick is pushing. I don't like Rick's because it would make me a lawbreaker every time I clicked the shutter of my camera! But both solutions do share the same seasonal element I cited earlier!
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  21. I submitted my answer to NPR.
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  22. Plummew, I submitted an answer and I
    feel smug but I can't figure out how
    "seasonal" applies.
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  23. Yes, Blaine, I already submitted with the "other" answer. I thought of trying to resubmit with the correct answer but figured it would be unfair and who knows, Will may accept my first answer anyway. Am curious to see. And I agree the second term is iffy, but certainly COULD be a lawbreaker in a certain situation. It was the first answer I thought of and it seems plausible. Then I came here and saw it wasn't the more obvious one. Oh well.
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  24. Ben
    Hypocritical Illinois Congressman who engages in illicit activity. How redundant can one get?? :-)

    I am reminded of the Mark Twain quote: "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."
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  25. Don't even get me started on Mark Twain... I mean, the man was the epitome of the expression "ahead of his time." He saw through BS a long time before it was cool to see through BS. Ever read Cannibalism in the Cars? Not the most indicting of his writing but pretty funny.

    And something recently got me thinking about a short story by Maugham, The Verger. If you've never read that story you really ought to find it and read it; it's easy enough to fine on the internet.
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  26. Does anyone know if PETA or the law is opposed to the manufacture and distribution of items made from the hide of the southeast Asian marsh crocodile?
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  27. Smugness aside, Harry Potter would consider a non-wizard a muggle ....

    Geri, you get from (s)muggler to mugger, and from (s)talker to taker, the same way in both cases:

    Sing along with me now, "Noel, noel, noel, noel ...." LOL
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  28. If the answer to my previous question is "yes", then that means that a stalker and taker of crocodylus palustris would be a mugger smuggler.
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  30. Carl:
    For Sunday Dec.7, I have a clue. I hope you do, too.

    At the end of The Verger I realized that I had read it and other Maugham short stories while in my early teens. I also remembered that I never satisfied my curiosity about the symbol or sigil that Maugham used on much of his property, not on only his books. Try:

    www.jenman.com.au/news_question.php?id=16
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  31. My co-workers and I thought we cracked this one until we started reading the clues and found it was not specific names. Our solution was Saddam and Adam (as in the original lawbreaker/sinner).
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