Thursday, April 02, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 29): Just add Z

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 29): Just add Z:
Q: Name a country somewhere in the world. Insert a 'Z.' The result can be broken up into 3 consecutive words. The first word is a popular brand name. The second word is something this product uses, and the third word is the kind of product it is. What's the country?
I just like saying the name of the capital...

Edit: Antananarivo.
A: MADAGASGAR --> MAZDA, GAS, CAR
Posted by Blaine at 2:00 PM
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42 comments:

  1. Lion's and zebra's and hippo's and giraffe's...Oh My!
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  2. Start with the same country. Don't add a "Z" but change the first letter to "H" to get a 4-word sequence that completes the following sentence: "Children, it's hard to imagine, but way back in 2009, I .............."
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  3. Thanks for posting so quickly. I overslept the puzzle this morning.
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  4. Or, same country, insert a "t" instead of a "z", and you will get the 4-word position of some environmentalists (in a grammatically clumsy way)
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  5. Wow, that was easy. I think I will spend the rest of the mornning watching an antimated film.
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  6. My thoughts are as free as wind o'er the ocean.
    No one can see their form or their motion.
    No hunter can find them. No trap ever bind them.
    My lips may be still, but I think what I will.
    A woman there was, and they called her mad.
    The more she gave away, the more she had.
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  7. Did anyone notice that Liane Hansen's instructions to listeners this morning contained an inadvertent hint?
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  8. Insert "About" instead of Z and you get the title to Ed Begley Jr.s new environmentally friendly sitcom!
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  9. We may have already topped last week's measly seven hundred.
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  10. Lyrics from a Mills Brothers song might cast some light on the answer.
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  11. Yeah, at least this week when I lose, I'll be able to say that I lost in a pool of 80,000 correct responses.

    [I also noted that the NPR website asks for the country, and I replied to that (since this puzzle took abut nine seconds to solve). But the audio feed, which I then listened to, says send in the country AND the three words. So perhaps they will have to disqualify some of us.]
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  12. Hugh, very interesting! It took a bit of research on Google before the light bulb finally went on!
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  13. My Little Family, ya know doncha that you can go to npr.org and listen to the puzzle any time?

    Friend of mine went to the country in question a few years ago, as sort of a Bahai missionary. She was given four beautiful silk saris by local women. Wonder how much would cost to buy same in this country?

    That's not much of a clue, and I'm not lyin'. But don't be angry at me...
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  14. Posting in a bit of a rush because I'm insanely busy today. For a Sunday, anyway... I'm zooming around. Ya know? Zoom here, zoom there...
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  15. I'm stumped to be quite honest. I may not be fully understanding the puzzle. The part where the result can be broken up into three consecutive words is a bit confusing.
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  16. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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  17. This comment has been removed by the author.
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  18. Edd2388, the deadline for the NPR puzzle is Thursday 3pm ET. If you know the answer, feel free to submit your answer on the NPR website. I provided a link at the beginning of the post.

    The point of my website is to provide a forum for people to give hints but not spoilers to the answer. I had to delete your comment as a result.

    You are welcome to provide a clever hint, but please don't give the answer away.
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  19. Are you serious Edd?! There are some of us who like solving the puzzles. Why would you just post the answer? You take away any opportunity of enjoyment. If you get the answer before others, send it on to npr, not on this post.
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  20. Miqueas, insert a Z and two spaces. That will form 3 words. For example, if it were the mythical country of BOOHORNCLOWN, you might insert a Z and a couple spaces and make:
    BOZO HORN CLOWN
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  22. Somehow, today's puzzle makes me feel like joining a service club, like the Rotary.
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  23. lorenzo, I agree with your comment at the end of the ring finger postingss.
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  24. geri/lorenzo, it ain't "fresh air"
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  25. I am angry with the flatulence jokes that automatically appear as hints.
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  26. Carl - yes I know I can go to the NPR website but I like this one better. I enjoy reading the hints even after I've solved the puzzle. Keep up the good work!
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  27. timmy, lorenzo's hint had nothing to do with how things smell, more like the sounds of people talking and laughing.
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  28. i was commenting on an npr program called "fresh air" besides "car talk" for a clue. had nothing to do with the natural human act.
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  29. Here's another puzzle for you since this week's puzzle was so easy (again). I've lost track but we'll call it Dave's Puzzle #6:

    Remove the last letter from a country name and you have the name of a defunct company. Put the letter back and remove the first letter of the country's name. Read the word backwards and you have the name of another company.
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  30. This is probably too easy but here it is anyway: Take the previous name of a well-known company, reverse the letters and add a letter at the front to make the name of someone associated with theater and cinema. DON'T reverse the letters in the company's (previous) name, add the letter after the one you'd added last time, and name something an artist might use.
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  31. And the theme, the core, of that puzzle, is a BIG clue to the NPR puzzle. Coincidentally. So, I've used the answer to this week's puzzle as a clue to another puzzle. Doubt that's a first...
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  32. Dave, nice puzzle about clippers and appliances.
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  33. Lorenzo, you got it! Should I submit it to Mr. Shortz?
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  34. Carl, nice puzzle. The company name was the first company that I thought of, so it took me about three seconds to come up with the answer. I never heard of the art term, so I had to Google it.
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  35. Dave, I got it also. Sad to think that the defunct company was still flying shuttles to the space station as recently as 2001..

    Need more clues to my puzzle? Suspect it's not as easy as I imagined it was. Can tell you former name of company had four letters and current name is similar but has five.
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  36. Wow, you posted your response as I was posting another clue...
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  37. Carl, I had exactly the same experience with your puzzle that Dave had. But then, unlike you, I don't work with wood.
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  38. Carl and Lorenzo, I guess there aren't too many companies that have changed names. Even if there are other companies, this one is probably the biggest one that's done so.

    Anyone need a clue to my puzzle?
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  39. Dave, I thought my clue (to your puzzle) was probably too revealing, if somewhat enigmatic to anyone who took it too literally...
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  40. No problem. Clippers could mean anything (L.A. basketball team, hair cutters, ships, Joe Dimaggio . . .).
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  42. mine was about shuttles to the space station.
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