Thursday, April 23, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 19): Periodically Mixed Up

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 19): Periodically Mixed Up:
Q: Take the phrase 'more corruptness.' Rearrange these 15 letters to name a popular magazine. Tip: It's a magazine this phrase definitely does not apply to, so it's more of an 'anti-gram' than an anagram!
I suppose if you are involved in "more corruptness" you'd want to keep a lid on things.

Edit: My hint was "Keep a Lid on Things" which is a song by the Candian folk rock band the "Crash Test Dummies". The magazine in question is well-known for its annual April edition where they test and review new cars.
A: CONSUMER REPORTS
Posted by Blaine at 12:12 PM
Labels: ,

30 comments:

  1. Brazil/lizard received 2300 correct
    answers.
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  2. This is not an elegant puzzle. I want my money back and I think NPR and Will Shortz should do more to protect the integrity of their brand. And that's all I have to say on the subject.

    But hey, that's just one opinion; if you look around you'll probably find others.
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  3. C Everett Koop, former United States Surgeon General, (back then) stated that there are three diseases which if not immediately stemmed will will will cause the World's certain demise -- and in short order -- that is, within our lifetimes: sexism, greed and personal abrogation of accountability. Death by tuberculosis' old - West appellation wasn't one of the three he named, but greed rather fits that nomenclature anyhow.
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  4. Nice one. Always deftly said.

    - Other Ben
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  5. Sorry, wanna digress just long enough to say this: If your heart needs warming, check out the documentary Young@Heart, about a Chorus, average age 80, that tackles material like The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go, or The Ramones' I Wanna Be Sedated...
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  6. Another easy one. I think that Will has reached a nader (sp?) in his puzzles.
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  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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  8. Thanks everett! Now you can go look for puppies to kick...
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  9. Blaine, sorry, couldn't resist. Feel free to remove my post when you remove everett's.
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  10. Coincidentally (or perhaps not?), this magazine was the focus of today's page on Stephen Colbert's Page-a-Day Calendar version of his book, "I am America and So Can You". Maybe Will is a fan.
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  11. Thanks Dave! Your clue helped me, while everett ralphed up a response not acceptable to this blog.
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  12. I am disappointed. I came to read the puzzle, since I was making breakfast when it aired, and saw the answer. Bummer......
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  13. Luckily, I had already figured out the puzzle before I saw everett's answer.
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  15. Dave,We're heading to Portland THIS Thursday the 23rd and then to Eugene Friday-Sunday...I hope to make it to the Saturday Market...
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  16. Just my opinion, but I think Will's puzzles have been a little on the easy side lately, hence 2300 correct answers. Maybe someone could do a comparative study with previous puzzles.
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  17. Curtis is a master of understatement.

    When answers were submitted by postcard, it was a lot of work for Will to evaluate and count correct answers. Perhaps the trick was to make the puzzles difficult to hold down the volume.

    Later, when email kicked in, the puzzles could still be on the difficult side requiring Will to do some reading and to put up with email attachments like the one which once took his computer down. (I was proud of my contribution to that.) That was "The Ship's Biscuit Problem", and I still believe that my answer was better than Will's.

    It appears that out of self defense Will went to the present scheme which requires answers in text only that can be evaluated automatically. (Goodbye to geometric puzzles and some others, and hello to easy answers that spoilers can use without much difficulty.)

    He has also switched to selecting listeners' puzzles which aren't as interesting as his mathematical and geometric doozies. (My efforts here have been lame by comparison to his.)

    He's getting his participants, but at the cost of dumbing things down. I can remember working for days on some puzzles and still not coming up with an answer. I think, as with crosswords, he has become the editor rather than the constructor.
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  18. Hugh,
    I appreciate your comments. Perhaps someone needs to write Will concerning his dumbing down of the puzzles. Car talk's puzzles are now my cup of tea these days.
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  19. Blaine, that's a great clue!!! You did, baby, you did. Did anyone else get what Blaine was alluding to? Coincidentally, I listened to the tune just yesterday in my car.
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  20. Dave, I was not familiar with TCD until reading your post. You're right. Blaine's clue was really clever.
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  21. FREE CONE DAY TODAY AT BEN & JERRY'S FROM NOON TO 8:00 P.M.

    Lorenzo, check out the tune. It's a great one.
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  22. Natasha,

    Thanks for the puzzle pointer. I checked it out and learned something about digital clocks. I keep batteries in mine, and they don't act that way.

    For me, the hints here are tougher than the puzzles (I generally have to resort to Google). I shouldn't have had to Google Blue of Central Iowa's clue, a good word rather than music reference.

    Did you try Blaine's sequence puzzle at:

    http://puzzles.blainesville.com/2009/03/friday-fun-whats-next-number-in.html

    He didn't get many bites and hasn't posted the answer because no one needed it. I got a kick out of the fact that William made sure that I wasn't blowing smoke by simply agreeing with him.
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  23. Hugh,
    I wrote a comment on the sequence puzzle for you. Check it out. My digital clocks do not work that way either. Would never have gotten the answer. Have you tried this week's car talk puzzle? I am stumped!!
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  24. Natasha, this week's car talk puzzler is hard to give a clue for without giving the answer. It has to do with something that would prevent fuel from exiting the car in a non-standard way.
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  25. Curtis, the Car Talk Puzzler was pretty easy, too.
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  26. Natasha, That was quick. Still, no one bit on how my clumsy bypass of the true solution. There was a theme, one of many which shows how any sequence sample can be hijacked.

    As for the car talk puzzle, Curtis's hint is good, but I'm still trying to figure out if the son has his own car.
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  27. On second thought, I bet his chore is to mow the lawn.
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  28. Actually, Blaine's clue "Keep a Lid on Things" worked for this week's Will Shortz Puzzler as well as the Car Talk Puzzler.
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  29. My clue --

    I wrote "Nice one. Always deftly said."

    It spells out NO ADS.

    - Other Ben
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  30. Ben, nice! I didn't catch that.
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