Thursday, July 02, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 28): Apparel Synonyms

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 28): Apparel Synonyms:
Q: Take 'tire' and 'exhaust.' They're both things a car has. But as verbs, in a non-car sense, they're synonyms. The challenge is to name 2 articles of apparel, things to wear, each with 4 letters, and as verbs, in a non-apparel sense, the 2 words are synonyms. What words are they?
No hints are necessary, just pay attention to the example Will gave.

Edit: For the on-air puzzle, Will gave the example "Hit or Miss" with *Hit* being a synonym for both verbs. And incidentally, after a pair of socks go in the dryer, one always seems to go *miss*ing.
A: BELT and SOCK
Posted by Blaine at 9:07 PM
Labels: , ,

44 comments:

  1. Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any outright spoilers before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here. Thank you.
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  2. This one is too damn easy.

    I'm not adding a clue.

    -- Other Ben
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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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  4. "About 1100" entries last week - I suspect more this week - but I'm not giving any clues !
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  5. I pass. Less than a minute to solve. It took more time to come up with a reply.

    I don't believe there's a clue here if I say that the two items taken together combine into a single item (news to me). This led me on to a merry search (successful) for the local availability of an item which has been replaced by a chain's brand which was disguised as a replacement.

    Thankful for small favors.
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  6. I tried to think of a clue, but every little tip seemed obvious - can't knowingly give it away !
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  7. This one hit me before Lee Ann even had finished giving instructions on how to submit your answer. Easiest challenge I have ever heard. If there aren't 4,000 entries, it's only because so many listeners were at the beach and unable to hear it.
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  8. you're all so vested in hard puzzles that you can't offer a ringing endorsement to anything which doesn't make you pant with exertion. I think this question ties off a few weeks of challenging puzzles quite nicely.
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  9. wolftone, I submitted the one you
    clued but a friend came up with a
    better one which she submitted. Perhaps we'll have multiple pairs that work. Neither hers nor mine
    combine into a single term as suggested by hugh.
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  10. This is supposed to be easy, but I didn't know the other meaning of one of the two words (as a verb). Anyhow, my daughter, a native English speaker, came up with the answer right away while we were having dinner. I can't think of a good clue to give so I'll again fall back on my knowledge of old Hollywood films. How about "Somebody Up There Likes Me".
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  11. I also agree with Geri that there may be an alternate solution, but Chrisidore's answer is probably the same as mine.
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  12. Eddie, If your answer fits wolfton's clue try the Free Dictionary for "the other meaning of one of the two words (as a verb)." I think I submitted the
    word he clued and found a matching meaning there. In my opinion its
    usage is rare.
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  13. Agreed with everyone above who said they had it figured out before the instructions were over. The second four-letter apparel item I thought of was one of the two words. Isn't it funny how sometimes we get it as they're still explaining it, and other times we struggle for days and only get it with a clue from a friend?

    Side note, I met Will Shortz last February at the 2009 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Brooklyn, where I was lucky enough to win a trivia contest and he awarded me a prize. Since then I've submitted to him several puzzles I've created in the hope that he'd use one on the radio. Several of them would work well on the air in my entirely unbiased opinion, but nothing yet.

    The other day I emailed Mr. Shortz a new puzzle inspired by the Vanna White puzzle from last week. He emailed me back saying he liked it and might use it on the air in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

    Cheers,
    Original Ben

    p.s. In other happy news I am heading to London today to attend the Wimbledon tennis tournament, so I might not get to follow the running commentary here as I often do. Have a good week, everyone.

    By the way, if you're watching the tennis on NBC and see a tall guy in the crowd with an American flag cheering for Andy Roddick in the mens semis, or Venus and/or Serena Williams (or 17-year-old American qualifier Melanie Oudin) in the women's semis or finals, the latter falling on July 4th, that will probably be me.
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  14. I realized today that the answer I had in mind is not the best one. I do see the better one that I assume others have settled on.

    One of the items I settled on is probably the same as others chose. The other was a separate item of apparel through the early part of the 20th century. The verb associated with that item may be dated also, but it fits.

    So there's a second puzzle for you.
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  15. Hugh,

    Yes, there are 3 possible items. The separate item you mention has a particular definition for the verb, also. I chose the two more-common items.

    Don
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  16. My answer is the same as DaveJ's. Does anyone agree?
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  17. Geri,
    At lunch today, a friend gave me a different pair of words in answer to the puzzle. One of the words was really better than the one my daughter picked last night. I feel better now that the meaning of that verb (that I didn't know) is in fact rarely used in that sense. Anyhow, I'm sure the correct two verbs are both of common usage.
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  18. Funny, I didn't think that I clued anything. I just thought I was listing off 4-letter verbable apparel which was NOT the right answer. For what it's worth, I think that chrisidore's answer is bang-on and I have no idea what people are talking about when they imagine the items combining to form a single thing. But that suits me just fine.
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  19. I submitted my answer-A little help from a Laugh
    In character and the evening sky.
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  20. Using the two words I'm thinking of, I believe you could combine them in the apparel sense, and get a new item of apparel that rhymes with a former U.S. President - anyone agree ?
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  21. I think my answer matches Eddie's. There's no way that you could combine the two words that I'm thinking of. Is there a punch line?
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  22. Don, Perhaps 4 possible items, although (if I understand Wolftone correctly) that verb (the one I just added to my list) is paired with a 4 letter preposition to take on the desired meaning.
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  24. The posting I took to contain a clue from wolftone is dated Sun Jan 28.04:24;00 PM PDT
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  25. I could elaborate, but anyone who has ever moved can read volumes into that last post. It says: I haven't been posting because I just spent days packing stuff up and putting it in the truck and transporting it to a new place, and going back and doing it again. And again. And again. So, I solved it--it was too easy. And now I have to succumb to death by fatigue toxins.
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  26. carl, Cheer up. You solved it!
    Take a nap and get to the unpacking.
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  27. Furthering Host Blaine's assertion to give specific attention to the stated example from Mr Shortz, I attended also Mr S's description surrounding particularly the verbs' senses therein stated as well ... re: i) noncar and, thusly following, ii) ... ... nonapparel.

    Because of his directive, I am thinking -- after the United States of America's Independence Day enwraps us all in stunning anthem, unflappable flag - waving, dogged parading and, at its last, the darkened night's suddenly dazzled skies -- that Mr Shortz will only present as the puzzle's answer ... one pair of ... verbs.
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  28. Perhaps we can influence Will Shortz to acknowledge all the answers submitted that also fit the puzzle.
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  29. The verbs that cropped up (prepositions may be optional):
    Sock
    Belt
    Cuff (upside)
    Lace (into) - Wolftone's use of "ties" triggered that for me.

    The items that combine into a single item:
    Cuff sock
    Lace belt - Is this what DaveJ was referring to?


    For this weeks musical reference, the following site uses the verb cuff (page 3, col 2, Para 2):

    http://www.lespaulbiography.com/id3.html



    "Cuff" popped into my mind almost immediately (after "sock"), and it blocked "belt" for a day until I was relaxed over coffee and two jelly donuts. I suspect that some local lore was stuffed into my head in middle school which would be no longer ignored. The following 1911 NYT article tells about detachable cuffs, collars, and dickies, and boosts the idea that no shirt is preferable to a soiled one. For the Fourth of July, The city mentioned in the article is the burial site of "Uncle Sam" Wilson:

    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=940DEFDB1131E233A25756C1A96F9C946096D6CF
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  30. I agree that WS likely will acknowledge only one answer. (We certainly learned that in the Tempest/Storm puzzle.) I'm guessing the "correct" answer will be Belt/Sock. They are clearly synonyms in a non-apparel sense.

    My other choices are Muff/Boot (synonyms for "make an error in baseball") and some combination of Coat/Wrap/Veil/Mask/Band.
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  31. Was no one thinking of coat and veil?
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  32. Belt, sock seems like the best answer to me. What was your answer, Blaine?
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  33. I sent in belt and sock. Ken, nice job with veil and mask, but I prefer the answer that Natasha and I, and probably Hugh, sent in
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  34. I had the triple BELT, SOCK and CUFF but went with just belt and sock for the answer since I didn't feel a cuff would be classified as an "article of apparel".

    I hadn't thought of coat, veil or mask. I doubt those are the intended answers though, since the verb sense is related to the noun sense.
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  35. OK so if you combine a belt with a sock, you get a another piece of apparel, used to hold your socks up called....a garter - rhymes with Carter.
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  36. DaveJ, did you take credit for your hidden clue above?

    "I tried to think of a clue, but every little tip seemed obvious - can't knowingly give it away!"
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  37. what about COAT and ROBE?? That could work also....
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  38. I submitted vest and robe which as verbs mean to clothe oneself in an ecclesiastical sense.
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  39. I submitted belt and sock. Seemed to be clearest.
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  40. I replayed the "belt/sock" tape from NPR and found that Will never mentioned "hit or miss." His example involved "tire and exhaust" as synonyms. "Hit" and "miss" are antonyms.
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  41. Geri, it was the *on-air* puzzle with the listener, not the weekly challenge.

    By the way, there were *3,000* correct answers this week.
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  42. For the July 5 puzzle. I'll make a very small wager that Blondie could supply the answer.
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  43. Hugh, Blondie the singer or Blondie the comic strip character?
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  44. I think Will's puzzles are too easy, so I am going to stick to playing duplicate.
    The challenge is better and there is much more interaction with other people.
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