Sunday, July 05, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 5): I Won't Divulge the Answer

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 5): I Won't Divulge the Answer:
Think of two terms that mean 'to divulge information.' Write them one after the other with no spaces between words. The result is a nine-letter word for a card that you might hold in a card game. What card is it?
I must admit I've been a little pre-occupied getting ready for our trip so I didn't add a post earlier. We'll be gone by the time Thursday rolls around, so I won't be entering this week. But feel free to discuss it here. Incidentally, do you know where we are going? I wonder if it was inspired by a recent puzzle...
Posted by Blaine at 5:56 PM
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41 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. PerhapsPalin’soperaticariawillpermitmetodanceinsolitudeonherunhingedplanktonowhere!’tho’IwouldsoratherwrestlemyselfontothetopoftheworldhighwayandputmyhairdownintotheBarrowBeach’sinlettoviewthereitsArcticOceanmamaswithbabes.
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  3. Did anybody notice that in the New York Times crossword puzzle number 0530, which was in my paper on Saturday, July 4, 15 down is a five letter word for belts and the answer was . . . socks! Do you think that this was a coincidence?
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  4. Blue, great comments! I counted at lest 4 clues, and I'm sure I missed some. Since I have never played the game in question (to which you so cleverly alluded), I had to resort to a google search of related terms to get the answer.

    P.S. To those still seeking the solution, this post contains no new (intentional) clues.
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  5. Sorry for the typo. I counted at "least" 4 clues.
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  6. Dave, Cookieface has the answer - on her own I suspect. I'm guessing that you have the answer by now.
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  8. DaveJ, I'm clueless as well. I think that we're looking for two one word answers, probably a four letter word and a five letter word. The nine letter word sounds like it's a card used in a specific game.
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  9. At last I got it - I even had to delete my previous post as it had a genuine inadvertent hint that was just too close ! At least there is really only one solution this week !
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  10. Dave, actually we're looking for something other than two one-word answers.
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  11. difficult to read blue's post but it did bring back fond memories of my time in barrow. walking on the beaufort sea, watching the aurora borealis, and dancing at the dew line - no intentional clues here because I haven't even tried to work the puzzle yet.
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  12. Thinking about the answer, if you take the next card in sequence, it has the same number of letters, but is twice as heavy !
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  13. Lorenzo, thanks for the hint.
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  14. Finally figured it out. But I can't come up with even one way to clue the answer. A tough one.

    -- Other Ben
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  15. This one won't come anywhere near the
    "over three thousand emtries" for
    belt/sock. Under three hundred is my
    guess.
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  16. Liane said, "more than three thousand" to be accurate.
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  17. Dave, so did you figure out which Blondie or neither was in the cards?
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  18. Hugh, I'm pretty baffled by this one. I'm guessing that the clue refers to Blondie the singer. Maybe "The Tide is High" and Blue's "unhinged plankton" refer to the same thing. Or maybe not. I don't know.
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  20. Blue, what a clever collage of clues you concocted! I loved "unhinged plank to nowhere!" which lead me to "crazy part of the party platform." I'd be interested to know some other thoughts you included in the creation, though I'd understand if you prefer to leave it to readers to discover.
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  21. Lorenzo, your clue helped. BTW, wish me luck, I'm going to Vegas next week to get married by Elvis. This fat boys' bachelor days are over!
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  22. Ha ha phredp ! Good luck and don't forget to don your sleeveless wedding shirt !!
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  23. I had never heard this as a card term before today. I had to Google some terminology to span the gap in my knowledge.
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  24. Got it! Thanks, Curtis. Nice clues, Phredp and DaveJ. Blue, I understand only the parts of your clue that reveal the first two words.
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  25. I can't figure it out and I'm ready to bang my head against a wall? Can I have a blatant hint, i.e. is it a solitaire or bridge term? This has been driving me crazy all week! Thanks. =)
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  26. ^Oops...banging my head against a wall was a statement, not a question!
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  27. JenJen - all I can suggest is try the visual thesaurus and consider Lorenzo's words...
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  28. "Baby-O-Baby-O-Baby-O...ne-Baby!"soloedthewrestlingwoman-alONE.
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  29. Paul and Silas did it, and so did JC.
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  30. Thanks everyone! I got it. I never would have come up with one of the terms because it doesn't seem like it exactly means "to divulge information." Glad I found your blog, Blaine!
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  31. Another week and Will hasn't called. Anyway, these were my attempts at clues:

    "twice as heavy" > double ton

    "don your sleeveless shirt" > singlet on

    DaveJ
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  32. ‘nd, as well without Mr Shortz’s call, Blue’s clues –

    no spaces – no spaces
    operatic aria – sing
    permit – let
    solitude on – single on
    plank to nowhere – bridge
    wrestle / wrestling – singlet
    on – on
    my hair down – let on
    inlet – singlet – word sound – alike
    Arctic Ocean mammal mamas very often only bear … singleton births
    baby – one – baby – a singleton birthing
    baby – O – baby – John Singleton, film director, 2001’s “Baby Boy”
    soloed – sing and single
    alONE – single
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  33. This was a hard one for me; I have never heard of singleton as a card term (but then again I don't play cards much), nor do I think sing seems like a definition of divulge. I had a feeling "let on" was going to be part of it though before you guys helped me solve it.

    So, has anyone here ever been lucky enough to do the on-air puzzle?
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  34. I think maybe the intended interpretation of 'sing' is like used in 'sing like a canary' - i.e. tell all you know, generally regarding some crime about which one may have inside information.
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  35. The term "sing" has a primary definition of "to produce music vocally." Its secondary definition of "to divulge information" is often used in the context of prison. Thus, to sing in prison is to snitch or to rat on other inmates.

    Using the primary definition, Paul and Silas in the Bible sang in prison. Also, JC (Johnny Cash) famously sang at Folsom.
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  36. Giving a clue on Friday seems silly, but I just can't help myself: "There is NO way Rich Hall would get this, anagramatically speaking."
    There, I feel better now...
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  37. JenJen, Yes a person who was on the air and who called himself MinnCognito posted with us afterward but has not made any comments lately.
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  38. JenJen and Geri,
    My wife Janice and I have been playing the puzzle for many years, each week submitting only one entry between us. In 2007, we were actually called twice. The first time we missed the call by 5 minutes and by the time we called back, a new winner had been chosen. Then, only three months later, we were called again. Janice played on the air on October 7, 2007. The audio transcript is still available at www.npr.org
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  39. Lorenzo, that's very cool! A guy I know here in Eugene got called and was on the air a couple of months ago. I just started participating earlier this year, so I'm not disappointed that I haven't gotten called yet.
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  40. That IS cool, Lorenzo! Twice in 3 months, what are the chances?! Good to know that if you don't answer that they just move along to the next person; I've wondered what would happen if they called DH or me and we didn't answer. DH works in the basement of an armory where signal is spotty, and Thursdays are usually my busiest days at work. Dave, like you, I haven't been playing long. My husband and I just started dating less than 2 years ago and he's the one that got me listening to it (he never submitted answers before I came along), so it's probably been a year, give or take a few months.
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  41. Singleton is used often when discussing bridge, but I've not really heard it used in other contexts. It doesn't seem like it would be very meaningful in games where the suits aren't significant.
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