Thursday, September 03, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 30): Take me to your Leader

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 30): Take me to your Leader:
Q: Name a famous leader in world history — the name by which this person is usually known. Change the first letter of the leader's name to the previous letter of the alphabet, rearrange the result, and you'll name what this person was the leader of. Who is it, and where was this person the leader?
I haven't a clue, yet... sorry, I'm no real help at the moment.

Edit: Here's the hidden hint "I'm no real help..."
A: NERO --> ROME

35 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. Last week there were 1500 answers submitted. They didn't say how many were correct! More this week, of course!

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  3. The big news here in Southern California concerns the raging brush fires that are threatening 10,000 homes. We had a close call 5 years ago when we were evacuated and several homes in our neighborhood were destroyed. Thankfully, this time we are not in danger, but our thoughts go out to all who are suffering through this nightmare.

    We had an eerie experience last week, listening to an outdoor concert at the Hollywood Bowl while the hills burned in the background.

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  4. Finally got it, after fiddling around for 3 hours...

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  5. The clues above have left me more mixed up. :-)

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  6. I am fired up about this one. Thanks for the clues.

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  7. Was Chairman Mao ever in charge of AOL?

    Or did he miss the internet completely?

    -- Other Ben

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  8. Something about this puzzle makes me hungry for a good salad.

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  9. After pondering about this weeks puzzle and staring at my computer desktop for an hour, the answer was apparant! Now I have to burn a dvd of my Vegas Elvis wedding for a friend.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvXgQfdArmQ

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  10. Thank all of you for the clues. This time I concentrated on them and, wow, I got it.

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  11. The clues helped. Dang. Burns me up.

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  12. Did anyone notice that with a bit of wordplay, this week's answer can be derived from each of two recent puzzle answers?

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. JenJen, that one is a bit much, I think.

    Anyway, I figured it out. It isn't Mao and AOL. I had forgotten the wisdom of Ted Stevens that the Internet is, in fact, a series of tubes.

    -- Other Ben

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  15. Sorry, Other Ben, I deleted it. :)

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  16. Clues are a complete give away this week...

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  17. David, I have to agree with you, the clues gave it away.

    Here's another one for you to ponder. Dave's Puzzle Number 12:

    Take the name of a country. Replace the first letter of the country's name with the two letters immediately preceding that letter, i.e., if it's z, replace it with x and y. Rearrange the letters to get the name of a leader of that country.

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  18. Dave: Re #12. Great performance by B.K.

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  19. Dave's #12 is much better than this week's NPR puzzle. But I'm sorry E.T. didn't win the Oscar for best picture.

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  20. OK, so it's pretty easy one this week, no hints from Suze though ? Anyone else think the on-air 6>5 letter backwards word puzzles were tough ? I only got one right

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  21. They should have used TREBEK and EBERT. Although I guess it would have have to be KEBER.

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  22. Lorenzo and Eddie, nice job! I've submitted some of my puzzles to Will but he hasn't chosen any of them yet. I'll submit this one and keep my fingers crossed.

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  23. can someone please help me just a tad more. Im REALLY eating myself up trying to think of this.

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  24. bigmikeh794, sometimes answers can't be figured out in one day.

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  25. bigmikeh794,

    "More"? I think are already very close!

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  26. Even the blog owner obviously hinted - Blaine is a hero methinks !

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  27. The hints here this week make it too easy ;) Been traveling and haven't done the puzzle since the waitress in the coffee shop and I didn't submit that one because it was so simply I didn't think it could possibly be right.

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  28. Yes, they do make it rather simple. But only the new(ish) gal here gets chastised for her clue. ;-)

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  29. Sorry guys. I ended up getting it shortly after i posted that comment :).

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  30. Obligatory post-deadline explanatory posting:

    Even the blog ow[ner o]viously hinted - Blaine is a he[ro me]thinks !

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  31. My prior post: "The clues above have left me more mixed up. :-)" MORE unscrambles to ROME.

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  32. Dave, When will #12 be revealed?

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  33. Geri (or anyone else), would you like a clue to Puzzle #12?

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For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.