Thursday, September 24, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 20): Higher Education

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 20): Higher Education
Q: Name a well-known university. Move the last letter three places earlier in the name. The result will be a phrase meaning 'represent.' What's the university and what's the phrase?
Did you hear about the blonde that wanted a higher education? She did her homework in a tall tree. Okay, that was a silly joke. Back to giving clues on the puzzle. I don't know about you, but I didn't much care for the movie; however, I really did enjoy the play.

Edit: The hints this week were "tall tree" (which is the literal translation of Palo Alto) and of course the famous Big Game ending called The Play
A: STANFORD --> STAND FOR
Posted by Blaine at 7:03 PM
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40 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. It took some quality research, but I got it.
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  3. That was far, far too easy. Maybe because little sis did an internship there. And dated an engineer with a big-name company while she was living there...
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  4. Take the name used to represent the athletic teams of this university. Rearrange the letters to get a phrase that might distinguish me from other participants in the Bay to Breakers race.
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  5. I agree with Carl--far too easy. But, that's what happens when criminals without smarts are allowed in hallowed vales.
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  6. Please remove this i) sexist ("blonde" in someone's joke "use" of it is never ever, now truly is it, referring to male human beings?) and ii) no - less racist (than is the dna contained within any's skin's pigment - generating cells) statement:

    "Did you hear about the blonde that wanted a higher education? She did her homework in a tall tree. Okay, that was a silly joke."

    Thank you.
    Blue, bsn, dvm, phd
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  7. Wolfgang, did you ever post the answer to your puzzle from 2 weeks ago?
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  8. Finally got the answer. Now a question. What's the origin of the word OK?
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  9. Bear with me. Now there's an expression that begs for humorous manipulation if ever I saw one... Anyway, just changed my profile and want to see if my photo shows up if I post again.

    What!? You want a clue? Oh man... Ummm, okay, but it'll be kinda obscure. Some of the humor from the era of silent film is timeless and perfect, and some comedy personalities made the transition to talkies more effectively than others. Verbose too, what?
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  10. This school does not abide Yale cutups.

    Blaine's tree is near the RR station.
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  11. Back for a very short time and already wearing out my welcome... Five day break from the remodel that's considerably more than half-done. Promise I won't be posting with this regularity again for a while! But the last post made me want to ask how many of you think IMMEDIATELY, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, of the Three Stooges, every single time you balance a long object on your shoulders?
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  12. This has been the easiest one for me since the Fresno/Reno puzzle. I solved it quicker than my husband which is my standard of measurement. :-)
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  13. It's interesting, at least to this word geek, that this university's name can be broken in half to form a common first and last name. The last name in question is an important name in American industrial history. The first name is reminiscent of another industrialist who competed briefly in the same line of products.
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  14. Terrible that the poor boy had to die just to make this puzzle.

    -- Other Ben
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  15. I wonder if Will penned this puzzle?
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  16. I got up so early that my "hint" got included with last week's posts. Shall I repeat it?
    Or is this week really too easy?
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  17. This was too easy. I got it before Will finished speaking. Strange football mascot because according to my field guides it would be out of range.
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  18. The play on words requires some lateral thinking that a trombonist would be very good at. Bear with Will and you'll figure this one out.
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  19. No, Lorenzo, so far I haven't posted my answer b/c only two people ever weighed in and nobody asked for the answer through all of last week, so I figured there wasn't enough interest to go around. But since you ask now, here comes the answer. As a reminder, let me give the question again.

    If 6 equals 13, 17 equals 19, 21 equals 26, and 25 equals 23, what does 30 equal?

    Answer: 30 equals 36.

    Explanation: On the left-hand side of the equation is a U.S. state, numbered by its area ranking, that has one and only one other U.S. state on its northern border; that other state is shown on the right-hand side of the equation, also numbered by its area ranking.

    Thus,

    3 = 9 (CA = OR)
    5 = 8 (NM = CO)
    6 = 13 (AZ = UT)
    10 = 4 (WY = MT)
    17 = 19 (SD = ND)
    21 = 26 (MO = IA)
    25 = 23 (IL = WI)
    29 = 21 (AR = MO)
    30 = 36 (AL = TN)
    48 = 44 (CT = MA)
    50 = 44 (RI = MA)
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  20. To the Big Three musicologists who post: is there an REM song that features an alto sax, or was I misled by a pal o' mine??
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  21. Wolfgang, thanks for the solution. I would never have got it. I was working with lists that ordered the states alphabetically, by date of statehood and by population.
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  22. Blaine's clue was all I needed.
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  23. Wolfgang, I never thought of that. I enjoy puzzles like yours.
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  24. My Little Family, no field guides needed, but perhaps a spectrum would be useful.
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  25. Lorenzo and Mike: I actually submitted this as a suggestion to WS, but it seems he didn't like it as much... :-(

    Anyway, I didn't go by population, b/c those rankings may change over time (just like higher education institutions), but area rankings are unlikely to do so ;-)
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  26. Reply to Curtis, "The last name in question is an important name in American industrial history": Well... that kind of history affects many of us to the present day, doesn't it! (Carnegie Hall would be an example.)

    HEUREKA! It must be Vanderbilt University!

    Oh no! That's the full name, right there--nothing "broken in half"...
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  27. Don, the REM song you're thinking about is Fireplace. Incidentally, who are the Big Three musicologists?
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  28. I was thinking of the REM song "Stand". By Big Three I meant Stanford, Crocker, and Huntington of Central Pacific fame.
    There are 3 folks on this blog who have used music as a foil - Wolfgang, Lorenzo, and Hugh or Carl, can't remember that well. Alto and pal'o were meant to be bad clues.
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  29. Oh, that's right, Don--in the "MERCI" puzzle, I was referring to Ravel (Ma MERE l'oye) and Debussy (any composition in particular come to mind?).

    I thought this week's "Big Three" hint, combined with the "industrial history" reference, aimed at the nation's car makers--one of them, of course, being FORD.

    As to the "first name" hint, I almost wrote a post saying the first name was not so much about an industrialist as it was about a person who earned their "laurels" elsewhere...

    Alas--no call from WS...
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  30. I was amused when I stumbled across my serendipitous clue "Yale cutups".
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  31. Don, I don't think that there's any sax, alto or otherwise, in REM's "Stand," making it asaxual.

    Wolfgang, your puzzle was way too hard. Even if I knew that it had something to do with the U.S. states, it would have been nearly impossible to solve.
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  32. For Sep 27

    This leader's spouse's alma mater is ten years older than and 13.6 miles from Jay Leno's.
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  33. Hugh, true. Although, the spouse reputedly spoke with a distinctive Southern accent.
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  34. My question is that they state "the remaining two letters". Does that mean where they were the leader only has three letters?
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  35. Phredp, no. It is a tad confusing, but what WS actually said was "...Drop the last letter, then switch the last two letters that remain." So, the actual word (i.e., the leader's name) can have more than three letters.
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  36. I think I have an answer but the "dropping" and "switching" instructions are a problem. Could there be an error?
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  37. Geri, no, no error. Make sure you are dropping/switching from the leader's name, not the the country's. Qu1dd1tch, in parentheses, you say "the leader's name" - that actually should be the country. :)
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  38. Dave--"way too hard," huh? I guess WS thought so, too...
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  39. It's got me all turned round
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  40. I am likely the only member of Blainesville who was actually on the field for "the Play"

    -- Other Ben
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