Thursday, November 05, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 1): Noah Adams has False Teeth?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 1): Noah Adams has False Teeth?:
Q: Take the name 'Noah Adams,' as in the former host of All Things Considered. Add the phrase 'false teeth.' You can rearrange all 19 letters to name a famous work of literature. What is it?
I may not be as clear-headed in the morning, but am I the only one that thinks there's an extra article in the answer?

Edit: The two hints were "morning" and "am" which point to A.M. or Arthur Miller, the playwright.
A: (The) Death of a Salesman
Posted by Blaine at 8:41 PM
Labels: ,

53 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.
    ReplyDelete
  2. I thought the first word of the answer really doesn't belong in the title. I was happy to figure this one out early.
    ReplyDelete
  3. I was so excited to solve it: "The old man and the sea"! I submitted my answer... then realized that my answer had no f in it...
    ReplyDelete
  4. I heard there was a mock funeral for Favre in Green Bay yesterday. What a strange way to market today's big game.
    ReplyDelete
  5. I wonder if the Green Bay game will be a sellout? And how many will be Viking fans?
    ReplyDelete
  6. Will I be watching the game? You bet!
    ReplyDelete
  7. These hints seem to support the answer I came up with, but the extra word is troubling.
    Also, I'm not sure my answer qualifies as "literature"...

    I'm gonna keep trying...
    ReplyDelete
  8. I have searched far and wide. There is no citation whatsoever of the "extra word," but your answer is correct. The question is, do we submit our answer with the extra word or not?
    ReplyDelete
  10. Some other cute anagrams of the answer (excluding the superfluous article):

    -A witch doctor mocks a baby horse

    -A Tibetan vow of silence (but not the kind you think)

    -A classical piano piece about a crushed parasite
    ReplyDelete
  11. No, I liked your anagrams.
    sttf,tldo,tmfs.
    ReplyDelete
  12. Lee Schipper, who was the winner today on NPR, is a scientist worth looking up. Strange they did not say what his profession is.
    ReplyDelete
  13. Nineteen WRONG letters: For Whom the Bell Tolls
    How Green Was My Valley

    3400 answers last week.
    ReplyDelete
  14. How to handle this puzzle? Relax and have a beer.
    ReplyDelete
  15. The article is needed to reach the
    nineteen letters. I think that it
    is "leterature."

    Answer submitted
    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm surprised that a stickler such as Will would let this one slip by. It is certainly not the actual name of the, er, work of literature.

    -- Other Ben
    ReplyDelete
  17. I have read your comments, and I agree that there is a superfluous article. However, that word reads well with the title of the famous work. It would not read well with Our Town or with The Old Man and the Sea.
    ReplyDelete
  18. Willy actually said it but its not the title, for art's sake, perhaps Will meant something else...
    ReplyDelete
  19. I was thrown off base a bit by that extra article. But, after filling my system with a couple cups of joe, I was better able to take a swing at this one.
    ReplyDelete
  20. We have a FLAWED puzzle this week. This work of literature appears NOWHERE with a beginning article.
    ReplyDelete
  21. I guess being the last person to solve this puzzle makes me the low man on the totem pole.
    ReplyDelete
  22. I'm not satisfied with The answer. I will continue looking for a better solution.
    ReplyDelete
  24. I agree about the article--that detail really threw me off. Not that it ticks me off or anything, but I feel like I just heard somebody scream, "Not minding your details in the age of Wikipedia is a disgrace!"

    I also think someone said, "A puzzlemaster who can't handle articles is not a puzzlemaster," although that wasn't on this blog.

    Anyway, if phredp, DaveJ, and Dave are happy with just adding an article, I think I'll just go along for the ride.
    ReplyDelete
  25. How can I find the answer? This has been driving me crazy all week. I can't wait till Sunday, and now its past the deadline, so can someone take pity?
    ReplyDelete
  26. Okay, I'll take pity - it's -The- Death of a Salesman.
    ReplyDelete
  27. My hints were allusions to quotes by Death of a Salesman's Willy Loman: "Not finding yourself at the age of 34 is a disgrace!" And "A man who can't handle tools is not a man."

    Also, the idea of going for a ride was meant to be associated with the idea of a (traveling) salesman.

    By the way, I have to go to Boston today. Yes! This is true!! And I almost posted yesterday that "I'll go to Boston tomorrow," but I found that one too much of a giveaway...
    ReplyDelete
  28. Thank you Curtis. And Wolfgang, your hints were totally lost on me, and your Boston clue would have been safe as well. Was Brett Farve a clue... or were some of you really talking about the (sad) Packer game? You wouldn't believe how many little scraps of paper there are around my house with Noah Adams False Teeth on them.
    ReplyDelete
  29. Good question, Laurabethp. I got the answer, but what do Favre, the Vikings and the Packers have to do with anything? Maybe because a traveling salesman packs his bags?
    ReplyDelete
  30. Re: OUR PROFILES: What has "astrological sign" have to do with anything? How can I remove it from my profile?
    ReplyDelete
  31. I don't know if Favre, Green Bay, or the Vikings were clues or not, but the references to "funeral" and "market" then "sellout" in the next comment were definitely big hints.
    ReplyDelete
  32. Geri, go to EDIT PROFILE and under the birthday line uncheck the box that reads "Show astrological sign."
    ReplyDelete
  33. My hint was an allusion to the fact that Marilyn Monroe was married to both Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. The bit about joe was both a reference to his name and the fact that he appeared in Mr. Coffee commercials.
    ReplyDelete
  34. Heavens, I can see that your ideas of a clue are much different than what I needed -- which would have been something like, "Rhymes with Meth of a Walesman." In retrospect I get the "loman on the totem pole," but I imagine I might have to actually read the play to figure out "relax and Have a beer." Unless that really means to relax and have a beer, in which case I'm there!
    ReplyDelete
  35. Lorenzo, Thank you for your info but I cannot find anything labeled "edit profile." I tried hard.
    ReplyDelete
  36. Geri,

    Log into Blogger (www.blogger.com) and go to your Dashboard. On the left should be a place for you picture and something that says "Edit Profile". Click that link and you'll find the setting.

    Another way to get there is to click on your link which will get you to a Yahoo Profile. Next look down to where it says "Blogger" and next to that it says "Settings". That will get you to the same place.
    ReplyDelete
  37. I'm assuming that the beer clue was in reference to Miller beer.
    ReplyDelete
  38. Lucky me got the call -and the chance to embarrass myself on-air (books & colleges- my worst categories!) I did get to wish Liane happy 20th - what an honor - Will was very gracious too. Listen to hear if the THE issue is mentioned or got edited...
    One advantage: I think I have solved next week's puzzle already but will separate myself from trying to provide any clues on this particular matter.
    ReplyDelete
  39. Congratulations DaveJ! We look forward to hearing how you fared.
    ReplyDelete
  40. Way to go Dave! Look forward to listening tomorrow!

    BTW, my clues were "happy" (Willy's daughter), "sellout" and "Will I".
    Really nothing to do with the Packers game or Favre but a timely place to add clues.
    ReplyDelete
  41. I am a Gemini. A Gemini who is deeply scared by people who care that I am a Gemini.

    -- Other Ben
    ReplyDelete
  42. What kind of sense does it make to divide humanity into twelve categories each with particular characteristics?

    Think about SNOWFLAKES.
    ReplyDelete
  43. 900 entries for the salesman.

    I think we have another flawed puzzle this week. Perhaps rhe word "rearrange" would be
    more apt than "remove."
    ReplyDelete
  44. Geri, I too found a nationality that works if "remove" is replaced by "rearrange" (or simply by "move") in the statement of the puzzle. But, two flawed puzzles in two weeks?? Perhaps we are both missing something.
    ReplyDelete
  45. No two errors in as many weeks.

    I sailed the seven seas and found a place that fits as advertised.

    It helps that I've actually been there. Answer is in. (And congrats to Dave on his airtime!)

    -- Other Ben
    ReplyDelete
  46. If it's the answer I have in mind, it should say the letters (and fragments of letters that remain) will be perfectly reflected in the mirror. The letters that remain no longer spell a nationality but they exhibit symmetry with respect to the Y axis.
    ReplyDelete
  47. Mario, if your interpretation is correct (and I think it is), then you, I, Geri and Other Ben probably have the same answer. If so, I think the puzzle that Geri solved is more elegant than the "official" one!
    ReplyDelete
  48. Answer submitted. Because of the somewhat ambiguous wording of the puzzle, I would really dislike spending any more time on it.
    ReplyDelete
  49. Does Will mean remove or rearrange? I get an answer that fits rearrange.
    ReplyDelete
  50. I'm pretty convinced the wording was a mistake, and he should have said "move" one stroke. But I guess we'll all know, eventually.
    ReplyDelete
  51. Carl,
    Glad you agree. I will submit my answer now.
    Thanks.
    ReplyDelete
  52. DaveJ, Nice going. I can guess why Liane came up with the same institute that you did (exposure to Tyler Hinman). How about you?

    There is not really a problem with today's puzzle. I hate to admit it, but we are often tripped up when we assume. It can make an ASS of U and ME. In this case an assumption has been made that we know the meaning of a common word. Look it up.
    ReplyDelete
  53. Hugh - I agree about assumptions. The remainders after the strokes are removed are letters. But, it only works with sans serif fonts. The remaining series of letters does not leave a word that I can pronounce, however.
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)