Thursday, July 19, 2012

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 15, 2012): Is There a Doctor in the House?

DoctorsNPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 15, 2012): Is There a Doctor in the House?:
Q: The name of something that you might see your doctor about is a two-word phrase. Three letters in each word. When these six letters are written without a space, a three-letter word can be removed from inside, and the remaining three letters in order also form a word. What's interesting is that the four three-letter words — the two in the original phrase, the one that was removed, and the one that remains — all rhyme. What is the original phrase?
The picture this time is from Halloween 2005 when we all went as various doctors. Speaking of doctors, is there ever one in the house?

Edit: Perhaps too obviously, a moving, emotional theatrical performance can result in there not being a dry eye in the house.
A: DRY EYE --> D(RYE)YE = DYE & RYE

88 comments:

  1. Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via Google or Bing) 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.

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've tried and tried to send you a hint, but Google keeps throwing up roadblocks, and their pre-fab help pages are no help at all. Well, if this reply goes through (I'm not counting on it!), you can read my hint in the comments on www.crosswordmanblog.com!

      KDW

      Delete
  2. Earlier this evening, I posted:

    New puzzle is now posted and I'm sorry to say it is a bit of a downer again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wonder how most of us here will feel about how this week's puzzle compares with last week's.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, this one's definitely sicker.

      Delete
    2. Very clever, SDB. This puzzle also has a (more obvious) similarity to the puzzle two weeks ago.

      Delete
  4. Disclaimer:
    If this puzzle keeps you up for more than four hours, see your doctor immediately.

    ReplyDelete
  5. And the Alma Award goes to...

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  6. Cartoon clue: Speedy Gonzalez

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  7. Doesn't anyone care about this persistent heat wave, which is causing a large portion of the country to suffer a drought?

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  8. I predict there will be 5000 correct entries for this weeks puzzle.

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  9. I had rather too much to drink last night, but I believe I can assess this challenge soberly in the morning. I agree that this one is much easier than last week's, but I have tried not to let that fact color my assessment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought last week's was easy. I'm surprised that there were only 400 correct entries.

      Incidentally, the name "Ben Stiller" was the answer to an earlier puzzle. I recall the clue was a musician whose name rhymed with that of an actor. The musicians was Glenn Miller.

      Delete
  10. If Doctor Who went ta a British hospital, I guess he would be The English Patient.

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    Replies
    1. The English Patient - now that was a real jerker. Was Elane Benes the only one who really hated that movie? Someone tell me how to put "The English Patient" in italics please.

      Delete
    2. The commenting system allows for some limited HTML formatting via tags:
      <b>bold</b> --> bold
      <i>italics</i> --> italics

      Delete
    3. Jim: are you under a certain strain ?

      Delete
  11. There were only 400 solvers of last week’s puzzle. I can’t see what was so difficult...

    Chuck

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  12. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  13. I opted to let my browser do the work, but it keeps taking me back to that "barstool" puzzle.

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  14. Hey there, how is everybody doing! Sorry you haven't seen me here in a while.

    It got me confused at first when I heard the puzzle read on the air. The various steps may be more intricate than usual, so I needed to see it written out. Once I did, I got it immediately.

    Again, just because I was gone for a while doesn't mean I no longer care to visit this blog. On the contrary, I do enjoy passing some time here while munching on my Reuben and sipping on my coffee.

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  15. Don't really need a doctor, but I am looking for Beuller...Bueller...Bueller...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I saw the actor in reference at a sushi restaurant in Beverly Hills about ten years ago. He was trying to get the attention of his server and pay his bill, but the server was slow to take his money which was especially ironic given the actor's involvement with a game show at the time.

      Delete
  16. Reminds me of a London landmark.

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  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    Replies
    1. Clever clues, but just a little too revealing.

      Delete
  18. Some of us should do a better job of disguising our hints. You don't want to give the answer away.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Reminds me of a loggerhead turtle laying her eggs.

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  20. Musical clue: A certain children's song

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  21. Reading these is making me verklempt.

    -- Other Ben

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  22. Sigh...too many obvious clues here this week.

    Boo. Hiss.

    ReplyDelete
  23. 2 College Football Coaches

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  24. Nothing to do with this week's puzzle, but I just want to say that your Halloween costumes down through the years are AWESOME, in the true sense of the word. Thanks for sharing them (and so much else)!

    By the way, I tried to do an archived Christmas crossword and couldn't get even one letter in. Are they deactivated?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comments on our Halloween costumes; it's been a fun tradition. As for the Christmas puzzles, they are intended to be printed and solved that way.

      Delete
  25. Wow, these comments do more than drop a hint. If you read this first I'm advising against reading the clues above.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agree with you, Cactus-man or woman. Wow, that would hurt!

      Delete
  26. No matter how hard I try, I can't avoid making another too obvious hint. Blaine did use my first thought.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jeepers creepers! The person that made up this puzzle obviously has an English sense of humor.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Wouldn't you think that blue laws would only exist in blue states?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Old song - You can kiss me on a Monday, a Tuesday, a Wednesday........ But not you Cactus person, that would hurt. :) Actually, growing up Cacti were my favorite plants cuz they did not die so easily like other plants. My not so green thumb could not produce an oasis.

      Delete
  29. A missing back yard? Caramba!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you may have done a cryptic crossword or two.

      Delete
    2. Never have (had to look up on the web to see what they were) and thank you for thinking I have.

      Delete
  30. I AM NOT DEAD! Just got a bit lazy. The puzzles for the last two weeks are posted. Hurry. Seats are limited.

    Click, click

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  31. I was hoping for more variety in the clues posted here. I guess I'm still a little wet behind the ears.

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  32. Dry eye --> rye --> dye. Last Sunday I said, “There were only 400 solvers of last week’s puzzle. I can’t see what was so difficult...” “I” was a shout out to eye. “Can’t see” was a shout out to dry eye since temporary vision impairment is one possible symptom of the disease.

    I had a really hard time trying to come up with something good that wasn’t a spoiler...

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  33. DRY EYE + RYE & DYE

    My hint:

    "I wonder how most of us here will feel about how this week's puzzle compares with last week's."

    Last week's puzzle was about the story of Peter Pan. A well done performance of the play might finish with there not being a dry eye in the house.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Bye Bye Miss American Pie
    ... and good ol' boys drinking whiskey and rye...

    ReplyDelete
  35. > Oh, this one's definitely sicker.

    In NJ, it's hard to hear a difference between "sicker" and "sicca".

    ReplyDelete
  36. My Administrator deleted clue made reference to leaving a certain medical facility, famous for its encouraged 6 minute provider services, with a white cane. I also indicated that this comment was not intended to be against Blaine, whose wife apparently, given the pictures, is a partner of the certain medical facility. Otherwise, I maintain that the "white cane" reference is not an obvious clue. Indeed, sty eye [tye(as in a knot), sye (saw)] might also work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unless you meean you have lots of tiny pigs running in and on your eyeball, I think you mean "stye".

      Delete
    2. My Merriam-Webster dictionary has no TYE. The word is TIE. Also STY is listed prior to STYE. I hate to be piggish, but.....

      Delete
    3. I have seen various spellings.

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    4. Well benmar12001, that certainly settles it. I would not dare to take a cheesy source like the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (the very one Will Shortz, himself uses) over what you think you may have seen.

      Delete
    5. My problem with the hint was that it implied you would go in for this malady and come out with a white cane. That pointed directly to something relating to the eye.

      Delete
    6. SDB:

      Obviously you had the answer.

      Delete
    7. Blaine:

      But the eye doctor picture didn't point directly to something relating to the eye???

      Delete
    8. Yeah, I suppose it did. :) Speaking of my wife's eye doctor costume, we made a little eye chart. On one side it was crisp and clear and the other side we blurred it. It was fun showing people the blurry side and watching them squint. She could also do a little routine with "which looks better, 1... or 2..."

      Delete
  37. I posted on Sun Jul 15, at 01:46:00 AM PDT:

    Cartoon clue: Speedy Gonzalez

    He was not ALWAYS running from Sylvester shouting "¡Ándele! ¡Ándele! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! ¡Epa! ¡Epa! ¡Epa! Yeehaw!" . Sometimes he was in a canoe, serenading his honey with the song "Cielito Lindo", with its chorus of "Ay, ay, ay, ay, Canta y no llores,".

    The "Ay, ay, ay, ay" part establishes the rhyme, as well as the fact that "Ay" sounds like "eye".

    ReplyDelete
  38. Musical Clue: A certian children's song= Head, Shoulders, Knees, and toes.

    One of the verses is as follows:

    EYES, and mouth, and ears, and nose......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would've sworn it was: "Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of ___".

      Delete
  39. "I opted" referred to eyes/optician; "...to use my browser" referred to eyebrows; "...previous barstool puzzle" referred to "rye".

    ReplyDelete
  40. My clue referred to the Eye of London. Fortunately, there are a lot of London landmarks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I almost nixed it though... if somebody just ran through a few landmarks they were sure to get it.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, I would understand if you had.

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    3. London eye,
      Ferris wheel
      Ferris Bueller
      Ben Stein
      Murine commercials

      this is the kinda stuff I live for.

      Delete
  41. "...tri,I..." - Just to see if a little rhyming would shake anything loose.

    ReplyDelete
  42. My clues: several mentions of "see" (eye) and one mention of a Reuben (made with RYE bread). And, of course, my last-hour post about "wet behind the ears." Actually, I thought the Reuben and wet-ear clues might be too obvious, so...glad my posts survived.)

    ReplyDelete
  43. I got hung-up on "Peg Leg" right off the bat but finally shook it (LOL?). My clue (Blue Laws) was intended to mean the "no alcohol on Sundays" interpretation of the blue laws).

    ReplyDelete
  44. Name a sport in two words — nine letters in the first word, five letters in the last — in which all six vowels (A, E, I, O, U, and Y) are used once each. What is it?

    The new puzzle came up at 9:03 PM and it is really a stupid one again. I found a perfect answer after 39 minutes that has 9 6 instead of 9 5 letters in the two word answer. So, what is wrong with mine? Why not intelligent puzzles instead of mindless list searching torture? I think NPR should demand more of Will Shortz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm! I've found a fascinating answer, the other way around: 10 and 5! I'm certain neither is capable of being correct.

      Delete
  45. I thought I heard him on the air say 9 in the first and 6 in the second. Did I mishear?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe you heard correctly. I wonder who gets the blame for the discrepancy.

      Delete
  46. The website has it wrong! The website says 9 and 5, but Will said on air 9 and 6, and there is an answer 9 and 6 that I found while I was looking for 9 and 5, and I looked and looked for 9 and 5 for a long time thereafter, but I don't have to any more! Yay!

    ---Rob

    ReplyDelete
  47. Agreeed; another stupid puzzle, in the mode of Ban Stiller ... After I heard 9,6 I remembered the answer from the lists I scanned for 9,5.

    This is a sport??!!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Edit previous comment. Too many "e"s.

    ReplyDelete
  49. I heard 9 and 6 also (and the answer I've come up with is 9 and 6). I've e-mailed NPR, asking that they post a clarification on their site. If some other confused puzzle-solvers would also e-mail NPR, I think NPR would clarify the matter.

    ReplyDelete

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.