Friday, January 31, 2014

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 26, 2014): Remove a Double S to Get a Synonym

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 26, 2014): Remove a Double S to Get a Synonym:
Q: What word, containing two consecutive Ss, becomes its own synonym if you drop those Ss?
Anyone else feel this puzzle might have been more appropriate in a couple months?

Edit: Perhaps in the Spring?
A: BLOSSOM --> BLOOM (and variants like BLOSSOMING --> BLOOMING, BLOSSOMED --> BLOOMED, BLOSSOMS --> BLOOMS)

165 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 a chain of thought, or an internet search) 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
  2. You may have to use snowmobiles to gently propel yourselves over this endless sea of words "containing two consecutive S's."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BLOSSOM(ed)(s)(ing)

      BLOOM(ed)(s)(ing)

      “In a couple of months” it will be SPRINGTIME when things begin to blossom/bloom.

      My clue was “snowmobiles” which contain the letters of “blossom.” I was going to say “bottomless” sea instead of “endless” sea, but I thought that would give it away. “Bottomless” also contains the letters of BLOSSOM.

      Delete
  3. Supposed to get down below zero tonight here in Missouri. I don't know Blaine. What happened to global warming?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's 40 degrees in Alaska. We have an amplified jet stream, caused by Global Warming. The jet stream sweeps way up over the Pacific then plunges down to the Gulf of Mexico, bringing us polar air.

      Delete
    2. Uncle John:
      Spelling!!!
      It is not polar air. It should be Polar Bear. :-)

      Delete
  4. Agreed: definitely too cold this winter. Just came in from shoveling the latest snowfall. Windchill around zero. Now to toast a bialy for breakfast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bialy: had to look that one up.

      Oh, 57 degrees and sunny yesterday here.

      Are our resident Minnesotans, loop and Peter, too frozen to join us?

      Delete
    2. Just have to finish up the shoveling and then off to see the sled dogs.

      Delete
    3. Speaking of flakes, "bialy" (OK, "What is a bialy?") was an answer on Jeopardy! on Thursday.

      Delete
    4. Is it a bagel without a hole, or more complex than that?

      Delete
    5. jan, hope those flakes you speak of are onion or snow, not fellow bloggers ;-).

      Gee, our knowledge base sure is increasing!

      Delete
    6. When I lived in NYC, my roommate, Scott McKenzie, and I ate a warm bialy with orange honey, almond butter and bee pollen nearly every morning for two years. Yumm!

      Delete
    7. A bagel without a hole is the alternate answer ;-).

      Delete
    8. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    9. Here, let me Google that for you

      Of course, I was speaking of onion flakes and snowflakes, WW! Which of our fellow bloggers were you thinking of?

      Delete
    10. ABQ, I don't think you could find a decent bialy in SFO.

      Delete
    11. The "your you" ones ;-).

      Did you really have a bialy and are they quite different from bagels in taste? Now I am curious to try one!

      Delete
    12. They differ more in texture. The bialy is softer, often with a dusting of flour, and is just baked. A bagel is more hockey puck-like, boiled before baking. And the depression on top of a bialy is usually filled with chopped onion, which are often still moist when fresh.

      Delete
    13. They sound wonderful. It seems, according to this local rag, the best ones are at Kossar's in NYC and there are no decent ones out here :

      Bialys

      Delete
    14. Bialys are OK, but right now, there are some pretty good smells coming from my kitchen, My wife and I are working on two recipes from today's NY Times Magazine: a creamy chicken liver pâté, and bacon-onion jam.

      Delete
    15. ... to be served with a side order of Lipitor, I think...

      Delete
    16. You're right, Jan. No decent bialies in SF. I did, however, stumble upon an indecent bi-alley one night.

      Delete
    17. Jan, how were they?

      AbqGuerrilla, curious about your list. Is the pen doing weird things to your pen? (um, ok, keyboard)

      Delete
    18. If you're referring to the movie list I accidentally posted and deleted, WW, it was due to a rushed attempt to copy and paste from a Word doc as I heard keys jingling and footsteps in the hallway. The last time I got caught on the cook's computer, it cost me dearly.

      Delete
    19. WW, the pâté and bacon-onion jam were very good. We're not usually big meat-eaters, but these were worth making an exception for.

      Delete
    20. I had my first "cronut" this week. Supposed to be a cross between a croissant and a glazed donut but tasted more like a glazed bagel!

      Delete
    21. phredp, crossed a croissant with a bialy and got my crobial.

      Delete
  5. I received a revelation several times from Joel Osteen this morning!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Don't need to wait for months, the answer can be seen in The Big Bang Theory now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anyone who knows zeke way too up close and personal will a confirm the nature of Zeke and his Zaniness. (if you would even like to wrap your head around that).

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Does anyone else see the ambiguity in Will's clue? That is, when he calls for "two consecutive s's" is he's referring to a word with a single pair of s's or TWO consecutive s-pairs? If it's just a single pair of s's, then my new bud, Andy, just came up with the answer. And if that is the answer, I might add that you won't find any of these on the sheets here in Draper Penitentiary. Just sayin'...

      Delete
  9. So now that we've solved it, how about guessing which "two consecutive letter puzzle" Will will give us next week?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remove a double S from a word and get a country?

      Delete
    2. David, I like it.

      Or maybe a rotational letter puzzle? How did worm get its name:

      http://artjcf.tumblr.com/post/73517920837/hey-whats-that-sqiggly-thing-on-the-ground-i


      Delete
    3. David,
      I like your puzzle ALSO.
      W,
      With “the big game” looming, here’s a brief, timely anecdote: Back when the Seattle Seahawks were still in the AFC, Steve Largent, Hall of Fame receiver (and future U.S. congressman from Oklahoma), would watch his quarterback diagram plays and pass routes on the dirt with his finger during huddles. The QB’s “signature play” was one in which Largent would run a zigzag route. Once, after sacking the QB for a nine-yard loss, Denver Broncos defensive end Karl Mecklenburg, getting back on his feet after the tackle, noticed the QB’s signature-play zigzag etched in the dirt. Mecklenberg mumbled to himself, “So that’s how he got his name.”
      LegoLariet

      Delete
  10. Besides Will's intended answer(?), I have an answer that would not be "NPR-friendly".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Different from the one Berf gave at the end of last week's blog?

      Delete
    2. So a**hole and *- hole isn't the pair Will is looking for?

      Delete
    3. The first thing I thought of was piss, but it was close, but not close enough. Then I got a**hole, but something told me it might not be the intended answer.

      Delete
    4. SDB, don't let me catch you buttbuttinating the former President. You're on a watchlist ever since hiding those fake twenties.

      Delete
    5. PlannedChaos,
      Don't you think that post is a little buttinine?

      Delete
    6. "Buttinine" sounds like rude golf lingo for the 9th term in the series: "hole-in-one", "double eagle", "eagle", "par", "bogey", ...

      Delete
    7. To be perfectly technical, 'asinine' would not have been caught by the search-and-replace filter. (As a follow-up, this post may be called asiten if you wish.) However, removing a t and pronouncing 'butinine' like the 'beau-' in 'beautiful,' sounds like a fake element of the periodic table.

      Delete
  11. 1960s Movie Clues: The Producers, The Sound of Music.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think Will’s puzzling is coming into its own.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  13. Neither I nor my husband was even remotely prepared to accept this. Perhaps some of you parents can relate.

    ReplyDelete
  14. If anyone knew my real identity or maybe I have doubles out there or maybe it's just the gypsy in me.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Replies
    1. Hint: A 1960's American comedy.

      Delete
    2. Hint: An 1860's American president.

      Delete
    3. Hint: Developmentally delayed individuals or my Aunt Fannie's evening knickers.

      Delete
  16. Anyone else feel this puzzle might have been more appropriate a month ago?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Think of a word that contains two consecutive T’s. Pull out the T’s to form a second word. Combine the words (first + second) to form a third word which you might call a person, particularly a child.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This word also describes anyone giving away the answer to this week's puzzle.

      Delete
    2. All of us?

      My hint: chicken eggs.

      Delete
    3. Chuck,
      Excellent puzzle.
      PC,
      Or Bert Convy. I’ll try not to give away this week’s answer with my hint: Rudolf and Ellen.
      W,
      Or, “eggs chicken,” depending on which came first.
      When the hen and other oviparous creatures “lay an egg,” ’tis not a blunder but a blessed event.
      Leggo…

      Delete
  18. I posted on Sun Jan 26, at 07:34:00 AM PST:

    The answer to this week's challenge reminds me of one of these puzzles from over a year ago, but only because I had submitted an answer other than what Will had intended.

    Anyone remember my having encrypted a post with my submission, Paul replying that he had found it by deciphering my post, and saying that my solution "exceeds what Will intended"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. vetcu eyfsu vzmlg ifwwv fphpr stmvh cgppw lfdmc zytgk ujvsu p

      Delete
    4. W el lthe reg oesthes pac e timec ontinu um.

      Delete
  19. It seems like everyone needs a new puzzle. Here is one I submitted to the "Sunday Puzzle" a few weeks ago, but still remains unused:

    What English plural word becomes singular when you add an S to the end of this word?

    This should be easy, and may have been used before. I have 4 answers to it. Have fun... you are welcome to give your answers.

    ReplyDelete
  20. To halve makes 2 pieces; plural. 2 halves make a whole; singular. I's not what you're looking for but that's fun.
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great job. If I had a lapel pin, I would send it to you. Sorry, I don't have one...

      I know of three more solutions. Anyone?

      Delete
    2. Cares >>> Caress

      Please send my non-lapel pin to the same address. ;-)

      I thought the metropoli >> metropolis, acropoli >> acropolis, etc., group might add a few but the correct plural, in English, is either metropolises or metropoleis, acropolises or acropoleis. It's all Greek to me.

      Delete
    3. Wow. A second lapel pin.

      Delete
    4. I also came up with cares > caress, but the dictionaries were not supportive. I also liked prince > princess and ogress > ogre, but no luck with the lexicons their either.

      Delete
    5. ron,
      deadlines >deadliness?
      timelines > timeliness?
      LegoLambdiness

      Delete
    6. lego, glad your fingers are not frozen to the keyboard!

      ron, my joke answer to your puzzle: tanlines >>> tanliness. (Hey, Urban Dictionary says it's a word...)

      Delete
    7. Hey, I read Maureen Dowd You folks in Denver don't have no tanlines...

      Delete
    8. It would be nice if Blogger let us edit our entries, rather than just deleting them. There's obviously supposed to be a period after "Dowd" in the previous post. God knows what typos I'll find in this one.

      Delete
    9. Hey, jan, it's a period piece. I got it (and tanlines) :-).

      Delete
    10. Nice going everyone. Lego came up with some I had not thought of. I enjoyed "tanlines" WW.

      My four answers were:
      princes/princess,
      ogres/ogress,
      cares/caress,
      marques/marquess

      Delete
    11. Actually I thought care and caress could be a right answer . I thought , for some reason, that I was looking for an antonym at first and had Beatle and beatless as well as WW's answer. Then I mended my fences, I mean my ways. Haa

      Delete
    12. Are the queues associated with public restrooms called “manlines” and “womanlines.”
      ron,
      Thanks for the wonderful puzzle.
      sdb and W,
      Before I sussed out Will’s PIA (Presumed Intended Answer) I was considering CARESS/CARE as a possible answer despite their tenuous synonymity. Merriam Webster gives “endearment” (noun) and “cherish” (verb) as definitions for “caress,” which are at least related to “care.”
      jan,
      Good point about editing posts in Blogger. You would think it would be possible. BTW, is there any danger we will exceed our quota of blog posts (is it a 200 limit?) this week? We’re approaching 100 and it’s only Monday. And Thursday always brings the Noon PST surge (or, of course, 11:59 AM PST surge if you initials, inverted, are MM).
      LeGottagoLambda

      Delete
    13. RoRo,
      More proof that great minds think alike! Your post beat mine by a minute.

      Besides CARESS/CARE, I too, like you, toyed with BEATLESS/BEATLE. I suppose you could argue that if the Beatle is Ringo, then beatless is an antonym, but if the Beatle is John, Paul or George, then beatless is synonymous in the sense that they were ax strummers, not drum beaters.

      Sure, sure, J, P and G could join Ethel Merman in singing “I Got Rhythm,” but only Ringo could join the Go-Go’s (the Ringo-go’s?) in singing “We Got the Beat.”
      LegogoRoRo

      Delete
    14. Didn't Paul make the remark that Ringo isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles?

      Delete
    15. Reminds me a bit of the care/cleaning alternate answer from late September 2013, lego and RoRo. All these interweaving puzzles intersecting...

      RoRo, I thought I could look you up in the Smith directory but now I am not sure if your last name is Beatles or Care or ;-)? Anyway, please send me a line at my gmail address if you have a minute: wordwomans (purposely leaving out the full address to stop spam).

      lego, thanks for reading about the W or M. And I have been better about the 11:59 thing lately, you know. ;-)

      Delete
    16. ZekeC,
      I thought your “to halve/two halves” response was quite clever. Don’t couples say something like that at weddings? “…to halves and to whole?”
      W,
      I also flashed back to that aspirin-pain/cleaner-care puzzle. As for the 11:59 a.m. references, you are right. The statue of limitations (I think that was Venus de Milo, limited by armlessness…) has finally run out (She still, after all, has her legs.). I latched onto your gun-jumping peccadillo because there simply seems to be not enough tease-worthy dirt in your dossier. As for my peccadillos, sorry I didn’t incorporate “tanlines/tanlineSS” into the below verSSe.

      (Definition of the day: “peccadilloes = chest muscles that connect with the armadillos, or biceps. {This is not intended to be humerus.})

      Double-S Doggerel

      Mom’s careSS shows her care,
      Nearly tops her maternal list.
      But a deadline is deadlineSS,
      Just ask a journalist.

      Gideon’s Bible is bibleSS
      If you ax Cana’s wedding.
      And a love handle’s handleSS,
      It’s all gut flab, wide-spreading.

      Phono needle for Cds?
      It’s needleSS, to play.
      In that film by Zapruder
      The graSSy knoll’s gray.

      Fencing foils are now foSSils
      In this world of light sabers.
      And a prince is a princeSS
      To your transgender neighbors.

      LegodeMilo

      Delete
    17. Toes deaden.
      Breath smelts to lead.
      Hot needles dance in fingers.
      Backs turn to snails.Ears hum coffee.
      The fire swaggerswith logs
      andwith a shrivela crack
      a satisfactionyour simmer heart
      sips
      from high in the skya seething sleep.

      Frost Fire
      August Stramm

      Sorry.

      I was googling 'classic expressionism'.

      It's what turned up.

      Delete
    18. Wow been so busy I almost missed all the missal missles coming my way. I am not a poetess but the flower of creation is alive and well in Blainesville!
      WW, sometimes I am not sure of my present last name (it was a gift from an ex-husband that I did not give back) but will attempt to email.

      Delete
    19. So Loop, are u saying Pete Best was the best drummer?

      Delete
    20. It was John that made the remark and not Paul. Paul played drums on a few track on "The White Album" after Ringo had left the studio.

      As far as Pete Best goes, naming your solo album "Best of the Beatles" is just a little too snaky for me.

      Delete
  21. sdb,
    Regarding “the first thing (you) thought of,“ some guys urinate off of PIERS. Oh, and before you say it, some other guys fish off of piers, which is a piscine activity.
    LegoLunker

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lego,
      Since you ask, I will simply say that am not about to enter into a piscine contest with you.

      However, I will post for you (don't anyone else read this) the pier joke I made up several years ago.

      What is the difference between the Elliott Bay Waterfront and the Pacific Northwest Ballet?

      At one you are likely to see tackle on wet piers. At the other you are likely to see spectacular pirouettes.

      Delete
    2. sdb,
      Looks like the Rev. William Spooner is alive and well and skydiving in Seattle. I urge you to reconsider and lift your restriction prohibiting others from reading your spectacularly peerless joke. It reminds me of Will’s spoonerism-riddle challenge of a year or so ago.

      Delete
    3. lego,
      Thanks. This is what I submitted to the Spoonerism challenge that was about two and a half years ago, I think.

      What’s the difference between Casper the Friendly Ghost and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

      One is a curious spook and the other is a spurious kook.

      I made it up while walking in the graveyard located just one block from my house. It had nothing at all to do with the graveyard, however, it was just a coincidence. Last week while riding my bike through the cemetery I got to thinking about joint husband and wife funerals and the now common practice of piling them both in the same grave. Of course they cannot cut costs with the problem of transporting the bodies. He arrives in his and she in hearse.

      Delete
  22. Replies
    1. Watch Amy Goodman's wonderful tribute to Pete Seeger HERE

      Delete
    2. Thanks, ron. I enjoyed Pete's singing as well as his thoughts on children, laughter, and teaspoons of sand. Remarkable, humble, well-loved man.

      Delete
    3. WW,
      He was humble, his songs hummable.
      ron,
      I second WW’s thanks and sentiments. Mr. Seeger was one of the real good guys. He was Creative, Concerned, Collaborative, Charming, Classy, and Convicted of his beliefs in justice, freedom, peace and stewardship. (He was also nearly convicted unjustly when Joe McCarthy tarred him as Communist.)

      I know that looks like a lot of C-grades but, not unlike an especially precocious child of Lake Wobegon, Pete was way, way above average.
      Lego…

      Delete
    4. Thank you WW & Lego for your "largess." You are both "larges" in my book! Yes, it is a plural noun meaning garment size for a large person.

      Delete
    5. I meant to say, "You are both 'larges' spiritually!"

      Delete
    6. We understood.

      I read that Pete Seeger was chopping wood ten days before he left the planet. Chop wood, carry water. Carrying on...

      Delete
    7. "Where have all the flowers gone?"

      Delete
    8. WW:
      Pete Seeger earned his chops long ago.

      Delete
  23. Met him on a Monday and my heart stood still.....Hello Life, goodbye Columbus!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Met him on a Monday and my heart stood still"--first line of "Dey Doo Ron Ron"--Phil Spector song perfomed by the Crystals, whose original name was the BLOSSOMS.

      ".Hello Life, goodbye Columbus"--line from a song titled "Goodbye Columbus" performed by the Association, from the movie by the same name, which was based on the book of that title. The book was written by Philip Roth, who was married to actress Claire BLOOM.

      Delete
  24. So endeth another pathetic State of the Union speech. Anyone else notice that the Speaker of the House was, of the three on the dais, the one with the darkest skin? Also his mouth was moving almost as much as Obama's, but without words. He does this every year. As for Obama, I have always heard he is very aggressive on the Basketball court. We did not hire him to play basketball. Where is the fire? I don't think I heard him mention Social Security once, nor food stamps. Talk about a puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Do you have to have high cholesterol in order to live on Staten Island?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No. But people discussing San Francisco's annual race always makes me think they're talking about beta blockers.

      Delete
    2. Is their annual race The Race A Roni?

      Delete
    3. It's called "Bay to Breakers", because the course runs from downtown to the ocean.

      Delete
    4. I was playing with Rice A Roni, the San Francisco Treat.

      Delete
  26. BLOSSOM > BLOOM

    My Hints:

    “Hint: A 1960's British comedy.”
    Famous English movie: The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom.” If I had revealed more it would have been too easy to Google and solve the puzzle.

    “Hint: Macy's.
    Macy’s owns Bloomingdales.

    ReplyDelete
  27. > ... Windchill around zero. Now to toast a bialy for breakfast.

    > 1960s Movie Clues: The Producers ...

    Zero was wilder as Bialystock, Gene was BLOOM, in The Producers.

    > ... The Sound of Music.

    "Edelweiss": "... BLOSSOM of snow, may you BLOOM and grow..."

    ReplyDelete
  28. blossom, bloom

    Last Sunday I said, “I think Will’s puzzling is coming into its own.” I.e., his puzzle-creating skills are blossoming.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  29. BLOSSOM >>> BLOOM

    Chicken eggs refers to the bloom on the outside of the eggs. It also occurs on the outside of plums and apricots but I thought that was too close to flower/blossom/bloom.

    "Gee. . ." refers to the type of dialogue spoken by Mayim Bialik on the TX show Blossom.

    Bialy for Bialik was a great clue, jan.

    First time I tried to post and so many people were trying to post it kicked my post out. . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never heard of Bialik. Bialy was (and derives from) Bialystock, as in The Producers.

      Delete
    2. WW:
      I was wondering. You are ten minutes later than usual. :-)

      Delete
    3. Yea, I just read that. Well, at least we all learned about bialys.

      Delete
    4. Wasn't 28 Barbary Lane on a bi-alley?

      Delete
    5. Haha, sdb and lego. The Venus statue of limitations is officially over for me. Perhaps not for ron, though. ;-)

      Delete
    6. Keep your eyes on de Milo markers as you travel.

      Delete
  30. BLOOM - BLOSSOM. So have any of my fellow bloggers found themselves stunned by the almost overnight blossoming of one's daughter from an awkward tweener into a lovely young lady? With our son...not so much blossoming as thorny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely, Ruth. But both my daughter and son had quite thorny moments at times.

      Delete
    2. Not to mention The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet where Don DeFore had a recurring role as the Nelsons' friendly neighbor "Thorny".

      Delete
  31. BLOSSOM ==> BLOOM

    I posted here on Sun Jan 26, at 07:46:00 PM PST:

    I posted [on last week's thread] on Sun Jan 26, at 07:34:00 AM PST:

    The answer to this week's challenge reminds me of one of these puzzles from over a year ago, but only because I had submitted an answer other than what Will had intended.

    Anyone remember my having encrypted a post with my submission, Paul replying that he had found it by deciphering my post, and saying that my solution "exceeds what Will intended"?

    NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 30, 2012): Opposites Attract:
    Q: Think of a word in which the second letter is R. Change the R to an M, and rearrange the result. You'll get the opposite of the original word. What is it? (Hint: The two words start with the same letter.)

    In that thread I had submitted the following two posts:

    I posted on Mon Oct 01, at 11:57:00 PM PDT:

    After writing, running & debugging a program to go through my Sorted Anagrams List and display possible answers, I've submitted what I believe to be the best choice and two other possibles.

    My primary submission was not what SDB and AbqG came up with as my words are each 9 letters long and the only matching positions besides 1st letter as the puzzle asks for are the 3rd letters. 6th letters? With my words they're different. With my other possibles, the 6th letters are the same.

    I then posted on Tue Oct 02, at 12:23:00 AM PDT:

    To those of you who manage to guess my submission, if you select and copy my crypto-post below, then go to Sharky's Vigenere Cipher, paste into the "Input:" field, enter my initial "2nd letter is R" word into the "Key:" field, and then click the "decode" button, then the "Output:" field will make sense and you'll see my submission for "other possibles".

    Pb, ozo jsm xpcyg zss zswv fsdnlwv uywg szmfl ber oup vwsezbu wsmk, qpl cpytsmkmp twjfvwv plh ab dytejjgwry efv uyoh wsi glivf krch ak CCCGVZQWV. Tf bcz T hgf'u dwbg willjeu mrf ofgx kvow xc glivf drdwatmvg khci VJFRFM & GCISEZ rbr GCEYGO & UCUPLR.

    And if anyone had correctly guessed and entered "BROODLESS" as the key, the decoded result would be:

    Ok, all you folks who have reached this point and are reading this, you obviously figured out my submission and that the other word is BLOSSOMED. So now I don't mind letting you know that my other possibles were DREARY & DREAMY and DRAGON & DOGMAN.

    Paul replied on Tue Oct 02, at 01:57:00 PM PDT:

    I didn't guess or figure out your submission; I decoded your cipher; and I think your solution, reminiscent of a Hall & Oates lyric and a Goldie Hawn movie, exceeds what Will intended.

    Opposite,schmopposite
    Robot,schmobot.

    And to anyone wondering "What was with those crypto-post replies?"
    PlannedChaos had posted "I suggest you redact the second paragraph as it leads to the answer via websearch." and I replied "Unfortunately, I've never been able to delete my own posts here."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Hall & Oates lyric must have been Sara, smile [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac#Etymology], and the Goldie Hawn movie was Cactus Flower [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cactus_Flower_(film)#Plot].

      I redacted QN obp J ncbovc. Hvq fyr cr uss
      agmewjqsds we opof. Oby mcg tljs uu?
      because I decided "BLOOM" could be too easily deduced from "QN obp J".

      I suspect the s pac e timec ontinu um has sustained very little damage.


      Delete
    2. Did an anti-spacetimecontinuum creep into thepoem you shared or wasthat partof itscharm? Not that I think you'll answer... ;-)

      Delete
    3. I was looking for a compliment with an ss in it to say about Lego's poem, after all the good ones had been taken. "Classy" came to mind, which led to "classic", but classic what? Expressionism? I dunno; look it up! Which led to Herr Stramm, and why on earth would I pick 'Frost Fire' for closer scrutiny at this particular point in time? Anyway, at first I thought the spacings were misprints, but every copy I looked at had the same thing, and it tied in, as did 'swagger' and all the other double-letter words, so there you have it, in a nuts hell.

      See what happens when you goad me into answering?

      Kindly indulge one more SS puzzle:
      Did Governor Deal, Mayor Reed, et al. learn anything from this week's storm?

      जय गुरुदेव ॐ

      Delete
    4. Cereously, ;-) thanks for your answer, Paul. Always good to see how other minds work.

      Your SS puzzle: how to gliSSade?

      Delete
    5. 'Glissade' is a nice word, but I was thinking of 'Leon Lesson'.
      I think we're all looking forward to Sunday.

      Delete
    6. All this talk about SS puzzle(s) is reminding me that 2 1/2 of my 3 years in the U.S. Army were spent in Wurzburg, Germany @ Adolph Hitler Kasserne, which had been an SS barracks during and before WWII. Of course when we took it over the name was changed to Emery Kasserne, but you could still make out the original name on the outside wall although they had done their best to obliterate it. I have photos. In the below photos it is called Nord Kasserne, nord translates as North.

      www.thirdreichruins.com/wuerzburg.htm

      Delete
  32. Up above, Word Woman asked about next week's double letter puzzle. I speculated it might be "Remove a double S from a word and get a country." The answer is Lassos / Laos, as hinted at by LegoLambda with the anagram ALSO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My hints:
      “Rudolf and Ellen” were the parents of Joyce’s Ulysses protagonist Leopold Bloom. (I thought “Leopold” would have been a giveaway and knew “Leopold and Molly” would be Googleable.)

      I told David, I liked his puzzle ALSO, which anagrams to Laos, the country that results when you remove double-S from the word lassos.

      My hint to Chuck’s puzzle was “Bert Convy,” host of the old TV game show Tattletales.

      The unnamed quarterback in my brief, timely anecdote was Jim ZORN of the Seattle Seahawks. The anecdote was a response to WW’s link about “how the WORM got its name.”

      Delete
    2. David, your puzzle pointed me to learn that the official name of Laos is the Lao People's Democratic Republic. +++ clueing, lego.

      I liked the Zorn-WorM tie-in, lego. In case you missed the clever worm cartoon: W or M

      Perhaps enough SS puzzles for awhile. On to some DB ones?

      Delete
    3. WW:
      I guess we can a Lau that.

      Delete
  33. Musical clue not posted: Dave Frishberg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another musical clue not posted: James Taylor: Blossom, Smile Some...

      Delete
  34. Other musical clue not posted: Eric Johnson, "Bloom."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Friday/Saturday is kind of a “down time” here in Blainesville. Like “tweeners,“ we feel a restlessness -- our preteen years behind us, our teen years ahead. We to are all stuck in the middle with each other (Steelers Wheel reference), between puzzles, our last-week’s-puzzle days behind us, our next-week’s-puzzle days ahead.

      How to fill that void of restlessness? Posting previously non-posted clues to last week’s puzzle might help. There is no fear of giving TMI necessitating our beloved blog administrator to remove our posts. The cat is already out of the baggy hat! We are merely further fleshing out (furring out?) the blurry contours of Mr. Shortz’s cat.

      So, here is a scatological clue not yet posted: A British facility surrounded by a slang abbreviation for what is “flushed out” within that facility.

      LegOOlaBMda

      Delete
    2. Lego,
      You are right about the Fri./Sat. blahs here. What I usually do is similar to what Sherlock Holmes did between cases—I head on down to our Chinatown and frequent the opium dens. I sure wish they took food stamps though.

      Funny one, BLooM.

      Delete
  35. Alright, since this is "down time," how about a joke or two!

    THREE HOLY MEN AND THREE BEARS.

    A Catholic Priest, a Baptist Preacher and a Rabbi all served as Chaplains to the students of Northern Michigan University at Marquette in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They would get together two or three times a week for coffee and to talk shop.

    One day, someone made the comment that preaching to people isn't really all that hard; a real challenge would be to preach to a bear. One thing led to another, and they decided to do an experiment. They would all go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it to their religion..

    Seven days later, they all came together to discuss their experiences.

    Father Flannery, who had his arm in a sling, was on crutches, and had various bandages on his body and limbs, went first.

    Well, he said, I went into the woods to find me a bear. And when I found him, I began to read to him from the Catechism. Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me and began to slap me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and, Holy Mary Mother of God, he became as gentle as a lamb. The Bishop is coming out next week to give him first communion and confirmation.'

    Reverend Billy Bob the Baptist spoke next. He was in a wheelchair, had one arm and both legs in casts, and had an IV drip. In his best fire-and-brimstone oratory, he exclaimed, 'WELL, brothers, you KNOW that we Baptists don't sprinkle! I went out and I FOUND me a bear. And then I began to read to my bear from God's HOLY WORD! But that bear wanted nothing to do with me. So I took HOLD of him and we began to wrestle. We wrestled down one hill, UP another and DOWN another until we came to a creek.

    So I quickly DUNKED him and BAPTIZED his hairy soul. And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the day praising Jesus. Hallelujah!

    The Priest and the Reverend both looked down at the Rabbi, who was lying in a hospital bed. He was in a body cast and traction with IV's and monitors running in and out of him. He was in really bad shape.

    The Rabbi looked up and said: "Looking back on it, circumcision may not have been the best way to start."


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reminds me of the joke I recently made up and posted a week or two ago here where three clerics walk into a bar.... Too bad they didn't include a member of the Muslim faith; he might not have participated and they would have had to cancel the joke.

      Delete
    2. Yes, I had you in mind with that joke. I knew it would remind you of your joke.

      Delete
    3. Thanks ron for letting me know. It still remains the joke that doesn't work and I am still looking for a couple of stand-up guys to try it out on and see if they get it, as I believe they will.
      Oh well, Stravinsky's, Rite of Spring initially caused a riot, but a year later was all the rage and still is.

      Delete
    4. And ron, your joke reminds me that ever since I learned what a bris is, I have avoided brisket of beef.

      Delete
    5. Now you have to avoid brisket of bear as well.

      Delete
    6. Just let us know when the jokes are going to start. ;-)

      Delete
    7. OK, WW, I will when you let me know what ursine is.

      Delete
    8. We've had several Japanese students stay with us from Yamagata Prefecture, Tokyo, and Kyoto. Rather than asking about astrological signs they ask about blood type. O+ here.

      Delete
  36. Next week's challenge: The challenge came from Sam Williamson of Charlevoix, Mich. It's a two-part question: Where in most homes will you see the words SHE and HIS, and what word will you see right after HIS?

    ReplyDelete
  37. After the wind storm last year my roof was covered with SHEngles and HISpanics. Not politically correct but correct all the same.

    ReplyDelete
  38. If the answer I have come up with is Will's intended answer, I believe the wording to this puzzle is somewhat misleading. (No hint, just a comment)
    Lego...

    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.