Sunday, May 04, 2014

NPR Sunday Puzzle (April 27, 2014): Actors and Actresses Ending in Double Letters

NPR Sunday Puzzle (April 27, 2014): Actors and Actresses Ending in Double Letters:
Q: Name a famous actor or actress whose last name ends in a doubled letter. Drop that doubled letter. Then insert an R somewhere inside the first name. The result will be a common two-word phrase. What is it?
I've got nothing...

Edit: Literally, a "blank card"
A: CATE BLANCHETT --> CARTE BLANCHE

140 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. Just like the limbo – how low can you go?

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been out of town for little while. With this bedbug deal going on I always give the linens a good shaking out. This may only shake them up, but at least I'll know who's in charge...them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Blaine,

    Nice touch, including only actors/actresses with double-letter-ending surnames in your blogtop illustration (Two of them were in TV’s M.A.S.H.H.) . Have we told you lately what a great blog you are running here? (I’m being serious and sincere.)

    Only 45 FIRS/LEAVES/ LIFESAVERS responses. Will is befuddled at the relatively poor showing. Rachel asks if this might be a record for the lowest number of correct entries.

    Hello! Has Rach completely forgotten the Feb. 2 HIS/SHE/UPSIDE-DOWN/DIGITAL/CLOCK that garnered 15 correct responses? I know we Blainesvillians sure haven’t!

    Lotsa correct entries this week. But no, no Hot Turkey Sandwich entrees… I’m talkin’ “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” (No hints in this post. I have not yet solved this week’s puzzle.)

    LegoDrumstick

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe many years back there was only one winning entry on a very difficult math puzzle.

      Delete
    2. And didn't the Sunday, October 13, 2013 grid puzzle that went on for two weeks have only one correct answer?

      Delete
    3. I can't quote dates the way you guys do, but at least once, way back when, Will gave a puzzle - something about shifting letters of the alphabet and all that - which he conceded the next week had been incorrectly stated and had no answer.

      Does anyone remember some years back when they said NPR was going to produce some sort of compendium - book, CD, whatever - of favorite moments in the Sunday puzzle? I suggested the gaffe described above, but never heard any more about it, and I don't think the project went to completion.

      Everything I had to say about this week's challenge is at the end of last week's thread.

      Delete
    4. Nxte xah ccstga utxxddtf fj mpm jjjfyshkfjl wn jiztdgttj.

      Delete
    5. Bob K,

      A puzzle sans answer?
      I have to cry foul!
      We hadn’t a chance here.
      Lapel pins for all!

      PC,

      YYUR YYUB ICURYY4ME

      OK, that’s the juvenile extent of my cryptoknowlege. You may have explained this all before, but I want to know how to crack your comments, to know what you are saying to us. They can’t be simple letter-for-letter crytoquotes. Is there any hint/help you can give me without giving it all away?

      LegoBewildered

      Delete
    6. @legolambda,

      My comment is encoded with a vigenere cipher, using (some form of) the answer to this week's puzzle as the key.

      Delete
    7. There is a c.d. out of Sunday Puzzle gaffes and look backs of past Sunday Puzzle highlights. I received it when I had the good fortune of playing on the air a few years ago.

      Delete
    8. PlannedChaos:

      Regarding your (some form of) the answer to this week's puzzle as the key: I've tried the following:

      The actor (or actress)'s name
      The above ROT13'd
      The reverse of both of the above
      The two-word phrase
      THAT ROT13'd
      and the reverse of both of THOSE
      I've even looked up the actor (or actress) in the IMDb and tried the character names of the person's roles. Still no luck.

      So, PC, could you give us a clue as to what-the-heck form of the answer you used as the key?

      Delete
    9. @Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan,

      When using Sharky's Vigenere Cipher to decode, make sure to tick the "subtraction" radio button (to the left of the "secret key" entry form).

      It's also possible that we have different answers.

      Delete
    10. Thanks for that info, Jim! Do you still have that CD? What is the actual title? Is there a pkaylist?

      I'm really surprised that I never heard more about it after the initial request for suggestions. Thanks for any more you can tell me. (Which means the first five pages of Google results showed me nothing!)

      Delete
    11. @Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan,

      I think you've hit on the problem. I thought I was doing a ROT13 using "N" with 2.0.1, but it looks like it was really a ROT-14. Therefore, I worked out that the message I meant to write was:

      Lvrc vyf aaqrey srvvbbrd dh knk hhhdwqfidhj ul hgxrberrh.

      This is the previous message, ROT24'ed.

      That should solve it for you.

      Delete
    12. Jim,
      They musta been plumb out of those on-air NPR puzzle CDs when I got the call last year. That would be much more fun than this darn lapel pin!

      Thanks, PC, for the vigenere cipher link, and thanks to EaWAf for the subsequent give-and -ake with PC, which shed some further light on the process.

      My conclusion? ICU(guys both)RYY4ME. Next to you two I feel like a cipher.

      LegoSharky

      Delete
    13. Iĺl dig it out and post the info asap. I have not listened to it since shortly after I received it. Its entertaining! If I can figure out how, Iĺl try and share it. I have yet to wear my lapel pin...

      Delete
    14. I found it on Amazon. NPR Sunday Puzzles Audio c.d. You can listen to an audio sample there too.

      Delete
    15. Planned Chaos:

      Sorry, but you STILL didn't have it right! If you want the key to be name of the Actor (or Actress) ROT13'd with the "subtract" button ticked, then your cipher post should have been:

      Mwsd wzg bbrsfz tswwccse ei lol iiiexrgjeik vm ihyscfssi.

      Delete
    16. @Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan,

      Once you pointed out that version 2.0.1 of Sharky's vigenere cipher has an off-by-one error, I stopped using it and instead tailored my comment for the v1.0, since v2.0.1 isn't working correctly. So you can disregard my comment about the subtraction radio button.

      Due to the off-by-one error, the "correction" you made so that the decoding would work within v2.0.1 ends up being ROT-14'ed instead of ROT-13'ed.

      The important thing is that you cracked the encryption. (Surely it wasn't worth all this effort!)

      Delete
    17. So, PC, what is worth effort ... or what is effort worth ... at this point I don't much care.

      Delete
    18. And don't call me Shirley!

      Delete
    19. PlannedChaos:

      Does there exist some "gold standard" definition of the vigenere cipher that was followed by the version 1.0, but is NOT followed by the new v.2.0.1?

      Delete
    20. That was just a bit nuts (clue here).

      Delete
    21. 'Tabula' seems to keep turning up. Just an observation.

      Delete
    22. Not entirely a coincidence, Paul.

      Delete
    23. Is any coincidence entire?

      Delete
  5. Is it generally agreed that Will intends for us to remove only one instance of the doubled letter? From the wording of the puzzle, I would assume so, but want to make sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I removed both. I believe jan & Blaine did also.

      Delete
    2. You know what happens when you assume...

      Delete
    3. I know! I know! It makes an ____ out of ___ and ___!

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

    ReplyDelete
  7. I removed two identical letters. You need to follow the rules exactly as written.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Eric -

    Scratch both letters.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  9. Where is Uncle John when you need him?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm impressed by Blaine's montage of actors who have double-letter last names. I'm guessing we can rule out all of them.

      Delete
  10. Willie wubbed the world the wong way too wate for the juwy fireworks.

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice going removing that post. It did give too much away.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, ron. I had some help from a fellow Blainesvillean with wicked editing chops. Wish I would have taken it down sooner. My apologies to you, Blaine and all of Blainesville.
      Lego...

      Delete
  12. I removed both of the double letters, but one (of those letters) still remains in the two word phrase answer.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Should perhaps be awarded to recognize exemplary sportsmanship on the pitch.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I offer a clue as to the two-word phrase:

    The words by themselves are not well known. They DO come up on Dictionary.com; one of the words with 3 meanings, the third qualified as "Archaic"; while the other is only defined as <a certain gender-specific> given name.

    However, if you strip off the ending letters of each word, they each become very well-known words!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Replies
    1. That's so yesterday, Jim. jan posted the same early Sunday morning. What kind of key did you use on that Vignere's Cipher?

      Delete
    2. But I will say that you two boys got it going on there. . .

      Delete
    3. I think I've solved it: Jim's post used invisible ink. Hold your display up to a heat source, and the message should appear. Alternately, leave Jim's message on your screen for a few hours and the heat from your computer will eventually have the same effect. (Too bad most displays are LCD these days; they don't output as much waste heat as the old-style CRTs.)

      Delete
  16. woah you got my king in trouble big Jim.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You think you can post whatever type of message you want on this blog, whether it makes sense or not? Benevolent Blaine, you're too generous sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does seem to be getting stranger and stranger around here.

      Delete
    2. Well named, Paul.

      [Not (a) well named Paul.]

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

      Delete
    4. Well, I find that comment a Paul lean..

      Delete
    5. :>)

      WW - Once upon a time in the remote desert, there was a well named Art, which was short for Artesian. But he was lonely, so his master dug a well named Paul to keep him company.

      Or did you mean, "Well-named, Paul"?

      ;>)

      Delete
    6. Bob, What does this have to do with Asian Art?

      Delete
    7. You may hold the letters folks. I know it's a hyphen, not a dash, but Bob is far more dashing than hyphening.

      Note to self: on punctuation posts, add the punctuation before posting.

      Well, well, well -- a deep topic indeed.

      Btw, Bob, as a kid I thought it was "artreesian" for deep tree roots. Oh, wait, that was last week. . .

      Delete
    8. I haven't heard from Art in years. I hope he's staying out of trouble. And on that note....

      Delete
    9. Paul, that was a splendid leak, er, link. That John and that Paul;-)...

      Hope Art gets back in touch with you soon. What the frack, right?

      Delete
    10. Has this blog always been so...uh...free-flowing, stream of consciousness, arcane, and off-topic? It seems than when I first discovered Blaine's World, everyone's rapier wit was focused on the week's puzzle answer. Now I just feel like a far weirder and stranger stranger in a strange land. Then again, it ties into Paul's observation a few posts above, so perhaps all is well? Existential crisis going on here, I apologize.

      Delete
    11. Ruth, free-flowing, artesian, fracking, wells--they're all connected to the puzzle at hand this week, given the great space we have, yes?

      Glad to have you back, semi-regularly, even if your answer is no.

      Come Back Soon with a comeback. ;-)

      Delete
    12. WW, perhaps therein lies my angst and reticence to join you all every week. Artesian? Fracking? Wells? I don't see the connection to this week's puzzle, but I'll wait for your explanation another 24 1/2 hours. I might be too focused on one particular role of the actor/actress in question, thereby missing the connection. But on a lighter note: a priest, a minister, and a rabbi all walked into a bar. The bartender looked up and asked "Is this some kind of joke?" So there you have it.

      Delete
    13. More tomorrow, Ruth, but for a start this week see Jim and jan's identical comments (that can explain this week ;-)).

      I like the bartender joke.

      --"Word"--
      (What my daughter says when I've said something funny [not very often]).

      Delete
    14. In retrospect, "curiouser and curiouser" might have been better than "stranger and stranger" in lots of ways.
      But I refuse to worry about it . Sterve care, that's my motto.

      Delete
    15. Well, Paul, I thought stranger and stranger was perfect. SMH (scratching, not shaking) my head at Sterve care, though...

      Delete
    16. Sterve
      Care = Worry

      "Death to Worry" (as opposed to worrying yourself to death)

      I think Michael Scott might find that catchy.

      Delete
  18. 1. Take this week's puzzle creator and rearrange to give Captain Hook's response when asked which crew member he'd be willing to put in danger.

    2. Rearrange the first five letters of a well-known role played by this week's celebrity to name a lobbying group featured in a recent puzzle.

    3. Take the answer to this week's puzzle and rearrange to name a type of drink on the Starship Enterprise.

    Answers on Thursday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The second word of the 2-word phrase in this puzzle's answer is the first name of a character recently played by the actor/actress.

      (Still working on the Star Trek drink, All I can think of is Tea, Earl Grey, Hot, which doesn't work.)

      Delete
    2. jan.

      I have NO IDEA what you mean by your recent post "The second word of the 2-word phrase in this puzzle's answer is the first name of a character recently played by the actor/actress."

      I've gone to the actor/actress's page on the IMDb, and NONE of this person's roles have the first name the same as the 2nd word of the 2-word phrase in this puzzle's answer.

      The 5th role ever played by this actor/actress is similar to the 2nd word in the phrase, but you'd have to advance the 2nd letter 3 steps in the alphabet and replace the final letter with a certain pronoun.

      Delete
    3. Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan: Did I say this was a character in a movie? Check out the celeb's Wikipedia page.

      Delete
    4. EaWAf: jan's observation, in fact, is directly related to PC's clever Crytoquip.

      Delete
    5. mike_hinterberg, yes! Although there was some cry to quip going on before I solved the cryptoquip while on public transportation. ;-)

      Delete
    6. D'oh, just a typo!
      "Welcome to our ool."

      Delete
    7. Oh, I know, mike, but your word was a good description of my process.

      Remove another letter from crytoquip to get a witticism on ice ;-). [Like some jokes and puns 'round here, perhaps?]

      Delete
    8. Well, we know the answer to PC's question 1. is I RISK SMEE (MIKE REISS anagram). I'll wait until Thursday for the answers to the other two.

      Delete
    9. My apologies to jan.

      I've since learned that the IMDb, while an excellent source of movie and TV appearance credits, is nevertheless sorely lacking in theatre credits.

      Delete
    10. My apologies to jan.

      I've since learned that the IMDb, while an excellent source of movie and TV appearance credits, is nevertheless sorely lacking in theatre credits.

      Delete
    11. Maybe because Amazon (owner of IMDb) can't make money selling copies of (unrecorded) theatrical performances.

      Delete
    12. So, what's the Star Trek drink?

      Delete
  19. PC
    Tried to make my mind a tabula rasa but Can't guess your number three even though I consider my self a Trekkie.

    ReplyDelete
  20. However, I do like your clue, do I have to depend on Thursday for the answer?

    ReplyDelete
  21. It could be said this performer is a credit to his/her name.

    ReplyDelete
  22. What an interesting achievements of "firsts" for this actor/actress. Including the first within the firsts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please elaborate on Thursday.

      Delete
    2. Thursday is fine since I do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence have not been tested.

      Delete
    3. RoRo I get it, , , (on purpose).

      Delete
  23. There is a good ring to this actors/actress' name.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Okay now this is for all you who pay attention to the news and are aware of the botched execution last evening in Oklahoma.and is now today's almost only news story. I claim first joke rights. Here it is:

    I'm afraid this debacle will only compound the situation.

    That's it. If you don't get it right away, think about it.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Did you hear about the governor who was so adamantly against capital punishment he couldn't bring himself to execute an order to abolish it?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Replies
    1. CATE BLANCHETT >>> CARTE BLANCHE

      -- "You two boys got it going on there"-- 2 boys >>> DuBois >>>Blanche DuBois >>> Carte Blanche

      --Well-named -- Streetcar Named Desire (riffing off Paul's kindness of strangers clue.)

      --Fracking, artesian, well--hey it's a blank slate {tabula rasa} this week as many alluded to in their clues. On that blank slate we can all possibly head in many directions (like water).

      -- Alice Walker >> "The Color Purple" >> The Color White >>>Blanche en francais

      --Uncle John >>> King John >>> Magna Carta >>> Carte Blanche

      --That was just a bit nuts {blanched almonds}.

      -- RoRo I (vs. Elizabeth I who RoRo quoted about secrets.) The commas alluded to leaving out a comma on purpose after RoRo, , ,

      Delete
    2. WW,
      Thank you. First time for that title. Cate had a bunch of firsts besides playing Elizabeth the first twice. She was the first & only) Aussie to win 2 academy awards. Although many actresses have played Bess, Cate was the first to be nominated for the role in "Best Actress" category. My Clue, do referred to Cluedo and character named Blanche. Of course, in the past, Cate has played Blanche DuBois.

      Delete
  27. I choose Diner hot turkey sandwiches at 20 Paces.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice. I'll have what she's having.

      Delete
    2. Great comeback, er, front, jan.

      Delete
    3. Shit, I thought you were only s'posed to drop one of the double letters.

      Delete
    4. Uncle John,
      Next Puzzlemaster election ... vote Will out.

      Delete
    5. Or, change his name to Wil, Puzlemaster.

      Delete
    6. Uncle John,
      Which one did you drop? The left one, or the right one?

      Delete
  28. Cate Blanchett > Carte Blanche

    My Hint:

    "It could be said this performer is a credit to his/her name."

    Referring to: Diners Club Carte Blanche card.

    ReplyDelete
  29. > Hey, Blaine -- Betcha can't let me get away with this next clue (even more succinct than my "O" last week:






    "Betcha can't let" anagrams to CATE BLANCHETT. What followed is a blank page, or CARTE BLANCHE.

    > The second word of the 2-word phrase in this puzzle's answer is the first name of a character recently played by the actor/actress.

    She played Blanche DuBois in recent-puzzle-answer Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire in Sydney in 2009.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Cate Blanchett, carte blanche

    Last Sunday I said, “Just like the limbo – how low can you go?” Cate Blanchett is from Australia, Down Under”

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  31. My comment from last week:

    "Fo shizzle, true story: Heard the puzzle, ran through the very limited number of actors I knew with double letters, figured I was not sufficiently well-versed in all these new, strangely-spelled names, set the puzzle aside. But then, apparently because I was keeping an open mind - meditating? No, doing laundry - it hit me."

    Bit of mis-direct, wanted to create atmosphere of Snoop Dogg, Xhibit, etc. I often write down far-fetched potential answers just to see how a challenge works, and looking at my scratch pad, I have:

    Ursala Andress

    Brad Pitt

    Paul Rudd

    Kate Blanchett

    Then I broke for my now-famous encounter with the laundry, when it hit me: These crazy kids these days! She doesn't spell her name "Kate", she is "Cate"! And there was the answer!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Oh, yeah, "keeping an open mind" - another reference to the old carte blanche.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought maybe you inhaled enough Clorox fumes to put you in a bleach trance.

      Delete
  33. OK, PC, is it [Star Trek Meaningful anagram of bleach] NECTAR, or [STM anagram of a bench] CLARET?

    C'mon, PC, time is dilithium crystals, y'know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, PC! I can only hold my synthesized synthehol kale nectar for so long!

      Delete
  34. This one was easy: CATE BLANCHETT

    Add an “R” to her first name, after removing the 2 “T”s from her surname to yield: CARTE BLANCHE !

    Lego's “ChÂTEau BLANC(hett)” did give away too much, and I compliment him on removing that post.

    Cate Blanchett plays BLANCHE DuBois in the 2009 theater production of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

    PC's second and third challenges:

    Challenge 2: SHELLY, Cate's role in the movie “Coffee & Cigarettes.” (No rearranging necessary) Lobby Group: SHELL.

    Challenge 3: Starship Enterprise drink: HERBAL ACCENT (“Carte Blanche” anagram)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So that is synthetic with a hint of realism or reality with a Klingon eyebrow slant. Any way, I prefer shapeshifter's Sham-pain. Does not hit so hard the morningstar after.

      Delete
  35. Now I'm really confused. I was sure the lobbying group was (another recent puzzle answer) GLAAD, referring to Cate's role as Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings movies. And what does "herbal accent" have to do with Star Trek?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did ron say he was PlannedChaos?

      Delete
    2. My clue: "card," following SDB's "credit," refers to the Carte Blanche Credit Card.

      Delete
    3. I didn't choose GLAAD because I thought it was a media monitoring organization and not a lobby group. Probably PC intended GLAAD as the answer to his second challenge. I just offered what I thought was a stronger alternative.

      Delete
  36. Ciphertext:
    Lvrc vyf aaqrey srvvbbrd dh knk hhhdwqfidhj ul hgxrberrh.

    Plaintext:
    Will has always depended on the submissions of strangers, a reference to the famous Blanche DuBois quote.

    Key:
    pngroynapurgg, the ROT-13 of cateblanchett.

    1. Take this week's puzzle creator and rearrange to give Captain Hook's response when asked which crew member he'd be willing to put in danger.
    Mike Reiss, "I risk Smee"

    2. Rearrange the first five letters of a well-known role played by this week's celebrity to name a lobbying group featured in a recent puzzle.
    Galadriel, GLAAD

    3. Take the answer to this week's puzzle and rearrange to name a type of drink on the Starship Enterprise.
    Carte blanche, NCC herbal tea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan, you had it all along, congrats!

      Delete
    2. For my first crack at a Vignere's cipher, the machinations and updates, Rot-13 and -14ing, were quite a pain. But, Planned Chaos, it was fun to finally figure out your clever BDB-inspired quote. Thanks for the challenge.

      Delete
  37. The “Partial Ellipsis of the Sun” (PEOTS) blog is especially interesting, fun and accessible this week.

    Goose your gray cells and give it a gander.

    Here’s my goof to which I hope not too many gave a gander Sunday evening. It was my “giveaway-clue” which, before I removed it, was posted visibly in Blainesville for an hour or so:

    “Just another off-putting preposterous NPR puzzle, a prime example of putting…
    Oh, waiter, please bring me another bottle of your best Chevaux…, I mean Chateau Blanc.”

    The first ellipsis replaces “…the CARTe-before-the-horse,” ( which epitomizes “preposterous”). The diner was about to mistakenly ask for a bottle of “Chevaux Blanc” (French for “white horses” before correcting himself (as I did, kinda). I signed off, preposterously, as LambdaLego.

    As ron correctly notes above, ChATEau BLANC too closely echoes Cate Blanchett.

    LegoCulpa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lego,
      I saw your removed post and knew it held the clue, but I did not find it at all helpful. I think it was a good clue and most people would need to have solved the puzzle before understanding it.

      Delete
    2. Lego.
      I did not see your removed post, but I agree (as much as is possible :)) with sdb.

      Delete
    3. Paul,
      If you are implying I may be somewhat difficult at times, I want to assure you that I am in full agreement. :-)

      Delete
    4. sdb and Paul,
      I appreciate your comments but, when in doubt (and at least two very astute bloggers had reasonable doubts), there is no harm in removing it. This puzzle was easy enough that not lots of hints were necessary.

      Blaine,
      Care to weigh in? Do you just go with your gut when making these kinds of “removal” judgments or do you have some kind of AlGorethm? Also, you must be under great pressure Sunday mornings to solve the puzzle a.s.a.p. so that you can recognize whether a promptly posted clue gives TMI, right?

      Paul,
      Regarding, “(as much as is possible : ))”: Yeah, I guess we can all relate with that!

      sdb,
      Glad to see that you can relate too (though it might be more fun if you’d take great umbrage).

      LegoL’umbrage

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

      Delete
  38. woah you got my king in trouble big Jim.
    Jim posted A blank. I posted a check.
    Blank check carte blanche

    I've been out of town for little while. With this bedbug deal going on I always give the linens a good shaking out. This may only shake them up, but at least I'll know who's in charge...them.
    BLANKet CHECK.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Willie wubbed the world the wong way too wate for the juwy fireworks.

    Kaiser Wilhelm wrote a blank check on July 5th that was not well received by the world.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Next week's challenge (Please note this is a two-week challenge): Write a clue for a word in the style of today's on-air puzzle, in which the answer has six or more letters. The clue should both define or describe the answer and contain the answer in consecutive letters.

    Entries will be judged on accuracy of the cluing, specificity, naturalness of syntax and overall elegance. You may submit up to three clues in your entry. The person who sends the best clue in the judgment of Will Shortz will appear on the program in two weeks. And some of the runner-up entries will be used on the air.

    ReplyDelete
  41. To help understand the latest challenge, I realize the statement of the on-air puzzle is needed:

    On-air challenge: Every answer is a five-letter word. You will be given a clue for the word. Besides describing the answer, the clue will also contain the answer in consecutive letters. For example, given "It's near the planet Mars," you would say, "Earth."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have two already. Now if I could just get back to sleep.

      Delete
  42. These two-week challenges are never good for me. I am especially shut out by a requirement of "overall elegance"!

    Even if I did come up with some clever answer, I know there will be so many better ones that my only hope would be to be selected by chance; otherwise I could only be an also-ran. Do me a favor and wake me when it's over!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob K, I agree with you about the two-weekers.

      Though, I can see the overall elegance in your case.

      Delete
  43. Bob K.,

    Word Woman definitely has got your number. Look at her link. The square jaw, the buff frame… You are obviously a… male model!

    Clues do not apply the next fortnight-minus-three-days in Blainesville. What will we do to occupy ourselves?

    Lego…

    ReplyDelete

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