Sunday, March 15, 2015

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 15, 2015): Parables of Jesus, Revised Edition

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 15, 2015): Parables of Jesus, Revised Edition:
Q: Parables of Jesus is an old collection of stories. Remove three of the 15 letters in this phrase and rearrange the 12 letters that remain to get another old collection of stories. What is it?
Are you just going to sit there waiting for me to drop a hint?

There were two hints. The first was a hint to the fable of The Fox and the Crow. The other hint was "Are you j..." --> R,U,J the letters that are removed.
A: AESOP'S FABLES

116 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.

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  2. This week’s CHALLENGE is as easy as π ! You should all come up with within a few seconds.

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  3. Ron was right - that didn't take much time...

    Chuck

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  4. There are still some posts on last week's blog that should be removed as soon as possible.

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

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    Replies
    1. I'm sorry but your anagram diagrams are a complete giveaway... You see that, right? You basically map each letter in the original phrase directly to the solution. Leaving out the letters does little to obfuscate this mapping.

      Delete
    2. Sorry, I thought that leaving out the letters and spaces between words would make for sufficient hiding. I trust that in the future, when BOTH the source and result of the anagramming must be sought after, then diagrams like that would be OK?

      Delete
    3. Unfortunately, even with unknown anagram source as well, the mapping directly reveals the number of characters in the answer.
      It's perhaps an interesting 'problem' to represent an anagram in a 'secure' way, that can be decoded only by those that know the anagram, and doesn't otherwise reveal anything about the anagram itself -- but I suppose just encrypting the full source and destination phrases using standard methods (e.g. hash functions) is about the most practical...

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

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. I have this week's answer bookmarked.
    I am so relieved that all that Ultimate Pi Day hoopla from yesterday has, unlike pi itself, terminated. At least we won't have to go through all that 14/15 nonsense for another century, or two or three. (Of course, I suppose next March 14 will be "Ultimate Pi Day (Rounded-Up)!"

    LegoTheProdigal

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    Replies
    1. Nothing really to do with this week's puzzle, but with all yesterday's π Day hype, let's not forget to Beware the Ides of March today.

      Delete
    2. When my kids were young and on a grocery store trip we called today the "I'ds of March" as in "I'd like some Cap'n Crunch."

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    3. Ide also like to thank you for your timely rem-ide-ner, jan,

      As I noted in Friday’s Puzzleria!:
      “Today is Friday the 13th. Tomorrow is Pi Day the 14th. The next day is “Ides-day” the 15th. Indeed it is a week chock-full of celebrations, with St. Paddy’s Day on March 17 and, best of all, the Feast of St. Joseph on March 19!”

      LegoTheCarpenter

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    4. Monday, 3/16, is the first day of the Bacchanalia. And Wednesday, 3/18, is my wife's birthday.

      Delete
  9. For the last several years it has been my standard operating procedure to post a brief hint or clue – or at lease lay down a marker – each Sunday after I have the answer. However, this week I have not been able to come up with one that wouldn’t be a dead giveaway. So you’re on your own, folks. Happy almost spring to each of you.

    Chuck

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    Replies
    1. I, too, lay down a marker at a lease signing. It's the least I can do, Chuck. ;-)

      Delete
  10. I got it almost instantly without even looking at the phrase. As I have posted before, when I see the puzzle comes from Ed Pegg, Jr,, I know I won't enjoy it. No Confucian here.

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. Spoke with a Japanese friend today who remarked "Hope springs in turtles!"

    Happy almost spring to all!

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    Replies
    1. He missed it by just a hair!

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    2. WW, it is spring. My happily blooming daffodils told me. The calendar is a few days behind.

      Delete
  13. Something about the placement of letters in both the "challenge" and the answer led me to solve it in record time. I tend to learn more if I have to take time to think and figure it out.

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  14. As Pontius Pilate once said, "The jury's out on this one."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PIlate--great for the day after PI day.

      Delete
    2. I seem to recall that years ago Hollywood was considering making a TV series on the life of Jesus, but they did not think it would be appropriate to start with a Pilate. Several years later a movie director made a movie on the subject and most of the reviewers thought he nailed it in the end.

      Delete
    3. sdb,
      I understand that even before they nixed the Pilate, Hollywood was anticipating several spin-off series. The two I recall were "Simon-Peter: The Ear-ly Years" and "The Redoubtable Thomas." But I think there were others. Do you recall any?

      LegoSpinner

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    4. I remember hearing something about "My Last Supper with Andre".

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    5. Well I recall there being a TV show called, Father knows Best. Or maybe it was Father knows Bess. Was there a movie, Paul Robes Son? And, of course, there was, The Loan Manger. I especially enjoy, The Mary Tithes Them More Show.

      Delete
    6. Or it could have been Father Knows Beth. Not my field of expertise.

      Delete
  15. I noticed Will said nothing about last week's puzzle being a repeat from a few years back. Must've been hesitant to admit it. Oh well, he who hesitates is lost.

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  16. Maybe it is much ado about nothing regarding repeat puzzle.

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    Replies
    1. I was surprised that Will didn't mention it.

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    2. They used the chat time for table tennis talk, I suppose. As the article was on the last page of SI, perhaps that was much adieu about nothing.

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

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  18. Not even gonna try a clue right now. I had this one before I finished reading it online.

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  19. The very Ide-a of using a Mae West line as a hint might be at risk if some feel she would represent moral turpitude or moral turtle dooty. WW, LOL, and SDB You guys rock! Jan, my Mom's birthday was 18th and she claimed she was born on St. Sheila's Day and that Sheila was St. Patrick's wife. Though most people will say SP did not have a wife, I was only able to find one tiny reference to this from Newfoundland (sp?). Do you or anyone else know more about St. Sheila!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks RoRo, and may your boat row on forever.

      Delete
  20. As I said at the end of last week's thread, I consider solving this one so fast to be a moral victory. Those who are slow in getting it should remember slow and steady wins the race.

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    Replies
    1. That comment was removed by the Blog Administrator. You need to delete this also and reread Blaine's standard reminder again.

      Delete
  21. Replies
    1. Greek, like the Wrights are Tar Heels, and Neil is from the moon. :)

      Delete
    2. zeke greek,
      Right you are, as always. The Wrights were WingHeels, like Mercury, from Dayton, home of the Flyers, and Neil just bayed at the moon, never set foot on it.
      LegoLEMda

      Delete
  22. VVRCY XBRRK NMJCK HTBZI JFEWY
    JLYKX SJSMB NSZHV SIRNI MORRW
    INUJI ATOTH VEMWM LGZVU TZHXM
    ZLEQA LRNGK KYHTF YTFCN HPSGG
    GZMOK JJXKM GEKWU WNIEI BHMTX
    UOIBP ZKDFR XBXJJ SSEMQ OZRFN
    CPWZU TIOOH WYLDI EBGJX RAWLW
    NVAFP AHIBP ZJMDN RTKAJ CCNLS
    XOUZT FPRMG ZCBZW BKTDI PXUZP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Speaking of that, where is our friend Paul?

      Delete
    2. PlannedChaos,

      Could you at least give a clue as to how we are supposed to figure out how to decipher your post?

      I tried BOTH VERSIONS of Sharky's Vigenere Cipher using as a key this week's answer and its ROT13; both encoding AND decoding; addition AND subtraction.

      Delete
    3. EAWAF, since you asked so nicely:

      "______ oybbql ______," fnvq ravtzngvpnyyl.

      Delete
    4. I tried inserting your word decrypted into the middle of this week's answer and still neither that result nor its ROT13 work as a key in either version of Sharky's.

      Delete
  23. Ides boy and the author have somewhat in common.

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  24. Let me get this straight. I can't use what I said on my last post, but PlannedChaos can say whatever that drivel was and get away with it? I have no conceivable idea what he or she said or why, but I couldn't possibly have given it away what I said, could I? I must admit I'm still relatively new to giving hints on this blog.

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    Replies
    1. It is very simple. We are NOT to give actual hints that could help someone to solve the puzzles, but we can post something obscure that might prove to someone who has already solved the puzzle that you have too. This works the same after the Thursday deadline.

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

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    3. pjb,

      jan's guidelines from last week's blog are reasonable: "How's this for a guideline: if you Google "collection of stories" and a phrase in your hint, and the answer appears on the first page of hits, it's too obvious."

      Also, if another blogger requests I delete a post I generally delete it as a courtesy, especially if the same post was already removed once by Blaine.

      Hope that helps.

      Delete
  25. I thought "Blank and blank" was LAST week.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for reminding me about last week’s challenge, Charles Gragg. I gave an obscure clue that I neglected to explain after Thursday’s deadline. That is poor form on my part.

      The NPR puzzle answer was “room and board >> boardroom.” My clue was “sled dogs,” which are associated with “Mush!” and “snow” >> “mushroom” and “snowboard.”

      patrickjberry (and others who may be relatively new posters on this blog),

      I don’t post many clues. (It’s tough to give a clue when you’re clueless about Will’s answer, as I often am!) But when I do clue, I try to err on the side of obscurity.

      We Blainesvillians take very few things seriously. But death, illness and the answer to the Sunday puzzle are three we do. Blaine has provided and entrusted us with this wonderful forum. We owe it to him to be responsible stewards, and so are loathe to betray that trust.

      During my time here, I have given clues that bordered on being “giveways.” I remember deleting one that went too far. Sometimes knowing the answer impairs one’s judgment. Most of us have “been there.”

      So, I offer this sincere suggestion: Pause and count the digits of pi before you click on that “publish” button. Maybe run your clue through a search engine, or past a clueless puzzle-solving friend.

      And try not to take anyone’s comments personally. We are, after all, all robots.

      LegoRoboCapTchaTchaTcha

      Delete
    2. Lego,
      Speaking of sled dogs, I am concerned that with the advent of global warming we may soon see the end of the Iditarod Dog Sled Races. With the lack of snow I doubt they will make mush sense.

      Delete
    3. "Mushroom" was my obscure clue for this puzzle, but I didn't use it.

      Delete
  26. I apologize if I went too far at all in any of my posts. Just so you know, this post has no clues whatsoever. I have the answer to this week's puzzle, and that's all that needs to be said.

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  27. How obscure would this be: Rocky and Bullwinkle?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're alluding to Noah Beery, of course.

      Delete
    2. pjb,
      Or to Dudley Mounties Dew, right?
      Seriously, your new clue is probably sufficiently obscure not to be removed by our Fearless Leader blog administrator.
      Paul,
      Good to see you surface. Hate to rain on your St. Paddy’s Day Parade, but I believe pjb was alluding to Noah Green Beery.

      LegoBragh

      Delete
  28. I don't know how you got Noah Berry out of what I said, but sure, go with that.

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    Replies
    1. Noah counting for some of the trains of thought here in Blainesville.

      Delete
    2. In the words of Patrick Henry, "...

      Delete
    3. "Give me liberty or give me Rockfordphiles!"
      LegoPaddyO'Henry

      Delete
  29. Sorry, Beery.Stupid autocorrect!

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  30. Jan, you're much too fast for me! I was right in the middle of correcting that and you beat me to it with your comment.

    ReplyDelete
  31. One last annoyance for pi haters:

    Write the digits 113355 in a straight line.
    Draw five straight lines and nothing more
    or less to form an approximation of pi.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Midweek Quiz

    What’s Anastasia’s favorite song?

    Chances Czar

    Chuck

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  33. The following is from my friend Beatles_and_Melanie_fan

    Hey Blaine's puzzle bloggers!

    I asked my friend Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan to post this on Blaine's puzzle blog. I think he has mentioned me a couple of times on a post or two.

    He has more time for solving the weekly NPR puzzle than I do! He usually solves it quickly, so I don't really spend much time on it. If he can't solve it, then I like working on it myself which includes reading our puzzle blog!

    I have always enjoyed the posts and banter between all the regular members! I usually would rather create a puzzle then solve it, so, here is a link to a puzzle I made up for you guys to try! Here is the link.

    http://www.recordshowsofamerica.com/puzzle.html

    Sincerely,
    Beatles_and_Melanie_fan

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  34. AESOP'S FABLES

    >> Spoke with a Japanese friend today who remarked "Hope springs in turtles!"

    > He missed it by just a hair!

    As in The Tortoise and the Hare.

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  35. Aesop’s Fables

    Last Sunday I said, “For the last several years it has been my standard operating procedure to post a brief hint or clue – or at least lay down a marker – each Sunday after I have the answer. However, this week I have not been able to come up with one that wouldn’t be a dead giveaway.” Standard operating procedure – SOP – as in Aesop. Able as in parables and fables.

    Chuck

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  36. Aesop's Fables. You say Parables, I say Fables...let's not call the whole thing off.

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  37. PARABLES OF JESUS >>> AESOP'S FABLES

    "When first published, this collection used pica-sized type." pointed toward the name "Aesopica" as an alternate name for "Aesop's Fables."

    'Spoke with a Japanese friend today who remarked "Hope springs in turtles!"'. . .As in the Aesop's Fable about the tortoise and the hare.

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  38. PARABLES OF JESUS >>> AESOP'S FABLES

    "When first published, this collection used pica-sized type." pointed toward the name "Aesopica" as an alternate name for "Aesop's Fables."

    'Spoke with a Japanese friend today who remarked "Hope springs in turtles!"'. . .As in the Aesop's Fable about the tortoise and the hare.

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  39. By the time I got to the blog on Sunday, there were several posts which seemed to give away the answer quite openly, which led me to simply spell out the answer. Surprisingly, those posts were removed, but mine was allowed to remain:

    "According to Housman, the usual way to solve this would be to note that MAHABHARATA is eleven letters, ILLIAD/ODYSSEY is 13 letters, etc." -- A. E. Housman + ("usual way" = Standard Operating Procedure = SOP) = AESOP.

    (I wasn't quite as daring as Chuck, who later posted Standard Operating Procedure nakedly.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If a blogger chooses to blog while naked, that's his/her choice ;-).

      Delete
  40. Here is my earlier post which Blaine deleted:

    After removing the 3 letters AND spaces, I plan to post something like this on Thursday:
    ───┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬────
    ═══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪════
    ───┼──┴──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼────
    ───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┴──┼──┼────
    ───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┴──┼────
    ───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┴──┼────────┼────
    ───┴─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼────────┼────
    ─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼────────┴────
    ─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼─────────────
    ─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┴─────────────
    ─────────┴──┼──┼──┼──┼───────────────────
    ────────────┴──┼──┼──┼───────────────────
    ───────────────┴──┼──┼───────────────────
    ──────────────────┴──┼───────────────────
    ─────────────────────┴───────────────────
    Ok, what I post on Thursday won't look quite this good, but it should still look pretty nice.

    And this is what I had planned to post today:

    ───P──a──a──b──l──e──s──o──f──e──s──s────
    ═══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪════
    ───┼──a──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼───A
    ───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──e──┼──┼───e
    ───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────s──┼───s
    ───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──o──┼────────┼───o
    ───p─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼────────┼───p
    ─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼────────s───s
    ─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼─────────────
    ─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────f────────────f
    ─────────a──┼──┼──┼──┼──────────────────a
    ────────────b──┼──┼──┼──────────────────b
    ───────────────l──┼──┼──────────────────l
    ──────────────────e──┼──────────────────e
    ─────────────────────s──────────────────s

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  41. Charlie Ruggles was the voice of Aesop on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Another of his roles was B. O. Boyne in The Man From 1997, which also featured a young James Garner. Garner went on to play Jim Rockford, son of Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, played by Noah Beery. Noah's ark is believed to have landed on Mt. Ararat, in Turkey. I guess Aesop wasn't born in Greece. Patrick Henry is reported to have said, on a certain occasion, "I smell a rat." Here's a hint I thought unfit to print prior to the deadline: John 13:26(KJV)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Paul. I forgot the Noah's ark clue re: Turkey and Aesop.

      Delete
  42. The frigid place Aesop hales from is Phrygia.

    The author,Paul, of the Bible and Aesop are from Turkey.

    Ides boy, Julius Caesar, and Aesop have the 'ae' thing in common.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I wrote "It's all Greek to me.", wasn't Aesop Greek? Or is that funny spelling a Latin thing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Much of their world in that day operated in Greek just as much of our world today operates in English.
      Zeke Greek

      Delete
  44. AESOP'S FABLES Rocky and Bullwinkle would occasionally present a segment called "Aesop and Son", in which Aesop would tell a fable to his son, who would usually give his own punny moral at the end. But the voice of Aesop was credited as Edward Everett Horton. How'd he get the name Charlie Ruggles anyway?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe you know something I don't. Edward Everett Horton was clearly credited as the narrator of "Fractured Fairy Tales".
      I just checked an old episode of R&B that contains an A&S segment and no FFT segment -- there are no credits for the individual segments, and Horton appears in the end credits while Ruggles does not.
      HOWEVER, Turner Classic Movies states that Charlie Ruggles "went uncredited as the voice of Aesop in the "Aesop and Son" segment of "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" (ABC/NBC, 1959-1964)."(you have to click to view the full biography)
      Both IMDb and wikipedia also credit him as Aesop's voice.

      Adding to the confusion:
      Both men lived from 1886 to 1970 (Ruggles lived a few months longer than Horton), and both appeared in movies with the title "Ruggles of Red Gap" -- Horton in a silent 1923 film as "Ruggles", and Ruggles in a 1935 comedy as "Egbert Floud".
      If my sources are to be trusted.

      Delete
    2. I just looked up Horton's and Ruggles' biographies. If they were two different guys, they sure had similar voices. I had assumed Charlie Ruggles was a pseudonym Horton used. Just shows you don't get everything right.

      Delete
  45. My post that some earlier giveaway posts should be removed as soon as possible was referring to ASAP - sounds like Aesop.

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  46. Remove JUR from “Parables of Jesus” and rearrange the remaining letters to obtain AESOP'S FABLES.

    My hint: the GREEK letter π. Aesop was a Greek Storyteller some 600 years before Jesus.

    ReplyDelete
  47. As Pontius Pilate once said, "The JURy's out on this one.

    ReplyDelete
  48. My clues re- Andersen, Hans C and ' (Aesop's)

    ReplyDelete
  49. I wrote" "I have this week's answer bookmarked." Among the blogs in my bookmarks/favorites list is An Englishman Solves American Puzzles, which acronyms to AESAP. Close enough for me.

    LegoHappySaintJoseph'sDay

    ReplyDelete
  50. Next week's challenge: Take the word "die." Think of two synonyms for this word that are themselves exact opposites of each other. What two words are these? A hint: they have the same number of letters.

    ReplyDelete
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  52. Of course, you get no credit for answering a puzzle this easy.

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  53. Last week, I inadvertently crossed the line and gave a too revealing hint. Having once again found the puzzle rather easy, I am feeling like Sisyphus, pushing that stone up the hill as I struggle to come up with an appropriate comment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SuperZee - Perhaps we should play it safe and sit this one out.

      Delete
  54. Not sure that Will gets such a high grade for this one. Oh well, maybe next week.

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  55. This comment has been removed by the author.

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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.