Sunday, May 10, 2015

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 10, 2015): 5 Letters, 1-2-3 Syllables

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 10, 2015): 5 Letters, 1-2-3 Syllables:
Q: The letters of the one-syllable word "groan" can be rearranged to spell "organ," which has two syllables. Here's the challenge: Think of a common one-syllable, five-letter word whose letters can be rearranged to spell a common two-syllable word — and then rearranged again to spell a common three-syllable word. I have two different answers in mind, and it's possible there are others, but you only have to think of one.
Are plurals allowed?

Before I edited it down, my full hint was going to be "Who can help me? Are plurals allowed? Thoughts?" But that seemed a little too obvious.
A: AIDES, ASIDE, IDEAS or AIMED, AMIDE, MEDIA

109 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. I did extract a solution, finally, and I have an answer to Blaine's question about plurals. ---Rob

    ReplyDelete
  3. Near the end of last week's thread:

    Paul posted on Sun May 10, at 06:05:00 AM PDT:

    ⅔ of my 2 answers (so far) may be unacceptable.

    He then gave the following replies to his own post:

    On Sun May 10, at 06:17:00 AM PDT:

    3 answers, still 66.66% questionable (at best).

    Then on Sun May 10, at 06:47:00 AM PDT:

    4 answers, 58.33% disapproval rating.

    I later posted on Sun May 10, at 08:09:00 AM PDT:

    I've submitted 3 answers and a possible 4th. (The 3-syllable word has a 2-syllable alternate pronunciation.)

    If Paul has two of my 3 answers, his concern about 2 of them may be that (at least with mine), in 2 of my answers the 1-syllable words are proper nouns -- and one of those is foreign!

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of my answers was mentioned on air.

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  5. I have a 5th answer in which I have 0% confidence.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have the answer using the most common words. There are others but one or more of the words are not very common.

    Blaine, two of my three words are plural.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  7. Plurals Blaine?

    While in one of my answers, the 3-syllable word is a noun whose dictionary.com definition begins "any of a group of ...", I didn't consider it to be a plural. It contains no S.

    As a matter of fact, the only one of my answers that contains an S is that "possible" one of mine, and none of those 3 words are a plural! Do you have an answer which is not any of mine?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get two nouns and an adverb - all containing S and all very common.

      Delete
  8. I have 5 answers, only one of them contains plurals and I made 1 answer out of thin air...but some of the words are not "common."

    ReplyDelete
  9. Finally, on #7, I got the 2-plural answer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 2 answers. No s in either.
    Mythology and chemistry involved.
    It might help to read or listen to the news.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Replies
    1. Throw in some noodles -- does it for me.

      Delete
    2. What I intended as merely a smart-alecky remark to vent my frustration at my inability to interpret WW's comment turns out to be a pretty good hint at an answer I think Will won't accept.

      My subconscious scares me sometimes.

      Delete
    3. Peas, carrots, and onions are, at times, A SIDE dish.

      AIDES >>> ASIDE >>> IDEAS

      Hope your subconscious is happy, Paul.

      [Not to be confused with signing off from St. Paul ;-).]

      Delete
  12. Bb pvfse hn bwgxkffres:

    ZTQAY mv t dssrse gwhh.
    EPBBF qcm ahb oy grfapr kt lhc qir'w

    psbv c znu kbux.
    DGWNI ool hz zuc qhh ci eczfwa,

    xisxbempu bg gbov dzs hvqic. Bb zuc

    degp fg tbkmvar; L wco'x mbbp.

    Buy sqem qvqpyxu jcxk KCVXG wf pprnlhk

    wu vjmzxa jcxk acpx qf fawhn.
    Xkxff'w pcgaqaa flsosvg oohcg IYWXF.
    Bpvvbnou utskcqvkogxtl nmpxr, VXGFB fil

    hsw us Frizvlp, nhh L'os oixse lmrh mw

    pwulqig mpnn tuxqfhkbt izrjsvbhjsp (ce

    ppnniyxf jx'u qnetrx mq Eoump).

    O yhb bz thhdmi cbq itnwiv tff rcarw

    JBSRH; bbdpwrvgo, bz eoe himpuf, tv

    Vlmva fjzgf.
    OHVRS mv t jbvkoam ws VSQR. W'e gjcblm

    gbi othuit, ws B erli jhwok vc hlm gbi

    zhfe ev oye, eucgk B dssdooeg jiyowb'u. Xqc znku fmnxzjlqcq hn fiqhhbf qcyvgo fiqh vfvhg xbdm. V'g rrm bbqkbt tvl hepxg, toarvomoic.
    cxyf'w GPBGG piqpxbu acg n pwee si tfu.

    M evrvsrx almv Qewz & Fmmici. Wasz

    gqbpnz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EaWAF: Considering Paul's post contains potential answers, I don't think further weakening the already short key is a good idea. But if you want to crack it yourself, might I suggest using your knowledge of this week's answers and applying that to the appropriate portions of the cipher text so as to extract various five-letter snippets of the key. In my case I was able to recognize a common three-word phrase in the cipher text and the key fell out from there.

      And it has previously been established that we always use v1 of the vigenere cipher, as v2 has an off-by-one error last I checked.

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

      Delete
    3. "ngwxhm" is not helping me crack mike's code.

      Delete
    4. B ohvgs jbbu JG: fkodokbt vqcbiul qbr ds nl nhh ev mvf twnmem vnwhet. (Os jsyinhf llght st cgame nlrnuixu vrkm). Pbihkg!

      Delete
    5. Sorry Paul -- my bad -- thought encode/decode was symmetric (and hit the wrong one). Mikey is Yourkey!

      Delete
  13. Might the three syllable word only have two syllables when pronounced with a Boston accent?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Might I suggest, Jim, that this is not the best of all possible worlds?

      Delete
  14. So Paul I think one is supposed to cut and paste your clue into: http://sharkysoft.com/vigenere/1.0/

    then the keyword is this weeks answer? all three words? what order?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right about the cutting and pasting.
      But the keyword is not this week's answer.
      Hell, I don't know this week's answer!

      Delete
    2. Paul, your candid comment reminds me of the (true) story of the calculus-textbook author who served Liebniz biscuits and fig newtons at the book fair.

      Delete
    3. Well, I tried "cake pan", "pancake", both of those things ROT13'd, both of 'em backwards, and both of 'em ROT13'd AND backwards.

      Nothing.

      So Paul, is the key any of the answers of the past few weeks? And if we DO figure out what you've used for the key, anything ELSE we need to do with it? ROT13 it? Spell it all backwards? Both?

      Delete
    4. The key is "to be continued."
      My first three answers were MAINE / AMINE / ANIME; ROUTE / OUTER / UTERO; and BOYNE / BONEY / EBONY. Of these, I think UTERO shows the most promise, owing, in large part, to timing (Will said he's had the puzzle in the file for some time).

      Continuing:
      Berf pointed me to AIMED / AMIDE / MEDIA, which I think may be the runner-up answer.
      HOYLE / HOLEY / ELOHY and PAISE / APIES / SEPIA don't even deserve to be mentioned.

      "The" answer is AIDES / ASIDE / IDEAS.

      Delete
    5. I have a great deal of confidence in the trisyllabic nature if IDEAS, but what about IDEAL? That's what I was thinking of when I dashed off my "Candide" (and perhaps too revealing (4 syllables?) response to Jim.

      Delete
    6. I missed a nested paren, just above, and, btw, I suppose PC used "I don't know" discern my key.

      Delete
    7. Yes, "I don't know" is what did it.

      Delete
  15. Did almost everyone get two plural answers in this one? I could only think of one singular and two plurals, then I went back to bed. Unfortunately, they did make Mother's Day plans after all. They took my mom out for lunch, and I missed it. I do love my mother though. Never ask your mother if she knows if they're going to do anything for her for MD. They could have at least told me.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I came up with one of the two probable answers. I have no inkling of how to hint at it without giving an obvious clue. Sorry to be of no help; all I can do is step out of the way, and let others hint.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I came up with two plurals answers, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just an off the cuff comment here to several above, including yours, Natasha. Plurality rules!

      Delete
  18. Thanks, folks!

    I had no hope of solving this one until I read all the comments above, but it just took one (obviously I can't say which; that would constitute a giveaway) to point me to at least one of the possible answers, no ciphers required!

    ReplyDelete
  19. My global answer is way out there, but it's just a game!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Got a feeling, gotta get away. Monday morning, everyday rain, creepin' fog. I'm down, sorrow raining in my heart - hard to handle. The warmth of the sun always on my mind. Still I'm sad, it doesn't matter any more, you can't always get what you want.

    The end of the world? I see the light; I'll feel a whole lot better.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Couldn't solve this initially, so I paused to watch a South Park episode and then the 'Eureka!' moment struck. Got my 3 word ducks in a row (sort of)!

    ReplyDelete
  22. On an unrelated note, some helpers told me there is notion that this is a repeat, or reconstruction, of a prior puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Paul,
    I went organic last week with HERB POT and POTHERB.
    This week you're close, but think inorganic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I knew the desired answer, but I tend to be contrary.

      Delete
    2. Talk about "breaking bad!"
      Cogito ergot sum.

      Delete
  24. Ihqfrwm fzxy lreo hu Wvsvfmf Ycxmlv Vnzaep txfhvw? Uy filmvfv.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bkwf kjxyb bz th roeyqtg ehre yy frnqb rbr hypru ilrldn bgwym hhre wto jembh. (Wa hypru pvrwh, tf vtccx bilelcat pqjvgl.) Nv pdll yhj wvkm yiydvcgsa, guc shm jtx lrubcew qy xnmumtnx efj qbeb llfrvytl sklcxsiez bjy buvdrnia zyzn.

      Delete
    2. My key is"I used to be the next President of the United States."

      PC's key eludes me.

      Delete
    3. My key is a natural extension of the one you used, if you do a web search. The key refers to the speaker not seeing the humor in the situation.

      Delete
  25. Wish me luck. Tomorrow I have to go back to the dentist. I chipped a crown, and it needs fixing. No hints here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good luck, patjberry.
      I have a question, however. After your dental mishap did Jill come tumbling after?

      LegOverTheHillAndNotSoFetching

      Delete
  26. It took a while, but I figured out the plurals. My mind is bushed - I'm not even going to try to come up with anything else. --Margaret G.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I am sure everyone knows that every date this week is a palindrome when written in the American month-day-year format:

    5/10/15
    5/11/15
    5/12/15
    5/13/15
    5/14/15
    5/15/15
    5/16/15

    This continues into next Tuesday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know it now. Thanks, ron.
      If anyone would enjoy a nice U.S. geography puzzle, I just posted a bonus slice to the menu of this week's Puzzleria!

      It is called CSI: USA.

      LegoJustLookingForCluesAtTheSceneOfTheCrime

      Delete
  28. world, drowl, dworl- my clue-- global

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Um, which word has 3 syllables?

      Delete
    2. Drowl and dworl are not words as far as I can tell.

      Delete
    3. Jim: arguably "dworl," has 3 syllables; otherwise, search engines characterize all 3 as "words."

      Delete
    4. Google didn't. What do these "words" mean? My dictionaries don't have them and neither did Merriam-Webster online.

      Delete
    5. Here it is used in a sentence: Where in dworl (pronounced duh worl) does benmar come up with these funny answers!

      Delete
    6. Google dworl--not too helpful but claims to be a definition.

      Delete
  29. AIDES > ASIDE > IDEAS

    My Hint:

    “Just an off the cuff comment here to several above, including yours, Natasha. Plurality rules!”
    My “off the cuff comment” was an ASIDE.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I knew my answer was correct after reading your clever clue, SDB.

      Delete
    2. Natasha, I couldn't have done it without your setup. Thanks.

      Delete
  30. MAINE, AMINE, ANIME, or AIDES, ASIDE, IDEAS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maine was mentioned during the on-air puzzle.

      Delete
    2. Which militates in its favor.
      And amine & amide are equally ... whatever.
      And Will might think a knowledge of anime proves him "hip", so ---

      IDK

      Delete
  31. Last Sunday I said, “I have the answer using the most common words. There are others but one or more of the words are not very common.” For example, aimed, amide, media. How many times have you used amide?

    Chuck

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  32. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  33. "Thanks, folks!" [You're my AIDES.]

    I had no hope of solving this one [It was so hard to avoid saying "I had no IDEAS.]until I read all the comments above, but it just took one (obviously I can't say which; that would constitute a giveaway) [that's an ASIDE.] to point me to at least one of the possible answers." [And that was Jim's reference to "pronounced with a Boston accent."]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope mine wasn't too much of a giveaway! I felt Blaine would have gotten rid of it if that was the case.

      Delete
    2. No, probably not, Jim. It was more likely a case where my brain had been primed by turning over possible words in deep background, and somehow the Boston accent hint set me onto ideas/ideers. When you know an answer, almost all hints seem obvious; when you don't quite know an answer, the right hint may spring the trap.

      Delete
  34. In a reply to Paul, I replied Sun May 10, at 03:44:00 PM PDT:

    I've discovered 7 solutions so far, including the one found by Blaine, Word Woman, ron and rob containing 2 plurals; the one found by Berf (last week's thread); 3 solutions which each start with proper nouns for the 1-syllable word, and in one of those, the definition of the 2-syllable word (which differs by just one letter from the 2-syllable word in Berf's answer - it's definition as well - both involve the same compound); and one of hugh's 2 answers - the one involving mythology. I believe I've eluded to 6 of the 7 solutions I've found thus far; the last one is that "possible" solution I eluded to in my first post from last week's thread, where the 3-syllable word has an alternate pronunciation in 2 syllables.

    The 7 answers that I found:

    AIDES, ASIDE, IDEAS . . . . . . . . . The one found by Blaine, Word Woman, ron and rob containing 2 plurals;
    AIMED, AMIDE, MEDIA . . . . . . . . . The one found by Berf (last week's thread - He had posted "I hope my answer found the bullseye");
    LAINE, ALINE, ALIEN . . . . . . . . . 3 solutions which each start with proper nouns for the 1-syllable word,...
    LOIRE, OILER (or REOIL), ORIEL
    MAINE, AMINE, ANIME . . . . . . . . . ...and in one of those - well the definitions of amide and of amine - both involve ammonia
    OARED, ADORE, OREAD . . . . . . . . . and one of hugh's 2 answers - the one involving mythology.
    RAISE, ARISE, SERAI . . . . . . . . . That "possible" solution (serai can be pronounced two ways: suh-rah-ee and suh-rahy)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought of RAISE and ARISE, but leaned toward SERIA, which ties in with OPERA in Blaine / zeke's illustration. Either way, I think we're in the tall grass here, which is a shame, because RAISE and ARISE are both good, solid words.

      Delete
    2. I just selected, copied and pasted SERIA into dictionary.com, and instead of giving me any results for that, it asked me, "Did you mean serai?"

      Delete
    3. Well, DuckDuckGo points me first to the town in the Belait District of Brunei Darussalam, makes a stab at diverting me to Syria, but coughs up opera seria if I scroll a little further.
      And I admit I was completely unfamiliar with SERAI.

      Delete
    4. Looking over my output from the computer program I wrote and used to find the answers, I discovered another one I had missed; AIRED, AIDER, and REDIA or IRADE [Turkish ih-rah-de] a decree of a Muslim ruler.

      Delete
    5. See my link to SERIA below.

      Delete
  35. I wrote:
    Got a feeling, gotta get away. Monday morning, everyday rain, creepin' fog. I'm down, sorrow raining in my heart - hard to handle. The warmth of the sun always on my mind. Still I'm sad, it doesn't matter any more, you can't always get what you want.

    The end of the world? I see the light; I'll feel a whole lot better.

    Those sentences are made entirely of songs that appeared as the "B-Side" (as opposed to a-side) of well-known songs, and several of them were hits on their own.

    For the geeks and trivia buffs:
    Got a feeling, The Mamas and The Papas (1966, flipside of Monday, Monday)
    gotta get away The Blues Magoos (1967, flipside of "We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet)

    Monday morning, Fleetwood Mac (1976, flipside of Say You Love Me)
    everyday Buddy Holly (1957, flipside of Peggy Sue)
    rain, The Beatles (1966, flipside of Paperback Writer)
    creepin' Stevie Wonder (1977, flipside of Another Star)
    fog. Radiohead (2001, flipside of Knives Out)

    I'm down (The Beatles, 1965, flipside of Help!)
    Sorrow (The McCoys, 1966, flipside of Fever)
    Raining in my heart, (Buddy Holly, 1959, flipside of It Doesn't Matter Anymore)
    hard to handle, (Otis Redding, 1968, flipside of Amen)

    The warmth of the sun (The Beach Boys, 1965, flipside of Dance Dance Dance)
    always on my mind (Elvis Presley, 1973, flipside of Separate Ways)

    Still I'm sad, (The Yardbirds, 1965, flipside of I'm A Man)
    it doesn't matter any more, (Linda Ronstadt, 1975, flipside of When Will I Be Loved)
    you can't always get what you want. (Rolling Stones, 1969, flipside of Honky Tonk Women)

    The end of the world? (Herman's Hermits, 1965, flipside of I'm Henry The VIII, I Am)

    I see the light (The Music Explosion, 1967, flipside of Little Bit O'Soul)
    I'll feel a whole lot better (The Byrds, 1965, flipside of All I Really Want To Do)

    ReplyDelete
  36. I wrote, "I did extract a solution, finally..." The hint that I had gotten the answer was that the words acronym for IDEAS, the answer I got. It is fun seeing the alternatives others have come up with! ---Rob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seemed to me that "extract a solution" could be pointing to either AMINE or AMIDE.

      Delete
    2. Wow! I had no idea of that connection.

      Delete
  37. I appreciate this blog so much. None of my friends are interested in the Sunday Puzzle. Nice to know there are others as addicted as I.

    ReplyDelete
  38. 1. AIDES
    ASIDE
    IDEAS (the plurals answer)

    2. AIMED
    AMIDE
    MEDIA (“I made...” see below)

    3. AIRED
    AIDER
    REDIA (larva stage of flatworms)



    4. YAIRD (obsolete form of “yard”)
    DAIRY
    DIARY

    5. RAISE
    ARISE
    SERIA (geographic location).

    My hints: “I made...” anagrams to MEDIA, AIMED & AMIDE; “thin Air” suggests words with AIR: answers 3,4 & 5 all contain the letters A,I,R.

    ReplyDelete
  39. My answer: AIDES ASIDE IDEAS Surely this is the answer, as it is the most common appearing in almost everyone's posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you suppose AIMED AMIDE MEDIA is the "other answer" that Will had in mind?

      Delete
  40. How about route, outer, utero?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I took anatomy. The route outer utero is the cervix. Or, I suppose we could have a vagina dialogue.

      Delete
  41. Paul, I have heard of Florence Foster Jenkins who appears to be linked to Barham.
    http://www.geneanet.org/genealogie/fr/foster-barham.html
    Check
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtf2Q4yyuJ0
    at your peril.
    Meryl Streep?
    I just played a very short part of an old record.
    I think my father-in-law used to play it to annoy his wife.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I thought of ROUTE, OUTER, UTERO (although the last of these three is really Latin, but it is used in medical English in the expression "IN UTERO," meaning "in the womb").

    ReplyDelete
  43. By the way, I'm not wild about the answer ending in IDEAS, because the third syllable in IDEAS is really weak -- many people will hear "IDEA" as a two-syllable word with a long second syllable. (In fact, people who speak dialects of English where final r's are dropped, like in the NYC area and much of New England, often ADD an "r" to words ending in certain vowels, and one of those words is "idea," so you'll hear some New Yorkers and New Englanders pronounce "idea" like "idear," with plural "idears," and to them this will be just two syllables.)

    ReplyDelete
  44. SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT!!!

    Lego, over at http://puzzleria.blogspot.com/ has posted another of my puzzles this week. This time it is an easy picture puzzle. Hope you like it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's the only puzzle "over there" that I have the answer to. It is a good puzzle.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, ron. I originally made it up as a joke.

      Delete
    3. That progressive lady (no, not Elizabeth Warren) says go with it.

      Delete
    4. Looks and sounds like TV star Amy got naked.

      Delete
  45. Next week's challenge: This is a spinoff of the on-air puzzle. Name a country with at least three consonants. These are the same consonants, in the same order, as in the name of a language spoken by millions of people worldwide. The country and the place where the language is principally spoken are in different parts of the globe. What country and what language are these?

    ReplyDelete
  46. This puzzle definitely has some holes in it. Even though my answer works there are other consonants involved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is an answer where the consonants in both the country and the language are identical, with no leftovers.

      Delete
    2. My country and language have exactly the same consonants with none leftover.

      Delete
    3. Perhaps zeke creek thought that the country is one of those that starts with "The" as in "The Bahamas" or "The Gambia". Look again, zeke, it does NOT!

      Delete

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.