Sunday, June 25, 2017

NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 25, 2017): Deranged Kim Kardashian

NPR Sunday Puzzle (June 25, 2017): Deranged Kim Kardashian:
Q: Take the name KIM KARDASHIAN. Rearrange the letters to get the last name of a famous actress along with a famous one-named singer. Who are these people?
My hint this week --> HfHN:AGBfER

Edit: Both actress and singer appeared on Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief.
A: (Nicole) KIDMAN and SHAKIRA

150 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. Good puzzle. That's the long and the short of it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Football clue: Detroit Lions, 1970 Divisional Playoffs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oops! I misread the puzzle. My clue refers not to the actress in question, but to an actor whose nickname and last name can also be formed from the letters in the surname of the actress.

      Delete
  4. I am 67 years old – I am not at all in touch with pop music anymore! Research was needed, and pretty easily done. I know the actress's work, however, through the years up until now, so it was no work of genius to shift the remaining letters around. ---Rob

    ReplyDelete
  5. One has to marvel about how Blaine finds and chooses images for this blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought I might get lots of interesting images if I did a search for "Deranged Kim Kardashian" but all I got were typical photos of her, as if "deranged" was a superfluous search term.

      Delete
    2. Perhaps "deranged" has become superfluous since November 8, 2016.

      Delete
    3. It was a great choice, part of what the artist titled "KK TRIPTYCH". I would've called it "STAINED GL".

      Delete
    4. Say, I thought "KK TRIPTYCH" was what AAA gave you to direct your drive from Kevil, KY, to Knob Hill, KY, to Krypton, KY. ;-)

      Delete
  6. Could it be the actress Carmen MIRANDA & KHASKI (Mylène)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brings back memories; I remember hearing Edith Nylon in the 1980's on a party mix tape in Lyon.

      One of the few French groups they played, almost everything else was US or British. As they put it, "French rock music sucks!"

      Delete
  7. As I posted earlier this morning:

    skydiveboySun Jun 25, 05:22:00 AM PDT

    So, in other words, we don't get a puzzle this week?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Never really got into this singer's music, but have really enjoyed many of the movies this actress has played in.

    ReplyDelete
  9. If you should be looking for something interesting to do today, after you finish solving this non-puzzle, then I suggest you head on over to Lego's Puzzleria! where you just might enjoy solving my somewhat sofistikated and kultured offering that is a homophone and should be easily solved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. eco,
      Just now noticed your above post or I would have replied earlier.

      The answer to your (and especially your) request is: Because YOU will love it. I have no doubt about this.

      Delete
    2. Considering both you and where you live, both may apply.

      Delete
  10. Famous singer? I need to look at where I wrote it down to remember it.
    From the Google ad for "The Puzzlemaster Presents"
    "Millions of faithful fans tune into Weekend Edition Sunday to hear Will Shortz delight his audience with puzzles of infinite variety and lively wordplay."
    Millions of fans and 1100 got "The arts?"
    It is too bad that Shortz has never shown any interest in the dynamics of the show.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Back in the late 1960s a public television station in western Massachusetts offered a toaster to anyone who called in during its fundraising drive, no matter how small the contribution. No one called, leading to two alternative explanations: either no one was watching or they all had toasters. Maybe all those millions of listeners already have lapel pins.

      Delete
    2. Come on, HenryW, there is a very plausible third explanation. All the listeners probably had already opened bank accounts and had toasters.

      Delete
  11. This was way too easy. Search for one-named singers, and use the process of elimination to weed out the ones that don't share letters with Kim Kardashian

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why don't you allow people to figure this out for themselves? If they are too stupid to be able to do that, then they don't deserve to solve it.

      Delete
    2. SDB - Whatevs. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together would figure that out on their own. I didn't give anything away that good puzzlers didn't already know. Drink a few Cabernets and relax, eh.

      Delete
    3. BTW, SDB - you might have already noticed this, but I don't take denigration from anyone. Period.

      Delete
    4. Curtis:

      Why pick on me? I am not the first who posted an objection to your flagrant disregard for Blaine's simple rule:

      BlaineSun Jun 25, 06:21:00 AM PDT

      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.

      Delete
    5. Why? Because - and I repeat myself - anyone would listening to the puzzle would figure this out before even getting to this blog. And, honestly, I pick on you because you have a habit of picking on everyone else.

      Delete
    6. Here's my last comment, then I'll let you have you have the last word. The final authority here is Blaine - not you. And I will fully accept Blaine's decision whether to let my comment stand. Feel free to say anything you want in response to that.

      Delete
    7. Yeah, I don't see a reason to delete Curtis' comment. I don't think he's given away anything that someone couldn't figure out to try on their own.

      Delete
    8. Blaine,
      While I see it differently, I defer to your decision, and without further discussion on my part. Thanks for weighing in; I thought you were not lurking.

      BTW, I rarely get your hints, but this one is really impossible, for me anyway. Love the pic though.

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

      Delete
    10. Actually, WS said "one-named singer," not specifying female or male.

      Delete
    11. WW: you're right, and I've replaced my previous post with something more neutral, and you should probably do the same.

      WS made it a lot easier by saying it was a one-named singer. I'd be surprised if anyone solved it other than a method similar to Curtis', though I see that Jaxon did it the other way. I didn't need a list.

      After trying Cher, Roseanne, and Liberace it was pretty straightforward.

      Delete
    12. That's the same method I used, and probably a lot of others.

      Delete
  12. Yeah, that's the way I did it; but do we want to give everyone this sort of roadmap to a solution?

    ReplyDelete
  13. I first got the singer's name, and then the actress's name just fell into place.

    ReplyDelete
  14. One of the two people involved is associated with an urban legend, you might say.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. By far the best clue without giving it away.

      Delete
    2. The actress enjoys listening to music whether she is in the city or far away.

      Delete
  15. If you've seen the singer perform, it may be said this person has all the right moves. Back in the 1980s that phrase could well apply to an actor who would later be briefly linked to the actress.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I was incredulous about a Kim Kardashian puzzle. At first, I thought Will must think he is some kind of joke guy. However, Lulu's reaction convinced me that Will's body language was sincere.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great rebuttal, Neal like the Verb. Enjoying your screen name and posturing as well.

      Delete
    2. Will is not in the studio with Lulu when the segment tapes. (Some here have already accused him of phoning it in.)

      Delete
    3. Not unusual. I did a one hour call-in radio show with Laura Flanders; I was in San Francisco, she was in New York. Friends who heard it had no idea we weren't in the same studio.

      Delete
    4. jan, I thought Neal was being sarcastic which made it funnier.

      eco, what did you and Laura talk about?

      Delete
    5. I love hearing about folks' broadcast experience. Back when Car Talk aired new shows, my friends were shocked to hear that they didn't do the show live, and that staff pre-screened callers. Most shows tape more than they can use, and then edit it down to fit the broadcast time.

      Delete
    6. WW, we talked about environmental building, energy, materials, indoor air quality, etc. This was around '98 or so, relatively early days of green building. I'd done other shows, but this was the first with a remote host. Credit to Laura for making it feel very natural.


      I suspect Terry Gross does a lot of interviews remotely.

      Delete
    7. eco,
      I remember Terry Gross in an interview several years ago saying she did not like doing interviews in person, which is why she chose to do them over the phone. I am sure it was aired on NPR, at least my local station, so you can probably search for it.

      Delete
    8. Good, green stuff, eco.

      Do you think Terry does the interviews re:motely from castleside? ;-)

      Delete
    9. Curtis,
      I've done call-in shows which were broadcast live as well as interview shows that were broadcast later (sometimes 2 in the morning!). The live shows have been on local NPR or Pacifica radio, not much pre-screening, though at some there was a person taking the calls who would send a brief message to the host about the nature of the call.

      The pre-recorded interviews were also low budget, no editing, but the interviewer had a digital clock running (tenths of seconds) so they knew how much time was left and when they had to close the interview. All done in one take, a bit unnerving, but at 2 am the audience is probably small and drunk.

      SDB: I do recall Terry saying that once; I think she said she prefers the distance.

      WW: I'll keep that in mind.

      Delete
    10. Oh, and WW your response was fine, maybe I have Turret's Syndrome.

      Delete
    11. If your next move is castling, eco, I understand.

      Delete
    12. What does an uncertain Australian say?

      Delete
    13. That's a bit stale, mate. Check outback, and while you're at it, throw another pawn on the barbie.

      Delete
    14. There's nothing to say then, as it's a black and white issue.

      Delete
  17. You're in luck if you're from the U.K.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My wife is from Luck (Wisconsin). When we go to visit, I always say,"I guess we're in luck." I can hear her eyes roll after I say it.

      Delete
    2. You should have Chuck's ophthalmologist check that out.

      Delete
    3. Teachers don't like noisy pupils. In the old days they'd give them lashes, now they just tell them to "put a lid on it!"

      Anticipating SDB, that's too cornea thing to say, and he will doubtless LASIK in bed after reading this.

      Delete
    4. The cockney, when asked if the punster was a credit to society, replied, "Nay, astigmatism!"

      Delete
    5. eco, Not to dilate in responding to your post, but the skydiveboy has been working ALL DAY replacing the intake manifold on his Mercury Grand Marquis. And now, due the (expletive deleted) sending me the incorrect thermostat gasket and the obscene trouble that is going to cause me now that I have finished with the job and find it leaks, I am ready to diearly.

      Delete
  18. Stupid puzzle this week. Interesting anagrams however. I wonder if Kim Kardashian has realized this about her name before.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Easy puzzle, got this at first glance, even though I'm not very hip on singers.

    Maybe it's that time of year, looks like we're into the summertime anagram season, I was hoping that was just a last year thing.

    ReplyDelete
  20. At least we may have weathered the Celebrity Guest storm.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is far and away the easiest puzzle in weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sailed smoothly to it, through it and on to the booty.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Change one letter in the first name of the actress (reduce it by 50%, in a manner of speaking) and rearrange the letters to get a different first name. It can be an interesting exercise, if you can follow an old man's train of thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul,
      As I just posted over on my P! blog, I love your puzzles but I am baffled by them. And, heaven knows we need "piggyback" puzzles this week!
      I may have gotten halfway through to following your train of thought on this one... but then your tracks veered away from the road I was driving down in my 1951 Hudson.

      LegoWhoseBrainCouldUseATadMore"InterestingExercise"

      Delete
    2. Change one letter in the last name of the actress and you have the last name of a pundit.

      Delete
    3. forgot to add: you have to rearrange the letters as well.

      Delete
    4. Wikipedia actually has a list of pundits! I was able to find a suitable last name in that list. Changing one letter in that surname yields (without rearrangement) the surname of a critic. The first name of the critic is similar in meaning to the first name I originally derived from the first name of the actress. Actually, my original challenge was stated incorrectly, because I was really thinking of a middle name.

      Delete
    5. Who is your pundit and critic? My pundit was Michelle MALKIN (one letter different from KIDMAN).

      Also, my musical clue was in reference to married to COUNTRY singer Keith URBAN.

      Delete
    6. Change MALKIN's K to a T to get (Leonard) MALTIN. LEONARD is a brave lion; LIONEL is a young lion. Keith LIONEL Urban is Nicole Kidman's old man; LIONEL Brockman Richie, Jr. is another Nicole's old man (in a different sense). L is 50% of C.
      Nicole Richie and Kim Kardashian are both associated with reality TV and being famous for being famous.

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

      Delete
    8. L is 66⅔% of C. L is 50% of E.

      Delete
    9. L is 50% of C.
      I is 20% of V.
      V is 50% of X.
      X is 10% of C.
      C is 10% of M.
      L is 10% of D.
      etc.

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

      Delete
    11. L is 50% of □, and C, and E (I guess).

      Delete
    12. L + ¯ = C but L is NOT 50% of C.

      Delete
    13. L is 50.
      C is 100.
      50 is 50% of 100.
      L is 50% of C.
      QED

      Delete
  24. Due to my basic ignorance of the world of Pop, finding the singer's name would not have been difficult without searching "single name..." it would have been impossible.

    Due to my dislike of anagrams, finding the actress's name without a website designed for it likewise would have made this challenge a no go.

    One of my favorite parts of this blog over the years has been to wait for SDB's howl of indignation over a hint to confirm its value.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ask yourself this:

    Which would you rather be?
    1. A poor sick person in need of medical care?
    2. A rich person enjoying a nice tax cut?

    I think most would choose #2. How could anyone be against the ACA repeal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I first saw this weeks puzzle I thought "this will be a snap". Then I realized it was "just too complicated". Maybe if I had seven years to work on it I could get it right.
      Finally, after some careful thought I came up with the answer. You know, it really wasn't "that complicated"!

      Delete
    2. 68Charger:

      Are you a Single Player advocate?

      Who is that sexy lady in the link? Is that Donald Trump's mother? Was she expressing surprise that Paul Ryan just gave her a wedgie?

      Delete
    3. SDB - One of our senators(R) actually came out against the bill, although a little late, today. Maybe there is some hope. I'm now even more glad that I went to his town hall meeting a few weeks ago and voiced my displeasure with his voting record.

      Delete
    4. I may have got that photo wrong. Now I think he is trying to tell us just how badly he wants to screw us all, unless he is experiencing a Monika Lewinsky moment.

      Delete
    5. SDB - I hope that link worked correctly... even if it did, you may still be right on the money.

      Delete
    6. I thought you realized that our Senators and Congressmen & women no longer represent the voters, they represent only their donors.

      Delete
    7. Ron, you're right about that!!

      Delete
    8. And I hate to keep using 'right' all the time...

      Delete
    9. ron,
      Not sure if you are referring to me or someone else, but if me, you thought right. I also do not think they ever represented the people. With a few exceptions, of course. The more you find out about the founding fathers, the more to dislike.

      Delete
    10. We have the best Congress money can buy.

      As a relative used to say, "An honest politician is one who once bought, stays bought - and doesn't try to renegotiate the price."

      Delete
  26. I’m having eye surgery on Thursday – a follow-up to the cataract surgery I had a short while ago. So I’m pretty sure I won’t be logging on to this site. You guys have fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wait -- what if you get The Call? Better give your phone to the anesthesiologist, just in case.

      Delete
    2. Chuck,
      Are they doing the laser zap in order to clear up something behind one of the lenses? I understand this is common.

      Delete
    3. Now I am scared to get the surgery!

      Delete
    4. It won't be me, and they still haven't sent me all the promised swag. Same with Lego too.

      Great cartoon!

      Delete
  27. They're actually inserting a second lens behind the lens they've already put in. No laser zap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. May your surgeon's eye be sharp and his hand steady.

      Delete
    2. I had not heard of that procedure. I wish you well on the outcome.

      Delete
  28. However the surgery goes, just go with it, whether your eyes have to be open wide or completely shut. And don't worry about the others here.

    ReplyDelete
  29. One thing we know about this weeks puzzle, certain areas of our body tell the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  30. SHAKIRA, KIDMAN

    "You're in luck if you're from the U.K." >>> i.e. switch U.K. around to get K.U., the initials of Nicole KIDMAN's husband, Keith Urban.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I wrote, "…. so it was no work of genius to shift the remaining letters around." _Genius_ was one of Kidman's films last year. ---Rob

    ReplyDelete
  32. SHAKIRA, KIDMAN

    > The actress's name can be arranged to form two words that might apply to the same person.

    Not much arranging needed. First I was a kid, now I'm a man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I thought you wanted to rearrange Nicole into lie and con. Can you guess who the person might be?

      Delete
  33. "Easy puzzle, got this at first glance (Eyes Wide Shut), even though I'm not very hip on singers (Shakira's big hit "Hips Don't Lie").

    "Maybe it's that time of year" - Nicole Kidman's birthday is June 20th, marriage to Keith Urban was June 25th.

    I mentioned Cher, Roseanne, and Liberace: like Shakira they are one-named people with stars on the Hollywood walk of fame.

    ReplyDelete
  34. One named singer: SHAKIRA.
    Actress: (Nicole) KIDMAN.

    My 007 comment was a reference a James Bond martini, which is, “SHAKEN, not stirred.”


    ReplyDelete
  35. Kim Kardashian
    Shakira
    Kidman (Nicole)

    ReplyDelete
  36. For other (better?) celebrity name wordplay, check out the crossword in yesterday's (Wed, 6/28) New York Times.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That puzzle included a quip, "How I wish Natalie Portman dated Jaques Cousteau, so I could call them 'Portmanteau'."

      Besides being nicely meta, I thought this might be a good idea for a 2-week creative challenge, i.e., think of a pairing of celebrities that makes for a clever, uh, portmanteau couple name.

      Delete
    2. You mean celebutantes like Billary?

      Delete
  37. Nicole KIDMAN

    SHAKIRA


    Paul's Challenge:
    1st solution:
    Remove 50% of the E in NICOLE to yield NICOLL; rearrange to yield COLLIN. See: Collin Cline's OLD MAN & The Sea.

    2nd solution:
    Change the C in NICOLE to an L and rearrange to yield LIONEL Richie who shares his surname with NICOLE Richie.

    Change one letter in the last name of the actress and you have the last name of the pundit: Michelle MALKIN.

    ReplyDelete
  38. SHAKIRA, (Nicole)KIDMAN
    "Urban legend" alludes to Kidman's husband Keith Urban. "All the Right Moves" was a film starring Kidman's then husband Tom Cruise. Shakira moves her body a lot. I also alluded to Kidman's films: "Just Go With It", "Eyes Wide Shut", and "The Others".

    ReplyDelete
  39. My clues -

    A joke of a puzzle- referred to kidding (for Kidman)
    I hear a body part- referred to the "ear" in Shak-ear-a.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought the body part referenced was the hips since Shakira's "hips don't lie".

      Delete
  40. Puzzleria! is up already, bright and early!
    Our featured challenge this week is an enthrallingly cryptic puzzle devised by PlannedChaos.

    Also on our menus this week are:
    A quartet of trash-TV-inspired Ripping-Off-Shortz Slices,
    A high-flying, fine-feathered and all-fueled-up-but-perhaps-on-the-way-down Appetizer, and
    A Dessert with literary pretensions.

    Just access the link "Joseph Young's Puzzleria!" on Blaine's PUZZLE LINKS.

    Drop by and Plan to enjoy a Chaotically fun time!

    LegoSaysToTakeAWordMeaning"Confusion"AndReduceItsFirstLetterByHalfAndThenGetThe"H"OuttaTheResultToNameACountry

    ReplyDelete
  41. Solving the puzzle was easy. Deciphering your clue was impossible. What the heck is HfHN:AGBfER?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief -- both Nicole Kidman and Shakira participated.

      Delete
  42. Next week's challenge: This challenge comes from listener Tyler Lipscomb of Athens, Ga. Think of a common girl's name. Write it in all capital letters. Rotate one of these letters 90 degrees and another of the letters 180 degrees. The result will name a make of a car. What is it?

    ReplyDelete
  43. This must be Will's favorite car make. It's appeared in puzzles at least three times before.

    ReplyDelete
  44. A very, very tired SDB is very happy that, again, we do not have to think hard to solve this one. Back to bed and lots more sleep, I hope.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Gfske'f qcfegfwgg sggay nzcnt gfwl phxnee.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Take part of the girl's name and part of a body part, rearrange to get something this make of car was famous for.

    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.