Comments on Blaine's Puzzle Blog: NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 17): Back to Words

Golly gee! The person in question is one of those ...

2009-05-26T08:10:38.863-07:00

Golly gee! The person in question is one of those people like Cher or Fabio, but a person who often came close to repeating theirself/themself.

Blue of Central Iowa, if you haven't already read John McWhorter's "Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue", you might be interested in his discussion of "the singular they" on pages 65-66.

I think that August and Hawaii have a connection t...

2009-05-26T07:24:21.147-07:00

I think that August and Hawaii have a connection to this person too.

Indeed, agreed, Lorenzo –– as interesting, at the ...

2009-05-25T14:44:36.443-07:00

Indeed, agreed, Lorenzo –– as interesting, at the least, as to how the scientific mama of all monkeys as well as the scientific papa of all monkeys sorta' approximates this particular Homo sapiens monkey ... well except for, come to think of it now, both of Mr Shortz's two – consonant – only and first – half – of – the – alphabet rules, not?

At his minimum, however, the seven – letter first and last name thingy fits. heh. heh.

Blue, Isn't it interesting that the phrase "the mo...

2009-05-25T13:53:04.621-07:00

Blue,
Isn't it interesting that the phrase "the mother of all" is usually followed by something negative (battles, scandals, pandemics, Ponzi schemes)while "the father of" denotes pioneering accomplishments, such as the many associated with this week's person.

OJ has a connection to this person.

2009-05-25T12:30:30.369-07:00

OJ has a connection to this person.

On a(nother) Memorial Day and re (what should alwa...

2009-05-25T10:11:23.848-07:00

On a(nother) Memorial Day and re (what should always be a legitimate) query, "male or female?" wha' … I mean, rillyrilly, wha'da'ya' think? What do you truly believe in your witchy brain of brains, the gender of this person to moooost liiiikely be?

Study the flip / reverse – maxim of life's paragraph three of the biosketch of a popular encyclopedic entry and tell me if – ever – there could've been any truly inquisitive doubt as to this person's gender, knowing, as we all do, the short – sightedness of even scientific h i s tory.

Know, too, that a philosophically contemporaneous colleague of and neighbor to this person publicly, loudly, repeatedly blathered the following, "Let them bear children for him till they DIE OF IT. They are there to do it."

http://bluemAAs.public.iastate.edu

I've been listening to Queen and the Indigo Girls....

2009-05-25T09:21:06.501-07:00

I've been listening to Queen and the Indigo Girls. It helped solve the puzzle this week.

You could call this person a visionary, describe t...

2009-05-25T08:41:15.970-07:00

You could call this person a visionary, describe them as a farsighted individual. Despite the commonly held belief that this person died MANY years ago, they made their first of numerous appearances in a popular television show on January 5, 1967.

male or female?

2009-05-25T07:34:08.799-07:00

male or female?

To solve this, focus on something other than Holly...

2009-05-25T07:26:46.691-07:00

To solve this, focus on something other than Hollywood stars.

Too big a hint for a Monday, I think.

2009-05-25T06:18:05.924-07:00

Too big a hint for a Monday, I think.

Is this person living or dead?

2009-05-24T23:17:05.102-07:00

Is this person living or dead?

I solved it; the price I paid is that I haven't le...

2009-05-24T23:08:24.117-07:00

I solved it; the price I paid is that I haven't left the house since Will asked the question!

-- Other Ben

Where is everyone??? Finally got the answer!!!

2009-05-24T20:04:12.626-07:00

Where is everyone??? Finally got the answer!!!

New puzzle. Focus on the first name only. I had ...

2009-05-24T10:55:08.915-07:00

New puzzle. Focus on the first name only. I had to look up the last name.

2009-05-24T09:11:07.176-07:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

RESIGN--REIGN got only 850 correct answers.

2009-05-24T06:04:13.909-07:00

RESIGN--REIGN got only 850 correct
answers.

I spent an inordinate amount of time listening to ...

2009-05-23T18:16:03.886-07:00

I spent an inordinate amount of time listening to that album while lying on the floor with headphones on when I was a teenager. That one and Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall and a few others, including Sticky Fingers. I still think Can't You Hear Me Knocking is one of the very best songs the Stones ever recorded.

I just listened to Love Reign O'er Me from the las...

2009-05-23T16:59:34.719-07:00

I just listened to Love Reign O'er Me from the last show on The Who's Amreican tour-Live at the Capital Centre in Largo, MD 12.06.1973. Eight months later in the summer breezes of 1974 Nixon (37) would resign.

Carl, you're definitely up on your tunes. I'm awa...

2009-05-23T14:40:47.546-07:00

Carl, you're definitely up on your tunes. I'm aware that there is no second "r" in Quadrophenia, but quadrophrenic sounds better than quadrophenic. I had an "a" where the "o" is supposed to be, but that's a different mistake.

By the way, Quadrophenia is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. It's not quite as good as Who's Next, but it's excellent. The last chord in Love Reign O'er Me is one of the all-time greatest chords in rock and roll. It's up there with the last chord in The Beatles' A Day in the Life.

Dave, I got your reference to Love Reign O'er Me, ...

2009-05-22T20:36:42.022-07:00

Dave, I got your reference to Love Reign O'er Me, from the Who album. But there's no second "r" in Quadrophenia.

... and, additionally, iv) end (of the sign's mess...

2009-05-22T17:47:55.908-07:00

... and, additionally, iv) end (of the sign's message) = synonym for resign ... Blue

Lovely re noting i) re - signs - - yes -- -- as w...

2009-05-22T17:44:38.059-07:00

Lovely re noting i) re - signs - - yes -- -- as well as ii) the implied May's and April's showers' homynym of ... rains ... and iii) prevail = synonym in several googled sites for reign.

Did anybody get my reference to being "quadraphren...

2009-05-22T17:41:57.075-07:00

Did anybody get my reference to being "quadraphrenic?"

Oops! Almost forgot to post the answer. It's t...

2009-05-22T13:01:04.616-07:00

Oops! Almost forgot to post the answer. It's there now and yes, the answer is RESIGN --> REIGN.

I like the hints towards #37 NIXON (resign) and the clues about rain (reign). Also Blue's clue about "putting back notices in her yard" was a fun way to hint at "re-sign".

Oh, and Jim did the "initial letter" thing in his comment where each sentence starts with R-E-I-G-N respectively. I thought he gave it away later where he emphasized the word "initial" too much, so I deleted that comment.