NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 15, 2019): World Menagerie

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 15, 2019): World Menagerie:

Q: Name a world capital in 12 letters. If you have the right one, you can rearrange its letters to name two animals — one in three letters and the other in nine. What capital is it, and what are the animals?

I guess we have no hope of rehabilitating Will Shortz; he can't pull himself away from the anagram puzzles.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 8, 2019): Looking Sideways

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 8, 2019): Looking Sideways:

Q: Name a popular TV personality. Write the name in all capital letters. Rotate the last letter 90° and move it forward one spot — that is, move it in front of the preceding letter. The result will name a famous movie. What is it?

I've been staring at lists of TV personalities and famous movies for so long, I can't focus.

Edit: In other words, I'm experiencing double vision (007).

A: DR. OZ --> DR. NO

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 1, 2019): You Have Less than One Week to Escape

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 1, 2019): You Have Less than One Week to Escape:

Q: This is a two-week challenge. It may sound impossible, but it's not. You wake up trapped in a round room with six doors. A voice over a loudspeaker tells you that five of the doors are booby-trapped and will bring instant death if you try to open them. Only one door provides an opening that will get you out safely. The doors are evenly spaced around the room. They look exactly alike. Your only clue is that on the wall between each pair of doors is a large letter of the alphabet. Going clockwise, the letters are H, I, J, K, L and M. Which is the correct door that will get you out ... and why?

Shh! Don't give the answer away before the Wednesday 3pm ET deadline.

Edit: The room is round, so the spot where the letters wrap must be important otherwise it could have been a single wall with several doors. Also, the letters are *between* the doors. So this points to the exit door being being between M and H, but why? Reread the question and focus on opening and out; they seem to be key.

A: When marked with "OUT" the door between M and H forms a word for an opening — "MOUTH".

This is my theory as to the intended answer, but I'll have to wait to Sunday to have it officially confirmed.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 25, 2019): You Have Two Weeks to Escape

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 25, 2019): You Have Two Weeks to Escape:

Q: This is a two-week challenge. It may sound impossible, but it's not. You wake up trapped in a round room with six doors. A voice over a loudspeaker tells you that five of the doors are booby-trapped and will bring instant death if you try to open them. Only one door provides an opening that will get you out safely. The doors are evenly spaced around the room. They look exactly alike. Your only clue is that on the wall between each pair of doors is a large letter of the alphabet. Going clockwise, the letters are H, I, J, K, L and M. Which is the correct door that will get you out ... and why?

Read carefully. Don't choose a booby trapped door or you can kiss your *** goodbye!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 18, 2019): New Math?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 18, 2019): New Math?:

Q: If five = four, six = nine, and seven = five, what does twelve equal?

I haven't heard this air yet, and I already have the answer.

Edit: My hint is it's easier to see this puzzle written down than to listen to it. Also, a very similar version of this puzzle aired about ten years ago. The clock was a little bit of a misdirect although you do see clocks with Roman Numerals.

A: Roman Numerals within the spelling of the first number equal the second number.
fIVe = 4
sIX = 9
seVen = 5
tweLVe = 55

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 11, 2019): Insert an E

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 11, 2019): Insert an E:

Q: Think of a common 5-letter word. If you insert an E after the second letter, you'll get a common 6-letter word. If instead you insert an E after the fourth letter, you'll get another 6-letter word. And if instead you insert an E at the end, you'll get still another 6-letter word. What words are these?

You can anagram the 6-letter words into two other 6-letter words, starting with the same letter. One has to do with words and the other with a certain sport.

Edit: The anagrams were PARSES and PASSER

A: SPARS --> SPEARS, SPARES, SPARSE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 4, 2019): Synonyms and Antonyms

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 4, 2019): Synonyms and Antonyms:

Q: Think of a two-letter and a five-letter word that are synonyms. The two-letter word and the last syllable of the five-letter word sound like new words that are antonyms. What words are these?

If today is Day 1, I'll definitely give you the answer before Day 6.

Edit: The South Korean boy band Day6 has a song named Hi Hello on their 2017 Moonrise album. Also in the picture, the big bee is higher and the small bee is lower.

A: HI, HELLO --> HIGH, LOW

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 28, 2019): Abracadabra!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 28, 2019): Abracadabra!:

Q: The word BEVY is "alphabetically balanced." That is, the first letter, B, is second from the start of the alphabet, and the last letter, Y, is second from the end of the alphabet. Similarly, E and V are each fifth from the ends of the alphabet. Can you think of a six-letter word related to magic that is similarly balanced?

Giving a clue is not easy this week, so I'll just say Wikipedia has multiple entries for this word. Also the answer isn't HOVELS.

A: WIZARD

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 21, 2019): Easy Money

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 21, 2019): Easy Money:

Q: Think of a common two-word phrase, in nine letters, naming something that makes it easy to get money. Rearrange its letters to spell another common two-word phrase naming something that makes it hard to get money. What phrases are these?

May you have the first but not the second.

A: DEBIT CARD <--> BAD CREDIT

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 14, 2019): Veni, Vidi, Virgo!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 14, 2019): Veni, Vidi, Virgo!:

Q: Take an 11-letter word with two D's in it. If you drop both D's, you'll get a world capital followed by a sign of the zodiac. What's the 11-letter word?

I'm back!

The big difference between Dromedaries and Bactrian camels is in the number of humps on their backs. I'm sorry for feeling that all the hints to hump (day) and lumps (of sugar) and (camel) cigarettes were too revealing.

A: DROMEDARIES --> ROME, ARIES