NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 24, 2021): A Pair of Menus

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 24, 2021): A Pair of Menus

Q: Think of a two-word phrase you might see on a laptop computer menu. Remove five letters. What remains, in order, is a three-word phrase you might see on a restaurant menu. What phrases are these?

I'm going to have to chew on this one for awhile.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 17, 2021): Famous Actress (8,6)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 17, 2021): Famous Actress (8,6)

Q: Name a famous actress (8,6). Change the next-to-last letter of her first name to an S. Then reverse the order of the last three letters, and you'll name a famous ruler. The actress's last name is an anagram of where you would find this ruler. Who is the actress and the ruler?

Her father's name relates to the ruler and the correct pronunciation of her surname is close to the place.

Edit: News stories have said the pronunciation of her last name is closer to "throne".

CHARLIZE THERON --> CHARLES I, THRONE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 10, 2021): Start Your Day Off Right

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 10, 2021): Start Your Day Off Right

Q: Name something you might eat for breakfast, in two words. Add a "G" at the end of the first word. Switch the middle two letters of the second word. Then reverse the order of the two words. You'll name an old-fashioned activity. What is it?

No help needed on this one.

You may need little help on the puzzle but you'll need lots of help on the activity.

A: RAISIN BRAN --> BARN RAISING

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 3, 2021): Country and Its Largest City

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 3, 2021): Country and Its Largest City

Q: Write down the name of a country and its largest city, one after the other. Hidden in this string, in consecutive letters, is another country's capital (in six letters)? What is it?

The first country's capital and the second country's largest city share the same two starting letters.

Edit: Islamabad and Istanbul.

A: PakistAN KARAchi --> ANKARA (Turkey)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 26, 2021): Prepare for Departure

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 26, 2021): Prepare for Departure

Q: Take the common abbreviation for a major American city. Insert it inside an airport code for that city. And you'll name a flower. What flower is it?

Perhaps it is a one-letter abbreviation?

Edit: CHI could also be the single Greek letter Χ (Chi).

A: Chicago (CHI) + O'Hare (ORD) = ORCHID

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 19, 2021): Grown in a Garden

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 19, 2021): Grown in a Garden

Q: Name something grown in a garden. Change the second letter, and double the third letter, to get an adjective that describes this thing. What is it?

I guess it can be considered a word that describes the item.

Edit: My uncertainty was a hint toward the adjective.

A: RADISH --> REDDISH

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 12, 2021): Same Name Singers

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 12, 2021): Same Name Singers

Q: Think of two famous singers with the same five-letter first name. Take the last name of one of these singers. Switch the second and third letters. Then advance the resulting first and third letters each to the next letter in the alphabet. The result will be the last name of the other singer. What singers are these?

I created an Excel spreadsheet with functions to perform the transformations. Fortunately my wife suggested I do letter transformations both ways because one of the names wasn't in my original list.

Edit: My hint contained both the phrase "I do" (as in White Wedding) and the consecutive letters "I do l". My original list only had Billy Joel so it was good that I worked it backwards to get Billy Idol.

A: BILLY IDOL, BILLY JOEL

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 5, 2021): Who is it?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 5, 2021): Who is it?

Q: Name a famous person (8,4). The last name is a regular uncapitalized word with a single vowel. Change that vowel to make a new word that is humorously defined by the person's first name. Who is it?

I was going round and round on this one for awhile

Edit: Canines often go round and round before settling down to sleep. Also a hockey puck is round. The puzzle is similar to an NPR puzzle from May 18, 2008

A: WOLFGANG PUCK --> WOLF GANG = PACK

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 29, 2021): Old Musicians Never Die. They Just Decompose

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 29, 2021): Old Musicians Never Die. They Just Decompose

Q: Name a form of musical composition. If you say the word quickly, you'll name something, in two words, that you might buy in a music store. What is it?

I doubt many of these are sold.

Edit: Who buys CDs these days?

A: RHAPSODY --> RAP CD

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 22, 2021): Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 22, 2021): Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers

Q: Take the name of a major American city. Move one of its letters three spaces later in the alphabet. Embedded in the resulting string of letters, reading left to right, is a cardinal number. Remove that number, and the remaining letters, reading left to right, spell an ordinal number. What city is it, and what are the numbers?

It's not the first time Will has used this city, nor the second.

Edit: March 2009 and January 2015

A: FORT WORTH --> FOURTH, TWO