NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 14, 2018): Famous Women

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 14, 2018): Famous Women:

Q: Take the 7-letter last name of a famous woman. Drop the letter E. Add an I and an F. You can rearrange the result to get a word that famously describes this woman. Who's the woman, and what's the word?

This took me 3 minutes 10 seconds to solve.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 7, 2018): The I's Have It

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 7, 2018): The I's Have It:

Q: Think of a title for a particular person — two words, 15 letters in total — in which the only vowel is "I." What is it?

The prior person had the title for about a year.

Edit: In general, unless they become Miss America, they all keep the title for about a year.

A: MISS MISSISSIPPI

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 30, 2018): I'm Turning Pro

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 30, 2018): I'm Turning Pro:

Q: Name a major professional sports team. The first and last letters of the team's name specify something that is an anagram of its interior letters. What team is it?

This does seem pretty easy, unless I've misread something.

Edit: "does" is an anagram of "dose" while "misread something" refers to illegible handwriting attributed to doctors.

A: (Boston) RED SOX --> RX (℞), DOSE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 23, 2018): Caesar Cipher Time

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 23, 2018): Caesar Cipher Time:

Q: Think of an affliction in five letters. Shift each letter three spaces later in the alphabet — for example, A would become D, B would become E, etc. The result will be a prominent name in the Bible. Who is it?

This puzzle is driving me batty.

Edit: Bats are believed to be the original carriers/reservoir of the Ebola virus.

A: EBOLA --> HEROD

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 16, 2018): Uncommon Commonality

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 16, 2018): Uncommon Commonality:

Q: These five 2-word phrases have something very unusual in common. What is it? When you find it, think of another two-word phrase that has the same property.

● Property rights
● Land mine
● Sales order
● Color scheme
● India ink

You are all very capable students of Will Shortz.

Edit: Using the same pattern on "CAPable STudents", we have CAPital and STate.

A: The first 3 letters (of the first word) are the start a state capital and the first 2 letters (of the second word) are the state postal code.
PROperty RIghts --> PROvidence, RI
LANd MIne --> LANsing, MI
SALes ORder --> SALem, OR
COLor SCheme --> COLumbia, SC
INDia INk --> INDianapolis, IN

A few possible phrases that also work:
BOSs MAn / BOSun's MAte --> BOSton, MA
COLlege SCholarship --> COLumbia, SC
DENtal COverage --> DENver, CO
HARbor PAtrol / HARem PAnts --> HARrisburg, PA
INDefinite INtegral --> INDianapolis, IN
LINgual NErve --> LINcoln, NE
LITerary ARts --> LITtle Rock, AR
MADeira WIne --> MADison, WI
PROmise RIng --> PROvidence, RI
RICkets VAccine --> RIChmond, VA
SACral CAnal / SACred CAbal --> SACramento, CA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 9, 2018): Your Place or Mine?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 9, 2018): Your Place or Mine?:

Q: Think of two well-known companies — one in five letters, the other in four letters. Write the names one after the other.

The result, when spaced differently, will name a well-known geographical location in the U.S. (in two words). What is it?

Not counting mergers

Edit: Exxon merged with Mobil in 1999 to become ExxonMobil.

A: MOBIL + EBAY = MOBILE BAY

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 2, 2018): Start Your Engines

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 2, 2018): Start Your Engines:

Q: The name of the film director David Lynch conceals the word AVIDLY in consecutive letters, spanning his first and last names. Can you think of a famous film director whose first and last names conceal a 6-letter name of car, past or present, in consecutive letters?

Tesla only has 5 letters.

Edit: Tesla has been naming their cars as the Model S, Model 3 and Model X.

A: GUILLERMO DEL TORO (MODEL T).
Alternate: DENIS SANDERS (NISSAN)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 26, 2018): Musical Body Parts

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 26, 2018): Musical Body Parts:

Q: Think of a well-known musician whose last name contains a body part. The musician has a single-word nickname that anagrams to a different body part. Who is this musician, and what is the nickname?

The longer version of the musician's nickname also contains a body part.

Edit: Satchmo is short for "satchel mouth".

A: LOUIS ARMSTRONG --> SATCHMO --> STOMACH

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 19, 2018): Part of a Complete Breakfast

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 19, 2018): Part of a Complete Breakfast:

Q: Think of a brand name you might see on your breakfast table. Change one letter to a Y and rearrange the result to get a familiar two-word phrase that names something else you might see on your breakfast table. What phrase is this?

It could be Grape Jell-O® but Grape Jelly doesn't involve any rearrangement.

Edit: My hint was about not being scrambled which is what you would need in order to see the egg yolks.

A: KELLOGG'S-L+Y = EGG YOLKS

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 12, 2018): The Missing Link (Part 2)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 12, 2018): The Missing Link (Part 2):

Q: Continuing on from Part 1, here's Part 2 of the challenge.

These four words have a very interesting and unusual property in common — something about the letters in them (all the letters). What is it?

SCARECROW
SCREENSAVER
CAMERAWOMAN
CURVACEOUSNESS

When you know it, think of a common 7-letter word that shares the unusual properties of both last week's and this week's words.

If you are thinking anagrams, you are heading down the wrong path. Personally I don't feel the second property is that uncommon. However some of you may still be wishing the deadline was extended another week.

Edit: The hints were "down" and "extended" trying to hint at the missing descenders and ascenders when written in lowercase. And the word "uncommon" was an example of such a word.

A: In lowercase, the words have no ascenders and descenders
scarecrow
screensaver
camerawoman
curvaceousness

The common words that I found that could both contain a planet and only use these letters were:
aVENUeS -> VENUS
MAnneRS --> MARS
MAnuReS --> MARS
MARacaS --> MARS
MARoonS --> MARS
MARrowS --> MARS
MoAneRS --> MARS

I submitted AVENUES because VENUS wasn't included in last week's planet list.