NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 26, 2026): Religious Figures

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 26, 2026): Religious Figures

Q: Name an animal whose first five letters in order spell a religious figure. And if you change the animal's next-to-last letter, its last five letters in order will spell another religious figure. What animal is this?

Is this a joke? So easy!

Edit: A priest, a minister and a rabbit walk into a blood bank. The receptionist asks if they know their blood types.
The priest says, "I believe I'm a Type A."
The minister says, "I believe I'm a Type B."
The rabbit says, "I believe I'm a Type O."

A: RABBIT --> RABBI, ABBOT

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 19, 2026): Political Lawsuit?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 19, 2026): Political Lawsuit?

Q: Think of a popular movie of the past decade. Change the last letter in its title. The result will suggest a lawsuit between two politicians of the late 20th century — one Republican and one Democrat. What's the movie and who are the people?

Maybe we should focus on what the politicians had in common rather than their differences?

Edit: What I found more interesting was their first names are GERALD and GERALDine

A: FORD V. FERRARI --> FORD V. FERRARO
There was no actual lawsuit between these two.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 12, 2026): Foreign Landmark

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 12, 2026): Foreign Landmark

Q: Name a famous foreign landmark (5,4). Change the eighth letter to a V and rearrange the result to make an adjective that describes this landmark. What landmark is it?

I need to finish up my taxes, so I'll have to put solving on hold until then.

The Notre Dame fire started April 15, 2019

A: NOTRE DAME, RENOVATED

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 5, 2026): Musical Cars

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 5, 2026): Musical Cars

Q: Think of a musical instrument. Add two letters at the end, and you'll get the names of two popular automobile models reading left to right. What musical instrument is this?

It's not a Ford Tempo or Hyundai Sonata. Maybe I'm not smart enough to figure this out this week?

Edit: I was hinting at the added letters, IQ.

A: ACCORDION --> (Honda) ACCORD, (Hyundai) IONIQ

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 29, 2026): If the Shoe Fits...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 29, 2026): If the Shoe Fits...

Q: Name some tools used by shoemakers. After this word place part of a shoe. The result will be the subject of a famous painting. What is it?

Take the resulting subject, remove the 6th, 8th and 10th letters and add an O. Rearrange to get something else pictured in that painting.

Edit: The new letters anagram to APOSTLES

A: LASTS + UPPER = LAST SUPPER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 22, 2026): Animals and Habitats

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 22, 2026): Animals and Habitats

Q: Name an animal. The first five letters of its name spell a place where you may find it. The last four letters of this animal will name another animal -- but one that would ordinarily not be found in this place. What animals are these?

Remove two consecutive letters that are an element, rearrange the remaining letters to name part of another animal.

Edit: Remove LI and rearrange to get TALONS

A: STALLION --> STALL, LION

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 15, 2026): Films and Food

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 15, 2026): Films and Food

Q: Think of a popular movie franchise with many sequels. Hidden in consecutive letters inside its name is a food. Replace that food with a single letter and you'll get another popular film franchise. What films are these?

I started with Scream but replacing "cream" with a single letter didn't go anywhere. Then I came up with the intended film series.

Edit: My hint was "didn't go anywhere" which hinted toward "to boldly go where no man (or one) has gone before"

A: STAR TREK - TART + H = SHREK

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 8, 2026): Dynamic Duos

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 8, 2026): Dynamic Duos

Q: Name a famous musical duo. Remove four consecutive letters of the duo's name and phonetically you'll name a famous nonmusical duo. Who are they?

I can think of another duo that ties the two duos together.

Edit: I was thinking of Maverick and Goose who sang You've Lost That Loving Feelin' in Top Gun. They also flew a plane together.

A: RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS --> WRIGHT BROTHERS

Lapel Pin (Proposed Design)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 1, 2026): Famous 20th Century Writer

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 1, 2026): Famous 20th Century Writer

Q: Name a famous 20th century writer. Remove the last two letters of the first name and the last letter of the last name. The result will name a clothing material. What is it?

Contrary to what Will might think, we've seen a version of this before.

Edit: "Version" sounds like "virgin" and "Will" sounds like "wool". This puzzle was very similar to a puzzle from January 2017.

A: VIRGINIA WOOLF --> VIRGIN WOOL