NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 5, 2020): Wisdom of the Crowd

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 5, 2020): Wisdom of the Crowd

Q: Think of an eight-letter word for something we all crave now. It consists of three consecutive men's nicknames. What are they?

Hint: Mapplethorpe's mom

In a recent film on Robert Mapplethorpe, the role of his mother, Joan, was played by actress Carolyn McCormick. "Carolyn M." is an anagram of the answer.

A: NORMALCY = NORM + AL + CY

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 28, 2020): Five-letter animals

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 28, 2020): Five-letter animals

Q: Think of a five-letter animal. Remove the middle letter, and two opposites remain. What animal is it?

I have two answers. One would be familiar to crossword solvers, the other (intended) answer is probably simple enough for an elementary school student.

Edit: Crosswords have made me familiar with quite a few 5-letter african animals (OKAPI, ELAND, NYALA...) and it was the last one that results in two cities (New York and Los Angeles) on opposite coasts. Not the intended answer, but I liked it nonetheless.

A: SWINE --> SW (southwest) and NE (northeast)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 21, 2020): Lake and City in Europe

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 21, 2020): Lake and City in Europe:

Q: Think of a famous person whose name consists of three names. The first and last letters of the first name plus the first and last letters of the second name plus the first and last letters of the third name, in order, name a city and lake in Europe. Who is it?

Edit: I didn't have it initially (kept trying to make Geneva or Zurich work). I decided to stay neutral and not say anything...

A: Lulu Garcia-Navarro --> Lake Lugano and Lugano (Switzerland)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 14, 2020): Five Letter Words

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 14, 2020): Five Letter Words:

Q: Think of a five-letter word. Change the first letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a new word that doesn't share any sounds with the first one. Then change its first letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a third word that doesn't share any sounds with either of the first two. What words are these?

I'm reminded of something from 2006. That won't help anyone, but I'll explain on Thursday.

Edit: For our family Christmas "Close But No Rhyme" Puzzle from 2006, the first clue was "A Christmas tree limb that is not smooth to the touch." The answer is a pair of words that might appear to rhyme (same ending letters) but don't. The answer was ROUGH BOUGH.

A: BOUGH, COUGH, DOUGH

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 7, 2020): Open for Curbside Pickup

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 7, 2020): Open for Curbside Pickup:

Q: Name a well-known restaurant chain. Rearrange its letters to name a large area in the United States. This area has a two-word name. What is it?

This was extremely easy.

Edit: In other words, it was a cinch (like a belt). Also, if anyone did a reverse image search on the picture, you'd see I had to crop out a Taco Restaurant logo.

A: TACO BELL → COAL BELT

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 31, 2020): Parlez-vous Français?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 31, 2020): Parlez-vous Français?:

Q: Think of a familiar three-word name of something. The first word in that name is a number. Let's call that number "x." The last "x" letters of the second word of the name are a French translation of the third word. What's the name?

I can't give a hint that doesn't give it away.

Edit: If I did give a revealing clue, someone would say it was TMI (too much information) but that abbreviation would also be too revealing. Bonus hint. In one of my replies I said "Cool".

A: THREE MILE ISLAND, ÎLE = ISLAND

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 24, 2020): Win the Race

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 24, 2020): Win the Race:

Q: Think of a well-known European city in seven letters. If you remove the third letter, you'll get a two-word phrase describing what you must do to win a race. If instead you remove the fourth letter, you'll get a two-word phrase describing what you can't do to win a race. What's the city?

Or change the penultimate letter and rearrange to get a car part. Or change it to a different letter to get a type of truck.

Edit: FANBELT or FLATBED.

A: BELFAST --> BE FAST, BE LAST

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 17, 2020): Department of (Anagrams)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 17, 2020): Department of (Anagrams):

Q: Name a Cabinet department — as in "Department of ___." Rearrange the letters of what goes in the blank to get the brand name of a product you might find at a drugstore or supermarket. What is it?

Anagramming "Housing and Urban Development" might take several months.

Edit: My hint was that from conception to labor is about 9 months. It also hinted at Labor Day being a few months off.

A: LABOR --> ORAL-B
or STATE --> TATE'S or DEFENSE --> SENEFED

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 10, 2020): Car Pets

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 10, 2020): Car Pets:

Q: Name the make and model of a popular car. Change the first and last letters of the make to name an animal. Change the first and fourth letters of the model to name another animal. What car is this?

Well, I can make FORD into WORM, but how will I make an animal out of MUSTANG? :)

Edit: My hint was "how will" --> "howl"

A: TOYOTA COROLLA --> COYOTE, GORILLA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 3, 2020): Four Blanks

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 3, 2020): Four Blanks:

Q: Think of two common phrases in the form "___ and ___," in which the blanks stand for four-letter words. All four words in those two phrases have different first letters, but the last three letters in the words are the same. What are the phrases?

Kuantan Port Malaysia or Macomb, Illinois

Edit: Kuantan Port is home to NDWT (New Deep Water Terminal) and Macomb, IL is home to WTND 106.3 FM

A: NEAR and DEAR, WEAR and TEAR