NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 23): Football on your FM Dial...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 23): Football on your FM Dial...:

Q: Name something a football player wears, in eight letters. Rearrange the eight letters into two four-letter words associated with a fraud. What words are these?

My FM radio is on the fritz, so I had to go to the NPR website for the puzzle. However, you'll ace this puzzle, if you ask me.

Edit: Put it all together, FM + ace + ask

A: FACEMASK --> FAKE + SCAM

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 16): Synonyms for fragility?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 16): Synonyms for fragility?:

Q: Name a certain shop some people visit every day. Reverse the order of the last four letters, leaving the other letters untouched, and you'll get a new word that means fragility.

This week's puzzle is really hard!

Okay, I lied...

Edit: This one was actually really easy, I think. If you focus on the suffix, -NESS comes immediately to mind. Reverse it and the answer is obvious. By the way, the subtle hint was lied which is an anagram of deli.

A: DELICATESSEN --> DELICATENESS

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 9): Still working on this one?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 9): Still working on this one?:

Q: Take the word 'near.' If you shift each of its consonants to the next consonant of the alphabet, and each of its vowels to the next vowel in the alphabet, you get the word 'pies.' Find a one-word title of a famous novel (also made into a film) that — if you shift each of its consonants and vowels in the same manner — gives you another one-word title of a famous novel that was also made into a film. What novels and films are these?

Well, there's the puzzle. I'm actually still working on it so I don't have any clues to post. Even coming up with one-word titles that are both novels and movies is proving difficult. I hate to admit it but, I'm feeling nearly brain-dead. Anyone able to help me get over my large mental roadblock?

Edit: I must apologize because those hints above were really subtle and misleading. Unless you are astute, they don't give you the answer, but if you have the answer, it hopefully confirmed you were correct. The hints were "nearly brain-dead" and "large roadblock". Since it is after the deadline I can reveal the answer.

A: COMA --> DUNE

COMA (1977 Robin Cook novel, 1978 Michael Crichton movie)

DUNE (1965 Frank Herbert novel, 1984 David Lynch movie)

P.S. As a bonus, can you find the name of an animal in 5 letters, perform the same translation and come up with a fabric?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 2): They're both trees -- but quick, are they synonyms?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 2): They're both trees -- but quick, are they synonyms?:

Q: Rearrange the letters in CHARADES, to make two words that are synonyms. What are they?

My first attempt resulted in CEDAR and ASH -- while they may both be trees they certainly they aren't synonyms (anymore than black and white could be considered synonyms). But I do have the correct answer, and I've already given you a couple clues...

Edit: The title has a dash in it... and mentions being quick. And later on there is another dash and a mention of black and white which, among other things, are types of races. So the answer is:

A: CHARADES --> DASH + RACE