NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 23): I walked and later I ran

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 23): I walked and later I ran:

Q: Name a well known historical figure with a one-word six-letter name. The first and fourth letters are the same, the second and fifth letters are the same, and the third letter is one letter before the sixth, alphabetically. Who is it?

I wonder if this is a popular baby name? Probably not, but if someone can get away with having just one name, they must be pretty great.

A: King XERXES the Great, of Persia (former name of Iran)

Billiard Balls Puzzle

In the American game of "eight-ball" there are 15 numbered balls (1 through 15). At the beginning of the game, these balls are racked into a triangular pattern as shown.

The challenge this week is to place the numbers 1 through 15 into an upside-down triangle pattern such that each number is the result of *subtracting* the two numbers above it. To eliminate mirrored answers, provide a solution where the numbers at the three points of the triangle are in ascending order going clockwise.

P.S. When taking the difference, always use the absolute value. Feel free to add a comment with your answer, along with how you solved it.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 16): If you said *top* row, I'd say *typewriter*

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 16): If you said *top* row, I'd say *typewriter*:

Q: Using the middle row of letters on a keyboard, name something that has eight stars. Hint: The answer is spelled in 10 letters.

Let's see there were 7 castaways on Gilligan's Island, so that was 7 stars perhaps. Or on the Brady Bunch there were Mike and Carol and 6 kids but Alice made 9 stars. Perhaps I'm thinking of the wrong type of stars. What a folly!

Edit: My clue was "folly" as in Seward's Folly. If you want to see more clues, check out the comments. I liked the references to "Juneau" and "Alaska" as well as the hints for "flag".

A: ALASKA FLAG

Playing with Blocks

Here's a fun puzzle to ponder.

A certain number of faces of a large wooden cube are stained. Then the block is divided into equal-sized smaller cubes. Counting we find that there are exactly 45 smaller cubes that are unstained. How many faces of the big cube were originally stained?

Feel free to add a comment with your answer, along with how you solved it.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 9): Separated by A

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 9): Separated by A:

Q: Name two vehicles, put the letter A between them and the result will be a word naming what the two vehicles might be in. Name the vehicles.

Wow! This is really difficult! Automobile? Moving Truck?

Edit: Not hard at all, was it?

A: CAR & VAN = CARAVAN

Can you turn 2008 into 97?

Come on all you genius puzzlers... I'm sure you can solve the on-going challenge from last week.

In case you missed it, here is the link:
Use the digits in 2008 to form an expresion that will equal 97

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 2): Animal Anagram -- Marionettes

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 2): Animal Anagram -- Marionettes:

Q: Take the letters in the word 'marionettes' and rearrange them to spell the names of two animals that are related. What are they?

I thought I was close when I got "MARTEN" (a member of the weasel family) but I couldn't figure out what to do with the remaining IOEST...

Edit: Oh, but maybe the answer is a member of the weasel family. Take a look at the comments for more hints.

A: ERMINE and STOAT