Thursday, November 13, 2008

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 9): A Pair of Animals, Running Wild in the Capital!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 9): A Pair of Animals, Running Wild in the Capital!:
Q: Take the names of two animals. Drop the third letter from each name. Read the remaining letters, in order, from left to right and you'll name a world capital. What is it?
There are several ways to approach solving this puzzle. You could look at lists of animals, or perhaps it might be easier to look at a list of world capitals. I don't think you'll find it too difficult. Oh, my clue this week is that "tiger" is not one of the animals. Does that help?

Edit: My clues were "Oh my" and "tigers". At least my clues were less obvious than some posted in the comments section. I had to delete one that had the outright answer. Please wait until after the Thu. 3pm ET deadline to post spoilers.
A: BEaR + LIoN --> BERLIN (Germany)
at

22 comments:

  1. carlSun Nov 09, 08:39:00 AM PST

    Blaine, I'm not sure how your clue is... pertinent... relevant... what's that word I'm looking for? Anyway, this one's a... um, a tough one. I don't know if I'll be able to figure it out. And I'm telling the truth!

    ReplyDelete
  2. hughSun Nov 09, 11:08:00 AM PST

    I'm sure that Carl, or Blaine, solved this by looking at an animal list first.

    ReplyDelete
  3. NatashaSun Nov 09, 11:29:00 AM PST

    This one was easy for me. I just went through the list of world capitals.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don HodunSun Nov 09, 11:44:00 AM PST

    This one made me growl!! Especially after the brilliant gent on-air today. My brain would have hibernated on a few of them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. carlSun Nov 09, 10:52:00 PM PST

    There's potential for a somewhat circular clue involving the author of The Cider House Rules here...

    And I do not dissemble.

    Hey, I know it's not always a piece of cake but sometimes you just gotta grin and keep trying!

    ReplyDelete
  6. geriSun Nov 09, 11:32:00 PM PST

    Natasha, Your approach worked for me.
    THANK YOU.

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownMon Nov 10, 08:44:00 AM PST

    I was too distracted thinking about the down-ish stock market and hoping it comes roaring back - but I finally got it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. MikeMon Nov 10, 08:46:00 AM PST

    My main question is, does it poo in the woods?

    ReplyDelete
  9. NatashaMon Nov 10, 08:52:00 AM PST

    Great, Geri!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. minncognitoTue Nov 11, 07:40:00 PM PST

    both animals are hairy, herr doolittle. err...make that fuehry....errr...furry.

    ReplyDelete
  11. minncognitoWed Nov 12, 07:13:00 AM PST

    One of these animals may sometimes climb a tree, the other rules the safari as far as it can see.

    Together they form a word of recent unity. . .

    ReplyDelete
  12. carlWed Nov 12, 08:22:00 AM PST

    maroons revisited... Another fun expression that I "invented" and which was already in use without my being aware of it: The bozone layer. Again, I made it up to fill in the "specific location" line in a Craigslist Rants & Raves post a longish time ago. Just for kicks I googled it this morning; there's a fun entry in the Urban Dictionary.

    And I'm not making this up! (that's another hint to this week's puzzle...)

    ReplyDelete
  13. geriWed Nov 12, 11:59:00 PM PST

    Carl, "Setting Free the . . ."??
    Now I'm thinking about "bozone."

    ReplyDelete
  14. carlThu Nov 13, 01:09:00 AM PST

    Each of the creatures in this puzzle's answer figure prominently in novels by a certain author, and his name, if you have a playful mind, also might lead you to the answer...

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownThu Nov 13, 04:33:00 PM PST

    I came up with another answer:

    VIxEN + NAg --> VIENNA (Austria)

    ReplyDelete
  16. carlThu Nov 13, 05:51:00 PM PST

    John Irving featured bears in three different books (Setting Free the Bears, The World According to Garp, and Hotel New Hampshire) and the plot of The Fourth Hand involved a character's losing a hand to a Lion. And if you free-associate his last name you will very likely think of Irving Berlin...

    ReplyDelete
  17. geriSat Nov 15, 12:46:00 AM PST

    In The Wizard of Oz film Dorothy,
    Tin Man, and Scarecrow chant
    "lions, and tigers, and bears"
    just before entering a forest
    where they meed Cowardly Lion.

    ReplyDelete
  18. geriSat Nov 15, 12:47:00 AM PST

    p.s. meet, not meed

    ReplyDelete
  19. BlaineSat Nov 15, 07:08:00 AM PST

    You forgot the last part, "Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!"

    ReplyDelete
  20. hughSat Nov 15, 10:34:00 AM PST

    Since this puzzle was so like Oct 19th's
    (pick a name or pick 2 animals, drop some letters, come up with a world capital), I made the same kind of a comment with an imbedded anagram this time as I did then. I had decided not to do this again because an anagram is not clearly a clue without being too obvious, but in this case I could'nt resist.

    ReplyDelete
  21. carlSat Nov 15, 06:15:00 PM PST

    And I offered a somewhat obscure clue with my saying I didn't see how Blaine's clue was.. pertinent... I was trying to suggest the word germane which is, of course, Germany with an extra letter. Then I said it was a... a tough one. Meant to suggest that this puzzle was a bear. Then said I'm telling the truth, as opposed to I'm not lyin'.

    ReplyDelete
  22. NatashaSun Nov 16, 02:30:00 PM PST

    Blaine,
    Where is the new puzzle for today on your site?

    ReplyDelete

For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.