Q: Take the phrase 'pray when.' Double four of these letters. Using these letters plus the four singles, rearrange all 12 letters to spell a familiar phrase. What phrase is it?Anyone else think this is one of the easiest puzzles of the last twelve months? Let's hope the puzzles for 2010 are more challenging.
A: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Q: Think of a familiar two-word phrase, five letters in each word. The second word starts with P. The phrase names something that is nice to have after dinner. Change the P to an S, and you'll get another familiar phrase that names something that's nice to have before you start a job. What phrases are these?Whoever came up with this has created a neat little puzzle. I only wish I could come up with a neat little clue to go with it.
A: CLEAN PLATE --> CLEAN SLATE
Q: Name five two-digit numbers that are evenly spaced out — like 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40 — in which all 10 digits from 0 to 9 are used once each. What numbers are these?The first answer came to me as I was driving and listening to the puzzle. However, as I was typing this clue, I came up with another answer that also works. How to give a clue without giving it away, I don't know.
A: There are four possible sequences of two-digit numbers:
10,32,54,76,98
18,36,54,72,90
50,61,72,83,94
54,63,72,81,90
Q: Take the letters in 'PLEASANTLY,' plus the letter I. Rearrange these 11 letters to name a well-known place. What is it?When they involve anagrams, we might be tempted to solve puzzles using methods online. Now I could have resorted to an online anagram applet, but this puzzle can easily be solved by hand. I suggest using the latter method for more enjoyment.
A: NAPLES, ITALY
Q: Think of three six-letter words starting with B, G and F. The last five letters of the words are the same and in the same order, yet none of the words rhymes with any of the others. What words are these?This puzzle is rather easy and I don't have time to come up with a clever clue, but this does remind me of our annual Christmas Puzzle from 2006 entitled Close But No Rhyme. It's based on the same concept of non-rhyming words that only differ in their first letter. Enjoy.
A: BATHER, FATHER and GATHER
Q: Think of a word containing the consecutive letters O-K. Remove the O-K, and you'll get a new word that's a synonym of the first word. What words are these?The first thought I had when I figured out this puzzle was the Latin phrase "cavit lukom". You can argue that I haven't got the right conjugation but looking back on it, I still contend that the clue is useful nonetheless.
A: JOKESTER --> JESTER
Q: Name an auto manufacturer and a telecommunications company, both well-known companies, whose names are exact opposites of each other.I'm still going through the following lists so I think I'll quickly step out of the way and let others provide their clues.
A:
FORD - to cross a body of water by wading (moving or proceeding with difficulty or labor)
SPRINT - to run or go at top speed especially for a short distance.
A: KIA and NOKIA
Q: If you write 'WOW' in capital letters and hold up a mirror at the side of the word, you'll see 'WOW' perfectly reflected in the mirror. Here's the puzzle: Think of a nationality and write it in capital letters. If you remove one stroke from the first letter, and one stroke from the last letter, and hold up a mirror at the side, the name of the nationality will be perfectly reflected in the mirror. What nationality is it?Looking at the comments that were added to end of last week's puzzle (regarding this week's puzzle), the most prevalent misunderstanding is what is meant by removing a pair of strokes and then looking at the reflection. Personally I hate it when a puzzle needs explanation but I think it is necessary this week to clear up the confusion. Basically if you take the name of the nationality as written in uppercase letters, it won't be horizontally symmetric. But if you remove a stroke from the first letter, and a stroke from the last letter, the remaining pattern of strokes will look the same when you reflect them in a mirror.
A: HAITIAN --> IIAITIAII
Q: Take the name 'Noah Adams,' as in the former host of All Things Considered. Add the phrase 'false teeth.' You can rearrange all 19 letters to name a famous work of literature. What is it?I may not be as clear-headed in the morning, but am I the only one that thinks there's an extra article in the answer?
A: (The) Death of a Salesman
Q: Take the name 'Boris Karloff.' It contains the letters of 'Oslo' in left-to-right order (although not consecutively). Now write down these three names: Leonardo da Vinci, Frank Sinatra, Stephen Douglas. Each conceals the name of another world capital in left-to-right order, although not in consecutive letters. What capitals are these?I wasn't able to post the puzzle earlier because I had just pulled an all-nighter. We had intended to get to bed at an hour that was reasonable. However, since we needed to construct our Halloween costumes in time for the parade today, we couldn't settle for inaction.
A: LONDON (England), ANKARA (Turkey), SEOUL (South Korea)
Q: Take the name of the singer Bonnie Raitt, rearrange these 11 letters to be two words that are loosely synonyms. What are they?Hope I have the right answer; it relies on the words being loosely related since I wouldn't say they are direct synonyms.
A: BONNIE RAITT --> TRIBE, NATION
Q: Think of a beverage with a 2-word name. The first word has 3 letters and the second word has 9. Arrange the letters of the 9-letter word in a 3x3 box with the first 3 letters across the top, the middle 3 across the center and the last 3 across the bottom. If you've named the right beverage, you can read down the center column to get the 3-letter word in the beverage's name. What beverage is this?This should be another easy week for everyone. I thought of a few 3 letter words and the 9 letter word came to me instantly. Given that it is so easy, I'm not going to give a hint on the puzzle.
A: HOT CHOCOLATE
Q: The challenge is to find a chain of 'C' words to connect 'carbon' to 'circuit.' Each pair of words completes a compound word or familiar two-word phrase (e.g. CASH COW or CREDIT CARD). Will's chain has seven words between 'carbon' and 'circuit' for a total of nine words. The answer doesn't have to match Will's, but each word has to start with 'C,' and each has to combine with the words before and after to make a compound word or familiar two-word phrase.You can work this forward and/or backward; I did both. In retrospect I shouldn't have had so much trouble finding the joining word in the middle. It's hard to give clues without revealing the answer. I'll just say I'm pretty sure I have the same list as Will.
A: CARBON - COPY - CAT - CALL - CENTER - COURT - CASE - CLOSED - CIRCUIT
Q: Take the family name of a famous world leader in history. Drop the last letter, then switch the last two letters that remain. The result will name the country that this leader led. Who is it and what is the country?Gee, I planned to get this puzzle posted earlier, but I've had a lot on my plate. My hint this week: Work backwards; it's much easier.
A: Chiang Kai-Shek (CHIANG) --> Country (CHINA)I actually found it easier to work backwards thinking of country names, flipping the last two letters and seeing what letter might be added to make a name. CHINA became CHIAN which immediately made me think of CHIANG (Kai-shek).
Q: Name a well-known university. Move the last letter three places earlier in the name. The result will be a phrase meaning 'represent.' What's the university and what's the phrase?Did you hear about the blonde that wanted a higher education? She did her homework in a tall tree. Okay, that was a silly joke. Back to giving clues on the puzzle. I don't know about you, but I didn't much care for the movie; however, I really did enjoy the play.
A: STANFORD --> STAND FOR
Q: Take a familiar French word with three letters. It's a word everyone knows. Then take its meaning in English, also with three letters. Say these two words one after the other, and phonetically they'll sound like another French word everyone knows. What word is it?Well, I must admit I know very little French. And despite the title, I wouldn't recommend learning conversational French from songs.
A: MER + SEA --> MERCI
Q: Take the names of the first nine elements of the periodic table: hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and fluorine. Select one letter from each of these names in order to spell a familiar nine-letter word. Hint: It's a word used in math.Did I give this away with the reference to elementary school in the title? Well there are many terms we learn in our formative years of school, so I don't think it's too big of a giveaway. However, if it did spoil the puzzle for you, get over it. On the other hand, if you want another clue, look to a puzzle we had in August.
A: NUMERATOR
Q: Name a famous leader in world history — the name by which this person is usually known. Change the first letter of the leader's name to the previous letter of the alphabet, rearrange the result, and you'll name what this person was the leader of. Who is it, and where was this person the leader?I haven't a clue, yet... sorry, I'm no real help at the moment.
A: NERO --> ROME
Q: Think of two words that each mean 'bowler.' Put them together, one after the other, and you'll name a sport in two words that is not related to bowling.On a different note, remember how bowling used to be frequently televised? I don't think I've seen it that much these days...
A: ROLLER DERBY
Q: Think of a common street sign with three words: four letters in the first word, four letters in the second word and three letters in the last. Drop the last letter of the first word in the sign and you'll get a new word that is a synonym of the last word in the sign. What is the sign?Mr. Shortz states that it is a "common street sign" so I'm sure it's not Beware of Invisible Cows. However, I'm suspicious; I've looked up and down a list of Road Signs and don't see the answer. No doubt I'm thinking too hard so let me ponder this a bit more.
A: CURB YOUR DOG (Cur = Dog)
Q: A waitress walks up to a breakfast table with five logicians and asks, 'Does everyone here want coffee?'No doubt the waitress has to be a logician too. This reminds me of a related joke:
The first logician says, 'I don't know.'
The second logician says, 'I don't know.'
The third logician says, 'I don't know.'
The fourth logician says, 'I don't know.'
And the fifth logician says, 'No.'
To whom did the waitress bring coffee — and why?
A: The waitress asks, "Does EVERYONE here want coffee?"
If the first logician didn't want coffee, he knows that not EVERYONE wants coffee so he could have replied "No." But he doesn't yet know what the others are thinking so he answers "I don't know." This tells us he wants coffee.
Similarly, the second logician has determined that the first logician wants coffee. Now we are in the same situation as the first logician. If the 2nd logician didn't want coffee, he could say, "No." But because he replies "I don't know." it means he also wants coffee.
The same logic applies to the 3rd and 4th logicians.
The fifth logican has determined that all the rest want coffee. If he also wanted coffee, he would reply "Yes" because he can accurately determine that everyone wants coffee. However, he doesnt want coffee and therefore answers "No", because he is the lone logician that doesn't want coffee and therefore NOT everyone wants coffee.
Summary:
The waitress (being the consumate logician herself) brings coffee to logicians 1 through 4. Logician 5 is not served coffee.
Q: Take a slang term for money. Change one of its letters to the next letter of the alphabet. Rearrange the result, and you'll get another slang term for money. What are the words?To be honest, I haven't figured this one out yet. I thought I was close with BEAN and BANK, but it fails the "next letter" rule.
A: DO-RE-MI --> DINERO
Q: Name a well-known U.S. city in six letters. Drop the first and fourth letters so the remaining four letters, in order, will name another well-known U.S. city. What cities are these?Would it help if I gave the hint Fraxinus?
Hint: The two cities are in adjoining states.
A: FRESNO (California) --> RENO (Nevada)
Think of two terms that mean 'to divulge information.' Write them one after the other with no spaces between words. The result is a nine-letter word for a card that you might hold in a card game. What card is it?I must admit I've been a little pre-occupied getting ready for our trip so I didn't add a post earlier. We'll be gone by the time Thursday rolls around, so I won't be entering this week. But feel free to discuss it here. Incidentally, do you know where we are going? I wonder if it was inspired by a recent puzzle...
Q: Take 'tire' and 'exhaust.' They're both things a car has. But as verbs, in a non-car sense, they're synonyms. The challenge is to name 2 articles of apparel, things to wear, each with 4 letters, and as verbs, in a non-apparel sense, the 2 words are synonyms. What words are they?No hints are necessary, just pay attention to the example Will gave.
A: BELT and SOCK
Q: Take the name Kevin Kline. The first and last names both have five letters. Written in capital letters — KEVIN KLINE — each name consists of exactly 13 straight lines and no curves.Though I could have probably figured this out the "normal" way, I approached this programmatically. I took a couple of lists of celebrity names (first and last) and put them in a spreadsheet. I modified a function I had created earlier to count vowels and instead made it count the number of strokes (I = 1, LTVX = 2, AFHKNYZ = 3, EMW = 4, everything else = 1000). I then filtered the list down to 5 letter names each with 14 strokes (39 first names and 44 last names). As it turned out, only one name fit the puzzle... I should have seen that sooner.
Name a well-known TV personality with five-letter first and last names. Each name contains exactly 14 straight lines and no curves. Who is this?
A: VANNA WHITE
Q: Think of one word that starts with 'te' and another word that starts with 'st' — and they're synonyms. Hint: The 'te' word has two syllables; the 'st' word has one.Anyone else worried that there might be several possible answers this week? I always hated when teachers had one answer in mind on a test that was worded such that there could be several potential answers. On the other hand, it must be hard as a teacher to design a test so it accurately measures whether students understood the material that was taught. Oh well, we'll see at the end of the week if we passed or failed this test.
A: As I mentioned, there are numerous good answers. The two pairs I liked the most were:
TENSION and STRESS
TEMPEST and STORM
Check the comments to see other choices.
Q: Think of a famous TV personality with five letters in the first name and four letters in the last name. Change the first letter of this celebrity's first name to M. Drop the first letter of the last name. Read the result in order, and it will spell something this person is famously known for doing many times. Who is this person?This may not be much help, but the celebrity has played the role of a step-sister...
A: LARRY KING --> MARRYING
Q: Take 'Indian wrestle,' rearrange the 13 letters to get three words that are all related. What are they? Hint: The word lengths are five, four and four letters, respectively.We'll have to see whether or not people can restrain themselves from giving obvious clues. Personally, I don't have time to provide a good clue because I'm off to Chicago for a couple weeks and haven't finished packing. P.S. If anyone is thinking of a certain common phrase, the puzzle answer would be misquoting it.
A: SLEET, WIND, RAIN
Q: Think of a famous person whose first and last names both have seven letters. Only two different consonants appear in this full name, each used more than once. Out of the 14 letters in the name, 13 of them appear in the first half of the alphabet, A-M. Who is this person?I'm so sorry guys... I dropped the ball on getting the puzzle posted on Sunday. For anyone that wants some hints, look to the comments in the prior puzzle post. I must admit that my initial attempts to figure this puzzle out were hampered by my method. I had a list of common first names pulled from census data and I filtered them by the rules above (no more than 2 consonants, vowels "aei" with possibly one extra from the set "ou"). It came up with mostly female names like Cecilia and Lucille. I now see why my method was doomed to fail.
A: GALILEO GALILEI
Q: Think of a 6-letter word in which the third letter is 'S'. Remove the 'S' and you'll be left with a 5-letter word that means the opposite of the 6-letter one. What is it?For anyone that gave up on the difficult puzzle last week, don't worry. This week's puzzle is so easy that it sounds like NPR will be deluged with answers.
A: RESIGN --> REIGN
Q: If 5 = 4, 7 = 17, 9 = 25 and 35 = 2, what does 14 equal?Will Shortz admitted this is a tough puzzle. Frankly, I'd be surprised if many people are able to figure this one out. It took me all day, but I'm positive I have the right answer now.
A: The key is first names of the U.S. presidents.
The 5th president was James Monroe. The earliest president that shared the same first name was #4 James Madison.
The 7th president was Andrew Jackson who shared his first name with #17 Andrew Johnson.
The 9th president was William Henry Harrison who shared his first name with #25 William McKinley.
The 35th president was John F. Kennedy who shared his first name with #2 John Adams.
The 14th president was Franklin Pierce who shared his first name with the 32nd president Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Answer:
14 = 32
Q: Take a common five-letter first name that contains one V. Change the V to an L, rearrange the letters and you'll get a familiar last name. The first and last names go together to name a famous star living in Hollywood. Who is it?I would definitely agree that the first name is common. As for the last name, I'd have to say maybe.
A: KEVIN KLINE
Q: If 5=4, 7=5, 8=1 and 26=9, what does 12 equal?It appears that Will has given us a rare puzzle involving numbers. Have fun figuring it out. I'll give you one clue: 23,041=500
A: tweLVe = 55And spelling out 23,041 in English --> twenty-three thousanD forty-one = 500.
Q: Take the phrase 'more corruptness.' Rearrange these 15 letters to name a popular magazine. Tip: It's a magazine this phrase definitely does not apply to, so it's more of an 'anti-gram' than an anagram!I suppose if you are involved in "more corruptness" you'd want to keep a lid on things.
A: CONSUMER REPORTS
Q: Think of the name of a country. Change its first letter to a 'D,' and then read the word backward. The result will be a creature that lives in that country. What's the country and what's the creature?Hopping off to church, no time to provide a hint. Discuss this among yourselves.
A: BRAZIL --> LIZARD
Q: Think of a four-letter word with a short 'A' sound, and specifically the 'A' is the second letter. Switch the third and fourth letters and you'll get a new word, also with a short 'A' sound. The two words go together to make a phrase that names something that existed from 1982 to 2000. What is it?Hint: The answer is something that still exists in some places today but the most famous version existed from 1982 to 2000.
A: CATS CAST
Q: Name a country somewhere in the world. Insert a 'Z.' The result can be broken up into 3 consecutive words. The first word is a popular brand name. The second word is something this product uses, and the third word is the kind of product it is. What's the country?I just like saying the name of the capital...
A: MADAGASCAR --> MAZDA, GAS, CAR
Q: 1, 3, 7, 12, 18, 26, 35, 45, 56, 69...I'll post the answer some time next week.
Q: Here's an example: Take the letters I, L, R and T. Insert a trigram (three-letter group) twice into these letters to complete a familiar 10-letter word. If you add S, P and O, you would get the answer, 'spoilsport.'On a scale of 0 to 9, I give this week's puzzle a 3.
Now, take R F E and R. Insert a trigram twice somewhere in these letters to complete a familiar two-word phrase. What phrase is it?
A: Insert ING twice --> R(ING) F(ING)ER
Q: Name a female host of a popular TV program. Rearrange the letters of her first name to name a god in mythology. Rearrange the letters in her last name to name a type of god that this god is not. Who is the TV host and what are the anagrams?So you've looked at this week's NPR puzzle and you've decided you need some help. Okay, before you light a signal fire, the puzzle really isn't that difficult. So that you don't waste time, I'll tell you that it is *not* the Babylonian god Marduk, but you can try anagrams of that if you like...
A: SUZE ORMAN (CNBC host of the Suze Orman Show)
--> ZEUS, ROMAN
Q: Think of a familiar phrase in five words that means 'tongue tied.' One word in it has one letter, one word has two letters, one has three, one has four and one has five — though not necessarily in that order. What is the phrase?This week, I have no way of providing a clue that won't give away the puzzle.
A: AT A LOSS FOR WORDS
Q: Take the phrase 'atlas of the world,' change the 'E' to an 'R,' and rearrange all the letters to name two cities that are closely related.The puzzle implies an atlas of the world is required... but maybe not.
A: DALLAS, FORT WORTH
Q: Name an item often found on a desk. It's a hyphenated word. Add an 'S' to the beginning of each part, and you'll get two synonyms. What's the item?I'm looking at my desk trying to figure out what this item must be. My desk is pretty clean except for the items I'll eventually need to do my taxes (...that nasty IRS!). My wife was thinking it's something related to "ink" --> sink. I was thinking of something related to "light" --> slight. But neither of those ideas seemed to pan out.
A: IN-TRAY --> SIN, STRAY
Q: Take the name 'Pensacola,' remove one letter and rearrange the letters that remain to get the first and last name of a famous person in American history. Who is it?Here's a couple hints: The person died in Florida. Also, I don't think the timing of this puzzle is coincidental.
A: PENSACOLA -S --> AL CAPONE
Q: Take the name of a country, interchange two consecutive letters. Add an 'e' after the fifth letter. The result will be two synonyms, one after the other. What is the country, and what are the synonyms?Anyone notice that the language of this country sounds like another synonym?
A: FINLAND --> FINAL, END
Q: Think of a famous living woman whose first and last names are each accented on the second syllable. Say the second syllable of her last name, followed by the second syllable of her first name, and phonetically you'll get a word meaning very attractive woman. Who is it?This one isn't that hard. The first woman I thought of was the right answer. Note: Put the syllable in the *last* name first.
A: MICHELLE OBAMA --> BAM-CHELLE = BOMBSHELL
Q: Think of a word that starts and ends with the letter M, drop the first M, insert an O somewhere and you'll get a new word that means the same thing as the first word. What words are these?Truth be told, I'm not positive I have the right answer so I won't say anything (As they say, "A closed mouth gathers no foot.")
A: MAXIM --> AXIOM
Q: Name an implement that might be in a kitchen drawer. It's a compound word. Add the letter S after each half of the compound, and you'll get two synonyms. What implement is it?This one is hard. I've been going crazy trying to think of the answer. For awhile I was stuck on dessert implements (pie slice, icecream scoop, etc.). I just couldn't stop thinking of sweets! Oh well, maybe someone else will know the real answer...
A: NUTCRACKER --> NUTS, CRACKERS (as in crazy)
Q: Take a very common three-letter word. Say the letters phonetically and together they'll sound like a six-letter word meaning knockout. What word is it?I think I have the answer, but I'm not sure. I don't usually pronounce the six-letter word that way.
A: BUT --> BEAUTY (bee-YOO-tee)
Q: Take the last name of a famous actress in 2 syllables and 9 letters. Transpose the syllables and you'll have, phonetically, the word for a common ailment. Who is the person and what is the ailment?For some reason I came up with the names Meryl Streep, Maureen Stapleton, Stockard Channing and Catherine O'Hara. They don't seem to match the puzzle at all, do they?
A: Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923) --> Heartburn
