Thursday, July 30, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 26): A Tale of Two Cities

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 26): A Tale of Two Cities:
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?
Hint: The two cities are in adjoining states.
Would it help if I gave the hint Fraxinus?

Edit: Fraxinus is the latin name for the Ash tree. In Spanish (as Geri figured out) it is Fresno.
A: FRESNO (California) --> RENO (Nevada)

56 comments:

  1. Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any outright spoilers before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here. Thank you.

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  2. It should take no longer than 35 seconds to get this week's answer.

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  3. Or maybe just over a minute and a half if you work backwards...

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  4. You don't need to be quite the grizzly ace to get this. But if you are, it would mean that you most certainly look like a lumberjack. (That last part wasn't a clue.)

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  5. This puzzle has an alien aspect to it.

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  6. I live in one of those states.

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  7. Blaine, welcome back! Nice clue. I didn't know if anyone would get my clue, but you certainly did.

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  8. Who was Richard Fish attracted to?

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  9. Dave, nice clue, and it's true - the 4 letter city is the first I thought of and I blurted out the answer before my husband said a word (call 911! I think he's sick!), and before they were even done with the segment! This and "VANNA WHITE" are the quickest puzzles I've solved, I believe.

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  10. I got it before Will finished with the extra hint. Talk about luck, huh?

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  11. You could begin this puzzle with the name of a city found in at least 17 states, remove the first three letters, and rearrange the letters to name a well-known US city in six letters . . .

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  12. Re communities' commodities, both cities -- today -- are quite well - known for their ... trafficked (I mean, ... little) girls as well as adult women.

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  13. Lorenzo, I agree with your prediction--maybe even 3000.

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  14. Travelers to one city may have an overeating problem.

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  15. Dave's Puzzle #11:

    While we're dropping first and fourth letters from six letter words, name a profession with six letters. Drop the first and fourth letters and come up with the person who would purchase merchandise from someone of that profession.

    Think outside the box.

    Beginning Tuesday morning, I may have limited computer access since I'm going on vacation. I'll do my best to drop some hints if needed.

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  16. a friend sent me this clue:

    raisin and raise

    too obvious?

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  17. Kind of trivial when you find that there are only 4 cities in the top 200 by population which have 4 letters in their name. WACO->OWASCO would work if Texas and New York were neighbors.

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  18. Wolftone, speaking of Texas: TUCSON--UCON would work if Idaho were a neighboring state. ALAS, it couldn't be DALLAS...

    Dave, what do you mean, "35 seconds"? This took me more like seven! Educated as I like to think I am, I just took the chance of looking at a map of the United States until I would spot the cities.

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  19. Wolfgang, 35 seconds is a hint. Blaine's comment that it took him just over a minute and a half working backwards is another hint.

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  20. Dave,
    For your Puzzle #11, I'm not just thinking outside the box, I'm thinking outside the law.

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  21. Wolfgang, while 35 seconds is indeed a "hint", it unlikely to help anyone solve the puzzle. Rather, (as is the case with many of our "hints")the challenge is to figure out the meaning of the hint once the puzzle has been solved.

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  22. If 16 = 120 and 50 = 90, what does 74 equal?

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  23. Dave: Go figure! So it's true, people do post hints here?? )8@D

    On that note, perhaps I should qualify my previous post... I spotted the first city after three seconds and the second city after four more (meaning, after seven seconds). In my frame of reference, "35" is ways off!

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  24. Ken: Thanks, your clue helped me solve Dave's puzzle. Yes, I got it, although I have never required the six-letter person's "professional" services before. I am that four-letter person for a lot of other things, though.

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  25. Blaine and Dave I got it immediately after rading your clues.

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  26. OK, I got Dave's #11 and am working on Lorenzo's 74= puzzle.

    Here's another easy 'straight line' puzzle: What number, when spelled out in capital letters, uses the same number of straight lines as the number? (No curved letters allowed of course.)

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  27. Blue, You might be interested in this NY Sunday Times article which may disappear soon. Gender free pronouns - history.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine

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  28. Les, my puzzle is related to this week's NPR puzzle and was inspired by the various references to the number 35.

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  29. hugh, Thanks for the pronoun referral. I've forwarded the article to all my e-mail list.

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  30. Les,
    145 = 217, if I follow your hint.

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  31. I meant Lorenzo's hint and puzzle, not Les'.

    Technically, isn't 50 = 96, not 50 = 90?

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  32. Ken, yes 96. Sorry for the typo.

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  33. Ken, Wolfgang and Les, nice job. When I said, "Think outside the box," I was refering to a specific type of box, as you figured out.

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  34. Lorenzo, 74 = 111. Looks like a created a lot of interest with my original post mentioning the number 35.

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  35. Dave, I confess that it took me at least 35 times longer to figure out your hint than it did to solve the puzzle.

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  36. I almost NEVER solve the hints.

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  37. Hey Dave! Nice going with your "refering" [sic]--a huge hint for those who still don't got it! )8-D

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  38. alien => UFO => Waco TX => Reno (Janet)
    alien => elian => Reno (Janet)

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  39. Alien female human beings are trafficked into the USA, particularly by Fresno's Hmong.

    Subsequently then, as is no doubt known by most people, these girls and women are smuggled inland, especially to the markets of Reno and Las Vegas, whose communities' environs provide the necessary venues for this commodity's demand.

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  40. Dave--can we have the answer to puzzle #11--PLEASE

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  41. Hint: What do you do if your daughter sits on the swing?

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  42. TY Blaine--I got it but I think that's a sad case for a professional...certainly doen't need a degree for that one. As far as the merchandise, he/she can keep it. Hope my daughter wouldn't either and hope he/she is not near her swing!

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  43. Dave, It's so obvious when one "gets" the answer. I just checked the Free Dictionary and found that receiving pay, livelihood,qualifies the word "professional."

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  44. Dave, For #11, alternate answer. Is it possible that an APER (professional impersonator) would buy a CD from a RAPPER?

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  45. Shalom ! anyone got the moolah ?

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  46. For 2 August:

    Dave/Wolftone, and Julie have given good clues to this in the past.

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  47. I wonder if anyone has any pearls of wisdom to help solve this one?

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  48. For 2 August, 2009
    Perhaps it's time to post today's puzzle.
    Four posts have already been made.

    This comes from crossword puzzle creator Merl Reagle: 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?

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  49. To all crossworders: Merl Reagle's puzzle "Mind Your Own Business" is a great one.
    I have it from the Santa Monica Argonaut, July 31, 2009.

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  50. I thought I got close with "scrip" and "chips" but this doesn't meet the next letter rule - darn !

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  51. Rogerbuck, I too thought of loaves and beads, but I don't think this is the intended answer.

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  52. Hugh, I'm not sure we are thinking of the same answer.

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  53. Crossworders, I made a mistake in the title of
    Merl Reagle's puzzle. It's "None of Your Business" and is printed under the label of
    Washington Post Writers Group Puzzle.

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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.