Sunday, September 13, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 13): Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 13): Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
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.

When I saw this puzzle, I tried to make MOI or OUI work. We've all heard Miss Piggy utter "moi" (meaning me). And isn't "yes" one of the first words we learn in whatever language we are studying? Unfortunately MOI-ME and OUI-YES, don't result in familiar French words.

Edit: My hints take a little bit of explaining. We have MOI or OUI. MOI translates to ME. Then you have the word "OR". And OUI is YES, but in another language would be SI. So all together you have ME OR SI which sounds like MERCI.

Several people will probably complain that MER is not a common French word, but those people just haven't done enough crossword puzzles. Plus you could have solved this working backwards, which is exactly what I did.

One additional hint, if you read my standard reminder at the top of the comments, you'll notice I left off the "Thank you" at the end.
A: MER + SEA --> MERCI
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31 comments:

  1. BlaineSun Sep 13, 06:53:00 AM PDT

    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.

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  2. geriSun Sep 13, 08:04:00 AM PDT

    Lynn said, "We received about fifteen hundred
    entries this week."

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  3. qu1dd1tchSun Sep 13, 08:14:00 AM PDT

    Si, Senor Blaine. As the bard reminds us, "There is a tide in the affairs of men (and women), which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."

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  4. ChezedogSun Sep 13, 08:15:00 AM PDT

    I'm thankful that I proved I was worth my puzzling salt by getting this quickly.

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  5. qu1dd1tchSun Sep 13, 08:17:00 AM PDT

    Oh, I forgot to mention, but those are wonderful clues, Blaine.

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  6. geriSun Sep 13, 08:29:00 AM PDT

    Whoopee, answer submitted.

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  7. LorenzoSun Sep 13, 08:48:00 AM PDT

    Take the phrase "dinner treat." Rearrange the letters to get the last names of two musicians associated with this week's answer.

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  8. hughSun Sep 13, 10:13:00 AM PDT

    C'est plus qu'un crime, c'est une faute, if you don't solve this puzzle.

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  9. Blue of Central IowaSun Sep 13, 11:55:00 AM PDT

    Third and Second and First Waves include Simone Lucie de Beauvoir, Barbara Seaman, Fatima Mernissi, Myrlie Evers, Lucy Stone, Lynne Seagal, Maria Cederschiöld, Miranda July and Fredrika Bremer.

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  10. NatashaSun Sep 13, 12:20:00 PM PDT

    Très fréquent mot phonétique.

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  11. DaveSun Sep 13, 03:01:00 PM PDT

    Thanks for the clues.

    Answer to Dave's Puzzle #12:

    Change the I in Indian to G and H (the two preceding letters) and rearrange them to get GHANDI. Geri, did you figure that out?

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  12. kenSun Sep 13, 05:52:00 PM PDT

    I especially liked it when Shannon sang this song way back in the fall of 2004.

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  13. geriSun Sep 13, 06:25:00 PM PDT

    Dave, Re #12: No, I worked on it but I gave up.
    But "Indian" is not a "country's name." Ghandi
    was a leader of INDIA.

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  14. DaveJSun Sep 13, 06:25:00 PM PDT

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  15. BlaineSun Sep 13, 07:01:00 PM PDT

    Sorry DaveJ... just a little too obvious.

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  16. phredpSun Sep 13, 07:02:00 PM PDT

    I got the answer but didn't see the connection between Blaine's clue and the answer. Thank you for all the other clues though!

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  17. BlaineSun Sep 13, 07:18:00 PM PDT

    I'll explain it on Thursday... glad to know it wasn't too obvious. :)

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  18. MikeSun Sep 13, 10:05:00 PM PDT

    I suspect there will be significantly more than 1500 answers this week. I got this one almost immediately, and the clues here fit my answer.

    There was so much ebb and flow in my schedule last week that I forgot to come back to the puzzle. Pity since I like math and chemistry.

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  19. Eddie YuMon Sep 14, 12:10:00 AM PDT

    Thanks to Walt Disney Productions, we're able to enjoy many great animated films, such as "Pinocchio", "Cinderella", and "The Lion King". My favorite is "The Little Mermaid".

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  20. JenJenMon Sep 14, 05:13:00 AM PDT

    My deepest thanks to everyone for the clues this week! They helped me figure it out; I don't think the 3-letter French word is that common.

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  21. WolfgangMon Sep 14, 06:11:00 AM PDT

    Like Blaine's, my French is a little rusty, but listening to some Ravel and Debussy helped bring it back. Great clues, qu1dd1tch, Chezedog, and Mike. I agree with JenJen, though: the three-letter French word is not one "everyone knows," so thank you for that input.

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  22. VickieMon Sep 14, 08:22:00 PM PDT

    Thank you for the clues. My french is limited to living in New Orleans where we did not see the answer right away, we were too busy eating chocolates.

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  23. DeeTue Sep 15, 06:19:00 PM PDT

    Help my kids have this question as extra credit, anybody can pls send me the answer?

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  24. CurtisTue Sep 15, 08:40:00 PM PDT

    Dee - I think that would undermine the spirit of extra credit.

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  25. DaveWed Sep 16, 09:02:00 AM PDT

    Geri, huh? You must have misread the question.

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  26. geriThu Sep 17, 01:12:00 AM PDT

    Dave, You're right. Thanks for letting me
    off easy.

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  27. BlaineThu Sep 17, 10:11:00 PM PDT

    I'm looking forward to hearing the answer to Lorenzo's puzzle...

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  28. LorenzoFri Sep 18, 06:56:00 AM PDT

    Re: "DINNER TREAT" hint. The French song "La Mer" was written by Charles TRENET. The English version "Beyond the Sea" was a Bobby DARIN hit.

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  29. My Little Family:Sun Sep 20, 05:49:00 AM PDT

    I figured out this week's puzzle (Sep 20th) immediately. Way too easy. Don't even need a clue.

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  30. geriSun Sep 20, 06:00:00 AM PDT

    ME TOO! Answer submitted from Sunny California.

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  31. geriSun Sep 20, 06:02:00 AM PDT

    p.s. 1500 answers for mer/sea/merci.

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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.