Thursday, October 15, 2009

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 11): Name That Beverage

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 11): Name That Beverage:
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.

Edit: Okay, that was a fib. I did provide several hints. The first clue was "instantly" since most people use an instant mix to make this beverage. Also, if you look at the first letters in "hint on the..." you'll see that they spell hot.

I don't know if you also noticed that one word was different in my standard reminder (first comment below). This was so the initial letter of each sentence (Here, Once, Thank you) would also spell out HOT.
A: HOT CHOCOLATE

29 comments:

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

    ReplyDelete
  2. I believe in miracles, so got it right away...

    ReplyDelete
  3. This one I got before (as we say) Will stopped
    speaking. Answer submitted.

    Two thousand entries for last week.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Got it. First drink I thought of that fit the requirements was it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was just having breakfast and, as some R&B oldies were playing on the radio, the answer popped up in my head. It was so quick, I thought maybe I was even the first on this blog this time! Alas--you win again, Chezedog!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I got the answer quick! I think Will needs to come up with more difficult puzzles.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yeah, but the easy ones are fun too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. For those who like easy puzzles, here's another.

    Find the name of a drink (one word, nine letters) with the following properties: If the word is arranged in a 3x3 box as in this week's NPR puzzle, each row of the box is a different three-letter word. In addition, if you read diagonally from the upper left to the lower right you get the same three-letter word as in the first row of the box.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm going to give your puzzle a shot, Lorenzo, but while I'm working on it, here's another one:

    Dave's Puzzle #13 (I think):

    Take the name of a well known geographic formation in the United States. Remove the first three letters and you will get the name of a famous person whose nickname is almost the same as the meaning of the name of that geographic formation.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Chezedog, since you came along this was a pretty easy puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lorenzo - one of my favorite drinks. Could go for one now, but I'm in the wrong location.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Les, you can make it anywhere!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dave,
    For your Puzzle #13, I'm not sure I have the answer you intend. I got it on my 49th try. Anyway, both the "geographic formation" and the "famous person" were formerly known by other names.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think I got the same potential answer to #13 as Ken. I too am not sure if it's the intended answer as the 'nickname' similarity seems to be quite a stretch for what I came up with.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ken, sometimes it's that last effort that gets the correct answer. Nice job! Les, the answers are actually quite similar. Do you agree, Ken?

    Lorenzo, I couldn't get the answer to your puzzle until I stopped burrowing my head in the sand.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dave,
    For my 49th try, I had to think outside the box. I believe the famous person had several nicknames, but one of them is quite similar to the meaning of the geographic formation's name. So I agree with you. By the way, I enjoy your puzzles. They give us something to do on the easy weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ken, thanks to your hint, I finally got Dave's puzzle. Now I can erase from my minds all those caverns, canyons, capes, caves, coasts, canals, craters and cliffs.

    Dave, once again, thanks for a fun challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Alice, Nice going on the Oct 4 puzzle. You give a 7 word list, but one word can be deleted to give the following 6 word series.

    carbon-credit-card-case-closed-circuit

    Ken, thanks for the hint. Dave's puzzle brings a certain proverb to mind.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ken and Lorenzo, thanks for the compliments. I must have a pretty sick mind to keep thinking these puzzles up. Thanks for your puzzle too, Lorenzo.

    Ken, yes you definitely have to think outside the box and maybe even the ring.

    Hugh, I think that you "nailed" it.

    For those still trying to figure out my puzzle, the above sentence is a clue.

    ReplyDelete
  20. It took me till 10:30 ET today to figure out Will's puzzle. It may have been simple but after living in Florida for 8 years, it was filed far away.

    ReplyDelete
  21. My Little Family - I understand why this drink wouldn't be a staple in Florida. Here in Colorado, it's almost a necessity as we head into winter.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh, and I refer to it as Cocoa, not Hot Chocolate so that slowed me down as well.

    ReplyDelete
  23. My hint was the word "quick" since, as kids, we made hot chocolate using Nestles Quick.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Ah yes, Nestlé Quik, which is now marketed as Nesquik. I remember it fondly.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Is it OK now to reveal that Lorenzo's Oct. 11 puaale answer I got is MANHATTAN?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Geri, yes, it's ok to "start spreading the news"

    ReplyDelete
  27. Can we now get an answer to Dave's puzzle #13? I'm thinking the answer refers to a 'great' geographic feature and a 'great' sports individual.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Les, I'm sure Dave won't mind if I give you a few clues. You're close. Don't settle for just a "great" sports individual, the athlete in question was much less modest in describing himself. As for the origin of the name of the "great" geographic feature, it's related to today's NPR puzzle.

    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.