NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 21, 2010): Know your Animals

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 21, 2010): Know your Animals:

Q: Take the plural name of one animal and the singular name of another animal. Say the two words out loud one after the other and you'll name a country. What are the animals, and what is the country?

See, I knew Will Shortz would put his years as a crossword puzzle editor to good use and come up with something interesting...

Edit: My hint was "knew" which is another homonym for the first animal and the first part of the country. Also, both words are the type of words that crossword puzzle solvers have seen often, so I mentioned that as an additional hint.

A: GNUS + ELAND = NEW ZEALAND

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 14, 2010): Tasty Opposites

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 14, 2010): Tasty Opposites:

Q: Think of two words that are opposites, beginning with the letters 'H' and 'M.' Change the 'H' to an 'M.' Say the result out loud, and you'll have the name of something nice to eat. What is it?

At least this week's challenge doesn't involve anagrams. (However, if you miss them and want to hear some more, listen to the on-air puzzle; it's all about anagrams.) Just like a couple weeks ago, I think the wording of the puzzle is a little misleading. If you want something nice to eat, don't take a small bite. You want the whole thing.

Edit: My hint was "some more" as in "s'more"

A: HARSH + MELLOW --> MARSHMALLOW

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 7, 2010): Messing up the Receiving Line

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 7, 2010): Messing up the Receiving Line:

Q: Take the phrase 'Receiving Line'. Rearrange these 13 letters to name a common profession

Okay, before I say something rude, isn't this about the 6th anagram puzzle this year? Really Will, can't you construct an interesting NPR puzzle that doesn't involve anagrams? And what's up with the NPR site? Where's the link to the puzzle on the NPR puzzle page? You know, I don't think I'm even going to bother supplying a hint this week.

Edit: not rude = civil, construct = engineer

A: RECEIVING LINE --> CIVIL ENGINEER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb. 28, 2010): Name Those TV Shows

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb. 28, 2010): Name Those TV Shows:

Q: Name an animal in two syllables. Add an S at the end of the first syllable, and you'll get the name of an old TV show. The second syllable, phonetically, is the name of a current TV show. What animal is this?

This puzzle is really easy if you interpret it correctly and really hard if you don't. The primary actors on the old TV show were born about the same time as the main actor on the current TV show.

Edit: I initially read the puzzle and thought the S was inserted between the first and second syllables to form the name of the old TV show. When I focused more on the second syllable, all of a sudden I figured out my mistake and came up with the answer.

A: Chipmunk --> CHiPs and Monk