Thursday, April 15, 2010

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 11, 2010): Is it Thanksgiving Yet?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 11, 2010): Is it Thanksgiving Yet?:
Q: Name something you might order in a restaurant — two words, eight letters all together, with four letters in the first word and four letters in the last. Drop the last letter. The remaining seven letters will read backward and forward the same.
Man, I've got turkey on the brain, and it's only April. If you think turkey too, I'm sure it will pan out.

Edit: There were a few clues in my short post. "Man I've got turkey" sounds like "Manavgat, Turkey" which is near "Side". A little more obvious is that Thanksgiving dinner usually consists of turkey and numerous side dishes. Finally, dishpan and outside contain the words "dish" and "side". What is left is "pan out". I hope those hints weren't too obvious and didn't give it away.
A: SIDE DISH --> SIDEDIS

60 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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. suzyq –

    I just finished listening to you on-the-air. Great job! They certainly weren’t easy questions to answer right off the top of your head.

    Unlike you, I don’t think the new solve-at-home puzzle was originally intended as your last question. I think Will figured it out beforehand but thought it would be too tough to throw at someone in person. My two cents :)

    BTW, it’s a beautiful day here. Now that my answer’s been submitted, think I’ll head on out for a bike ride.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can you get NPR on Sirius or XM radio?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Suzyq, Congratulations and thanks for the heads-up on today's puzzle.

    Since I believe that the French/Spanish "pate tapa" is off the mark as an alternate answer. I will mention it and say don't waste time considering it. The answer is in English.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anyone ever seen "pork rope" or "lime milk" on a menu? Still working on it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This puzzle reminds me of the time Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev were out for dinner at a restaurant.

    "What would you like to eat, sir?" asked the waiter.

    "I'll have the prime ribs," replied Putin.

    "And the vegetable?" asked the waiter.

    "He'll have the prime ribs, too," said Putin.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was trying to come up with a way to clue this one, but my kids are fighting, my wife is about to leave on a trip and wants the house clean, and she's on my case. And, of course, dad is almost always stuck in the middle of this kind of thing.

    -- Other Ben

    ReplyDelete
  8. Besides finding the right answer plus the other wrong answers already noted above, I also found BIRD RIBS.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  9. PITA TIPS and TACO CATS aren't good answers either. I suppose if you were crazy thirsty you could order LOCO COLA. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Haven't found the answer yet. Is the seven letter answer one or two words?

    Tuna nut

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dave, the seven letter do not have to form an actual word.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lorenzo, thanks for the hint. Still looking for that aha moment.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Got it. LIMA MILK. If they can make soy milk, they can make lima milk, can't they?

    ReplyDelete
  14. But I also like them mashed, if the others are not available.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dave, Can they really milk a lima? Or am I thinking llama?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Can one buy llama milk at the LLAMA MALL?

    We don't have one in New York City, so I can't imagine llama malls exist outside of Peru.

    Perhaps Ogden Nash would know?

    -- Other Ben

    ReplyDelete
  17. How about tuna nuts? Probably be expensive and would take quite a few to make a meal!

    ReplyDelete
  18. phredp, if a soy can be milked, I'm sure a lima can be milked. By the way, you plagiarized my tuna nut (see my post above).

    I woke up at 4:20 this morning (no clue hidden there) and amid disheveled sheets, I had my aha moment. Rolled over and went back to sleep.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Got it in a minute. My team is a thing of beauty.

    ReplyDelete
  20. You can order tuna nuts, lima milk, pita tips, or bird ribs, but remember to order also slaw.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Sorry Dave, I was caught up in the moment trying to visualize harvesting tuna nuts that I didn't read the previous posts. Still looking for the more appropriate answer.
    Fred

    ReplyDelete
  22. Ken, I also had each of those including ALSO SLAW, but you beat me to posting them here.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Can someone just give a good clue--even as an aside? I can't thing of any dish that I can order in a restaurant that relates to thanksgiving, heads, pans, prime ribs, tuna nuts, rolls, etc. Please a useful clue that will get me there. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  24. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ben, sorry about the deletion. I think the new hint you gave is a spoiler. Not an outright spoiler, but...

    Anyway, my initial post will be explained on Thursday. Suffice it to say, it isn't intended to give anything away and might even be misleading. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  26. I've got the answer when I looked on the otherside at dinner

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jutchnbev, gosh, you've almost got it!

    Maybe corn?

    ReplyDelete
  28. I wonder if any restaurant still offers a blue plate special, with a main course and three veggies all on one platter.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Jutchnbev, reread your post. You almost have the answer. Don't be too specific.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Blaine, no problem. Your sandlot, your rules. I knew it was close but thought it might be OK.

    ReplyDelete
  31. This "something" could be sufficient to satisfy almost anyone who doesn't have a huge appetite.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Just got it. The answer was right before my eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Will said this puzzle was easier but I thought it was pleasantly challenging. At the least the "also ran" answers are easy to discount I hate worrying which one is the "right answer".
    Jutchnbev, if you don't get this you're going to hit yourself on the head on Sunday !

    ReplyDelete
  34. Finally got it and it was William's comment to Jutchnbev that helped. I was thinking too specific about the two words and though the seven letters woul dbe a word until I reread the puzzle. Dah...

    ReplyDelete
  35. I just went to lunch in a cafe with 3 other human beings and tried to figure it out. Couldn't so I went back to work. It was raining ouside and I had no umbrella. I went back to work looking all disheveled. My boss gave me one of those looks.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Also, congrats to Our SuzyQ!! (Note how new people act like they've been here all along). I thought sure they would have had Stephen King
    talk about the loot you won but I guess that he sidestepped that opportunity or just listens to satellite radio.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Jeopardy answer: Who or what is the recipe result, say, of Javier’s singing happy birthday on any 04 July to Gina Lollobrigida or B Madoff’s siphoning off some of Zsa Zsa Gabor’s millions as he sang same to her on any previous 06 February?

    ReplyDelete
  38. I really am stumped but whatever it is I wouldn't put much stock in it cuz it sounds like after you finnish you would ba "steal Hungary"

    ReplyDelete
  39. Mmm... I just finished a nice hot dog. Now, to that plate of French fries.

    ReplyDelete
  40. One lamb malt, a buck cube, oh, and an order of tart rats... I'm starving!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Al-tried to tell you about Sirius and XM and couldn't get my post published--so here goes--you can get NPR Talk and NPR Now--but the best place for NPR is on the radio dial--either a low station or a very high one on FM
    and the two companies have merged, XM and Sirius that is.

    ReplyDelete
  42. This weeks puzzle had me humming the song Diner by Martin Sexton. Think it was featured on an episode of Scrubs a few years back.
    http://s0.ilike.com/play#Martin+Sexton:Diner:141643:m17833931

    ReplyDelete
  43. Phredp - A few weeks ago I couldn't get the Gnu Song out of my head for days. This week it's a tune associated with Diana Krall and Nat King Cole.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anybody else not seeing the "Delete your own post" button ? I know it used to be there (and used it many times !) Doesn't matter which browser I use.

    ReplyDelete
  45. So, Blue! Any more hints or what's the answer?

    ReplyDelete
  46. Ro-Ro, I believe this week's answer was SIDE-DISH.

    Jutchnbev, please tell us you got it !

    ReplyDelete
  47. Yes, I believe the intended answer was SIDE DISH. I've explained my clues in the original post.

    ReplyDelete
  48. My clue was "dad is almost always stuck in the middle of this kind of thing."

    I used "almost," cause it's DED in the middle, not DAD. I couldn't figure out how to clue it without giving it away, though others did just fine.

    I especially liked "complement to the chef."

    -- Other Ben

    ReplyDelete
  49. recipe result = a dish of any kind

    Javier = joytoyboy of longstanding of Lollobrigida (whose birthday is 04 July) = her dish

    siphoning off = on the take on the side

    Madoff = buy and / or sell side analyst of Gabor (whose birthday is 06 February)

    singing / sang = Madoff's sidekick, DiPascali, has sung and is singing some

    ReplyDelete
  50. Cookieface- Thank you, but my post was intended as a clue: Satellite Dish

    ReplyDelete
  51. DaveJ
    Thanks but I was referring to Blue's clues (isn't that a kid's tv show?) about the recipe. My friend thought it was some kind of cheese cake cuz of the 2 ladies involved but I still like my answer:
    "I am talian (telling) you that you need javier (heavier) stock to create Italian wedding (many marriages?) soup but when you are finnish I would ba' steal (be still) hungary."

    ReplyDelete
  52. To my fellow puzzle addicts -- Shortz himself crafted a very elegant spiral puzzle in today's Sunday New York Times magazine, page 60. It works in two directions. I'll say little else. Enjoy!

    -- Other Ben

    ReplyDelete
  53. Well, I made the common mistake of trying to find specific items like maya yams. :-) It was a real forehead slapper when I saw the answer was side dish.

    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.