NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 20, 2010): Fathers' Day trip to the Hardware Store

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 20, 2010): Fathers' Day trip to the Hardware Store:

Q: Think of a product for sale at a hardware store. It's a generic two-word name. Replace the first letter of the first word with an S, and replace the first two letters of the second word with an S, and the result will be two new words that are opposites. What are they?

Hints: Black Turtleneck or Black Lady

Edit: Both my clues were musical hints. One of the members of Black Turtleneck is Jason Amm who goes by the alias "Solvent". Charles Mingus had an album entitled "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady".

A: PAINT THINNER --> SAINT, SINNER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 13, 2010): One of these things is not like the others

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 13, 2010): One of these things is not like the others:

Q: Write down the following five names: Christian Dior, Anne Boleyn, Edna Ferber, Indiana Jones and Richard Simmons. The first four names have something unusual in common that the fifth name does not. What is it? Give another name that shares this property. Hint: It's a property that only a few names have. To show that you have the right answer, think of another name that shares the same property. Any name that shares the property will be considered correct.

183 kg cat?

Edit: Okay, so 183kg is 403lb. If you Google for "403 pound cat" you'll end up finding the Jacksonville Jaguars Mascot who has been portrayed by Curtis Dvorak

A: You should have noticed that the letters of the first and last names are consecutive. But what about Richard Simmons? Some have suggested that the first letter should be in an *odd* position of the alphabet (e.g. A, C, E, G, etc.). But that's like saying it should be people with consecutive letters that aren't exercise gurus. The actual answer is that both the first and second letters in each name are consecutive.
Christian Dior, Anne Boleyn, Edna Ferber, Indiana Jones. But Richard Simmons' second letters are "i" and "i" which aren't consecutive.

So what names did you come up with? Here's just a few of the one's I thought of:
Adrián Beltré - Boston Red Sox 3rd baseman
Andy Borowitz - Comedian and Satirist
Andrea Bocelli - Italian pop tenor
Charles Dickens - English novelist
Chris Dimarco - American golfer
Curtis Dvorak - portrays the Jacksville Jaguars mascot, Jaxson de Ville
David Ebersman - CFO of Facebook
Don Eppes - FBI agent on the show Numb3rs
"Duke" Evers - Trainer of Apollo Creed and later Rocky Balboa
Harry Ibrahim - Asian Fashion Designer
Odalis Perez - MLB pitcher, formerly of the Washington Nationals
Ogden Phipps - Financier, Tennis Champ and Racing Horse Breeder
Rhea Silvia - Mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus
Robert Sproul - Former University of California President
Ross Spencer - Mystery Writer
Shirley Tilghman - President of Princeton University
Tom Upton - Former MLB shortstop

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 6, 2010): One Swell Foop

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 6, 2010): One Swell Foop:

Q: A 'spoonerism' is when you interchange the initial consonant sounds of two words to get two new words. For example, with 'right lane,' you'd get 'light rain.' Think of a familiar two-word phrase that's an instruction seen on many containers. 'Spoonerize' it to name two things seen at the beach. What's the phrase and what are the things?

I'm not happy with my current answer. Phonetically I have a problem with the sound on one of my words, so I'm hoping that perhaps there is a better answer.

Edit: The title of this post was a hint to the intended answer. As for my alternate answer, the key was the "Ph" in Phonetically.

A: SHAKE WELL --> WAKE, SHELL

Blaine's close miss: PULL HERE --> HULL, PIER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 30, 2010): Mind the Gap

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 30, 2010): Mind the Gap:

Q: Take the name of a nationality and write it in lower case letters. Remove the first letter and rotate one of the remaining letters 180 degrees. The result will be another nationality. What nationalities are these?

Some would say these countries are rather close, but I wouldn't try to build something like a bridge between them.

Edit: My hints were "rather close" (dan-ish) and "something like a bridge" (span-ish).

A: spanish --> danish