Thursday, June 24, 2010

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

30 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.

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  2. Emulating those who have small earthly apppetites, I am going to lose 10 pounds.

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  3. Happy Father's day to all the dads out there.
    An Eminem song lyrics holds the key to the solution. Now I'm off to a fine Fathers Day dinner.

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  4. Happy Father's Day, all you dads. I am feeling in colorful spirits today. It is always a blast when you come upon the solution early without wasting a whole week.

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  5. RoRo, I tend to agree with Oscar Wilde. "The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation."

    You seem to be attracted to art. If you saw it, what did you think of "Pheromone" on "CBS Sunday Morning" Sunday, June 13?

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  6. RoRo, in response to your question last week, no, I'm not from Baltimore. I'm from Eugene, but I'm a huge NFL fan. Ed Dickson, former Oregon Duck, was drafted by the Ravens this year.

    Consecutive words in a Stones song provide the answer in plural.

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  7. Possible future Dan Brown title?

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  8. Blaine loves Charles Mingus, and thus I love Blaine.

    -- Other Ben

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  9. Interesting puzzle for Father's Day. Some fathers are good about going to the hardware store and doing projects. Others are not good.

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  10. I missed last week's puzzle since I was in New Orleans and had a brush with the law. Needless to saw, I am going to clean up my act and return to the straight and narrow.

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  11. I confess I was feeling a bit thick-brained when I got up and heard the show first thing Sunday morning. But after I brushed away the cobwebs with some good coffee things became much clearer.

    Chuck

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  12. FIRST = LAST in SPORTS
    Opera singer Simon Estes (bass-baritone), writer Franz Kafka, diplomat Kofi Annan, and actress Anne Heche are people with 5-letter last names, where the first 2 letters are the same as the last 2 letters. Name a well-known athlete from the first half of the 20th Century with a 7-letter last name, where the first 3 letters are the same as the last 3 letters.

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  13. To keep with my silly Bond theme: Shaken, not stirred.

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  14. My ideas were about to dry up, but I came up with the answer.

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  15. Ken, did your well-known athlete play a sport that involves a ball?

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  16. Hey Hugh, I missed that episode although I watch when I can. Dave - go Ducks! Saw some decoy ducks recently that were real works of art. Curtis, I don't know about you but I prefer mine stirred.

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  17. I also submitted PAINT THINNER.

    I clued it by mentioning Blaine's love of Charles Mingus -- because Blaine had an awfully dexterous clue with "Black Turtleneck or Black Lady."

    Charles Mingus had a great 1963 record called "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady."

    Take away SAINT and SINNER and you get the Black Lady.

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  18. The hidden clue within my clues is the fact that Roger Moore, along with playing James Bond, also played a TV character called the Saint.

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  19. FIRST = LAST in SPORTS
    The question was asked if the sport the athlete played involved a ball. The answer (YES) narrows the range of solutions.

    Two other Q&A's will narrow the range even more:
    Was the athlete an American? NO
    Was the athlete a male? NO

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  20. I had the idea it was TIRE IRON + SIRE SON. Not opposites....but close!

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  21. "Pheromone" on "CBS Sunday Morning" referred to the work of Christopher Marley,referring to a saint and Charles Dickens' sinner.

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  22. Ken, I'll come up with an answer today.

    My clue about consecutive words in a Stones song refers to Sympathy for the Devil (" . . . and all the sinners saints).

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  23. Ken, my guess is that it's a female golf or tennis star.

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  24. FIRST=LAST in SPORTS
    The #1 female tennis player in the world from 1919-1926 was Suzanne LENGLEN of France (see her Wiki entry and numerous Google references). She was arguably the first female superstar of the sports world. The second court at Roland Garros Stadium (site of the French Open) is named Court Suzanne Lenglen (capacity 10,068) in her honor.

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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.