NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 26, 2010): The Best Things in Life...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 26, 2010): The Best Things in Life...:

Q: Take the phrase 'patron saint,' remove a letter, then rearrange the letters to create a new, familiar two-word phrase that names something important in life. Hint: The first word has three letters, the second word has seven.

The list of anagrams I came up with spanned 4 pages. How come one of the words in the phrase wasn't in the list?

Edit: I'm sure Liane and Will would say, "The Best Things in Life are Listener Supported". Though there is one intended answer, there are really 4 pages of them. I also hinted at the fact that part of the answer is an acronym rather than a "word".

A: PATRON SAINT - A --> NPR STATION

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 19, 2010): International Trade

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 19, 2010): International Trade:

Q: Name five countries whose names are five letters long. Using the middle letter of each country's name, spell the five-letter name of a sixth country.

I didn't find this difficult and I can form the names of 6 different countries. How about you?

Update: On the air, Will mentioned wanting an answer that didn't use the lesser-known country of Palau. I'm still able to come up with 3 good answers that only involve well-known countries (and one that uses a country similar to Palau).

Edit: My clue above was "I" + "and I" which can be anagrammed to make India. I think this is probably Will's intended answer, but there are some other possible answers.

A:
3 answers with well-known countries:
CHINA, KENYA, SUDAN, CHILE, ITALY --> INDIA
CHILE, QATAR, SPAIN, MALTA, EGYPT --> ITALY
MALTA, CHINA, GABON, EGYPT, SPAIN --> LIBYA

One with lesser-known countries:
LIBYA, NAURU, SYRIA, YEMEN, ITALY --> BURMA

A couple more that include Palau:
YEMEN, ITALY, PALAU, QATAR, SPAIN --> MALTA
JAPAN, ITALY, MALTA, SPAIN, NAURU --> PALAU

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 12, 2010): Compound Word Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 12, 2010): Compound Word Puzzle:

Q: Think of a common compound word in which each half starts with the letter C. Change both Cs to Bs, and you'll get the names of two related objects. What objects are they?

Well ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, I don't have a good clue at all, so you are on your own to figure this out.

Edit: The clues were ladies and gentlemen (man and woman), girls and boys. You can put each of these words together with the parts of the answer to make other words (Catwoman, Batman, callgirl, ballboy). The other hidden clue was "at all" which is the answer without the leading letters.

A: CATCALL --> BAT and BALL

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 5, 2010): B C D E G P T V Z

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 5, 2010): B C D E G P T V Z:

Q: What is the longest common word in which all the letters rhyme with E?

Has anyone discovered a word longer than 8 letters?

Edit: The hint was discovered

A: DETECTED

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 29, 2010): Famous Writer Anagram

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 29, 2010): Famous Writer Anagram:

Q: Take the word 'bookman.' Change a letter and rearrange the result to name a famous person who wrote books. What person is this?

Since the puzzle is up early, I'll put in a quick clue: Alizée

Edit: My first clue was "put in" as in Vladimir Putin who shares the same name as the author. My second clue was "Alizée", a young French singer whose most successful single was "Moi Lolita"

A: (Vladimir) NABOKOV, most famous for the novel Lolita