Q: Take the word 'calm' and flip the letters A and L to get 'clam.' Take the last name of a film director known for using profanity, and flip two pairs of letters in place to get a word used as a substitute for profanity. Who's the director, and what's the word?Have I ever used profanity? I plead the fifth.
Edit: The name Quentin comes from the Latin quintus meaning "the fifth"
A: Quentin TARANTINO (swap AN and NO) --> "What in TARNATION!"
Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via Google or Bing) 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.
ReplyDeleteYou may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. Thank you.
Looks like you can now solve this puzzle on Saturday evening or early Sunday morning - but that still doesn't help me with Blaine's clues...
ReplyDeleteI have the answers, and I would like to leave a clue, but I don't want to be too loud about it. So, any ideas on how I should go about it?
ReplyDeleteMan am I bored! Anyone for a game of chess to pass the time while we wait for Will to have another vowel movement?
ReplyDeleteWill is certainly being a bit of a loon with these puzzles the last few weeks.
ReplyDeleteA friend came up with the name - I came up with the word (a reference to Canada ?), probably because I'm older.
ReplyDeleteDo they still make dixie cups?
ReplyDeleteWhat in Sam's hill is going on with these puzzles lately?
ReplyDeleteDang! It is such a beautiful day! I want to take my dogs for a walk but all the squawking outside is scaring the heck out of them. Oh well, I think I'll get lost in a good book and drink some fresh orange juice!
ReplyDeleteFor phredp & Kaleenam:
ReplyDeleteJumpin' Jihad! No self respectin' Islamic Cleric would give a Flyin' Fatwa for another one of these puzzles.
Ah, thanks to the clues here, I think I have it. A wily puzzle, this one... and I kept trying to find a movie Capra did with curse words :)
ReplyDeleteDagnabbit, didn't get to use my computer this time :(
Capra didn't need profanity as his films were profanity in and of themselves, in my opinion. He was the king of propaganda; and propaganda is carp.
ReplyDeleteDocT and Kaleenam have led me to a certain director, but I can't seem to get any further with this blankety-blank puzzle!
ReplyDeleteHey everyone, this puzzle might have gotten on the radio in the first place because I encouraged Francis Heaney to submit it to WIll last weekend at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
ReplyDeleteRead all about it here.
Original Ben
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ReplyDeleteSorry Eddie, a little too obvious.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle seemed a little obvious. The director's name was the first name that came to mind as will read the puzzle. What's an Elvis man to do with all this extra time on his hands?
ReplyDelete@#$%ing Wildcats!
ReplyDeleteFinally got it. Like Curtis, the director's name came to me immediately but I initially failed to see the desired word. Now I can revisit all the _____ posted clues, which didn't help me one bit! Gadzooks!
ReplyDeleteNice clue Blaine, even if it did lead me on fruitless searches among directors of silent films and directors who appeared before HUAC.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know why Will did not inform us that it might not be a single director, but could be a duo.
ReplyDeleteTommy Boy -- You're rooting for the Wildcats? Kentucky Wildcats or Arizona Wildcats?
ReplyDeleteNeither would have a chance if the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs had made it into the picture, my friend. They would have cleaned up.
-- Other Ben
Not rooting at all, though I never mind seeing David beat Goliath. Just an ACC minded observation.
ReplyDeleteWould Will endose a name that doesn't really exist?
ReplyDeleteTired of anagrams and name puzzles? Here's a number puzzle:
ReplyDeleteSeries 1: {22, 17, 14, 21, 12, M}
Series 2: {17, 9, 12, 10, M}
Solve for M.
It is unreal the amount of paper i wasted on this one. Now that I have it I can focus on being my foxy self again.
ReplyDeleteThis seems really easy, and I suspect everyone's got the right answer, but I sure don't get any of the director clues - maybe I'm behind in my movie viewing. "My" director does use colorful language.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of David and Goliath, did anyone see Cleveland trounce Miami last night?
ReplyDeleteWhile we have a little time before the next puzzle. The FBI needs your help cracking a code undecipherable by them. Any takers?
ReplyDelete"FBI Asks: Can You Crack This Killer Code? - Kansas
City News Story - KMBC Kansas City"
http://www.kmbc.com/r/27371040/detail.html?taf=kc1
Tommy Boy - Basketball upsets are what I'm talking about.
ReplyDeleteThe Puzzle this week slays me!
ReplyDeleteMusical clue to my puzzle: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo
ReplyDeleteMy clues:
ReplyDeleteWhen I wrote that I did not want to be too loud about leaving a clue, it was a hint at doing it on the QT. Q and T are the initials of the director.
When I wrote: Man I'm bored; anyone for a game of chess...? That is a clue for Caryl Chessman, who was executed in San Quentin over 50 years ago and is probably the most famous California execution ever.
When I indicated the director might be a duo, I was hinting at the Coen Brothers. This was an UN-HINT left in a moment of extreme wickedness as I was consuming a Seven-Up.
My clue - "colorful language" referred to QT's film Reservoir Dogs, with characters Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), Mr. Brown (Tarantino), etc.
ReplyDeleteMy 2nd favorite behind Pulp Fiction.
The @#$%ing Wildcats (Kentucky) beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA tournament ruining March Madness for the entire "Tar Heels Nation".
ReplyDeleteThe name Quentin comes from the Latin quintus meaning "the fifth".
ReplyDeleteMy clue referred, of course to unreal paper - pulp fiction and foxy like "Foxy Brown" who was changed to "Jackie Brown" when Tarantino made the movie starring Pam Grier. He cussed out a bunch of people to state his right to make that film. I know guys whose eyes still glaze over at the mention of 'Foxy Brown'.
ReplyDeleteKen, I am still clueless from your clue.
@SDB Please cool it with the unhints. We want you to keep your incredible credibility.
ReplyDeleteYour poetry is fun(ky).
"Slay William" means about the same as "Kill Bill".
ReplyDeleteApparently, only 2 out of nearly 6 million had a clue.
ReplyDeleteMy post was in reference to "Loon"ey Tunes and Yosemite Sam. If I remember right Yosemite Sam would say something like "What in tarnation are you doing?" or something to that effect. I guess loon would also be looked at like Sa"loon" as in the bar in the movie "From Dusk Til Dawn."
ReplyDeleteLk 8:4-21
ReplyDeleteWhat in Sam Hill was also a reference to Yosemite Sam who always used "tarnation".
ReplyDeleteAfter Tommy Boy posted his homage to the Wildcats, I noted that they would have had no chance against the "UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs," who "would have cleaned up."
ReplyDeleteIt's a salute to a favorite scene in Pulp Fiction, where Harvey Keitel as "fixer" Winston Wolf is sent in to solve the "Bonnie Problem."
First, Travolta and Jackson have to "clean up," as they are covered in blood. Then, Travolta has to borrow clothes from TARANTINO, and ends up wearing a T-shirt for the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOhVFDCfD-8
Must be the greatest university mascot around. Top five at least.
-- Other Ben
NUMBER PUZZLE
ReplyDeleteSeries 1: {22, 17, 14, 21, 12, M}
Series 2: {17, 9, 12, 10, M}
Solve for M.
Answer: M = 19
Only 2 out of 5.9 million entrants to the ESPN NCAA Basketball Tournament pool correctly called the Final Four teams. The two “Cinderella” teams, Virginia Commonwealth University and Butler University, had paths filled with upsets.
Series 1: VCU (seeded 11) had a “play-in game” against another team seeded 11. Then it played against teams seeded 6, 3, 10, and 1. In its games, the sums of the seeds were 22, 17, 14, 21, and 12. Its next game is against Butler University, seeded 8. Therefore, M = 19.
Series 2: The same math is applied to Butler’s games. M = 19.
Ken shoots mean hoops. I refuse to elaborate.
ReplyDeleteThe new puzzle is out and it is extremely easy by gosh.
ReplyDeleteAssign every letter of the alphabet a numerical value: A=1, B=2, C=3 and so forth. Think of a classic work of literature that has eight letters in its title. When the letters are given a numerical value, they add up to 35. What's the title? Clue: The title has two words.