Thursday, March 31, 2011

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 27, 2011): This Puzzle is Rated PG for Mild Language

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 27, 2011): This Puzzle is Rated PG for Mild Language:
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!"

47 comments:

  1. 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.

    You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 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...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I 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?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Man am I bored! Anyone for a game of chess to pass the time while we wait for Will to have another vowel movement?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Will is certainly being a bit of a loon with these puzzles the last few weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. A friend came up with the name - I came up with the word (a reference to Canada ?), probably because I'm older.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Do they still make dixie cups?

    ReplyDelete
  8. What in Sam's hill is going on with these puzzles lately?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dang! 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!

    ReplyDelete
  10. For phredp & Kaleenam:
    Jumpin' Jihad! No self respectin' Islamic Cleric would give a Flyin' Fatwa for another one of these puzzles.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 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 :)

    Dagnabbit, didn't get to use my computer this time :(

    ReplyDelete
  12. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  13. DocT and Kaleenam have led me to a certain director, but I can't seem to get any further with this blankety-blank puzzle!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey 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.

    Read all about it here.

    Original Ben

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

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sorry Eddie, a little too obvious.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This 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
  18. Finally 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!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Nice clue Blaine, even if it did lead me on fruitless searches among directors of silent films and directors who appeared before HUAC.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I would like to know why Will did not inform us that it might not be a single director, but could be a duo.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Tommy Boy -- You're rooting for the Wildcats? Kentucky Wildcats or Arizona Wildcats?

    Neither 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

    ReplyDelete
  22. Not rooting at all, though I never mind seeing David beat Goliath. Just an ACC minded observation.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Would Will endose a name that doesn't really exist?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Tired of anagrams and name puzzles? Here's a number puzzle:

    Series 1: {22, 17, 14, 21, 12, M}
    Series 2: {17, 9, 12, 10, M}
    Solve for M.

    ReplyDelete
  25. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  26. This 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.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Speaking of David and Goliath, did anyone see Cleveland trounce Miami last night?

    ReplyDelete
  28. While we have a little time before the next puzzle. The FBI needs your help cracking a code undecipherable by them. Any takers?
    "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

    ReplyDelete
  29. Tommy Boy - Basketball upsets are what I'm talking about.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Musical clue to my puzzle: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

    ReplyDelete
  31. My clues:
    When 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.

    ReplyDelete
  32. My clue - "colorful language" referred to QT's film Reservoir Dogs, with characters Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), Mr. Brown (Tarantino), etc.
    My 2nd favorite behind Pulp Fiction.

    ReplyDelete
  33. The @#$%ing Wildcats (Kentucky) beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA tournament ruining March Madness for the entire "Tar Heels Nation".

    ReplyDelete
  34. The name Quentin comes from the Latin quintus meaning "the fifth".

    ReplyDelete
  35. My 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'.

    Ken, I am still clueless from your clue.

    ReplyDelete
  36. @SDB Please cool it with the unhints. We want you to keep your incredible credibility.

    Your poetry is fun(ky).

    ReplyDelete
  37. "Slay William" means about the same as "Kill Bill".

    ReplyDelete
  38. Apparently, only 2 out of nearly 6 million had a clue.

    ReplyDelete
  39. My 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."

    ReplyDelete
  40. What in Sam Hill was also a reference to Yosemite Sam who always used "tarnation".

    ReplyDelete
  41. After 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."

    It'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

    ReplyDelete
  42. NUMBER PUZZLE
    Series 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.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Ken shoots mean hoops. I refuse to elaborate.

    ReplyDelete
  44. The new puzzle is out and it is extremely easy by gosh.

    Assign 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.

    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.