Thursday, July 21, 2011

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 17, 2011): Vacation Hospitalization

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 17, 2011): Vacation Hospitalization:
Q: Think of an adjective that might describe a child before a summer vacation. Change the second letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll name someone you might see in a hospital. Who is it?
I'm sorry to dash your hopes, there are no clues in this post today.

Edit: In printing, there's an em dash (—) and an en dash (–), related in size to the printed letter 'm' and 'n', respectively. That was a hint to the letters that are changed. Also, the sentence included "I'm" and "in", the prefixes to the answers.
A: IMPATIENT and INPATIENT

59 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. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.

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  2. This week's puzzle was easy enough that I solved it before finishing reading it online. No clues from me as I think that the answer is a little obvious.

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  3. Agreed Curtis, this week's was a disappointment. I hate to admit this but I couldn't get the answer for a while, and then when it hit me I felt cheated. It's not a particularly clever use of the language.

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  4. I left these two posts at the end of last week's postings and am now pasting them here.

    Okay everyone, the new puzzle is out, but not entirely either.

    If you don't get the answer right away, let it incubate awhile before admitting defeat.

    Yes, far too easy again. I like a challenge; this is ridiculous.

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  5. I work in a family practice office; I often see children *AFTER* summer vacations, when they're looking for relief from insect bites, poison ivy, and the like.

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  6. You folks are all smarter than I am. I get so frustrated when I can't get the answer. To relax, I go outside and water the flowers.

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  7. The adjective probably describes the "someone" also.

    I was surprised that MWCD give a usage date of 1760 for the "someone". It seems to me to have a more recent ring.

    Pia Sundhage's performance seems apropos.

    Enjoyed DocTech's performance. I had the feeling that there was some parallelism in our careers. I worked on POS equipment in the 70s.

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  8. I could hardly wait for this week’s puzzle segment to air. Congrats to DT for becoming part of puzzle history!

    Chuck

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  9. FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNHAPPY WITH THE DOD OF THIS PUZZLE

    Think of places where you may find frogs and children on summer vacation. Add the first answer to this week's challenge. Rearrange the result and you get a word that states your reaction to the NPR puzzle.

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  10. I was a little surprised at Will's example this week. Don't pine cones grow on pine trees? And fir cones on fir trees?

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  11. Firs are a genus of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae (Pines).

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  12. Well, I'm pining for the good old days of interesting puzzles.

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  13. If you haven't yet solved it and feel ready to shout,
    Don't lose your temper; you'll figure it out.

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  14. Hey, did you hear about the slow nurse that got a little behind in her work?

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  15. No, but I did hear about the airplane mechanic who backed into a propeller and got a little behind in his work.

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  16. I heard about a woman who stood with her back to the airplane propeller--DISASTER

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  17. I'm sure the child saw a flock of Northern Cardinals while on this summer vacation.

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  18. I once assisted in surgery on a guy who got his hand caught in an upholstery machine (honest!). He's fully recovered.

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  19. There was a fellow who had an accident with an eyeglass grinding machine; not hurt badly, but he did make a spectacle of himself.

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  20. Well, since we're doing the punny jokes: What's the difference between roast beef and pea soup? Anybody can roast beef.

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  21. This puzzle was super easy for a change.

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  22. These puns are reminding me of chopping wood; a chore that gives me a splitting headache.

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  23. These puns have me spun out of my mind. They're coming to take me away Ha Ha Hee Hee Ho Ho

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  24. They delight me like a firefly backing into a fan.

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  25. Enough with the propeller puns. The midweek challenge is ready. Get over there, chop chop!

    Follow this link

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  26. I'm for rounding up all the usual nervous suspects!

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  27. Speaking of roundups. I am a cowboy buff and am more than a little upset at how things keep changing in this regard. It always seems to begin with terminology. A perfect example is the Roundup. This is where the cowboys ride out among the herd and separate the yearlings and drive them in to be branded. The males are then castrated and instead of becoming bulls, now become steers.
    Well, nothing much has changed in this regard except the terminology. As I mentioned they used to be called Roundups. Nowadays, with all the yuppie influence on society they are called Steering Committees.

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  28. IMPATIENT & INPATIENT

    I posted the following two clues to the puzzle:

    "Okay everyone, the new puzzle is out, but not entirely either.

    If you don't get the answer right away, let it incubate awhile before admitting defeat."

    I don't think they need any clarification, but please feel free to ask if you want.

    I am losing all patience with these letter switch puzzles that take all of seconds to solve.

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  29. @SDB, I agree. I immediately thought "who do you see at a hospital? -- Doctors and patients". That made me think of "patience" and "impatience" and the answer came right after that. Total solving time, perhaps 3 seconds.

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  30. Some impatiens species are used to treat bee stings, insect bites, and poison ivy rashes as a folk remedy.

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  31. Blaine:
    Right! And it is not even satisfying. At least when I solved the Helmet Kohl puzzle as I was reading it, I felt somewhat pleased with myself for having knowledge of many past and present world leaders, but not this disappointing excuse for a puzzle.

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  32. Blaine, count me as another of your readers who has received "the call." I hope you and all the fantastic regular commenters will be cheering me on tomorrow as I play the puzzle! I'm so excited and nervous. Anyone have any tips?

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  33. From above -

    Think of places where you may find frogs and children on summer vacation. Add the first answer to this week's challenge. Rearrange the result and you get a word that states your reaction to the NPR puzzle.

    Frogs and children on summer vacation can sometimes be seen hanging out around PONDS. Add that to IMPATIENT and rearrange to spell

    DISAPPOINTMENT

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  34. @Banje,

    Congratulations! As always, feel free to post back with how it goes and what it's like behind the scenes.

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  35. Contestants are to be heard and not seen.

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  36. Banje –

    I played on-air in ’05. I would suggest being alone in a quiet room with perhaps a pencil and piece of paper at the ready. Besides that, try to relax and have fun. Others of us here have lived through it :)

    Chuck

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  37. Banje, I also played on-air many years ago and agree with Chuck. Be sure to lock the pets away if you have any so they won't distract you. Enjoy!

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  38. @Banje - Congratulations, and have fun! Two Blainseville members in a row... sounds like a conspiracy :D

    Best of luck. And let me know when you get your prizes and what you get... I got a Scrabble set Wednesday, which was *not* on the list of prizes. Hmm.

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  39. Congrats, Banje. I am convinced this blog is lucky!

    Let us vicarious livers know how it goes behind the scenes.

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  40. RoRo:
    Don't forget to include some fava beans with your vicarious liver.

    DocT:
    Scrabble used to be included, but did you get the hard bound dictionary? That is the only thing I am out to win.

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  41. Whew. That went by fast. Thank you all for your very helpful advice!

    I will have my behind-the-scenes account ready to post after the puzzle airs. I can tell you now that I share DocTechnical's Achilles' heel when it comes to puzzle-solving, and Will found it.

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  42. @SDB: No dictionary. Or any other books. Just the Scrabble game, which was sent overnight via FedEx.

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  43. DocT:
    What a shame! I need Scrabble like I need George W. Bush's memoir (all 7 pages). Did they send the USA edition, or the Canadian Scrabble with the extra "A"s?
    It seems even stranger to me that they do not have a photo of the lapel pin on the NPR site.

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  44. If you all hated that puzzle, you'll despise this one... it's something I stumbled across while searching for a solution.

    Think of something that flies. Change the second letter to the next letter of the alphabet and you get something you might find on a mountain.

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  45. Actually, DT, I think that's a better puzzle. No kidding.

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  46. Well, think of part of a plant.

    Change the second letter to the next letter of the alphabet and you get an article of clothing.

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  47. @DDL: Might this part of a plant also be the name of something you might find on a boat?

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  48. Curiouser and curiouser. I was just visited by a uniformed agent of the federal government, who handed me a box. Therein was a copy of "Sudoku Lovers Only", "Little Black (and White) Book of Crosswords" (both by Will Shortz) and "Where the Stress Falls" by Susan Sontag. Make of that what you will! :)

    The enclosed invoice said that the third book was to be "Grammar Girl's 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know". Evidently the picker mis-picked :)

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  49. @DT: Maybe in a refrigerator.

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  50. I have to agree with Paul. I had to think about the mountain puzzle for awhile before it came to me as I was shaving this morning.

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  51. @SDB: I hope you didn't slip and hurt yourself!

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  52. DocT:
    Shaving, or on the mountain?
    I took so long to solve this one that I no longer feel like a hot shot.

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  53. New puzzle is up. Took me longer to read it than solve it :/

    And Banje's on-air puzzle involved state capitals. Oh, boy... am I glad *I* didn't get that one. I would have stammered myself to death.

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  54. She is outstanding in her field.

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  55. I've got 4 answers to the new puzzle, on 3 continents.

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  56. Mrs. Lorenzo:
    Mrvex Zes Crfmyc Abrzm

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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.