Thursday, October 06, 2011

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 2, 2011): A Meal Composed of an Entrée and a Dessert

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 2, 2011): A Meal Composed of an Entrée and a Dessert:
Q: Think of a common one-word entrée and dessert. When you insert the name of the entrée into the dessert's name, it will read as a certain meal. Name the entrée, dessert, and meal.
To everyone that appreciates this blog, I say, "Thank you, thank you very much!"

Edit: My hint was a reference to Elvis Presley who starred in the 1967 musical film Clambake. Incidentally, a version of this puzzle appeared back in August 2007
A: LAMB + CAKE --> C(LAMB)AKE

44 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. I'm sure I have the answer.

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  3. This was a real nice puzzle.

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  4. Blaine, got it.

    Jan, remember it, forgot why.

    Although you can have this meal in many different places, there is one place where you'll never starve. Which, I suppose, has its pros and cons.

    And now, lunch.

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  5. So, is the meal a single word?

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  6. @phredp,
    My dictionary says yes, other sources say no.

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  7. I struggled a bit with this one, though I finally got it, and I'm not too proud to say that I looked at the early comments here before I did, but they were really no help and left me stranded. It's amazing how much different hints look when you know the answer!

    But with regard to today's on-air puzzle: What the hey! A categories puzzle with only three categories! Is this a reflection of budgetary problems at NPR?

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  8. Bob Kerfuffle:
    I noticed the minimum three questions too, and also Shortz no longer supplies the question for the ending week, but it is from a recording and then the contestant gives the answer.
    And another thing: The puzzle was not posted last night. What gives with the minions?
    I guess we can't have our cake and eat it too.

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  9. I grew up listening to the band "Yes" among others. A certain post reminds me of the song "Close to the Edge".

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  10. This one took a bit of prying to solve.

    -- Other Ben

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. Would it be too obvious of a clue to include one of the answer words in the clue?

    I'm happy to say I found this puzzle easy.
    I'm disappointed though, because I submitted a puzzle this week that also involves foods, so I'm not optimistic it will get used soon.

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  13. Baa. Humbug. It _would_ be the time in the evening to take my mutt on his nightly poopoo peepee walk – but he’s no longer with us. My heart aches for the good old days...

    Chuck

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  14. I guess it can be one word or two - wikipedia actually defines it as "is a traditional method of cooking foods" - but I suppose it is a meal in itself.

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  15. Dave J:
    In describing where you usually sleep, do you spell it bedroom or bed room? I rest my case.

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  16. My friend Mary would love the entree but I haven't had it in years. It was my birthday last week, though...

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  17. Budgetary problems at NPR? Well, the voice clip for today runs only 5:30. They haven't been constant, but usually average about 7:00. This was the shortest we have had in months. Clearly the priorities are now a little different!

    The answer this week may be a bit regional!

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  18. I may be from old England, but I think the clues this week are wickedly more obvious than last week

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  19. More musical clues: Beatles and Blue Oyster Cult. The puzzle is archaic.

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  20. William - I agree that it's regional. Here in the Rockies, we're very likely to see the entree on a menu, but I've never seen the meal served anywhere in this time zone. The dessert is universal.

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  21. I also seem to remember this puzzle, or one very similar, used before. Does anyone else have a sense of deja vu about this one?

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  22. Curtis,

    Excellent memory! But last time the directions were reversed!

    I can't tell you the date until after the deadline, but everybody who knows the answer can easily Google for the original question.

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  23. Chuck got me to thinking about my long gone dog, Edith, who had been my faithful companion for many years. The day she died I recall my neighbor saying, "She may have been a bitch, but she epitomized everything a dog should be."

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  24. Another musical clue: Genesis.

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  25. Curtis - When I was selected to play on-air, the challenge that got me there was: "Think of two parts of the human body. Insert one into the other, and you will get something you might see on top of a building. What is it?" (Might have been worded slightly differently!)

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  26. Reminds me of junior high school health class: "Think of two parts of the human body. Insert one into the other, and you will get in big trouble."

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  27. Google logon giving me fits for second day.
    Get stuffed!

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  28. Finally! I had to log in at Google site (to get cookie?)

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  29. We're on a fall cruise this week. Found the answer but not on the ship's menu.

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  30. Having lived in Maryland, the answer came quickly to me. But my overseas travel confirms there is at least another good solution, so we will see what happens when the official answer is revealed on Sunday.

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  31. My clues:
    "I guess we can't have our cake and eat it too." I never meant this to be a clue. I posted it a few minutes before I solved the puzzle and hoped cake was not part of the answer, but I thought it was so obvious, as is pie, that it should not really matter. When I solved it I thought maybe I should delete my post, but then I thought that would be a give-away to those who had seen it and also, if Blaine deleted it I would then know that cake was the dessert. After that I just watched to see what transpired.

    My post re: my dog Edith is a fabrication allowing me to type: "...she epitomized..." which hides "sheep."

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  32. “and left me stranded.“ Where strand is another word for beach, the usual locale for a clambake.

    The complaint about the paucity of categories was genuine, but, “Is this a reflection of budgetary problems at NPR? “ referred to the budget being cut, or shorn like a lamb.

    The challenge I had answered years ago: Lip into Head = HELIPAD.

    (jan - Thanks for the ride on the Carousel!)

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  33. My son got married in Boston in August. We invited everyone to a clambake on the shore of the Charles the night before the wedding. (We sang, "This was a Real Nice Clambake," from "Carousel".) The next day, baby lamb chops were served during the cocktail hour, and, of course, wedding cake for dessert. For some reason, no one was moved to insert the lamb into the cake, though.

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  34. My post refers to a beach, where a clambake traditionally takes place.

    A beach is a place where you can never starve because of the 'sand which is' there.

    WHICH has its proS AND cons.

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  35. The new puzzle is ready (albeit a day late). Follow the link.

    Link

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  36. For all you trivia fans, check out the NPR Puzzler from Sept. 2, 2007:
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14118487

    Look familiar?

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  37. Tommy Boy said...
    B_D, "Close to the Edge".

    Huh? I Googled and searched Yes lyrics for cake or lamb. Not found.

    Why did you post that?

    In my post, I was "happy" (as a clam) to find the puzzle "easy" (as cake - yes, I know it's not common usage).

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  38. I would love to hear the logical progression of how your hint was supposed to lead someone to the correct answer.
    "Thank you, thank you very much"
    =>
    Elvis [ok, I think we all got that part]
    =>
    ?
    =>
    ?
    =>
    ?
    => Clambake

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  39. My musical clue, Genesis, was a reference to "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway."

    Aaron, there's no way that anyone could get from Blaine's clue to Clambake, but once someone gets the correct answer, he or she can confirm that it's the same answer that Blaine got. I understood Blaine's clue as soon as I got the answer. We're trying not to give the answers away.

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  40. B_D, it was a response to your comment about using part of the answer in a clue (which SDB explained in a later post).

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  41. New one is up - take the Sanskrit name for the first of 12 - change the M to a Y and rearrange to describe this puzzle.

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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.