Q: Take the word "at." Put a man's first name on each side of it, and say the word out loud. Phonetically, you'll get a word that describes a growing part of our country. What is it?Will probably forgot to mention that these are two *different* men's names.
Edit: Sorry, I guess I was trying to imply that Will was getting forgetful in his "old age".
A: Jerry + at + Rick = Geriatric
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. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.
Another letters in word puzzle. I think these same old word puzzles are getting a bit old and I would like to see more logic puzzles. I think I'll work on solving this tomorrow morning.
ReplyDeleteAs the years go by, these puzzles are getting too hard.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete@ken, I loved your clue, but unfortunately I feel it gives too much away.
ReplyDeletehow do i email will the answer, i know what it is.....
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about a football clue but couldn't decide if it was too obscure or a giveaway.
ReplyDeleteSo how about half a musical clue: Neil Young ?
I've got the answer and it is not "F + at + People"
ReplyDeleteTwo ideological opposites currently holding the same title.
ReplyDeleteVonniepedals - go to http://www.npr.org/series/4473090/sunday-puzzle. Click on the title of this week's puzzle. That'll bring you to a short description of the on-air challenge. Click on "Submit Your Answer" to fill in the form to submit your answer.
ReplyDeleteMonte, right (or did I mean left?).
ReplyDeleteNumber 1 and Number 2 (in more ways than one)
ReplyDeleteI think in order for the NPR Puzzle to continue into our future as a healthy and viable pass-time it depends on Will exercising a bit more diversity in the selection.
ReplyDeleteThere is now and will continue to be a lot of scaffoldage in this part of the country.
ReplyDeleteBob Kerfuffle, check my remark at the end of last week's blog. Your non-answer was really a good clue to a good alternate answer.
@hugh - Thanks for crediting me with suggesting an answer I really knew nothing about! Clearly, I would not have used the word "goat" if I had known of your brilliant alternative!
ReplyDeleteBut why did Will only mention orca/char when other correct answers were out there?
Nothing in this post should be taken as a hint to today's challenge, which I haven't figured out yet.
I thought up a bunch of good clues – food, sports, printed page, etc. – but I figured the Censor-In-Charge would smite all of them. So call me clueless...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I was surprised that only 4xx folks got antelope / elephant last week.
Chuck
This concerns the whole country. I bet all the Governors would agree!
ReplyDeletei know the answer to today's puzzle, but i don't know the email address to report it, help?
ReplyDelete@Vonnie This should be ancient history to you by now or have you really fallen out of touch. Should i care?
ReplyDeletevonniepedals –
ReplyDeleteGo to the following Web address:
http://help.npr.org/npr/includes/customer/npr/custforms/contactus.aspx?pz=t
Fill in the form and click the “Send Message” button. In a few seconds you’ll get a confirming email. We’re countin’ on ya so let us know at “Mission Accomplished.”
Chuck
Musical hint - the Ramones
ReplyDeletethanks for the tips guys but that's the problem, i'm at work and they block all websites with the call letters NPR..... is there an email address for Mr. Shortz ?? :)
ReplyDeleteReplace the first mans name with a single letter to get another man's name (phonetically speaking, er listening, whatever)
ReplyDeleteVonnie - Will Shortz doesn't deal with the emails personally. NPR staff sort out the correct answers and pick a winner. Mr. Shortz does not receive the emails, nor does he pick a winner. The extent of his involvement is in creating the puzzles and doing the on-air segment. Even if we had his personal email address, sending the puzzle there would not help in any way. I would suggest submitting the answer from a different computer after work.
ReplyDeleteMore Ovaltine please!
ReplyDeleteDAPF:
ReplyDeleteOvaltine anagrams as: Not alive;
Serutan is Natures spelled backwards.
Of course they never told us it also anagrams as: Tea runs, and we would not want that now, would we?
SDB:
ReplyDeleteanagrams may not convey such a clear message in this case, since Ovaltine also anagrams to the "vital one"
Vonnie, I thought you were repeating on purpose to create a hint. Although I meant my response as a hint and not a bad attitude. Good luck
ReplyDeleteI assume def and sit are not considered men's names?
ReplyDeleteJSP:
ReplyDeleteHow about V and Rans?
I had another "solution" : S-- and A--. That wouldn't be specific to the U.S., though, and it would make this puzzle pretty macabre.
ReplyDeleteI got the answer. I'd gloat but making a big show about nothing gets really old.
ReplyDeleteHarriet Hilliard & fools gold!
ReplyDeleteTake the word "at" and add a different man's name before and after. Phonetically, it describes how part of the intended answer might send out birthday wishes.
ReplyDeleteI suspect I can come up with lots of answers that technically fit.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised I don't see anyone saying there are two obvious answers, very similar, with the same second name.
Half of a hint:
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween! Oops, silly, ole me, I meant
Happy Holidays everyone!
I think I've got the same answers as NewScott. Except for Jim, though, none of the other hints mean anything to me. Must be having a senior moment...
ReplyDeleteHas anyone seen my keys?
ReplyDeleteSorry, they were in my left hand! ARRRRRR! I must be losing it.
ReplyDeleteHmm...maybe I wasn't that far off with my abovementioned idea for a "solution," only that I took it a step too far (you can still call that macabre). If my latest idea is right, this still isn't anything you would find only in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteSkydiveboy, have you been taking your meds for that?
NewScott,
ReplyDeleteReally? A true other answer?
A WWII reference and an old TV show is just a hint at the solution, but I question Will's grammer (answer is plural in normal useage). This in not one of Will's finest, but it is cute, albeit, a bit sad. Kind of weird for the holidays.
Wolfgang:
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you reminded me. Did you move them?
Musical clue: Keith Richards, but not Janis Joplin.
ReplyDeleteSkydiveboy:
ReplyDeleteCome on, I know better than that ("First do no harm"). Your home health aide will help you keep track.
Curtis:
Tony Bennett, but not Jim Morrison.
Janeyabelle:
ReplyDeleteSpot-on observation! It's "noun" this vs. "adjective" that. An adjective would need to be followed by something.
thx all, i don't own a computer, i didn't literaly mean his personal email addy, k, anyhoo, i'm bicycling to work every sunday when the contest is happening so i can't be called to be the next contestant, it was just exciting that i came up with the answer in 30 seconds, just no way to get my answer recorded. good night and goodbye alll you sweets
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCurtis & Wolfgang: For the alternative answer, Mama Cass, but not Karen Carpenter.
ReplyDeletevonniepedals –
ReplyDeleteBehold I bring you glad tidings of great joy.
The call from NPR to that lucky contestant to let them know they’ll be the person playing with Will on-the-air on Sunday is made on Thursday afternoon shortly after 3PM Eastern. And the Sunday morning show – although it sounds live – is actually taped on Friday around 1PM Eastern. So these events might still fit into your schedule, eh?
Even more. Most public libraries have PCs that library patrons can use.
So life is not such a dark, cruel joke after all :)
Chuck
also surprised at sub 500 correct on the elephantelope,
ReplyDeletewith few h than o animals, the reverse method worked, but the home on the range clue was the giveaway! How did that sneak in?
Some of the beverage clues this time are give aways? I'm thinking something is rigged.
and the censor might pull one of my words!
After I solve the puzzle, I always try to think of ways to extend it. So how about this? What words can you think of that are made by phonetically combining two men's first names?
ReplyDeleteFor example: Lou + Syd = lucid.
Any others?
Got the answer from Will Shortz himself yesterday. I'm not going to submit obviously. But what an answer!
ReplyDeleteWolfgang said...
ReplyDeleteJaneyabelle:
Spot-on observation! It's "noun" this vs. "adjective" that. An adjective would need to be followed by something.
Note that the puzzle says "describes" this time.
While sometimes this is interchangeable with "names", this time its a little different, isn't it?
Googlyeyes1 - Really!? Name dropper!
I can't believe Mr. Shortz would be so unfair to tempt you like that. Thanks for being so honorable.
Yeah I won't submit. It was just great to meet him though.
ReplyDeleteWasn't able to come up with the intended answer (I think) but did find an alternate. Not sure whether Will will put his stamp of approval on it, though.
ReplyDeleteHappy Holiodays to All!
If only I could spell! Happy Holidays to All!
ReplyDeleteGerry AT Rick = geriatric
ReplyDeleteMy clues:
"I think these same old word puzzles are getting a bit old and I would like to see more logic puzzles."
The hint here is the word OLD.
"I think in order for the NPR Puzzle to continue into our future as a healthy and viable pass-time it depends on Will exercising a bit more diversity in the selection."
More hints here re: old age. I built this post around the word DEPENDS, hinting at the obnoxious product. Other hints are continue into our future, healthy, viable, pass-time and exercising a bit more.
"Has anyone seen my keys?" etc.
Hinting at senility.
All of this should be obvious after solving the puzzle.
My Ovaltine one-liner referred to the famous Seinfeld line (a joke with Kenny Bania about Ovaltine):
ReplyDelete"That's gold, Jerry! Gold!"
(as a bonus, "gold" might make one think of the golden years)
I thought the answer was sedated - ha!
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, BARRY + AT + RICK = BARIATRIC.
ReplyDeleteWe're getting older AND fatter.
Of course, these terms refer to the treatment of old or fat people, not to the people themselves, but everyone is familiar with the shorthand.
Take the word "at" and add a different man's name before and after. Phonetically, it describes how part of the intended answer might send out birthday wishes.
ReplyDeleteBill at Ed (belated)
I thought Vonniepedals was asking the same question twice as a hint toward senility. So my references were ancient, fallen (commercial - help i've fallen and can't get up) and should i care for Medicare. Luv yall, Happy Holidays. Blaine, I'll catch your Xmas puzzle next year, literally.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed discovering "scaffOLDAGE". As far as I can tell this is the only word containing the synonym for geriatric.
ReplyDeleteGoogling the word resulted in connecting to some interesting pictures. Try:
http://www.scaffoldage.com/post/3740484191
or:
http://www.scaffoldage.com/
hugh:
ReplyDeletefoldage is a word too.
Last Sunday I said: “I thought up a bunch of good clues – food, sports, printed page, etc. – but I figured the Censor-In-Charge would smite all of them.”
ReplyDeleteWith a little thought I could have worked in ice cream (Ben and Jerry’s), the U of P sex scandal (Jerry Sandusky), the comic book and later cartoon duo (Tom and Jerry) but I figured they’d all be squashed like a bug. My favorite was to incorporate “hat trick” into an innocent-sounding sentence :)
Chuck
Chuck -
ReplyDeleteI thought my big-state governors clue might be zapped, but, in the spirit of the holidays, Blaine was forgiving. (Thanks to Monte and f5575a... for the acknowledgments.)
I also considered posting "Hull accomplishment" but decided not to.
Ken,
ReplyDeleteCare to share with us your clue that Blaine loved but deleted?
@Lorenzo, it was similar to your governors clue but specifically mentioned Sacramento and Austin.
ReplyDeleteI think it said Sacramento and Austin are apt parts of the country.
ReplyDeleteKen:
ReplyDeleteYes, and I think it can be said that Early Onset Geriatric Syndrome may apply to Austin.
Stuck for an answer I submitted the following:
ReplyDeletePhil + at + Elie (as in Elie Wiesel) = Philately
My rationale: With the dramatic increase in e-mail and texting, we are seeing a commensurate decline in traditional mail. As a result, many folks are finding themselves becoming inadvertent stamp collectors. So, Philately is a growing part of our country!
My "macabre" idea was: Sam + at + Ari (as in Ari Fleischer) = Cemetery.
ReplyDeleteCemeteries can be such a letdown.
ReplyDeleteAs jan said...
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, BARRY + AT + RICK = BARIATRIC.
I also posted as NewScott when I had trouble posting with my normal Google account.
I agree that geriatric is probably the intended answer, but I got bariatric first as I went thru the male names alphabetically.
It gets half as many results on Google.
(28,300,000 to 14,200,000).
Pediatric also came to mind as an answer in the same category of "populations", but is a bit of a stretch phonetically. "Petey" *might* be a man's name but sounds more pediatric. This answer would also be "growing" in a different sense.
If you use Ed front and back, you get e-dated, as in "with the growth of the internet, more people have e-dated."
ReplyDeleteThe football line I alluded to was the old English chestnut: " Did you hear about the the German team scoring three goals in the World Cup - it was a Jerry Hat Trick !"
ReplyDeleteI thought for sure my saying 'might be rigged' would have been deleted in retrospect after posting it.
ReplyDeleteIt was headed towards 'Jury-Rigged"
or Jerry-Rigged" something that might not be PC, so apologies, but those phrases are a part of history.
I gave the puzzle to my wife as we were on a bus visiting my former boss, now 92, at a retirement village.
I chuckled when I looked up at the placard of the Driver's name RICK, even telling her it fits.
She could notget it (though I did my fastest ever solve in 5 seconds)
I'll let her hear it on air tomorrow and excuse her as we are part of that growth segment
the new one is up and it is hard easy.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/2011/12/25/144234795/unwrap-the-phrase-to-reveal-a-gift
A regular visitor to Blainesville, for example.
ReplyDeleteI guess Blaine slept in longer than I did. I read the question just after getting home after midnight from a party, but went right to bed without trying to solve it. When I awoke this morning I remembered the puzzle and the answer came right away, which surprised me a bit as I was still feeling the effects of the party.
ReplyDeleteI referred to one of these performers in a hint I gave in a recent puzzle.
Lorenzo, I see you too are up and well. Merry Christmas.
SDB:
ReplyDeleteDidn't your clue go to jail?
Now that you mention it, I think he may have.
ReplyDeleteThe knight in the knoll unsheathed his knife
ReplyDeleteAnd sliced through the knot to set the knave free.
The knave rubbed the knobs on his knuckles and said,
“Had I known ‘twas a king, I’d have knelt on one knee.”
I hope Blaine isn't stuck inside his chimney, unaable to get to his computer.
ReplyDeleteI've got the answer for the 12/25 puzzle.
ReplyDeleteDocTechnical, are you still alive and reading this blog?
I used my Excel English words spreadsheet to generate a list of 222 nine letter words that ended with a four-letter word backwards.
Take the last four letters of the profession. Say them out loud to form a homonym of the first name a famous practitioner of this kind of entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI'd give a musical clue but part of the name of the group would give it away. Something about trained chickens.
ReplyDeleteMark + at + Ian = Marketing is phonetically better than the given answer and it does answer the question.
ReplyDelete