Thursday, March 15, 2012

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 11, 2012): Warning! Puzzle Contains I-L-E-H

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 11, 2012): Warning! Puzzle Contains I-L-E-H:
Q: The answer is a two-word name. Inside this name are the consecutive letters I-L-E-H. Remove these four letters, and the remaining letters in order will name something commonly found inside the original thing with the two-word name. What is it?
It may sound hard at first, but this is a piece of cake.

Edit: The hint was "cake" which if you were breaking out of jail might hold a file (file holder = cake)
A: FILE HOLDER - ILEH = FOLDER

60 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. Currently, this puzzle has a silver lining.

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  3. Interestingly, a perhaps more common name of the "thing" yields an obvious clue.

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  4. I have an answer but I don't know if I'm in the right category?

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  5. Replies
    1. SDB, did you notice how this clue also applies to last week's puzzle?

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    2. Lorenzo,
      No, I didn't. Now I'm curious. I am into Classical and Opera and not at all good at popular music trivia, but still an amazing amount lurks in my mind's recesses. It cannot be avoided in our culture, if that is the accurate term. Same thing with TV, which I rarely watch, and then only 60 Minutes, Frontline and Masterpiece Theatre. I hear people constantly talking about stars and shows, etc., but I usually have no idea what they are talking about. I couldn't get enough of it growing up, but never missed it when I left it behind at age 18.

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    3. SDB, A few lines after the one you are referring to appears "the secret to surviving", which could have made last week's puzzle easier.

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  6. Accordion to my records, this puzzle has not been used previously

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    Replies
    1. I will take careful note of that documentation.

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    2. Did anyone say that it had been?

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. COMMENT:

    I solved this puzzle right after it was posted last night and when I read it for the second time, prior to getting the answer, I noticed that it was stated in an odd manner that was most likely false. This was confirmed this morning when I listened to Will present the puzzle on the air. I am wondering if anyone else here noticed this.

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    Replies
    1. Not that, although I wondered about that too. Compare the first sentence with the last sentence.

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  8. I am unsure I have the right answer. The "thing" is an unusual way to say it, and the "thing" inside seems to just lay there, most the time.

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  9. Answer submitted. Going to eat some gumbo now.

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  10. "No wire Hangers!!!" - Joan Crawford

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  11. I'm not getting your food clues this week, but maybe someone is in the mood for some sushi?

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  12. I got an answer that could work, although I don't know if one would use the two-word name often to describe said object. I would call it something else. But there could be another answer too.

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  13. But looking at DaveJ's comment, I know I have the same answer he does.

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  14. My clue posted earlier: The name, when capitalized, is usually preceeded by a number. There are still some around which are probably more sanitary than they used to be.

    I get DaveJ's clue which is something else.

    I don't get other clues - So, Multiple answers?

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  15. I'm too busy at the office to solve these puzzles.

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  16. As usual, Blaine's clue escapes me - but I don't give a rat's tail

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  17. I'm pretty sure that REPTABITAT is not the intended answer.

    www.curtisjohnsonimages.com

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    Replies
    1. REPTOUSE might be a little closer to one answer.

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  18. Is it just me, or am I the only one who finds Blaine's clues more difficult than the puzzles themselves?

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    Replies
    1. No! It makes no sense to me either. But last evening I did come up with another answer I will share Thursday.

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  19. No easy rebus puzzle this week. A bit more tricky IMO.

    Rrrrright this way

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  20. @Blaine, I don't know about you but I celdom have a need for that kind of cake.

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  21. @Blaine & @RoRo: Many folks been barred from having that sort of cake.

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  22. Mix up the letters to the solution and you get a sort of very large sub sandwich.

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  23. Paul's clue "CAKE" given in last week's blog was no help to me because the intended ingredient was not the one I have always associated with that situation.

    Me-oh-my-oh - I did like Dave's clue after I caught on after making the connection from DaveJ's hint.

    As for the puzzle's word; Does anyone really use it given the large number of alternatives?

    I wonder if SDB has come up with the other possible answer I have been hinting at.

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  24. FILE HOLDER > FOLDER

    I also like MILE HOUSE > MOUSE

    My Kenny Rogers clue was referencing The Gambler.

    @ Lorenzo:
    I am not getting your explanation of how it also hints at the previous puzzle. Probably because I am not very familiar with the song.

    My comment on how the puzzle was stated on the NPR website is that it makes it unclear as to how many words are in the answer. Will did not do this on the air.

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    Replies
    1. SDB, the line was "knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep." (Last week, knowing to omit the "p" would have been helpful.)

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  25. In the film Mommie Dearest Joan Crawford goes on a rant about wire hangers to her adopted daughter Christina. if you google "file holder, you will find Amazon.com sells Fellowes brand of wire hanging file holder.

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  26. Currently, this puzzle has a silver lining.

    Interestingly, a perhaps more common name of the "thing" yields an obvious clue.

    Both my clues refer to the same thing. The Chemical symbol for silver is Ag. AG also stands for Attorney General in the US Cabinet. I have heard of a file cabinet more than a "file holder".

    In any event, these clues refer to the current Attorney General, Eric Holder.

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    Replies
    1. Good! I was just about to make a post saying something about my deciding not to mention that I named mine Eric.

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    2. I had forgotten the name of the current AG and was thinking that "silver lining" referred to "cloud"....online file storage.

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  27. "I give up." As The Gambler would say, "I fold." So that makes me a folder.

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  28. Sushi = Japanese = origami = folding. Lame, I fear.

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  29. Rat's Tail is of course a type of round file - I have nothing but high regard for Blaine's hints (although I often do not get them)

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  30. I thought the car parts / bowling terms puzzle from several weeks ago was one of the lamest puzzles I can ever remember. However, I think this week’s may have topped it.

    File holder. When was the last time you ever heard someone say that?

    Anyway, my standard disclaimer still holds. I love the puzzle segment and look forward to it every Sunday morning. Unlike the children in Lake Wobegon, I guess all puzzles can’t be above average.

    Chuck

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    Replies
    1. It reminded me of the puzzle from three years ago:

      Name an item often found on a desk. It's a hyphenated word. Add an S to the beginning of each part, and you'll get two synonyms. What's the item?

      The answer was another outdated term for an office item - In-Tray

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  31. I first ran into the term "mile house" 30 years ago at:

    href="http://www.goldenlamb.com/pages/history/">Argonauts in Ohio? (hint given in last week's post.)

    It may not have been a mile house, but it was a stop at the midpoint of an important stagecoach route.

    There is a mile house in href="http://7milehouse.com/about/">Daly City, CA, and I figure that rodents were, and desktop computers are widespread.

    My cake recipe includes hacksaw blades. Files never occurred to me until DaveJ's hint triggered something.

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    Replies
    1. So, we did have the same secondary answer, but I did not get your clue. Rong ugen.

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  32. Guess I blew the links. I thought REPTOUSE was a dead giveaway.

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  33. My hints: Look to AG (i.e. Attorney General Eric HOLDER & Brr Chile Heater (cheater--a repair tool)

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  34. I posted my clue Saturday night:

    Mar 10, 2012 09:18 PM
    New one is up. These puzzles aren't getting any younger!

    Not younger? Maybe "older"?

    Skydiveboy caught on pretty quickly, but not after choking for a moment!

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  35. New puzzle is now up and I did not delay in sending in my answer already.

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  36. I'm reminded of the biblical quote "The last shall be first and the first shall be last". In this case the most common shall be the least common; although it's now the second most common that shall now be the most common - but the least common shall still be more common than what was the most common!

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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.