NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 15, 2012): Is There a Doctor in the House?: Q: The name of something that you might see your doctor about is a two-word phrase. Three letters in each word. When these six letters are written without a space, a three-letter word can be removed from inside, and the remaining three letters in order also form a word. What's interesting is that the four three-letter words — the two in the original phrase, the one that was removed, and the one that remains — all rhyme. What is the original phrase?The picture this time is from Halloween 2005 when we all went as various doctors. Speaking of doctors, is there ever one in the house?
Edit: Perhaps too obviously, a moving, emotional theatrical performance can result in there not being a dry eye in the house.
A: DRY EYE --> D(RYE)YE = DYE & RYE
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.
I've tried and tried to send you a hint, but Google keeps throwing up roadblocks, and their pre-fab help pages are no help at all. Well, if this reply goes through (I'm not counting on it!), you can read my hint in the comments on www.crosswordmanblog.com!
DeleteKDW
Earlier this evening, I posted:
ReplyDeleteNew puzzle is now posted and I'm sorry to say it is a bit of a downer again.
I wonder how most of us here will feel about how this week's puzzle compares with last week's.
ReplyDeleteOh, this one's definitely sicker.
DeleteVery clever, SDB. This puzzle also has a (more obvious) similarity to the puzzle two weeks ago.
DeleteDisclaimer:
ReplyDeleteIf this puzzle keeps you up for more than four hours, see your doctor immediately.
And the Alma Award goes to...
ReplyDeleteThe Alma River is in Crimea.
DeleteCartoon clue: Speedy Gonzalez
ReplyDeleteDoesn't anyone care about this persistent heat wave, which is causing a large portion of the country to suffer a drought?
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: Don McLean
ReplyDeleteoh yeah........ Drove my gremlin to the Kremlin....
DeleteNice one, Dave.
Delete-- Other Ben
I predict there will be 5000 correct entries for this weeks puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI had rather too much to drink last night, but I believe I can assess this challenge soberly in the morning. I agree that this one is much easier than last week's, but I have tried not to let that fact color my assessment.
ReplyDeleteI thought last week's was easy. I'm surprised that there were only 400 correct entries.
DeleteIncidentally, the name "Ben Stiller" was the answer to an earlier puzzle. I recall the clue was a musician whose name rhymed with that of an actor. The musicians was Glenn Miller.
If Doctor Who went ta a British hospital, I guess he would be The English Patient.
ReplyDeleteThe English Patient - now that was a real jerker. Was Elane Benes the only one who really hated that movie? Someone tell me how to put "The English Patient" in italics please.
DeleteThe commenting system allows for some limited HTML formatting via tags:
Delete<b>bold</b> --> bold
<i>italics</i> --> italics
Jim: are you under a certain strain ?
DeleteThere were only 400 solvers of last week’s puzzle. I can’t see what was so difficult...
ReplyDeleteChuck
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWhy???
DeleteI opted to let my browser do the work, but it keeps taking me back to that "barstool" puzzle.
ReplyDeleteHey there, how is everybody doing! Sorry you haven't seen me here in a while.
ReplyDeleteIt got me confused at first when I heard the puzzle read on the air. The various steps may be more intricate than usual, so I needed to see it written out. Once I did, I got it immediately.
Again, just because I was gone for a while doesn't mean I no longer care to visit this blog. On the contrary, I do enjoy passing some time here while munching on my Reuben and sipping on my coffee.
Don't really need a doctor, but I am looking for Beuller...Bueller...Bueller...
ReplyDeleteGreat clue.
DeleteI saw the actor in reference at a sushi restaurant in Beverly Hills about ten years ago. He was trying to get the attention of his server and pay his bill, but the server was slow to take his money which was especially ironic given the actor's involvement with a game show at the time.
DeleteReminds me of a London landmark.
ReplyDeleteBig Ben Stiller?
DeleteOr Ben Stein? (another Ben)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteClever clues, but just a little too revealing.
DeleteTry peeling some onions.
ReplyDeleteSome of us should do a better job of disguising our hints. You don't want to give the answer away.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a loggerhead turtle laying her eggs.
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: A certain children's song
ReplyDeleteReading these is making me verklempt.
ReplyDelete-- Other Ben
Sigh...too many obvious clues here this week.
ReplyDeleteBoo. Hiss.
2 College Football Coaches
ReplyDeleteNothing to do with this week's puzzle, but I just want to say that your Halloween costumes down through the years are AWESOME, in the true sense of the word. Thanks for sharing them (and so much else)!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I tried to do an archived Christmas crossword and couldn't get even one letter in. Are they deactivated?
Thanks for the comments on our Halloween costumes; it's been a fun tradition. As for the Christmas puzzles, they are intended to be printed and solved that way.
Deleteold playtex pants commercial.
ReplyDeleteWow, these comments do more than drop a hint. If you read this first I'm advising against reading the clues above.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you, Cactus-man or woman. Wow, that would hurt!
DeleteNo matter how hard I try, I can't avoid making another too obvious hint. Blaine did use my first thought.
ReplyDeleteJeepers creepers! The person that made up this puzzle obviously has an English sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't you think that blue laws would only exist in blue states?
ReplyDeleteOld song - You can kiss me on a Monday, a Tuesday, a Wednesday........ But not you Cactus person, that would hurt. :) Actually, growing up Cacti were my favorite plants cuz they did not die so easily like other plants. My not so green thumb could not produce an oasis.
DeleteA missing back yard? Caramba!
ReplyDeleteI think you may have done a cryptic crossword or two.
DeleteNever have (had to look up on the web to see what they were) and thank you for thinking I have.
DeleteI AM NOT DEAD! Just got a bit lazy. The puzzles for the last two weeks are posted. Hurry. Seats are limited.
ReplyDeleteClick, click
I was hoping for more variety in the clues posted here. I guess I'm still a little wet behind the ears.
ReplyDeleteDry eye --> rye --> dye. Last Sunday I said, “There were only 400 solvers of last week’s puzzle. I can’t see what was so difficult...” “I” was a shout out to eye. “Can’t see” was a shout out to dry eye since temporary vision impairment is one possible symptom of the disease.
ReplyDeleteI had a really hard time trying to come up with something good that wasn’t a spoiler...
Chuck
DRY EYE + RYE & DYE
ReplyDeleteMy hint:
"I wonder how most of us here will feel about how this week's puzzle compares with last week's."
Last week's puzzle was about the story of Peter Pan. A well done performance of the play might finish with there not being a dry eye in the house.
Bye Bye Miss American Pie
ReplyDelete... and good ol' boys drinking whiskey and rye...
> Oh, this one's definitely sicker.
ReplyDeleteIn NJ, it's hard to hear a difference between "sicker" and "sicca".
My Administrator deleted clue made reference to leaving a certain medical facility, famous for its encouraged 6 minute provider services, with a white cane. I also indicated that this comment was not intended to be against Blaine, whose wife apparently, given the pictures, is a partner of the certain medical facility. Otherwise, I maintain that the "white cane" reference is not an obvious clue. Indeed, sty eye [tye(as in a knot), sye (saw)] might also work.
ReplyDeleteUnless you meean you have lots of tiny pigs running in and on your eyeball, I think you mean "stye".
DeleteMy Merriam-Webster dictionary has no TYE. The word is TIE. Also STY is listed prior to STYE. I hate to be piggish, but.....
DeleteI have seen various spellings.
DeleteWell benmar12001, that certainly settles it. I would not dare to take a cheesy source like the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (the very one Will Shortz, himself uses) over what you think you may have seen.
DeleteMy problem with the hint was that it implied you would go in for this malady and come out with a white cane. That pointed directly to something relating to the eye.
DeleteSDB:
DeleteObviously you had the answer.
Blaine:
DeleteBut the eye doctor picture didn't point directly to something relating to the eye???
Yeah, I suppose it did. :) Speaking of my wife's eye doctor costume, we made a little eye chart. On one side it was crisp and clear and the other side we blurred it. It was fun showing people the blurry side and watching them squint. She could also do a little routine with "which looks better, 1... or 2..."
DeleteBlaine:
DeleteThank you!
I posted on Sun Jul 15, at 01:46:00 AM PDT:
ReplyDeleteCartoon clue: Speedy Gonzalez
He was not ALWAYS running from Sylvester shouting "¡Ándele! ¡Ándele! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! ¡Epa! ¡Epa! ¡Epa! Yeehaw!" . Sometimes he was in a canoe, serenading his honey with the song "Cielito Lindo", with its chorus of "Ay, ay, ay, ay, Canta y no llores,".
The "Ay, ay, ay, ay" part establishes the rhyme, as well as the fact that "Ay" sounds like "eye".
Musical Clue: A certian children's song= Head, Shoulders, Knees, and toes.
ReplyDeleteOne of the verses is as follows:
EYES, and mouth, and ears, and nose......
I would've sworn it was: "Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of ___".
Delete"I opted" referred to eyes/optician; "...to use my browser" referred to eyebrows; "...previous barstool puzzle" referred to "rye".
ReplyDeleteMy clue referred to the Eye of London. Fortunately, there are a lot of London landmarks.
ReplyDeleteI almost nixed it though... if somebody just ran through a few landmarks they were sure to get it.
DeleteYeah, I would understand if you had.
DeleteLondon eye,
DeleteFerris wheel
Ferris Bueller
Ben Stein
Murine commercials
this is the kinda stuff I live for.
"...tri,I..." - Just to see if a little rhyming would shake anything loose.
ReplyDeleteMy clues: several mentions of "see" (eye) and one mention of a Reuben (made with RYE bread). And, of course, my last-hour post about "wet behind the ears." Actually, I thought the Reuben and wet-ear clues might be too obvious, so...glad my posts survived.)
ReplyDeleteI got hung-up on "Peg Leg" right off the bat but finally shook it (LOL?). My clue (Blue Laws) was intended to mean the "no alcohol on Sundays" interpretation of the blue laws).
ReplyDeleteName a sport in two words — nine letters in the first word, five letters in the last — in which all six vowels (A, E, I, O, U, and Y) are used once each. What is it?
ReplyDeleteThe new puzzle came up at 9:03 PM and it is really a stupid one again. I found a perfect answer after 39 minutes that has 9 6 instead of 9 5 letters in the two word answer. So, what is wrong with mine? Why not intelligent puzzles instead of mindless list searching torture? I think NPR should demand more of Will Shortz.
Hmm! I've found a fascinating answer, the other way around: 10 and 5! I'm certain neither is capable of being correct.
DeleteI thought I heard him on the air say 9 in the first and 6 in the second. Did I mishear?
ReplyDeleteI believe you heard correctly. I wonder who gets the blame for the discrepancy.
DeleteThe website has it wrong! The website says 9 and 5, but Will said on air 9 and 6, and there is an answer 9 and 6 that I found while I was looking for 9 and 5, and I looked and looked for 9 and 5 for a long time thereafter, but I don't have to any more! Yay!
ReplyDelete---Rob
Agreeed; another stupid puzzle, in the mode of Ban Stiller ... After I heard 9,6 I remembered the answer from the lists I scanned for 9,5.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sport??!!
Edit previous comment. Too many "e"s.
ReplyDeleteI heard 9 and 6 also (and the answer I've come up with is 9 and 6). I've e-mailed NPR, asking that they post a clarification on their site. If some other confused puzzle-solvers would also e-mail NPR, I think NPR would clarify the matter.
ReplyDelete