NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 16, 2012): I'd Like to Buy a Vowel: Q: Think of something that the majority of adults buy. It's a two-word phrase with 10 letters in the first word and nine in the second. This phrase uses each of the five vowels (A, E, I, O, and U) exactly twice. What familiar product is this?Lmnvskr ukbaxmu quytf ggzm aca jqhhkiv rsxgmph uv uqfk sv eox mvuixeves.
Edit: If you decode that using Sharky's Vigenere Cipher and the key of "Geico" you get "Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance."
A: AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
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.
Reposted here from the end of last week's blog:
ReplyDeleteskydiveboy Sat Sep 15, 09:33:00 PM PDT
New puzzle is now up and running.
skydiveboy Sat Sep 15, 09:36:00 PM PDT
I bet many of the hints this week will be giving away the answer.
skydiveboy Sat Sep 15, 09:38:00 PM PDT
Reminds me a bit about shaving cream.
Ahzsxg xpz kcnjx poh, yleh rcg rsqgi, cfmucll titcks mh tqixg-sapv.
ReplyDeleteBlaine's is more complicated; I haven't figured it out yet; I wonder if Ed Pegg has.
Lf idx B yvkf t gdruniz xo fp ctbw fa p cnexw py gzdqev rpwbeb iikvz qz yzqt dtiyh jg kct bbi.
DeleteHi Paul,
DeleteI can decode your first cryptoquote - but not the second. Care to help?
Greetings Jim,
DeleteI guess I'm up to my Jenny in alligators already, but maybe I dare say that the second one reflects the fact that I had finally deciphered Blaine's original.
The keyword for the Vigenère cipher in my initial comment is automobile insurance, which decodes it into an old Burma-Shave slogan. You can find it and many more at Burma-Shave.org. I did not think of "automotive" until reading Ken#2's Tuesday comment.
DeleteThe follow-up comment(after figuring out Blaine's clue) reads: 'So now I have a picture in my head of a bunch of people waving three by five cards in the air.'
3X5=15, and people waving cards over their heads was intended to evoke an image of one of Mr. Gekko's favorite places.
The keyword was Trvpb, Blaine's keyword Rot13'd.
Unlike most consumer products, many major brands of this one are not available in all states.
ReplyDeleteInteresting clue!
DeleteKen #2
The answer came to me almost before Will stopped giving the clue.
DeleteAnd at the risk of having my post deleted, I say that many brands are words found in a dictionary.
DeleteNow get out an unabridged dictionary and start looking--chances are, it will be next Sunday before you finish looking up every word in the dictionary.
LMP
State Farm, All States, Farmers, Progressive, Government Employees, Nationwide, Citizens, Firemans Fund, Farm Bureau, Motorists, Continental--all words that can be found in any dictionary as uncapitalized words that are also brands or parts of brand names of this product (although not all of these brands are available in ALL STATES).
DeleteBlaine, it's 3:15 PM EDT now, so it's safe to allow this post to remain.
LMP
I think there are two ways to skin this cat.
ReplyDelete- Other Ben
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGiven the economy, Will & Ed might be surprised at how many people wing this one!
ReplyDeleteIt took me about 15 minutes to solve this one.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteTook me almost no time to get to an answer (and with no help), but I can't guarantee that it is right.
ReplyDeleteI've got a minor issue with this blog. Unlike some posts higher on this page, I coded my clue in plain English.
ReplyDelete(Not really, Blaine. I've got your back.)
Blaine, I wasn't aware you had a corporate sponsor. Also, ubrzkk ao tsvl txuw, P'vz sofp vuka lzeshvp tzht Bijwf us su iimucrxikt fjv Himqrfteix Fggxoqlen Momldafje Xsnjrzy. (Try decoding that one, Paul!)
ReplyDeleteOik 'xekz I 'vzf nf, Sun'uom.
DeleteJn'j Pooutjr Bvsqy au hzvf ucx ox h spheye.
DeleteI came up with an answer but I am clueless to the hints about cats, wings and shaving cream. A clue might be found in Blaine's initial post last week.
ReplyDeleteVigenere ciphers. How blase.
ReplyDeleteSometimes when you buy this product you buy other products, too.
ReplyDeleteChuck
But it's not a retirement portfolio—that would meet the number of letters per word, but not the total of vowels….
DeleteBe careful, guys. Some of these clues may violate Blaine's policy.
ReplyDeleteWhich policy? Why, his Automotive Insurance Policy!
DeleteUnusual wording in the answer; hardly anyone would use that name, verbatim, for this product.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure that if one looked world wide, that far fewer than a majority of adults buy any particular product, much less this one. Have to stick to most of the adults which most of us mostly run into, I guess. I haven't used mine for quite some time.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWas it the first part or the Blaine reference that got the post pulled?
DeleteNot cool people. If you put up a clue and it has to be taken down, you are a jackass.
ReplyDeleteTobias - I would suggest using a little more civil language.
ReplyDeleteI toned it down quite a bit before posting. Giving hints this easy ruins the puzzle for the entire country. You people impact more than just yourselves.
DeleteThis puzzle came to me before I even finished reading it online. At least the ads for this type of product are more fun to watch than the political ads.
ReplyDeleteBut are they more fun to watch than drug commercials?
DeleteDrug commercials are always fun, especially when you contemplate why so many couples seem to like to hang out in bathtubs on the beach. And, I'd love to hear some of the explanations parents give to their young children when the ads mention priapism.
DeleteI've always wondered what's up with the dueling bathtubs facing the sunset. If the product being advertised really works, shouldn't there be just one bathtub and only one ring to clean?
DeleteI agree with Ruth! This ad has also always puzzled me.
DeleteKen #2
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ReplyDeleteAt least this time the vowels are clean, so to speak, and no vowel movement is needed to discharge the answer. That being said, I think this so called puzzle stinks.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteJan! Google Translate?
DeleteSo, let's make the most of this beautiful day!
DeleteSorry. Didn't know we had so many fellow travelers on this blog.
DeleteWas the musical clue over the line, too, or can I repost that?
DeleteI'll repost it: Back in the U.S.S.R.
DeleteWho's your daddy?
Uncle Joe?
Deleteнепослушный
ReplyDeleteOK, here's my clue: Although this is a product that must sometimes be carried, no one has ever made a bag big enough to hold it.
ReplyDeleteNow that I have posted my legitimate clue, I hope Blaine does not mind if I wax political for a moment. My three wives and I own some property just outside of Provo, and although we are all farmers, the three of them are conservatives, while I am a progressive. So if Romney is elected, it will be through no fault of my own. As one might guess, we have a strict no-politics-at-the-dinner-table policy at our house which helps to keep the peace. Now, that being said, we work well as a team when it comes to solving puzzles. In fact, we nailed this one in just under two minutes. It just goes to show that when a guy cooperates and reaches across the aisle, things get done. A lesson our legislators could stand to learn.
ReplyDeleteI think bigamy is disgusting! All my wives agree with me on this too, I'll have you know.
DeleteDisgusting? Didn't Gordon Gecko teach us that Greed is Good? Anyway, this sounds like trigamy, not bigamy, so it's OK.
DeleteYeah! there oughtta be a law. In fact, my friend Donna lives in Alabama and she says there is one
DeleteAnswer conjures memories of the plot of a show-within-a-show from the '90s which in turn reminds me of a recent bracket buster from Indianapolis.
ReplyDeleteThere may be some interesting alternative answers in the chemical arena.
ReplyDelete"Diammonium phosphate" (more correctly diammonium hydrogen phosphate, fits the criteria for word length but lacks a second E and a second U. "Monosodium glutamate" (MSG) also meets the criteria but has a third O and lacks a second E and I.
Ken #2
MSG, eh? As Paul might ask, who's umami?
ReplyDeleteMmmm, umami....
DeleteSame as Ed's.
DeleteSDB's post had me going the wrong way, looking up different kinds of supplements, laxatives, anti-laxatives, deodorants, mouthwash, you name it - anything to combat stink. Finally, while mulling over various possibilities with the TV in the next room, a commercial steered me in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteMy comment on the puzzle stinking is not a hint at the answer, but my sincere feelings about this crappy puzzle.
DeleteBlaine,
ReplyDeleteA possible clue to misplaced and disappearing posts, and posts that may have been deleted without notice.
My post of Sun Sep 16, 02:17:00 PM PDT should have appeared as the first reply to Jan's Sun Sep 16, 01:32:00 PM PDT post - check the times. Instead it appeared as the next top level post rather than as a reply. Yes, I clicked the correct link, and this has happened more than once.
My guess is that the fact that you were active at the same time may not be the problem. Rather, a reply to the last post gets treated as a new and unrelated item.
This post will be sent as a reply to Ruth's Mon Sep 17, 03:41:00 AM PD The last in line, because right now that is my only choice. Is it treated as a reply?
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ReplyDeleteAlthough some puzzle solvers will figure out the answer via long periods of pondering or looking through the cabinets, cupboards and drawers, I can easily see how some individuals might stumble upon the correct solution accidentally.
ReplyDeleteNeed another clue? In Saudi Arabia, there are many things women are not allowed to buy or acquire. This item happens to be one of them.
ReplyDeleteI think your comment should be taken with a grain of sand.
DeleteA grain of sand? No thanks, I've already had my aggregate limit for the day.
DeleteHave you ever noticed there no Saudi Arabians named Sandy?
DeleteYikes! Another bad pun about Saudi Arabia. I hope you know what you're dune, SkyDiveBoy. This is exactly the sort of thing that gets ambassadors whacked. And in a certain sense, our host, Blaine, IS the unofficial ambassador of the Sunday Morning NPR Puzzle. If I were Blaine, one more sand joke from SkyDiveBoy and I'd look into getting an Accelerated Death Benefit rider. I'm just sayin...
DeleteAbqGuerrilla:
DeleteSuch a thickly veiled threat! I see you are now showing your True Grit. Let's have a cup of coffee and talk it out (too bad Mittens can't doo this too, huh?) and I will buy. How do you like it--one hump or two?
Speaking of bursts of beadon, here's a puzzle:
Name two popular products with pictures of animals indicating their respective names on their packaging. The anomaly is that each of these products has the animal that should be on the other product.
I'm halfway there, SkyDiveBoy. Obviously the Camel should actually be the logo on Rough Rider Condoms. I just can't figure out the second half of the equation. Give me some time on this. I've gotta go plow the lower 20, but will be back after supper...
DeleteNot Rough Rider Condoms. Clyde knows.
DeleteOK. Clyde is obviously a reference to lion tamer, Clyde Beatty, but I'll be darned if I can think of a consumer product package with a lion graphic on it. The worst part is that I hate being stumped by an adolescent parachutist. I can already tell I'm gonna be up all night workin' on this. My wives will not be happy, SDB. It basically means if I DO solve your animal puzzle tonight, it will be a Pyrrhic victory, as I will prob'ly be up all night TOMORROW talking about the relationships...
DeleteWrong Clyde, and I'm not lion.
DeleteMy wives are now laughing out loud at your confusion, but one of them informs me that the likeness of the animal named by one product may no longer be gracing their package. Just another sign of the imminent decline of our empire. Still this should not be at all difficult to solve with all the info I previously provided as we lounged, eating figs, at the oasis.
OK. Then you are most certainly referring to Ray Stevens's "Clyde the Camel." I'm just having trouble discerning what would be a more appropriate product for a camel logo. Lorna Doones? But they do not have an animal on the cookie package. Hmmm... If this were hump day, I know I'd be able to solve this in a heartbeat...
DeleteAlas, still hump stumped...
I'm sure you will soon rise to the occasion.
DeletePerhaps if you spent less time inventorying your soldiers you would have solved the puzzle by now. But then remember what dear old Marie is supposed to have said.
DeleteJust a reminder to mark tomorrow's date on your calendar.
DeleteI get the Marie Antoinette (Let them eat cake) reference, and Louis XVI was actually deposed on 21 September 1792, not 20 September. But I can't think of a cake brand with an animal logo. Yer killin' me, SkyDiveBoy. I have wasted too many hours racking my brain on this one. It had better not be some lame Will Shortzian type puzzle or as Marie's guillotine technician announced at the moment of truth..."heads will roll."
DeleteOK, I think you are steering me toward those little English cupcakes, Lyons Cakes (which no longer uses the lion logo), but how the h*ll would the name Camel Cakes constitute an improvement? And visa-versa.
DeleteRead my previous post for another hint.
DeleteWrong again, dromedary breath.
DeleteBTW I have always considered "A Tale Of Two Cities" my favorite Slice Of Life novel. And it makes a great Spoonerism.
Delete"Rise to the occasion," "Let them eat cake," we gotta be talkin' about some kind of cake with an animal name, but I'm pullin' my hair out here. It's not Will Shortzbread is it? Not to digress, but I'm a Dickens fan as well. He once came into a little pub in Whitby where I was tendin' bar (past life) and ordered a martini. In my best cockney accent I asked, "Olive 'er twist, mate?" (If you had hoped for something funnier, SDB, you might consider lowering your expectations)
DeleteIt don't get much lower than that!
DeleteRead this post again: "Just a reminder to mark tomorrow's date on your calendar."
And on another aside, I have been doing past life regressions for decades now. True fact.
So I was just watchin' that secretly recorded video of Romney. You know, the one where he was sweet talkin' the members of the millionaires' club. Anyhoo, I heard him say, "Let them eat Little Debbie Cakes" and, bang! it came to me, "GuerrillaBoy, you're just like Mittens. Out of touch. You need to forget the cake thing and get back on the camel and date thing." So, I went back to the Camel Cigarettes logo and suddenly realized that the package technically has a picture of a dromedary, not a camel. A quick Google image search of date brand logos revealed the old logo for "Dromedary Dates." The only problem is, the Dromedary Dates logo is ALSO a dromedary (one hump). Based on your initial challenge, one would expect it to be "mislabeled" with a two-hump variety (camel).
DeleteSpeaking of one camel plus one dromedary, it brings to mind my marital situation. I'd better get to bed before I have to change my name to Humphrey!
Well now, that wasn't so difficult, wuz it?
DeleteWhen I first put this puzzle up I was thinking of Camel smokes and Dromedary Cake Mix. Later I recalled the Dromedary Dates. Hills Bros. who owns both bought Dromedary later, which was the first cake mix. It seems now they don't make their cake mixes anymore. That Betty Crocker is just like Romney The Entitled and probably ran them outta bizness. So they probably ended up both having their cake and eating it as well.
When you were having trouble solving this I did some (a lot, actually) Googling to see if you could not find the two hump camel on the cake mix box. I was very surprised not to be able to locate it. I used to see it in the stores and with the two hump camel. (No, I did not buy it. I cook from scratch.) I finally found a prominent two hump camel on the cover of a 1910 package of Dromedary Dates. This is why I posted something about the picture no longer gracing their package. I both expected and wanted you to get the answer and that is why I kept providing hints.
Anyway, the dromedary on the Camel package is not actually incorrect, as it is also a camel, but the two hump camel on the cake mix and dates is incorrect.
Clyde was not consulted during this production.
OK, SkyDiveBoy. Since you have wrecked my marriages (two nights of getting to bed way past midnight -- and for a farmer, that is LATE), let me see if I can return the favor:
DeleteThere are two different letters needed in order to round out this well-known group. Each of the two letters must be inserted twice in order to complete the grouping. What are the two letters? T, R, P, F, L. (Each letter provided represents the first letter in a word and the order of the letters is irrelevant)
Actually, to be clearer, I should have said "each letter provided represents the first letter in a word or two-word phrase and the order of the letters is irrelevant)."
DeleteQ: Who brings Saudi Arabian kittens their Christmas presents?
ReplyDeleteA: Sandy Claws
Chuck
Musical clue: Talking Heads. (I was going to quote a five-word phrase from the song I had in mind, but a Google search took me right to a page with the lyrics--too unique/obvious!)
ReplyDeleteFor a musical clue, how about Dinah Shore?
DeleteInterestingly, if one changes two consonants in the answer, retaining all the other letters (including vowels) in their original places, one obtains an alternative designation for the same product. A Google search reveals that one of these designations is used almost exactly ten times more frequently than the other one.
ReplyDeleteKen #2
Precisely. This is why I wrote on Sunday that "there are two ways to skin the cat."
DeleteOK, I had understood your comment to mean that there are two independent answers, i.e. that your "cat" is the question, not the answer itself.
DeleteKen #2
Ken, what's your motive for adding this post?
DeleteI'm trying to find other things that fit the 10-nine pattern, with all the vowels twice. I'm pretty sure no one has bought any evacuation outsiders.
ReplyDeleteNutritious orangeade
DeleteEurocratic equations
DeleteKen #2
Or Chevy Chase?
ReplyDeleteWednesday's the day and it's time to play.
ReplyDeleteDown the rabbit hole...
AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
ReplyDelete"New puzzle is now up and running."
Weak hint at a car running.
"Reminds me a bit about shaving cream."
Hinting at Burma Shave ads usually only seen while driving.
"For a musical clue, how about Dinah Shore?"
Her TV show jungle included the line: "See the USA in your Chevrolet." (No thanks; I'm a Ford man.)
Automobile insurance
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “Sometimes when you buy this product you buy other products, too.” Like homeowner’s insurance, life insurance, etc…
Chuck
My hint that Blaine deleted was совхо́з (Sovkhoz), literally "Soviet farm", sometimes translated as state farm. Common back in the USSR ("your daddy's farm" if your daddy was Uncle Joe Stalin). Also hinted at Allstate, Travelers, and the Geico gecko.
ReplyDeleteTommy BoySun Sep 16, 06:12:00 AM PDT
ReplyDeleteI've got a minor (league baseball - AAA) issue with this blog. Unlike some posts higher on this pa(ge, I co)ded my clue in plain English.
(Not really, Blaine. I've got your back. (Nationwide is on your side))
I want to know what Blaine's crypto-whatever said.
ReplyDeleteDetails are posted above.
DeleteAutomobile Insurance
ReplyDeleteAbout my "unusual wording" comment: Well…wouldn't most people just say "car" or "auto" insurance?
My Talking Heads clue referred to the song Once in a Lifetime, with lyrics including the lines "You may find yourself in a large automobile" and "Where is that large automobile?"
The five-word phrase I'd planned to quote from that song (without mentioning the title) was "Same as it ever was." But I googled that phrase…and the first two results both were for the song Once in a Lifetime; too obvious….
Sharky's, huh? Hmmm...no wonder I couldn't decode it using normal methods.
ReplyDelete(Why can't I make an entry by clicking on Reply on my original comment?)
ReplyDelete"Took me almost no time to get to an answer (and with no help), but I can't guarantee that it is right."
"to get to" - mobile
"no help" - auto
"guarantee" - insurance
Hey, it worked for me. Scroll up to it near the top.
DeleteOK, so today (Friday) this works, but on Thursday it didn't! I did try several times.
DeleteMY CLUES IN REVIEW:
ReplyDelete#1 OK, here's my clue: Although this is a product that must sometimes be carried, no one has ever made a bag big enough to hold it. IT'S NOT A TANGIBLE ITEM, SO NO BAG CAN HOLD IT.
#2 Now that I have posted my legitimate clue, I hope Blaine does not mind if I wax political for a moment. My three wives and I own some property just outside of Provo, and although we are all FARMERS, the three of them are conservatives, while I am a PROGRESSIVE. So if Romney is elected, it will be through NO FAULT of my own. As one might guess, we have a strict no-politics-at-the-dinner-table POLICY at our house which helps to keep the peace. Now, that being said, we work well as a team when it comes to solving puzzles. In fact, we nailed this one in just under two minutes. It just goes to show that when a GUY CO-operates and reaches across the aisle, things get done. A lesson our legislators could stand to learn.
#3 Need another clue? In Saudi Arabia, there are many things women are not allowed to buy or acquire. This item happens to be one of them. (WOMEN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE IN S.A.)
BLAINE WROTE: I think your comment should be taken with a grain of sand.
#4 A grain of sand? No thanks, I've already had my AGGREGATE LIMIT for the day. (AGGREGATE LIMIT IS A COMMON INSURANCE TERM)
If I were Blaine, one more sand joke from SkyDiveBoy and I'd look into getting an ACCELERATED DEATH BENEFIT RIDER.
PEACE OUT!
I rather doubt Blaine will appreciate your attributing one of my posts/comments to him. I probably would not care so much, except now I can't recall which one of my harem brought this to my attention, and I don't want to thank the wrong wife.
DeleteOh great camel baron of the east, I beg you to forgive my insolence. Alas, once an infidel, always an infidel. May your wives find it in their hearts to take pity on a wretched and forgetful--but well-meaning--soul (and court jester). And may the puzzle gods smile down on your cuneiform. And as if that were not enough, may your sandals leave happy tracks on dunes of great worth. Oh, and may others respect your riches and be worthy of your trust. But, tie your dromedary at night. Just in case. ;-) It's been a fun ride this week, but next time I'm renting the two-hump model.
DeleteI am the most contented of men as 53% of my harem will attest. It is only the 47% minority of my wives who are lazy and are unhappy with the scraps I so generously provide them. Oh, and mine is four on the floor.
DeleteMy reference to the economy and winging it refers to the cost of auto insurance and the weak job market.
ReplyDeleteFifteen minutes to solve was reference to geico ads.
ReplyDeleteMy "two ways to skin the cat" comment, as well as Ken's later post (I think), referred to the fact that this puzzle actually has two correct answers:
ReplyDeleteAUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
AUTOMOTIVE INSURANCE
I've purchased both of these products (and I hope the salesman wasn't pulling a fast one on me).
-- Other Ben
Ben surmises correctly wrt my post.
DeleteKen #2
PlannedChaos and Paul:
ReplyDeleteCould you folks now give the keys to those last 3 crypto-posts?
PlannedChaos posted on Sun Sep 16, at 06:15:00 AM PDT:
Blaine, I wasn't aware you had a corporate sponsor. Also, ubrzkk ao tsvl txuw, P'vz sofp vuka lzeshvp tzht Bijwf us su iimucrxikt fjv Himqrfteix Fggxoqlen Momldafje Xsnjrzy. (Try decoding that one, Paul!)
Then Paul replied on Sun Sep 16, at 07:10:00 AM PDT:
Oik 'xekz I 'vzf nf, Sun'uom.
And finally PlannedChaos replied on Sun Sep 16, at 08:00:00 AM PDT:
Jn'j Pooutjr Bvsqy au hzvf ucx ox h spheye.
E&WAf,
ReplyDeleteThe key for all three is 'Burma Shave'. I peppered my comment with apostrophes to indicate what, in PC's original post, helped me discern the key. I intended, somewhat, to allude to benmar's idea of 'winging it', but didn't notice until afterward that I might have been mimicking the Geico gecko.
Thank you.
DeleteI notice that one can decode all three at once if they insert 5 sacrificial letters between PlannedChaos's initial crypto-post and your reply, and then add one more sacrificial letter between your reply and his reply.
My reference to Blaines initial post from the week before was the image of an outstretched hand with beans/bugs. Meant to represent "In good hands with Allstate"
ReplyDeleteNew one is posted - this would not be top of my list of puzzles
ReplyDeleteRight you are! I would put it at the bottom.
DeleteI began hiking with my father when I was seven. I remember him frequently telling the same joke when we got tired.
ReplyDelete