NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 25, 2012): Not Since 1987...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 25, 2012): Not Since 1987...:

Q: In a few weeks something will happen that hasn't happened since 1987. What is it?

Wait? Will "The Simpsons" be going off the air? Now that would be different.

Edit: The main hint was the word "different". The other hint was the image from the Simpson's episode "Future Drama" set in the year 2013.

A: 2013 will be the first year since 1987 to have no digits repeated (1988, 1989, ..., 2011, 2012). At least we didn't have it as bad as they did in the 12th century going from 1098 to 1203 with all the intervening years of repeated digits (1099, 1100, 1101, ..., 1199, 1200, 1201, 1202). Oh how agonizing that must have been for them!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 18, 2012): Common Five Letter Words

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 18, 2012): Common Five Letter Words:

Q: Think of a familiar five-letter word in two syllables. Change the middle letter to the preceding letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a familiar five-letter word in three syllables. What words are these?

I bet some people will be coming up with the answer almost immediately while for some it is going to take a few hours.

Edit: The hints were "bet" (as in alphabet) and "coming"/"going" (since aloha can mean hello or goodbye).

A: ALPHA --> ALOHA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 11, 2012): Lead Pencil Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 11, 2012): Lead Pencil Puzzle:

Q: With one stroke of a pencil you can change a capital F into E; you can change an O into a Q, and so on. Write the phrase "LEAD PENCIL" in capital letters. Add a stroke to one letter and rearrange the result to name a classic movie. What is it?

Wake me when it's over.

The Four Tops had a hit with "Shake Me, Wake Me (When it's over)". The missing part of my hint was "Shake Me". And if you search for "Shake Me" it's a song by the group "Cinderella".

A: Change the P to an R, rearrange to get CINDERELLA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 4, 2012): 100% Organic and All Natural Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 4, 2012): 100% Organic and All Natural Puzzle:

Q: The words "organic" and "natural" are both commonly seen at health food stores. What other seven-letter word, also commonly seen at health food stores, has five letters in common with organic and five letters in common with natural?

They'll probably trademark this answer in Australia.

Edit: According to Wikipedia, "Granola" was originally a trademarked term in the 19th century, but is now only trademarked in Australia. The easiest way to solve this was to notice that both words already share the letters A, N and R. There are 6 ways to pick a couple letters from the remaining letters in organic and 6 ways to pick a couple letters from those in natural. From there it's a simple check to see if those 7 letters anagram to any common words.

A: I was able to come up with 5 words that meet the criteria of sharing 5 letters each with natural and organic. They were cranial, curtain, granola, guarani and languor. Only one of them seems to be a word you would typically find at health food stores:

GRANOLA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 28, 2012): Happy Halloween!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 28, 2012): Happy Halloween!:

Q: Think of a word associated with Halloween. Add a letter in the second position to create a new word that does not rhyme with the first. Then add another letter in the third position of the word you just created to complete another word that does not rhyme with either of the first two. What words are these?

My hint? Only this...

Edit: My hint was from Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven "only this, nothing more." In the poem there is another line "Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore."

A: TREAT, THREAT, THEREAT