Thursday, January 31, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 27, 2013): Move your Body Parts

Bond's Jet Pack in ThunderballNPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 27, 2013): Move your Body Parts:
Q: Name a personal mode of transportation. Remove its first and sixth letters. What remains — in sequence, without rearranging any letters — will spell the names of two parts of the human body. What are they?
Sorry, I'm a little distracted; I just read that Jeopardy champ Ken is saying that Chimborazo is the highest point on earth.

Edit: My clues hinted at Everest and Jennings. Harry Jennings and his disabled friend Herbert Everest, both mechanical engineers, invented the first lightweight, steel, collapsible wheelchair in 1933 and went on to become the first mass-manufacturers of wheelchairs.
A: WHEELCHAIR --> HEEL, HAIR

143 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. "Equatorial bulge" is an ugly term, Blaine. I much prefer "love handles".

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    Replies
    1. Very funny comment, Jan. We've got six of 'em at my house. Well, eight, if you count mine.

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    2. Blaine ~ Although there may, indeed, be some merit to Ken Jennings's assertion, let's not forget his blunder during his 7th Jeopardy appearance that will live in infamy. The category was "Garden Tools." The clue was "A sexually unrestrained or shamelessly immoral person." Instead of correctly answering, "What is a rake?", Jennings pressed his buzzer and blurted out, "What is a hoe?" This is 100% true. We still joke about it at the Tabernacle.

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    3. Now that marijuana is legal here, some may argue that Seattle is the highest place on earth.

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  3. Well that really piques my interest in Chimborazo!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for not writing "peaks".

      It took me a long time to understand Blaine's clever clue.

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  4. We'll just have to sit this one out.

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  5. In the Shire the parts are closer together than usual.

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    Replies
    1. @ Hugh, good habits or bad habits?
      Zeke the Roman

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  6. Especially easy puzzle to cap an otherwise easy weekend.

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  7. Never did get Blaine's clue. Thank goodness I had my right hand man (a.k.a. wife) close by to explain it.

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  8. While reaching for an atlas, I got Blaine's clue

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  9. Last week's discussion about inserting images into a blog post is intriguing. Unfortunately, most TAGs "cannot be accepted", including: IMG,DIV,SPAN,P,FONT, etc, etc. Also, allowable tags (like B) that contain a STYLE reference that duplicates any of the dissallowed tags are not accepted.

    Sorry :(

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  10. Two hands in Poker are a Pair and High Card. Sometimes you can win with these but most times you lose.

    Chuck

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  11. Greetings everyone! As always, delighted to see that my name is not in the obituaries and even happier to play a part in the weekly puzzle.

    We stayed up late last night watching old Perry Mason reruns. Mostly because I still have the hots for Della Street. She was so fetching in her tight skirts, 50s flip coif and four-inch secretary pumps. I wonder if she knows how she fueled the fantasies of so many teenage boys back then?

    Moving on, I got up early this AM, as it was my turn to prepare breakfast. I decided to make French toast and dashed down to La Roue du Boulanger to pick up a fresh baguette. On a side note, the baker, Phillipe and I talked a bit about baguettes and he told me that in France, the end piece is called the "coude" (elbow). Makes sense, I guess, when you look at it.

    I cued up "The Best of Led Zeppelin" and we all sat down to breakfast. As she poured coffee, Wife #3 informed us that the ADA had recently declared Zep's most famous song to be in violation of established standards and was requiring that the group make some drastic changes to the lyrics. Geez, even I'm starting to think we may have too much government.

    Hope Blaine doesn't feel my clues are pushing the envelope too much. That's just how I roll(on the edge).
    A friend to all in need (of clues)--except SDB.
    GuerrillaBoy

    PS Has anyone else noticed that the autocorrect feature in the text box seems to be disabled today?


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  12. I didn't get last week's puzzle. I went round and round without any resolution. I got my head together this week, though.

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    1. What a giveaway, Unc. Now everyone can easily figure out it's neck and nose. Nice. Too bad "fist" and "chin" don't fit the bill. (Aw, just funnin' ya, Uncle John, but I doubt your post will survive Blaine's terrible swift sword.)

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    2. Sorry Blaine. I guess I also can't say that at least one US President used this mode of locomotion.

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  14. Okay, - I finally got it. Thanks to the clues left behind by ABQ... confirmed by Jan,Uncle John, and (well I won't say). All of the others I find to be very abstruse.

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  15. Reminds me of one of Ike's cabinet members.

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  16. CONGRATULATIONS BLAINE!

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I just realized that last week's installment of the Puzzle Blog marks the first time that your blog has busted the 200 comments barrier (201 comments). We just toasted you at our house with a glass of Dr. Pepper. Are you feelin' the love, muh bruddah?

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    Replies
    1. Um ABQ,

      I think 37 of those comments were from you.

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    2. Yikes, Jim! I think you're right. A casual blogger, like yourself might take note of my prolificacy and think I am a homebound paraplegic with nothing better to do than pet my cats, watch Jeopardy reruns, and post to this blog. Although I am slightly wounded by your observations, I heal quickly.

      On an unrelated note, am I the only one who has noticed that BOTH SkyDiveBoy AND Word Woman are suspiciously absent this week. Makes one wonder, don'tchathink? I'd be curious to see a video of them both in the same room together (shot by someone other than Blaine, of course.

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    3. Word Woman chimed in today at the end of last week's blog, before Blaine started this week's.

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  17. Still stumped? Try shuffling the cards and starting with a new deal. It worked for my grandparents.

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  18. I wish it were warm enough to get out in a golfcart, get a round in, and improve my game.

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    Replies
    1. Funny you should mention that, Snipper (are you a mohel, by the way?) I was just getting out of the shower, towel around my waist, when all three of my wives surrounded me and declared, "We think it's been too long since you played around, GuerrillaBoy." I immediately thought to myself, "Awesome! They're takin' me golfing!"

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    2. No, I'm not a mohel. (We'll share a few laughs on that one!). Unfortunately, I'm not very handy with the scissors, though I try to be a cut above the rest.

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    3. Do you know most mohels aren't paid- they just work for tips.

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    4. With old jokes like that, you're bound to get stiffed every time, Dave. ;-)

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    5. I destoyed my thigh in an accident which required the help of an orthopedic surgeon to put humpty dumpty back together again. During a follow-up visit I saw a number of PGA sanctioned hloe-in-one certificates mounted on his wall. (The # would rival even that of the late great one from sunny N. Korea) Upon asking how the recent surgery would affect my game he replied with a grin, "You'll still stink." Gotta love golf humor.

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    6. @ snipper. Making mohels out of mountains, are we?
      Zeke the intimidated mountaineer.

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    7. Or to quote from a very old joke that Dave must have totally forgotten, "Making suitcases out of coin purses."

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  19. Just got back from Sunday school. It didn't require much soul searching. Before song service it came to me. Glory, what a lift that was. Now I can relax the rest of the day.

    From the barfdeck to the poopdeck was nothing but the Jolly Roger and dead men's bones. Made for a quiet trip, though.

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  20. One of the two words describes "Mad Man" Don Draper; the other is arguably a reason why he's able to get away with it.

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  21. I don't think the answer is "Squad(car)rear / quad & ear", which I hope was not a mode of personal transport for any of us. Maybe "Squadcarse" if you allow the olde-timey spelling of adding an "e" at the end, (or the marketing spelling of real estate, like Pointe) and a body part from the UK.

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    1. So, David, you went to hs in or near Philly? I went to Girls High and my class will be celebrating 45th reunion this year. I am one of the babies of the group having begun frosh year at age 12 but I will still need to tone up or wear something loose. Vanity Vanity!

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    2. RoRo:
      Just a quick suggestion. They're having a huge yard sale at the Vaticano next month. Maybe you get one of Pope Eggs' old frocks for cheap.

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    3. Huge? I think not! Medium - Mamma Bear size maybe I hope not to bust up any furniture

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    4. Okay, so how about an old Judge Judy robe then? Or is the jury still out on that one?

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    5. No thanks. I have to dis the robe. Let someone else be the ward of it.

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  22. Not wanting ABG to worry too much I should inform all that SDB was pulling an all nighter with a friend and a bottle of Ouzo, but the friend was not WW, and I can't speak to her absence.
    As to the puzzle and it not being posted early and my not reading it until so late (still have not heard it) and not recovered from last night yet either, I was not sure I even wanted to think about trying to solve it. I haven't even had breakfast yet! However before even reading the above posts I got the answer right away. There are no intended hints above and I don't want to be a jerk and not being rested give some stupid clue off the top of my head until later when I can think clearly and then give a stupid clue. Stay tuned and perhaps form a search party and go looking for WW.

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  23. Thank you for noticing Jan, ABQ, and SDB. I wanted to make a smooth segue into how beautiful a day it is here in Colorado. It was perfect for an early morning hike in the foothills...although bicycling or even snowmobiling in the higher Rockies would also be sublime. On the heels of such
    a great day with my short-haired pup, coming back to your comments made me smile...especially since this is only my 3rd week here. Thanks, you sure know how to make a gal feel welcome. :-)

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    1. WW - I also live in Colorado, and it was truly a beautiful day.

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    2. Curtis, we are so lucky to live here...especially after listening to my daughter talk about the weather in St. Paul. Speaking of the Twin Cities, where is Peter, our resident Peanuts sculptures expert?

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    4. My cuz Caroline, she be throwin' pots out in dem dar hills. (Clay ones I'm sure :-)
      Zeke the mountaineer

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    6. If so, she might want to consider a bowl cut? Cheaper than a barber.

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    7. The midwest mountaineer cousin thing pertains not to Caroline and Zeke. She had no beard the last time we got together. If it's advice that's needed perhaps we could ask Blaine to create a poll. :-)
      Zeke

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    8. I'm here, WW, though I'm seeing the puzzle for the first time right now -- adding snow shoveling to an already busy day means no time for puzzles. We Minnesotans like to scoff at the way we're portrayed in movies, but January is the time of the year when it truly looks like the set of Grumpy Old Men. Anyway, getting here a day late, it's sad to see that all the juicy clues got "blog adminstratored" out of existence, so I'll be back after giving this puzzle some thought.

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    9. OK, got it. Funnily enough, I inadvertently gave clue. (No, no, I didn't hurt myself shoveling.)

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    10. Sure glad you had a warm thinking cap handy in the Cities. My daughter came back to a roughly 100 degree F temperature change after returning from the Phillipines. Last winter was so mild for her first year. P.s. She knows of no Peanuts statues on campus.

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    11. Awww, thanks for checking though!

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  24. This took me a little longer than usual to solve. I think my downfall was in looking for more fun modes of transportation. With that solved, I'm off to listen to some Styx...

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  25. Okay here is the clue I promised:

    Think of a term someone might be likely to use in a discussion with Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, AZ back in the day.

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  26. Confucius say:
    When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.
    Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/confucius140548.html#UY8LjFKf2BH19T2G.99

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    Replies
    1. Paul, are you a project manager? ;-). Looking forward to overmorrow when all will be revealed.

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    2. Word Woman T-Shirt: "Today is the overmorrow you worried about nudiustertianly."

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    3. I like it, Jan! Between the two of us we can be in the moment.

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    4. What the hell is a project manager?

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    5. You might find a Confucian aphorism in a fortune cookie; you'll find Jack Lemmon in a wheelchair in The Fortune Cookie(1966). That's all there really was to my clue this week.
      I apologize for the profanity in my previous comment. Perhaps on some subconscious level I associated 'project manager' with Dilbert's PHB or those Machiavellian...individuals...who try to get the guy with the bad comb-over to fire...anyone but themselves; perhaps my inability to interpret Curt's 'Styx' reference had something to do with it, and perhaps I was just being grumpy. At any rate, it was only after the fact that I noticed that a strategically placed apostrophe would make said profanity a dead giveaway for...I'd say 1/4 to 1/3 of the answer.

      I was unfamiliar with the term 'overmorrow'; what do you call the day after overmorrow? As a Victor Borge fan, I think I'd favor changing 'tomorrow' to 'twomorrow', and then you could have threemorrow, fourmorrow....

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    6. Paul, thanks for your apology. Your question did seem a bit over the top...Anyway, I read your clue quickly & somehow got that you fit the action steps to a new goal. I worked with Project Managers who did exactly that. They just kept adjusting dates further and further out. No one was held accountable to a date given. I left that company; it was true Dilbert hell. Anyway, hope you enjoy Will's clues on the day after overmorrow, fourmorrow. ;-)

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  27. I fly everywhere on my Lear Fleet. Oooops. Did I give it away?

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  28. What are the odds that more than 1000 listeners send in the right answer to this one? 2000? 3000?

    Thanks -- Phil J.

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  29. Phil, I think the number will easily exceed 1000. Speaking of odds (present company excluded), 19 of 35 of us (so far) are in our 50's and 60's. So we are definitely skewed to the boomer side of the age groups. Interesting data.

    When I volunteer teaching kindergarten kids about geology and fossils, we extract "fossils" from chocolate chip cookies, count the chips or data, and make a bell curve of our results. The most important part of the experiment (which the kids love saying): DON'T EAT YOUR DATA!"

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    1. Also speaking of odds, how come most people take that as a synonym for probability? For example, the probability of rolling a certain number on single die is 1 in 6. But if you want the odds of doing that, you should say the odds are 1 to 5 in favor (or equivalently 5 to 1 against). If I ask for the odds, I'll inevitably be given the probability instead. I guess this distinction isn't covered well enough in math class?

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    2. Wonderful WW! Teaching Kindergartners about all those cool things! Great lesson!

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    3. @ Blaine.
      Did you say math class? This is America, Blaine!

      And if someone here thinks my czar chasm is unwaranted, consider this. I frequently want a small amount of something (ground beef, cheese, salami, etc.) from a deli or meat counter at the super market where they weigh the products on a digital scale that does not show ounces, but hundreths of a pound. Usually I get a blank look when I ask for a fifth or tenth of a pound. I could go on and relate some very funny stories involving my experiences with this. I soon came to realize they do not even understand the amounts such as a quarter, a half, etc., but they are told to memorize these. Once a woman who was doing a cheese demo told me that cheese was only ten ounces to a pound. She was told that by one of the cheese counter workers. No wonder people from other countries think we are stupid.

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    4. Blaine,

      Thanks for your comment on the distinction between odds and probabilities, but let’s not race to conclusions. Either one may be used as a way of expressing the likelihood of an event happening. Given the context of my question, however, "odds" is the more appropriate term.

      Thanks – Phil J.

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    5. SDB: The cheese demo lady had her thinking hairnet on that day and was obviously referring to Swiss cheese, Mr. SmartyPantz. If you get the kind with the really BIG holes, a pound can weigh as little as 8.5 oz. Look it up!
      A friend to the clueless,
      GuerrillaBoy

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    6. Which begs the question, "What is the probability that Blaine's shirt is never without a plastic pocket protector and mechanical pencils?" ;-) We luv ya, Blaine!

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    7. ABG:
      You had me goin' for a bit on the cheese thing, but your reasoning is simply full of holes.

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    8. Since the average of correct responses is around 1000/week, and I send in weekly, would the odds over a year be about 1 in 20? I am aware that the probability lies somewhere between slim and nil.

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    9. This not my field of expertise, but I believe each week it becomes an entirely new situation. The picker, whatever that is, has no idea what happened in the past with regard to you or anyone else. Just like Lotto or any other game of chance, each time you play a new game it starts all over from the beginning. You have the same chance as a first time player each week.

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    10. Let's take p=0.001 (1 in 1000) be the probability you are picked on a specific week. Then q=0.999 (999/1000) is the probability you are NOT picked. The probability you would NOT be picked for any of the 52 weeks in a year is q^52 which is about 0.949. So in a year your chance of being picked is 1-q^52 or about 0.051. This is not the same as 52p which would be 0.052. You can see the difference if you calculate this out 20 years. 20x52p=1.04 and we know you can't have a probability of 104%. The correct formula for 20 years would be 1-q^(20x52). That comes to about 65% that you'll get picked if you play every week for 20 years.

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    11. So Blaine, would it be correct to say I was describing the odds and you the probability?

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    12. Blaine, you mind your p's & q's quite well. We are awed by your mathematics teaching skills. Seriously. Now, if that floating "Probably not" comment could only float back in time and up in the blog ;-).

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    13. Blaine, your clue was absolute perfection. Too bad I had to agonize from Sunday til Thursday to see what it meant.

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    14. Just in case anyone missed the meaning of my clues, and is still interested, my mention of odds and the follow-up mention of racing relate to the art/science of determining the odds of something happening, especially the odds relating to a horse race, which is known as handicapping.

      Thanks -- Phil J.

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  30. Thanks, Uncle John. These kids are awesome!

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  31. I just realized I sent the name of the transport and not the body parts. How picky are they?

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    Replies
    1. You're in luck. The FBI really frowns on sending body parts through the mail.

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    3. Yeah, especially when the mob starts sending fingers digitally....

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  32. When the npr big cheeses receive 2000 correct entries this probsbly will not make the cut. Try again. They may not want to cut the cheese with you. :-) The rules state no more than one entry. One would think it is to keep folks from stuffng the ballot box. God forbid, not with this group.
    What sayest thou, most excellent Blaine?

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    Replies
    1. Cut the cheese...keeping in the mohel cutup mode...haircut
      stuffing ballot boxes...only a real heel would do so.

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  33. Comments on comments way back:

    Taken from the internet and edited:

    The Smoothest Ride On Four Wheels
    This reminds me of a Lincoln-Mercury commercial back in the 70s where a diamond cutter split an expensive diamond while the car was driven down a bumpy road to prove how smooth the ride was.

    The results: P(air)fect

    Saturday Night Live then spoofed the commercial, replacing the diamond cutter with a mohel and a baby boy.

    The results: P(oy)fect

    A further reminder that a pound of carrots is 12 ounces.

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    Replies
    1. I remember that spoof,Hugh. The poor kid was screamin' his head off. It was probably in the back seat of a Saab...

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    2. Certainly not a Pierce Arrow!

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    3. I can see the TV version now, SDB. Some poor kid being dragged kickin' and screamin' by a mohel into a vintage sedan. Michael Buffer announces, "Are you ready for the rumble seat?!!"

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    4. Yes, but in a Rolls Royce they Canard-ly feel it. I also heard of a Dauphin who had it done to him in a Prinz.

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  34. I guess the answer will be accessible to all shortly!

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  35. wheelchair --> heel, hair

    Last Sunday I said, “Two hands in Poker are a Pair and High Card. Sometimes you can win with these but most times you lose.” Two hands are usually used to push a wheelchair. You have a pair of heels. And the highest thing on most people is their hair which many lose :)

    Chuck

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  36. WHEELCHAIR > HEEL & HAIR

    My Hints:

    "There are no intended hints above and I don't want to be a jerk and not being rested give some stupid clue off the top of my head until later when I can think clearly and then give a stupid clue."

    Should be obvious. Being a JERK is a synonym for HEEL. I have HAIR on the top of my head, well some anyway.

    "Think of a term someone might be likely to use in a discussion with Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, AZ back in the day"

    The term is HEELED. This term means CARRYING A GUN, usually concealed. This was commonly used in Tombstone, AZ back in the 1880's when it was a silver boom town during the depression of that time. It may seem strange now but at that time it was not allowed to carry firearms in town. Wyatt Earp was deputy U.S. Marshall and responsible for enforcing this regulation, which he did, and was used to hearing that term when confronting "cowboys" who were in town.

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  37. > I'm NOT ABLE to think of any non-obvious clues yet.

    I.e., disabled.

    > And let's avoid the bathroom humor this week, OK?

    Omit the WC (from WHEELCHAIR).

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  38. My hint involved downfall and Styx, pointing at Achilles and his sissified little heel. And, arguably, Styx could be considered a hair band.

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    Replies
    1. Curtis, I thought Styx referred to crutches which some may use before needing a wheelchair. . .Or perhaps you just like Styx. Oh, wait, I should know better. . .

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    2. I love how we all interpret things in unique ways. The Styx/sticks homonym never occurred to me.

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  39. "While reaching for an atlas.."

    WHILE REACH is an anagram of wheelchair

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  40. Clearly no one on this blog appreciates the intellectual stimulation offered by "Mad Men". Don Draper is a philandering, greedy HEEL with good HAIR.

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    1. I'd probably appreciate the intellectual stimulation offered by "Mad Men" if I could get it without paying for it. I've discerned from previous commentary on this blog that Mr. Draper is 'not a nice person'. You have determined for me that his physical attributes, rather than his 'pluck', account for his viability. Thanks.

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  41. I couldn't wait so I posted this clue near the end of last week's blog:

    dumpsterdiveladSun Jan 27, 04:41:00 AM PST
    Numerical clue: $15.95

    The first wheelchair was reportedly made for Phillip II of Spain in 1595.

    The dollar sign and decimal were just to fool you.

    DDL

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  42. My hint re-an Ike cabinet member: John Foster Dulles. Remember seeing newsreels in which he was in a wheelchair. (FDR would have been too obvious, although maybe not back in the day!)

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  43. Dulles may have used a wheelchair toward the end of his life, but his successor, Christian Herter, served mostly from a wheelchair because of severe arthritis.

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  44. My response to Hugh of good and bad habits was to his Hobbits. Zeke the Roman is for Shire the signature of a British isles Roman town.
    Soul searching...sole/heel.
    Glory...Biblical reference to hair.
    Lift...wheelchair lift.
    Cousin Caroline does throw pots in Colorado...it was Hairy Potter, WW:-)
    Dem dar hills...heels, for our quaint accent.
    Create a poll...poll is to cut hair.

    Jolly Roger, dead men's bones...ghostship/ host hip, providing the host is part of the body as a whole. :-)

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  45. My clue referred to personal methods of transport it was not from segue (segway) to hiking, bicycling and snowmobiling..."On the heels of a great day with my short-haired pup" referred to the body parts. The referral to hirsute Colorado Caroline, a hairy potter, was an unintentional give away inspired by a friend's Halloween costume. And, I did leave a link to last week's puzzle (you have to "load more" at the end of the comments). It refers to "Waymarking," another personal mode of transport involving GPS. Waymarking sounds like fun!

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    1. Practice makes perfect, WW, and vice-versa.

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  46. MY TEN CLUES:

    We stayed up late last night watching old Perry Mason (#1 = Raymond Burr aka wheelchair-bound Ironsides) reruns. Mostly because I still have the hots for Della Street. She was so fetching in her tight skirts, 50s flip coif (#2 = hair) and four-inch secretary pumps (#3 = heels). I wonder if she knows how she fueled the fantasies of so many teenage boys back then?

    Moving on, I got up early this AM, as it was my turn to prepare breakfast. I decided to make French toast and dashed down to La Roue du Boulanger (#4 = Baker's Wheel) to pick up a fresh baguette. On a side note, the baker, Phillipe and I talked a bit about baguettes and he told me that in France, the end piece is called the "coude" (elbow) (#5 = heel of bread). Makes sense, I guess, when you look at it.

    I cued up "The Best of Led Zeppelin" and we all sat down to breakfast. As she poured coffee, Wife #3 informed us that the ADA had recently declared Zep's most famous song (Stairway to Heaven) to be in violation of established standards and was requiring that the group make some drastic changes (#4 = put in wheelchair ramp) to the lyrics. Geez, even I'm starting to think we may have too much government.

    Hope Blaine doesn't feel my clues are pushing (#5) the envelope too much. That's just how I roll (#6)(on the edge).

    PS Has anyone else noticed that the autocorrect feature in the text box seems to be disabled (#7) today?

    A casual blogger, like yourself might take note of my prolificacy and think I am a homebound paraplegic (#8) with nothing better to do than pet my cats, watch Jeopardy reruns, and post to this blog. Although I am slightly wounded by your observations, I heal (#9 = heel) quickly.

    Still stumped? Try shuffling the cards and starting with a new deal (#10 = Roosevelt). It worked for my grandparents.

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  47. Replies
    1. "The only thing in life we can always count on is our fingers." - Merle Haggard

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    2. I have nine, actually. I gave one to a guy who cut me off in traffic this morning.

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  48. Does it reflect some morbid preoccupation that I went for a less obvious answer of HEARSE?

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    1. I like your interpretation of the puzzle. Indeed it is a "personal" mode of transportation and if you remove the letters you get two body parts (ears). If I were Will I'd take it as a valid alternate.

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    2. Unfortunately not personal transport, as the dead can't drive themselves.

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    3. And along those lines, if you've ever wondered why we don't see deceased actors making new film, it is because they don't want to rehearse.

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    4. I'd say a hearse is very personal transport, not as the driver but as the passenger. :)

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    5. Not sure if others are receiving these targeted ads on the upper right side of Blaine's site. It was promoting a cremation society after the word hearse appeared. Wonder what will happen if I write boarding, skiing, swimming, cross-country skiing, shredding, hiking, and running. ;-)

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    6. @ Elliott: I like the way you think, brother. When I look at hearse, I see "ear" and "arse." Maybe I have a preoccupation that is other than morbid...

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    7. I think Elliott's solution is pure genius.

      A careful examination of the puzzle's original statement reveals:
      "spell the names of two parts of the human body"

      I think 'ears' spells the NAME(singular) of two parts of the human body; and I still think Elliott's solution is pure genius.

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    8. Thanks guys, trouble was that after I got Hearse, I was convinced it must be right, and stopped looking for the real answer. Even scanning through the comments and finding references to Tombstone and Styx only served to reinforce my error.

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    9. It was quite clever. Wish Will had mentioned you by name on the air! Oh well, now you are well-rehearsed for the next puzzle!

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  49. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  50. Clues:

    Especially easy puzzle to cap an easy weekend = "especially" for special olympics; "cap" for handicap

    I wish it were warm enough to get out in a golfcart, get a round in, and improve my game = refers to golf "handicap"

    No, I'm not a mohel. (We'll share a few laughs on that one!). Unfortunately, I'm not very handy with the scissors, though I try to be a cut above the rest.= "we'll share" for wheelchair; "unfortunately" for wheel of fortube; "handy" for handicap

    I guess the answer will be accessible to all shortly!= as in wheelchair accessible.

    Thanks for all the mohel humor.

    - snipper

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  51. New puzzle is up:

    Next week's challenge from listeners Mike Morton of Lyme, N.H., and Barry Hayes of Palo Alto, Calif.: Name a famous author, first and last names. Change an X in this name to a B, and rearrange all the letters. The result is how this author might address a memo to the author's most famous character. Who is it?

    If I now said I'm in the mood for a candy bar, would that be a clue, or a hint at the wrong author?

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  52. Take the last four letters of the author’s first name to get a product that is off limits to the author’s most famous character.

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  53. I just got a haircut yesterday. Makes my ears look bigger, though.

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  54. You don't even have to re-arrange!!!

    BTW, I now realize that saying I'm in the mood for a candy bar is a hint at the wrong answer, but saying I'm in the mood for a bowl of cereal is a hint at the right answer!

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    Replies
    1. Darn it!!!

      I meant for my previous comment to be a reply to PlannedChaos' comment above.

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  55. I guess you could say the authors of this puzzle had to debug the name by changing the X to a B.

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  56. Can you even guess how mad it made me to spend time working on the wrong author at first?

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