Thursday, May 02, 2013

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 28, 2013): Six-word Proverb Puzzle

Proverbs from around the World, TotallySevere.comNPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 28, 2013): Six-word Proverb Puzzle:
Q: The first 12 letters of the alphabet are A to L. Think of a familiar, six-word proverb that contains 11 of these 12 letters. The letters may be used more than once, and you may use additional letters from the second half of the alphabet. What proverb is this?
Will has given us a task that's akin to finding a needle in a haystack, but I'm not one to judge a book by its cover. Let's not count our chickens before they hatch, but we can figure this out, can't we?

Edit: Several proverbs get close to using most of the letters in A through L, but the ones I gave weren't the answer. But if we work together...
A: Birds of a feather flock together

149 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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. De mi cama super-super king size en Ciudad Panama:

    Here on Blainz Blahg, we come from distinct locations and have various nom de plumes (or is that noms de plume?). Yet despite our differences, we are connected by a common love of double entendre that point to (mostly) singular solutions. So each Sunday, we gather here in cyberspace like a herd of sheep, where we tweet each other with respect and civility (mostly) as the clues drop gently (mostly) like excrement from those other winged creatures that inhabit the caves here in the rain forest. So let the dropping begin.
    Guano happens!
    GuerrillaBoy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good morning!

    Given your Guatemalan location, AbqGuerrillaBoy, let's go with "A rolling stone gathers no mas."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, dear me, Blaine, you ought to ban from your blog such language as may seem to appear in the intended proverb.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We might bring it before Congress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you really think they're shrewd enough to decide the matter?

      Delete
  6. We should all be able to solve this one giving appropriate weight to the clues above.

    ReplyDelete
  7. While on a bike ride yesterday, I saw some jheep grazing and I think I witnessed a murder!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To b or not to b, and in that sleep, what dreams......................

      Delete
  8. ─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─╥─┬─┬─┬─┬─
    ═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╬═╪═╪═╪═╪═
    ─┼─┴─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼─┼─┼──
    ─┼───┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┴─┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼─┼─┼──
    ─┼───┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼─┼─┼──
    ─┼───┼─┴─┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼─┼─┼──
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼─┴─┼──
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─┴───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─────┼───┼─┴─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────┼───┼───┼─┼───┼─┼─┴─╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────┼───┼───┼─┼───┼─┼───╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────┴───┼───┼─┼───┼─┼───╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────────┼───┼─┼───┼─┴───╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────────┼───┼─┼───┼─────╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─────────┼───┼─┼───┼─────╫─┼─┼───┼──
    ─────────┼───┼─┼───┼─────╫─┴─┼───┼──
    ─────────┼───┴─┼───┼─────╫───┼───┼──
    ─────────┼─────┼───┼─────╫───┼───┼──
    ─────────┼─────┼───┼─────╫───┼───┴──
    ─────────┼─────┴───┼─────╫───┼──────
    ─────────┴─────────┼─────╫───┼──────
    ───────────────────┼─────╫───┴──────
    ───────────────────┼─────╫─────────.
    ═══════════════════╪═════╩═════════
    ───────────────────┴───────────────<──────.

    Ok, my post this Thursday won't look quite as good as that, but it shouldn't look too bad!

    Oh, and if anyone's thinking they needn't bother with this one, because they used a browser other than Internet Explorer and they've alread saved my 201st comment from last week's thread, I'm saying NO!! Dump that one!! Replace it with what I've posted HERE!!

    I realized after I posted that last one that I had blundered.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My 200th comment was also a blunder. I'll see if I can remedy that by Thursday. Maybe I need to go back to school.

      Delete
  9. I got the proverb fairly quickly and have already submitted it. I can’t think of a really good clue without giving away the answer. So I’ll just say there was an inane and insane 60s group that had a couple of inane and insane charted hits. The title of one of them will lead you directly to the proverb.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'd like to chime in with the music of George Clinton & Bootsy Collins...

    ReplyDelete
  11. I would like to offer a Sunday Challenge that I have previously suggested to Will Shortz, but he has never taken me up on it. Maybe he has used it before?

    Take a common six-letter word, add a hyphen between the second & third letters to obtain a new word that is the OPPOSITE of the original word. What are these two words?

    If you know the answer, don't give it away. We will let Blaine give the solution on Thursday along with his solution to this week's challenge.

    I have solved this week's challenge. It was fairly easy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I solved your puzzle. Would you care to know the letter the words end with or would even that be too much info?

      Chuck

      Delete
    2. No. Don't give the letter the words end with. I will give the answer Thursday if Blaine doesn't give it then.

      Ron

      Delete
    3. One day you RESIGN from the team and two days later you RE-SIGN with the same team? You're a classic flip-flopper!

      Chuck, was this your answer?

      Delete
  12. It's always a same thing - some puzzle - and the same people visit this blog and post every week, including myself. We all have the same interests.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just love landing on this blog every week. Kumbaya!

      Delete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. BTW - I expect Kimmel, Ferguson and O'Brien will be making jokes about this one, but Leno won't touch it!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Let's save this one for our 25 year reunion!

    I still maintain that Miami Dade would work for last week & when I mentioned "car AGENCY," I had no clue that this was a good hint for the intended answer as it was.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This puzzle is a real dinosaur.

    ReplyDelete
  18. See if you can come up with the common proverb that is most ignored in this country.
    Hint: Pay close attention next time you are in line at the supermarket.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's an easy one, SDB. I was in the checkout line at a supermarket just last week and I witnessed a guy shoplifting several lottery tickets while the cashier's back was turned. A moment later, I saw him scratching them off in the parking lot, when he suddenly started shouting to his buddy that he had a $1000 winner. Proverb: "God helps those who help themselves."

      Delete
    2. I said the proverb that is most ignored.

      Delete
    3. Ten items or less. You can count on me, SDB.

      Delete
  19. Paula Abdul cocked a musical snook at this saying. Nature also disagrees in some cases.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I hope Blaine doesn't have to give his proverbial middle finger to any of the above comments. Good clues, once you know the answer.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Why are there proverbs and pronouns but no proadjectives?

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The proadjectives got off the train at the conjunction junction.

      Delete
    2. I share your disappointment in the lack of proadjectives in this world, Chuck. No words can describe my chagrin...

      Delete
    3. I knew you were jovial, AbqGerrila, but I did not know you were from Iran or India.

      Delete
    4. Did you ever have the feeling you're not in on a joke you started¿

      Delete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just went to NPR's website and listened. For some reason the time is a little muffled but I believe she said 3PM. Plus the written puzzle segment says 3PM.

      Chuck

      Delete
  23. As if the missing letter doesn't fit the proverb, too?
    What's a party without a band?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And that poor missing letter is so sad about it, singing it's heart out.

      Delete
    2. The missing letter is "J"; phonetically, a bird (e.g. "Stellar Jay" as in WW's allusion), and grouped collectively as a "party" or "band" (or a "scold!") of jays.

      Delete
  24. I suppose it is expected that I weigh in on this one
    "Me and my homeys goin out on the town. we don't flip all around we respect getting down. I take back what I said to SDB way back when. If at first you don't succeed DON'T fry fry a hen

    ReplyDelete
  25. Joe Furchi, Blaine & Word Woman:

    From last week: google Route 183, which appeared on Blaine's map, and one hit is "183rd local Miami Dade portal."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. I still don't get it. How is Miami-Dade (IEDA) an answer to the four letters that when pronounced sound like a geographical location?

      Delete
    3. Opera singers have no idea either.

      Delete
    4. Isn't Miami Dade a geographic location or are you just teasing me?

      Delete
    5. Teasing...but I don't think it fits the puzzle all that well.

      Delete
    6. Word Woman: "In your opinion."

      Delete
    7. Giving AbqGuerrilla's or ZekeCreek's opinion just didn't seem right.

      Delete
    8. Opinions are great. Mix em with green peppers, pierogies, and sour cream. Now your talkin'.
      ZC :-)

      Delete
  26. What we need now are some amateur verbs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chance would be a fine thing.

      Delete
    2. Pondering - Pinky and the Brain style?

      Delete
    3. Zort! What do you want to do tonight?

      Troz, stalling. . .

      Delete
    4. Poit was my favorite. First ran into that in Mad Magazine - Don Martin. Thought you might enjoy the 6 word (with 10 required letters) catchphrase I stumbled on while solving the puzzle. Translation - In your dreams?

      Delete
  27. I was talking to one of my puzzle buddies after Church last night. He and his girlfiend (both 16) really enjoy the Sunday puzzle. I enquired of her opinion and she responded, "I'm really happy for you." As she walked off I could only say, "That's one sharp chick, Seth."

    ReplyDelete
  28. Checking in from SFO, waiting for my flight to EWR, looking out at all the planes on the tarmac in identical United livery. Guess it's true.

    ReplyDelete
  29. After discussing it with a few members of my congregation yesterday, I decided to go with a fascinator for this year's Derby.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You give my old mint julep a kick, Ruth.

      Delete
    2. Back in '83 we went to the derby and sat in the sheep seats. In the infield sitting on coolers. Couldn't really see, but my horse won.

      Delete
    3. Cheap cheap seats. Oh, that android keyboard of mine :-)

      Delete
    4. I wondered what ewe meant by sheep seats.

      Delete
    5. I wouldn't dream of trying to ram a pun through on this gang. Y'alls wise as hoot owls to that kind of stuff.

      Delete
    6. Yeah! I don't want any wool pulled over my I's.

      Delete
    7. Are hoot owls decidedly smarter than barn owls that make a hissing shriek?

      Delete
    8. Some of them to rather well on MENSA tests.

      Delete
    9. Those wouldn't be Barn'rd owls would they?

      You say derby, I say Preakness

      Delete
    10. Touche, RoRo. Hats off to you.

      Delete
  30. Surprised none of my fellow nit-pickers mentioned this yet, but what about the letter M? The puzzle sez you have to use 11 or the first 12 letters, and can use any from the second half of the alphabet. Are you allowed to use M, which is in the first half. Don't want to give anything away here...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My affianced pointed out to me that there wouldn't be an "m" in the proverb or the clue would be that the proverb used 12 of the first 13 letters. I hope that isn't TMI - it seems like an obvious conclusion.

      Delete
  31. Make that "11 OF the first 12 letters". Darn iPhone keyboard!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Cannot understand half of the cuckoo "clues" on this blog. We're all a bunch of raven' loons, no doubt about it.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Agreed, Jan. Thinking of the tarmac (short for tarmacadam after the guy, Macadam, who created it) and macadamia nuts named after another guy Macadam. Guess it would be the asphalt that we're all so nuts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have seed a lot in my old age Who was the Doan-Givea Dam named after?

      Delete
    2. Dunno, but she was sired bt the pygmy pony, Wee Charles.

      Delete
  34. Just got back from a slam where the poets carefully spun their rhymes in dribs and drabs. Felt bad for the ill-prepared fellow who just tried to wing it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, those ill-prepared fellows!

      Delete
    2. ¿
      Url lelzbuqck cm Ulrhbk qg 3900'.
      Qu'g gc mbh bdbp mhcf Ybhoqbflku bkw Wcdkqks Guhllu, urbu Ahquqgr mbeecd ftgu hbolw uc sbu urlhr.
      Obeqgub dctewk'u al achl mch klbhep 21 plbhg.

      Delete
    3. I see I left out a rbzl somewhere. Ostentation is mischief; ultimately it makes you crash.

      Delete
    4. Keeps you in company with the peacocks, though.

      Delete
    5. I'd rather keep company with the peahens; not that there's anything right with that.

      Delete
  35. 90 NNNNNNN.
    BILL COSBY'S GO-CART RACING SONG.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Original 90 EEEEEEE. Oh wait, that was a fortnight ago.

    ReplyDelete
  37. OK, snow is coming to CO again so that must mean May arrives tomorrow. May 1: What has your niece decided for college, Jan?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The People's Republic of Berkeley.

      Delete
    2. Be sure to get some flowers for her hair...Exciting news, congrats to her!

      Delete
    3. Jan
      Just to add some balance, Michael Savage graduated fron Berkeley. Perhaps there's somewhere within those poles that will be appealing to you.

      Delete
    4. WW - I'm pretty tired of looking at the snow come down between the trees. This makes something like five consecutive weeks with a significant storm here in Denver. I'm done with it. How about you?

      Delete
    5. Curtis, we need the moisture, it was fun making snow angels with my pup, it is quite pretty...but, yes, calling a May Day, May Day too!

      Delete
  38. It's not really 'tea time' where I am; but, next time it is, I think I'll try mine with a slice of lemon.
    No, not really.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Friday afternoon tea~so lovely. Lemon or not. ;-)

      And, Lorenzo, according to Buzzfeed, Brown students have the best sexy/smart ratio of all colleges. Dartmouth was second. Top 5 are in New England. Maybe the weather keeps 'em fresh. ;-)

      Delete
    2. Kindergartners? Tea? That's wrong! So let it be written; so let it be done.

      Delete
    3. "The moment you walked in the joint...achoo achoo"

      I went to Dartmouth my Junior year and all the women in the exchange program were sexy and smart, including Meryl Streep who had hair past her waist. and yes, going out each day in temps below zero (18 or 30) can make one feel very fresh. The earlier the better

      Delete
    4. RoRo, the 12 College Exchange Program sounds like fun, especially while Dartmouth was still all male. And Meryl is one of my favorite actresses...Did you ever act together (keepin' it fresh)?

      Delete
    5. We were in acting classes and did exercises together but we chose different one-act plays to perform and when we started our major work (Him by EE Cummings) she left to return to her school after only one or 2 rehearsals. We learned an interesting lesson one day. When our director said he wanted to hear our singing voice most of us sang a few bars of happy birthday. But Meryl sang Amazing Grace and that was the last time I went anywhere without a song prepared. Now if anyone says Robin, sing us a song, I have a whole repertoire

      Delete
    6. Robin, sing us a song. ;-) Thanks for sharing.

      Delete
  39. It's ok. Judging from our age profile we rather enjoy rebleats.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Birds of a feather flock together

    Last Sunday I said, “I got the proverb fairly quickly and have already submitted it. I can’t think of a really good clue without giving away the answer. So I’ll just say there was an inane and insane 60s group that had a couple of inane and insane charted hits. The title of one of them will lead you directly to the proverb.” The group was The Rivingtons. The song was The Bird’s the Word.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  41. Birds of a feather flock together

    My hint:

    “This puzzle is a real dinosaur.”
    All birds are dinosaurs.


    I also posed this puzzle:

    “See if you can come up with the common proverb that is most ignored in this country.
    Hint: Pay close attention next time you are in line at the supermarket.”

    Answer: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So this guy's walkin' down the street and a bum comes up to him and says hey buddy can you give me a million dollars for a cup of coffee and the guy says a million dollars for a cup of coffee are you kiddin' me and the bum says I'm puttin' all my begs in one ask-it.

      Delete
    2. Sdb, there is some controversy as to whether all birds are dinosaurs.

      Delete
    3. WW:
      www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html
      This is a good place to look for reliable information on the subject.

      Not much of a controversy from what I can tell. About like that re: did Neil Armstrong actually land on the moon? Most of us, of course, realize it was done with mirrors.

      Delete
    4. My cursory investigation of the matter indicates that flock may apply to either birds or dinosaurs, but I'm content not to be contentious.

      Delete
    5. Many birds may be descendants of dinosaurs but all birds are not dinosaurs.

      Delete
    6. Not according to the sources I trust. Where are you getting your info? Are you saying the same thing for crocodiles too?

      Delete
    7. Man is descended from apes but all men are not apes.

      Most (if not all) birds are descended from dinosaurs but all birds are not dinosaurs.

      Delete
    8. Now you are simply repeating yourself. And your argument is apples and oranges. Back it up, if you can.

      Delete
    9. I think the evidence is with skydiveboy on this one, tho cladistics is my least favorite branch of bio. Anyway, there's gotta be a reason why every time I bike past a big, open field of geese or turkeys, the theme from "Jurassic Park" plays in my head. And why a great blue heron flying overhead looks exactly like every pterodactyl I've ever seen.

      Delete
    10. ...Not that I'm implying for a moment, SDB, that plummeting through the air like a stooping falcon as you do makes you a dinosaur.

      Delete
    11. Now, I'd like to see a stooping falcon, Jan. Most I've see swoop. ;-) But, perhaps they may be in stoopor after all . . .

      There are some researchers who disagree, SDB. The article you cited mentions them. I did not say I was one of them.

      My issue is one of semantics. I prefer to call a bird a bird and to say it was descended from sauropods (terribly ironic that they descended from the lizard-hipped dinos, not the bird-hipped ones). Cladistics are interesting but problematic in some respects...Where do you draw the distinction? How do you call a clade a clade ? ;-)

      The breathing mechanisms (air sacs, etc.) of dinosaurs and birds are interesting...but I much prefer fish gills.

      Long week. The kindies had intense spring fever after our snowy week.

      Delete
    12. Oh Gawd! Now she stoops to conquer!

      Delete
    13. According to our friends at Merriam-Webster, stoop can mean "to fly or dive down swiftly usually to attack prey".

      Bird lungs and fish gills share a neat counter-current exchange system that extracts oxygen with great efficiency. The air (or water) moves in one direction, the blood in the other direction, so the blood leaving the lung in contact with the most oxygen-rich air (or water). Birds can do this even though breathing tidally by having the incoming air go first to one air sac, then through the lungs, then into another air sac, and then back out.

      When I learned of this scheme in college, it occurred to me that it would be cool to re-route the outflow from the second air sac to the bird's butt, and inoculate that air sac with methane-producing bacteria from a cow's intestine. The bird goes into a stoop -- okay, a dive, if you like -- scrapes its butt along the ground to make sparks, and PHOOOM: ramjet chicken!

      Delete
    14. SDB, I thought you were the one stooping!

      Delete
    15. Jan, you went a long way for that!

      Interesting to learn more about stoop. And speaking of breathing sacs and oxymorons: attack pray. ;-)

      Delete
    16. "That's one small stoop for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind".

      Delete
    17. That's hcir!
      All clever remarks are not fart jokes.

      Delete
    18. Sometimes it seems we speak a different language.

      Delete
  42. Oh, dear me, Blaine, you ought to ban from your blog such language as may seem to appear in the intended proverb.

    I expect Kimmel, Ferguson and O'Brien will be making jokes about this one, but Leno won't touch it!

    "Ought to ban", appropriately slurred, should sound like "Audubon", forever associated with birds of a feather.

    "such language" . . . Those birds do what?!? Oh, "flock" -- I see, sorry, false alarm.

    "Leno won't touch it" -- because the "Jay" is the one letter of the first 12 not used. (And I don't think anyone refers to Jimmy Kimmel as "Jay".) (Word Woman, I don't quite understand your reply to this comment.)

    ReplyDelete
  43. Just got back from a slam where the poets carefully spun their rhymes in dribs and drabs. Felt bad for the ill-prepared fellow who just tried to wing it.

    Another word for poet is a bard. Dribs and drabs --> birds and bards.

    ReplyDelete
  44. ─a─b─c─d─e─f─g─h─i─j─k─l─╫─o─r─s─t─
    ═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╪═╬═╪═╪═╪═╪═
    ─┼─b─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼─┼─┼─B
    ─┼───┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─i─┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼─┼─┼─i
    ─┼───┼─┼─┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─r─┼─┼─r
    ─┼───┼─d─┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼─┼─┼─d
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼─s─┼─s
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─o─┼───┼─o
    ─┼───┼───┼─f─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─f
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─a───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─a
    ─┼───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─┼───┼───┼─f─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─f
    ─┼───┼───e─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─e
    ─a───┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─a
    ─────┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───t─t
    ─────┼───┼─┼─┼─h───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─h
    ─────┼───e─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─e
    ─────┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─r───┼─r
    ─────┼───┼─┼─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─────┼───┼─f─┼─┼───┼─┼─┼─╫─┼─┼───┼─f
    ─────┼───┼───┼─┼───┼─┼─l─╫─┼─┼───┼─l
    ─────┼───┼───┼─┼───┼─┼───╫─o─┼───┼─o
    ─────c───┼───┼─┼───┼─┼───╫─┼─┼───┼─c
    ─────────┼───┼─┼───┼─k───╫─┼─┼───┼─k
    ─────────┼───┼─┼───┼─────╫─┼─┼───┼─
    ─────────┼───┼─┼───┼─────╫─┼─┼───t─t
    ─────────┼───┼─┼───┼─────╫─o─┼───┼─o
    ─────────┼───g─┼───┼─────╫───┼───┼─g
    ─────────e─────┼───┼─────╫───┼───┼─e
    ─────────┼─────┼───┼─────╫───┼───t─t
    ─────────┼─────h───┼─────╫───┼─────h
    ─────────e─────────┼─────╫───┼─────e
    ───────────────────┼─────╫───r─────r
    ───────────────────┼─────╫─────────.
    ═══════════════════╪═════╩═════════
    ───────────────────j───────────────<──No─j

    Anyone who had counted would've noticed 12 of the "┬" box-characters before the double-border "╥" box-character. Replacing these with the letters a-l, correspondingly replacing the "┴" box-characters below with the same letters, then having those same letters one more time replace the "─" box-character at the each intersected line, and also regarding the slightly shortened lines as spaces between words would yield
    "Bi-d- -- - --a---- fl-ck --g--he-."
    as the preliminary solution. Guessing the first word to be "Birds" would establish the only "s" in the proverb and help conclude that the remaining letters were o,r,s and t; thus leading to
    "Birds -- - --a---- fl-ck -og-ther."
    It shouldn't be too hard from there to reach
    "Birds of a feather flock together."

    ReplyDelete
  45. BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER.

    Although being a water person, I prefer "Fish of a cod fin, let us majorly begin!" It works and it has a bonus M. ;-)

    Other groups of animals:congress of baboons, dout of cats.

    JK as in Jay Kidding. Tweet as in bird.

    Chagrin as in Shah grin. Smile for/at the birdie. :-).

    Down as in duck or goose down.

    Hoot owls, barn owls, owls all around the bird world.

    Thanks for this flight together. Next up, a group swim? Perhaps in the AGNC!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Took some doing, but I actually found 'dout of cats'.
      Makes me hungry for cham clowder.

      Delete
    2. Paul, you doubted the dout? ;-)

      Delete
  46. My post (I'd like to chime in with the music of George Clinton & Bootsy Collins) had two clues. Chime is the collective noun for wrens. Clinton and Collins both participated in the band Parliament, which also happens to be the collective noun for owls.

    ReplyDelete
  47. "Middle finger" is "the bird".

    ReplyDelete
  48. Yeah I was respectfully not flippin the bird in my rap song. and I was sneezing from imaginary feathers from a feather boa with my Edie Adams impression. Good ones Curtis, I started to quote a song from Donald Byrd but thought that was too close

    ReplyDelete
  49. Church-flock.
    happy for you-ewe-flock.
    Sharp chick-birds.
    sheep seats-flock.
    Cheap cheap-birds.
    Ram-flock.
    Hoot owls-birds.
    Rebleats-flock.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Lotta nouns, collective and otherwise. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  51. Him-her
    you-them
    they-those

    We are very pronouns too.

    ReplyDelete
  52. The new puzzle is up, and it is very easy. It seems to me
    to be a repeat.

    ReplyDelete
  53. "Name a famous performer whose last name has six letters. Move the first three letters to the end — without otherwise changing the order of the letters — and add one more letter at the end. The result, in seven letters, will name a place where this person famously performed. Who is it, and what's the place?"

    Remove a letter from the performer's first name to name something performed there.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Could be a hard fight - my hands hurt already - but I think AA has shown me the way.

    ReplyDelete
  55. When they did this previously, they said there were about 2000 correct entries. Haven't had that many in quite a while.

    ReplyDelete

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