NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 23, 2013): Words with Unusual Properties II: Q: Write down these five words:When my computer is not crashing and is able to filter my word grids, it does a most capable job. Anyway, at the moment it has about 800 words, possibly with some as long as 11 letters but I can't check them until it is done calculating.
"aide," "heart," "tough," "gelatin" and "emanate." There is something very unusual they have in common. What is it? And what's another word with this property?
Edit: Hints: "not crashing" = stable, "word grids" = tables, "most capable" = ablest. Some other words (6 letters or more) are given below. I tried to avoid plurals, but stable/tables/ablest was too good to ignore:
A: The property that the five words share is that if you move the first letter to the end, another word is formed.
aide --> idea
heart --> earth
tough --> ought
gelatin --> elating
emanate --> manatee
Here are a few words that also share this property:
dangle --> angled
echoic --> choice
height --> eighth
ramble --> ambler
revoke --> evoker
stable --> tables --> ablest (chain of 3 words)
yowler --> owlery
tangelo --> angelot
trundle --> rundlet
dalliance --> allianced
dunpickle --> unpickled
lethologica --> ethological
Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via a chain of thought, or an internet search) 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.
Lethologica: a new word to forget when I can't think of the right word. ;-)
DeleteI do, I did, I don't...repeat often.
ReplyDeleteDo an end run around this one. Tall and/or tail order! (All from end of last week's blog).
ReplyDeleteI actually found three properties these words share however one of them is the obvious answer. The additional word I used has only three letters. And there’s another rule I think the inner puzzler in all of us should agree to although I’m not going to state it now because it would be a huge hint.
ReplyDeleteChuck
Right, it would be best to exclude the ones you mean. But there are a great many other answers that would still be accepted, including Dave's.
DeleteI posted the following on last week's blog shortly after the new puzzle came online:
ReplyDeleteskydiveboy Sun Jun 23, 04:57:00 AM PDT
Next week's challenge: Write down these five words: "aide," "heart," "tough," "gelatin" and "emanate." There is something very unusual they have in common. What is it? And what's another word with this property?
I got the answer almost immediately, but as with last week, it may take a bit for me to get another word that qualifies. Going back to bed for now.
skydiveboy Sun Jun 23, 05:00:00 AM PDT
Got one now.
Sounds like you got it in your sleep -- I needed to eat some breakfast (and a little caffeine) to figure it out!
DeleteWhich also got my wondering, how many (other) words fulfill the property more than once; and how long are the longest words that do?
All I can tell you is that the longest words may have been spoken at Gettysburg, but not by President Lincoln.
Deletemike - I like your idea for extending the puzzle. Have you been successful in finding any words (of more than two letters) that fulfill the property more than once?
DeleteLorenzo, someone has already posted a hint to a simple word that meets the property twice.
DeleteThis week I will give a hint, even if is not a very big one (need to put my hints on a diet)
ReplyDeleteToo easy. Will probably had this puzzle on auto pilot.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is the height of simplicity.
DeleteGood one!
DeleteI found 13 2-letter words that meet the criteria (at least according to Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary).
ReplyDeleteChuck
How many on this blog think Will's puzzle chest is getting a bit thin?
ReplyDeleteBlaine, you surely did come up with a clever clue.
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: The Times They Are a-Changin'.
ReplyDelete(Not their Crossword Editor, I hope!)
I have a stinker of an answer - and at least 20 more.
ReplyDeleteJust finished watching Nik Walenda Walk across the Grand Canyon. Nice job! I was a bit surprised at his body size; I thought he would be more wiry.
ReplyDeleteThat should be Nik Wallenda.
DeleteWhere is Weird Woman? Did she become inconsonantquential?
ReplyDeleteSlyDiveBoy, be careful lest ye be disemvoweled!
DeleteThat sounds worse than a bottle of Italian Swiss Colonic wine.
DeleteSaw Karl at 69 years old break the distance record at 550m in 1974. It was smoking hot and above blacktop.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I watched him fall to his death later. It was pathetic. You have to know when to fold 'em. I also met Philippe Petit here in Seattle two months ago tomorrow.
DeleteLive by the sword, die by the sword. Mots de vie.
ReplyDeletePlease, I don't believe we come here expecting swordplay.
DeleteReminds me of Eliza Doolittle.
DeleteBy Rove he's got it!
DeleteThe Dr. is in and how are all of my little friends?
DeleteYou're the doctor; you tell us.
DeleteFiner than a frog hair split three ways. Pretty thin hint at that my fine feathered friend.
DeleteAm I the only one who noticed that a few of the posts are not posted, but are making it to our email boxes?
ReplyDeleteWhere are these posts?
ReplyDeleteBob Kerfuffle has left a new comment on the post "NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 23, 2013): Words with Unusu...":
Musical clue? DEVO
mike_hinterberg
Toskydiveboy@yahoo.com
mike_hinterberg has left a new comment on the post "NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 16, 2013): Words with Unusu...":
But what about ending a question with a proposition?
Frommike_hinterberg
Toskydiveboy@yahoo.com
mike_hinterberg has left a new comment on the post "NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 16, 2013): Words with Unusu...":
Muz nhnz emoak eajmyg g huryxtot nign e arugofoxtot?
All three of these posts arrived in my email, but I do not find them on the blog itself.
Nice job, Mike...'arugofoxtot'?....is that kinda like 'slysaladkid'?
DeleteSDB, I found 'Muz nhnz emoak eajmyg g huryxtot nign e arugofoxtot?' on the blog; apparently Mike deleted his earlier comment.
Regarding Bob's comment: my hypothesis would be that he deleted it himself(he alone would know why) and Blaine has done some 'street sweeping'. Just a hypothesis.
I sorta botched my early comment on the new puzzle. I'll attempt damage control on Thursday.
I had deleted my previous comment, thinking it would be more fun to encode it.
DeletePaul, makin my bunyans hurt LOL
DeletePaul, No I did not delete my comment, and considering how far removed from the answer it is, I don't think Blaine did either. (And when Blaine does remove a comment, the standard message is "This comment has been removed by a blog administrator" -- or is that at some other blog?) Just one of the infinite mysteries of the internet.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, on Lorenzo's question of words that fulfill the property more than once, I have found a six-letter word that does, and it's just waiting to be picked.
I also have a second three-letter word that might be acceptable, though the second iteration is somewhat dotty.
Pick up the horn. She's calling on line eight.
ReplyDeleteI think the internet age definition of hell is no wireless. I got the answer on my long drive out of hell and, like others have posted, the issue was finding the word to submit. I decided find my word on a road sign or billboard or bumper sticker, which wasn't all that hard.
ReplyDeleteThere are no clues in this post.
I see at least 5 clues in David's post.
DeleteI admit that sometimes I am creative with the truth.
DeleteI think we should dedicate this puzzle to Ms. Turner.
Tina or Kathleen?
DeleteNeither.
DeleteLana?
DeleteYes.
DeleteI was at a reunion all weekend, so I made this week's puzzle a family affair. My cousin Seth, who's from the Icelandic side of the family, got the answer once he translated the puzzle into his native tongue. My sly cousin Levi, whom I've always found a tad diabolical, figured it out immediately.
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong, but I doubt there is one and only one word that's the correct answer. Correct?
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of words that work.
Delete“There is something very unusual they have in common?” More like “something somewhat unusual,” and surely less unusual than the previous puzzle’s word set. (Yes, going back in time can shed the light of historical perspective.) In our posts this week, unintentional clues are cropping up like Topsy, willy-nilly. And even jsulbyrn’s sly denim-clad cousin came up with an answer that “fulfills the property more than once.”
Delete(Incidentally, speaking of historical perspective, I’m new to this blog, following it less than a year, but I have noticed that we lately have been amusing ourselves by piggy-backing our own puzzles upon the shrugging shoulders of Will’s puzzles, especially when we deem them over-easy, like eggs we can crack with little effort. For instance, Blaine’s “mashed movie titles,” two weeks back, and this week’s “fulfills the property more than once” challenge that mike_hinterberg proposed. In the more distant past, has this type of “bonus puzzling” been commonplace, or very unusual? It is a trend I kinda like.)
Lego…
It depends on who defines unusual vs common, we bloggers or Will Shortz. ;-)
DeleteI have let this group be the Blaine of my Existence since January so I am even more of a neophyte, Lego (3).
Are you always so Blaine spoken?
DeleteMais oui, well spoken in Spokane (and other locales).
DeleteEt vous?
Reminds me of Isadora Duncan from our discussion last week where she was well spoken. So to speak.
Delete(Above hint included gratis.)
So she spoke out of turn when she was not dancing?
DeleteOooh! Another hint.
DeleteNo, her muffler (scarf) caught in the spokes of a rear wheel of the Amilcar race car she passsengered in and she was muffled for good. She wasn't even eligible for a twelve step program after that.
One of the (MANY!) answers is an answer to a previous week's challenge.
ReplyDeleteLMP
the previous answer: EMIR to MIRE
DeleteI omitted answers such as SWORD and WORDS, as there are numerous words beginning with "S" that can be made into plural words by moving the "S" to the end.
However, there are a couple of PLURAL words that can be made into singular words, to wit:
SKIS and KISS
YEAS and EASY
and other non-plural/non-S words:
THIN and HINT
ETHER and THERE
NEAR and EARN
RAVE and AVER
ROVE and OVER
MITE and ITEM
NAME and AMEN
NOW and OWN
EAR and ARE
DEN and END
DAN and AND
EVIL and VILE
EON and ONE
LMP
LMP,
DeleteLMP was on every health form I ever filled out, referring to Last Menstrual Period...So I wondered with your above list if LMP was about to transform to MPL (Math Professor, Libertarian). ;-).
I enjoyed your list.
Then there's old Zeke, PLM, pretty lame mathematician.
DeleteGreat clues (and presumable computer script), Blaine!
ReplyDeleteAs for the possible long word -- if you've figured it out, you've got it...if not, you've still got it.
I'm wondering if the property perhaps has to be > 1?
ReplyDeleteGreat weekend with a fun high school friend from New Hampshire toodling around and hiking on some delightful CO days.
I am not sure about this fitting the letter of the law but I thought it was a great slogan: "Zymurgy Brewery~~crafting the last good beer."
WW,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I frequented many sherry receptions at Smith College, I always came back to my dorm on Friday afternoons for a different kind of party which actually gave me five words including the advantage of one French word (or disadvantage since I can't use that one).
Ah, RoRo, so lovely! Merci beaucoup.
DeleteTres Tres bien good night!
Delete...and rest well.
DeleteBon nuit, mes amis!
DeleteI sure do miss Friday afternoon tea, RoRo! How about you?
DeleteI got this one within five minutes on Sunday morning. I've just been hesitating in posting here, since I have no ideas on good, non-obvious clues.
ReplyDeleteI think those will do just fine.
DeleteWhat a sad, sad day this is for our country and democracy.
ReplyDelete... and they're not done yet.
DeleteIt just occurred to me that in 1852 Uncle Tom's Cabin was the hot seller. If Harriet Beecher Stowe were alive today perhaps it would be Uncle Thomas's RV.
Delete(Perhaps some reading this post will not be familiar with the fact that Clarabelle likes to spend his summer vacations driving his enormous recreational vehicle around the country at our expense with bodyguards.) Where are the roadside bombs when they are really needed?
Gotta go; I didn't expect them to be banging at my front door so soon.
53836 719 432
Delete... but SCOTUS took a different route today. Progress isn't stable, but comes in fits and starts. Happily, a decision of a different stripe.
DeleteMaybe they got enough of their bigotry out of their system yesterday.
DeleteBelow is another post I received in my email box, but seems not to have been displayed here:
ReplyDeleteron has left a new comment on the post "NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 23, 2013): Words with Unusu...":
Aches & pains, to each his own. Yes, I have two three-letter words also that are synonyms!
Thin bankers and toilet smackers... all kinds of fun to be had with this one.
ReplyDeleteWell, shoot, I came here looking for a little guidance and will leave just a little more confused. Time to focus on nuptials and moving instead.
ReplyDeleteLoop:
DeleteAre you saying it was a moving decision? :-)
In an odd twist, we are buying the house that she lived in when she first moved to town.
DeleteCongrats on the wedding. I bet that diamond put a smile on her face.
DeleteI had to wait for, almost, a full day before I got the answer I had hoped for.
Deletesmile GRIN > diamond RING
DeleteMathematical clue: (10^6-1)/7
ReplyDeleteGood one.
DeleteMove the first letter to the end to make another valid word.
ReplyDelete> Musical clue: The Times They Are a-Changin'.
"And the first one now will later be last"
> There are lots of words that work.
ear -> are, slot -> lots, sword -> words
> but SCOTUS took a different route today.
> Progress isn't stable, but comes in fits and starts.
> Happily, a decision of a different stripe.
Three words that have the "unusual property" twice:
route -> outer -> utero
stable -> tables -> ablest
stripe -> tripes -> ripest
Each of the words forms another word by moving the first letter to the end.
ReplyDeleteaide – idea
heart – earth
tough – ought
gelatin – elating
emanate – manatee
Another word with this property is car – arc.
Last Sunday I said, “I actually found three properties these words share however one of them is the obvious answer. The additional word I used has only three letters. And there’s another rule I think the inner puzzler in all of us should agree to although I’m not going to state it now because it would be a huge hint.”
Another shared property: each of the words contains multiple words inside it with no rearranging of letters needed.
aide – aid, id
heart – he, hear, ear, art
tough – to, ugh
gelatin – gel, el, latin, at, tin, in
emanate – em, man, an, at, ate
Another word with this property is property: pro, prop, rope, ope, per, pert.
Another shared property – but more general than the actual answer – is that each of the words anagrams perfectly to another common single word.
aide – idea
heart – earth
tough – ought
gelatin – genital
emanate – manatee
Another word with this property is bowling which anagrams perfectly to blowing. Bowling also meets answer #2: bow, owl, in.
The other rule I suggest we adopt is that the other word we submit should not start with an “s” so that the new word we create is simply a plural of some common word.
If you remove the first letter of these words and place it at the end of that word, you will now have a different word.
ReplyDeleteThere are many words this can be done with such as:
on > no, speak > peaks, thin > hint, eon > one, now > own, who > how, spot > pots, just to name a few.
I left numerous hints including:
"Blaine, you surely did come up with a clever clue."
Blaine hinted by using 11 for eleven, which transformes into levene. Levene and surely sounds similar to Laverne and Shirley.
Collecting my comments on this week’s puzzle, where relevant (Hah! As if!):
ReplyDeletejohn brown said, Referring to Bob's admonition last week, should we avoid "directly naming an alternate answer". Or is the real contest to see how many we can fit in a single clue?
After which I innocently posted: (Late additions in square brackets.)
I was up very early (for me [em]) today, but now [own] that [hath] I have had breakfast, I believe I know the [het] answer to the [het] challenge, and as usual I will stop [tops] looking after finding one [neo] good example word.
I was thinking of “eat” - “ate”, but hadn’t realized I had already included six words that answered the challenge in my post! Which was what I had thought to be improper!
So later, when I saw my error:
john brown - I beg your forgiveness, six times! All of my sins [ins] were completely accidental.
Like any veteran sinner[inners?], I will look for someone else to blame - in this case Will Shortz for suggesting that [hath] the [het] "unique" property of his [-ish] example words is [si - OK, that’s Spanish] really that [hath] rare, when it seems actually to be quite common. (Six more potential apologies!)
My breakfast did not include coffee! (Zero apologies!) [But, the implication was, it may have contained “tea” a third member of the eat-ate-tea set.]
Which was what I was referring to in this remark: Lorenzo, someone has already posted a hint to a simple word that meets the property twice.
And later,
Please, I don't believe we come here expecting swordplay. [wordplays -probably valid, but pushing it.]
And my comment which was among the mysteriously disappeared:
Musical clue? DEVO [ really far fetched: DEVOLVE - EVOL VED] (Add on Thursday - Sorry, I didn’t know Alan Myers had died.)
And finally:
Anyhoo, on Lorenzo's question of words that fulfill the property more than once, I have found a six-letter word that does, and it's just waiting to be picked. [stripe - tripes - ripest]
and
I also have a second three-letter word that might be acceptable, though the second iteration is somewhat dotty. [tap - apt - P.T.A.]
(Add Thursday - Today’s NYTimes Xword has four theme answers which would serve as answers to this challenge! Yes, I know, QUIDS only works as when paired with QUOS!)
I do EAT
ReplyDeleteI did eat ATE
I don't eat TEA
These three keep on going as long ad you wish.
Live by the SWORD...
mots de vie. WORDS
Pick up the horn TRUMPETS
she's calling-call girl-STRUMPET
eight is the number of letters per word.
My "triples" are tea/eat/ate and saver/avers/versa.
ReplyDeleteWhen I said "There are no clues in this post", I meant "There, are, no- clues in this post." I guess I am bad at punctuation.
I started with words that contain multiples of other words (MEOW in HOMEOWNER was my favorite) and eventually got to "the first shall be last" answer of moving the first letter the last to get AIDE >> IDEA, etc. "Zymurgy Brewery" was a hint at that moving the first letter to the last.
ReplyDeleteIn honor of Greek letters, I submitted UM >> MU.
"Auto pilot" was a reference to both: "ought to" (for tough becoming ought) and "car" for arc.
ReplyDeleteOn Sun Jun 23, 05:22:00 AM PDT, I commented:
ReplyDeleteTwo of my answers have almost, but not quite, the same meaning; however, one of them is probably unacceptable. The other might be used in a description of the common property.
I was thinking of GRIN and SMILE. I rejected SMILE for the reason noted by Chuck (and Blaine). You might also visualize the transformation involved by writing each word in a RING and changing the starting point.
By an entirely different transformation, 53836 719 432 becomes 'Never say IED'.
I believe several regulars on this blog are also regulars at "An Englishman Solves American Puzzles." but for those who aren't they have provided this very interesting link:
ReplyDeletehttp://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.puzzles/2005-08/msg00017.html
Yes, I liked their list, especially dhurrie to hurried!
ReplyDeleteI posted on Wed Jun 26, at 08:51:00 PM PDT:
ReplyDeleteMathematical clue: (10^6-1)/7
(10^6-1)/7 * 1 = 142857
(10^6-1)/7 * 3 = 428571
(10^6-1)/7 * 2 = 285714
(10^6-1)/7 * 6 = 857142
(10^6-1)/7 * 4 = 571428
(10^6-1)/7 * 5 = 714285
So the first 6 multiples of (10^6-1)/7 form a fully rotatable set.
Very nice. Very, very, very, very, very, very nice.
DeleteI suppose I could have said:
Deletetres, tres, tres, tres, tres, tres bien.
Aaaaaah! 20/20 hindsight!
Rest easy, Monsieur!
DeleteYes, a few of us took pains (in spain by Rove - over) to speak a little french with the rest well - tres bien connection. Also, my French opportunity word was tasse for asset. Word Woman and I remember Friday afternoons at Smith - tea eat ate scone. Do they still follow that tradition I wonder. I was not so focused on tradition and demi-tasse as much as I was always hungry LOL
DeleteRoRo, tea is still a big deal, including molasses cookies made from Sophia Smith's recipe.
DeleteApparently, "What is Smith College?" was the question on Jeopardy this week. No one got the question correctly, according to the College's web site.
My best word pair is ASPIRE and SPIREA, but then again, I have always wanted to be a landscape architect.
ReplyDeleteIs that a growth industry?
DeleteMy best word pair is LEASE and EASEL, and frankly, landscape architect beats starving artist by a mile.
DeleteOh Mr. Gauguin! There you go, complaining about money again.
DeleteReally? Do I seem like a pecuniary whiner? I'll try to be more of an owlery yowler from now on.
DeleteI really have no idea what that means, but I just now came in from my exquisite glass of wine on the patio in order to post the Spoonerism I just made up to my Joke File and came across your post, so here it is:
DeleteWhat is the difference between a football field and a haunted firehouse?
One has goal posts and the other has pole ghosts.
I'm oddly motivated to watch 'Frequency' again, but I think my copy is VHS and I don't know where it is, and I don't have my VCR hooked up, so I'll see what youtube has to offer in the way of clips.
DeleteAgain no idea what "Frequency" was about, but Googled and saw it was a sci-fi film. I hate sci-fi and fantasy with rare exception, so I know nothing about what you are referring to. With apologies to Abe Lincoln.
DeleteI think the longest pair may be the 11-letter long STABULATION and TABULATIONS, while the most multiple rotations includes some obscure words, but the following four are ALL recognized by dictionary.com:
ReplyDeleteESTRE ==> STREE ==> TREES ==> REEST
Can anyone else find a valid word at least four letters long whose THREE immediate rotations are all also valid words?
Since I haven't, I'll put 50 (imaginary) bucks on NOPE.
DeleteThe link Bob mentioned gives this 14-letter word pair: adiadokokinesi, diadokokinesia. It also notes the 11-letter word pairs deviscerate and eviscerated, lethologica and ethological (the latter pair noted by Blaine in his word pair list).
DeleteI noticed that dictionary.com does NOT recognize adiadokokinesi, although it DOES recognize:
Deleteadiadokokinesia
adiadokokinesias
adiadokokinesis'
adiadokokineses
adiadokokinesia's
adiadokokinesias'
adiadokokinesis's
My hint re-"END run."
ReplyDeleteI stopped looking for more creative answers once I thought of Smitten and Mittens. I just liked the sound of them.
ReplyDeleteI realized that Mittens is plural, and probably should be avoided, but I rationalized that the word is generally used in the plural.
Thanks – Phil J.
Smitten with your answer, Phil J.
DeleteThanks...
DeleteHey Puzzle Fans! Shortz will be using one of my spoonerisms as the challenge this Sunday.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, but what are Fuzzle Pans?
DeletePolice Officers Surveying a Large Area? Lis Willten for it, AI.
DeleteKeep swapping
DeleteOh, the Hue-Manatee!
Delete(works better when accompanied by a photo of a colorful sea creature)
May the good Lord have a List Willen.
DeleteAl:
DeleteA couple of years back Will did a puzzle substitution where we were to make up a Spoonerism beginning with, What's the difference between...
Because of this, last evening, after reading your above post, I decided I should try and make up a suitable Spoonerism just in case.
If it is not called for I will post it tomorrow. I think you might enjoy it.
SkyDiveBoy, were you a BoyScout? Ready for dining on camping trips with a mess kit of knife, fork, and spoonerism?
DeleteI began hiking with my dad when I was just seven and had no use for a mess kit or scouting. However I do remember that frequently my feet were smellin' and my nose was runnin'.
DeleteYou seem so prepared with a spoonerism for any occasion...;-)
DeleteMy favorite part about Girl Scouts was camping. We made cool "stoves" out of cardboard wound in a tight spiral in tunafish cans and then covered with paraffin.
Actually I don't make up many Spoonerisms, but I wanted to be prepared in case Will does his contest thing again. I hope he doesn't, but I created one just in case and am glad I did because I have been trying it out today and have made several revisions to the lead up to the punch line. I feel it is now ready for prime time.
DeleteI find it very easy to make up jokes, but sometimes they take a lot of tweaking in order to get them just right.
As for Scouting, it was created in order to provide opportunities for city boys (not girls; that came later) to have outdoor experiences and make them more fit. I found it a total bore since I already was way ahead of the game.
What I find most interesting about the BSA is that the founder, Lord Baden Powel, was himself gay, but don't expect any acknowledgment of that obvious fact from the BSA leadership. Truth is always stranger than fiction and frequently uncomfortable, which is why it is so often covered up and denied. Long live Edward Snowdon.
An assumption based on his waiting for marriage late in life. Many are married to their jobs.
Deletezeke:
DeleteFrom your above post it is clear you have not discovered the evidence which is extensive, including letters with very revealing information.
Ignorance on my part for this man harms me not. Thx anyway, friend. :-) I'll stick with the more pleasant memories.
DeleteI implied no value judgment. I am only pointing out the truth and the BSA hypocrisy.
DeleteRightal! I am anxiously awaiting the Punday Suzzle.
ReplyDeleteFor Sunday, June 30: You can picture the scene after a storm: A truck pulls into town, lowers its lift gate, and out steps the FEMA representative with his gift, late.
ReplyDeleteYou might think that the above scenario would cause consternation, but I am sure that all the inhabitants of this blog will make the situation clear as usual.
New puzzle is up. Here it is:
ReplyDeleteNext week's challenge from Al Gori of Cozy Lake, N.J.: It involves a spoonerism, in which you reverse the initial consonant sounds in one phrase to make another phrase. For example, if you spoonerize "light rain," you get "right lane." Name part of a truck in two words; spoonerize it, and you'll name something FEMA uses. What is it?
(Now this is not a clue, but I find it interesting that the spell checker on this blog does not recognize the word "spoonerize"!)
This is another one of those puzzles in which there will be some folks who solve this one in two seconds; -- and STILL be angry at themselves for not having solved it in less than one second.
SOME folks, however, might miss this one on account of not realizing an option they had at their disposal. As noted above, in a spoonerism, (Hmmm... the spell checker here did recognize "spoonerism") the initial consonant sounds are switched between the two words. What the stated puzzle does NOT say, is that one or both of the vowel sounds within the word(s) may be alternately spelled!
Reminds me a football game. Excellent!
ReplyDeleteNothing to do with today's puzzle, but your hint made me think of a spoonerism for something from football and Delft, for example.
DeleteAnd yesterday evening I made up a poor one also dealing with football, which I don't even like.
DeleteWhat is the difference between a football field and a haunted firehouse?
Answer:
One has goal posts and the other has pole ghosts.
Is it too late to go back and add the 'of' that I dropped?
DeleteYeah, it's too late.
Way, way, way, way, way, way too late.
Speaking of football, better to drop a preposition than the ball, Paul.
DeleteWhere is our fearless leader? Hope there is no emergency, FEMA or otherwise, in Blaine's neck of the woods.
From your fingertips to God's retina, WW.
DeletePoking God in the eye sounds sacrilegious. Are you sure He reads this blog? Maybe you need to use a service like the one that takes faxed or emailed prayers, prints them out, and sticks them into cracks in the Western Wall in Jerusalem for God to read.
DeleteTakes faxes Spoonerizes into fakes taxes.
DeleteI thought I should point this out.
Too much sharp, pointy eye poking for me, Femalee.
DeleteRight I got it almost immediately, as in less than one minute.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking ball hitch?
ReplyDeleteYou could clean up hurricane-blown grizzlies with a bear rake.
ReplyDeleteThe agency's initials suggest, initially, a common adornment.
ReplyDeleteTo Witt, want to join our punny group?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of a diminuative character who is void of truth.
ReplyDeleteI've got a patient whose first name is Fema. My mother knows someone whose first name is Female, pronounced FEM-uh-lee, because her mother saw that printed on the baby's birth certificate the hospital gave her, and she liked the way it sounded. I wonder if my patient has a similar story?
ReplyDeleteTrue story.
DeleteI used to work with someone named Nova. Her supervisor once complained to me about catching the flack when Nova messed up; and I said, "Well, of course, they're going to........."
Well, he or she just waltzed right into that one!
DeleteHmmmm, more like exploded into it. . .
DeleteMaxmilliam Schell in "Man In A Glass Booth," said, "well Charlie it's a rainy day."
ReplyDeleteName part of a truck in two words; spoonerize it, and you'll name something a male might give to a FEMAle. What is it?
ReplyDeleteI posted a couple of days ago that because of Al's heads up about our upcoming puzzle being a Spoonerism I had made one up in case Will again decided to do a contest. Well, he didn't, and I'm grateful, so here is my Spoonerism:
ReplyDeleteWhat’s the difference between a pioneer family and an estate with a crazy gardener?
Answer:
One has a prairie schooner and the other has a scary pruner.
First it was Comet Hale–Bopp not producing the promised results of Heaven's Gate. Before that it was Peoples Temple at Jonestown. Then it was Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I forget all the others except for the Mayans and that fanatic who predicted the end of the world a few months back, but now Blaine is missing, and I suspect he is not stuck in traffic behind a stalled semi-truck. What are we to do? Today I meant to panic, but miss-spelled it and went on a nice picnic. Oh well, at least I tried. Blaine. Blaine. Come back!
ReplyDeleteName a part of a truck in rwo words. Spoonerize it and it will give the condition of some of the homes FEMA inspects.
ReplyDeleteMy clue to the puzzle of 06/30/13: Ferlin Husky
DeleteLMProf
So Zeke, what are rwo words? Is that the language of Rwanda? LOL You don't have to take that kind of flack from me.
ReplyDeleteA burgundy flloor mat, and it's Burundi, playfriend.
Delete