NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 15, 2013): Noteworthy Names of the 20th Century: Q: Name a well-known person from the 20th century who held an important position. Take the first and last letters of this person's last name, change each of them to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get the last name of another famous person who held the same position sometime after the first one. Who is it?I got the answer right away, then thought, wait they didn't hold the same position. Anyone think the same thing for a moment?
Edit: I started looking at a list of Presidents. Ford immediately led to Gore, but then I thought, Gore wasn't president... then it dawned on me. My (not very good) hint was the word "for".
A: FORD & GORE were both Vice Presidents in the 20th century
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.
They held the same position.
DeleteJust in a different way.
DeleteThey held the same position and they almost held the same position.
DeleteOne of the people is closely related to one of the pictures on the cover of Blaine's book.
DeleteGeorge Custer held his position for a few minutes, but then was repositioned.
DeleteCongratulations on being mentioned by name on the show, Blaine's Puzzle Blog! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I did. Clever, Blaine.
ReplyDeleteAlso see Zeke Creek's Freudian slip at the end of last week's blog.
ReplyDeleteWW, or should I say purple purple, my best work is mistakes. :-)
DeleteJe aussi (see below). ;-)
DeleteZeke Creek, purple purple? All I come up with is violet, violet, violet, violet. Scratching my head about your comment.
DeleteIf you were in Colorado now we'd elevate you to Zeke River. Hoping things are ok along the North Platte onto the plains of CO and NB.
The following feature Sunday morning covered a woman who associated letters and numerals with colors. You, my friend, are a light shade of purple (w) x red (2).
DeleteYes, I am.
DeleteZeke Creek, are you in de glow? :-)
I guess you could say that I'm Old Yeller. :-)
DeleteIndeed. A little stab at the Council of the Nine.
ReplyDelete"Important???"
ReplyDeleteGood point!
DeleteImportant? You want important? How about 95-year old June Foyer, the voice of Natasha and Rocky, the fearless flying squirrel, also featured this morning on the show. She sounds wonderful, darlink!
DeleteIt's been a fun morning. Let's see what the afternoon brings.
Oops! Waiting in the foyer to listen to Ms Foray! Forays in forgiveness, please.
Delete"not worth a bucket of warm piss".
DeleteTMI, I think.
DeleteThanks for the pointer to the June Foray interview, WW. Rocky and Bullwinkle and Natasha and Trader Joe's in one segment: a few of my favorite things!
DeleteJan, me too! Rocky and Bullwinkle J. Moose were so beloved at our house. I learned about Minnesota, the wonders of moose, and Uncle Dewlap. When Bullwinkle broke the fourth plane and said insightful things directly into the "camera," I knew moose were really pretty smart...Others could think as they pleased. ;-)
DeleteJan and WW,
DeleteI too was an R&B aficionado. In one episode, I vaguely recall, Bullwinkle was engaged in a quest for “The Kerwood Derby.” He ambled around in some kind of hypnotized trace repeating, “Derby. Derby. Got to find the Derby.”
Lego…
Super zee, at the end of last week's blog, reminded me of a time when I was hanging with friends in a certain part of Africa.....
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to the puzzle, I went for a long bike ride, as usual. With my helmet on, of course. It occurred to me that the first person's first name contains the second person's first name. (Sounds like legalese -- "the party of the first part v. the party of the second part".) Some people say the second person's career reach a nadir because of.... hey, that's ironic!
ReplyDeleteJan,
Delete“With (your) helmet on, of course!?” Is that some kind of subtle Michael-Dukakis-in-the-tank-sporting-a-Snoopy-helmet” hint? Massachusetts governor qualifies as an important position. And, if I recall correctly, wasn’t a subsequent Massachusetts governor named Josh Eukakit?
Joshing aside, I liked your legalesey hint to this easy puzzle.
Here’s my “uneasy” hint to this easy puzzle:
An American pop singer’s last name, which she was not born with, is the same as the second person’s last name. And her first name is a homophone of the first name that the first person was born with.
Lego…
Lego, I like your uneasy hint almost as much as I like RoRo's (below), and, if I knew anything about basketball, I'd probably like Lorenzo's even better.
DeleteAll I can add is that when the party of the second part was in the position in question, said person's spouse and boss shared a birthday, and that has nothing whatsoever to do with the party of the first part, to my knowledge. How lame is that?
Welcome Back Kotter/Paul!
DeleteWW:
Delete32.190476.............
go figure
I got my fare and just a nickel to spare
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Emily/missmacinthorpe: You were great this morning!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Great job, Emily! (How do you know all those random facts?)
DeleteThank you both. :) I was hoping they would edit out the "mice nets" part! There was an additional clue that was cut out; the answer was "mach number" (as in airplane speed).
DeleteThis one is easy. Don't be a procrastinator, a foot-dragger, a cunctator, a postponer. Post your answer now.
ReplyDeleteIf your name is Nick, is that your name or your nickname? ;-)
DeletePost now, but not here.
FOOT-DRAGGER anagrams to G. FORD + A. GORE + T.
DeleteBoth held the position of Vice President and earlier Congress men from their respective states. (2 positions in common).
One might say they assumed the position differently.
ReplyDeleteThese two people also have in common something which did not happen to him/her, although in one's case in a more notable way than the other!
ReplyDeleteDeconstruct the last name of a basketball coach to get the first name of one of the persons and the last name of the other.
ReplyDeleteWhen I figured out who's your big disconnect for this dying quail I just slapped myself in the head.
DeleteAnyone remember the soft drink with the same name as the position? (And, no, I'm not being gross here!)
ReplyDeleteNo, and it wasn't Missionary?
DeleteI'm assuming, Jan, that the grossness is referring to a well-known description of the position.
DeleteYes. But the soft drink was real.
DeleteJan, Orange Crush? ;-)
DeleteGo Broncos. A Manning QB will get a W. And one will get an L.
To find the answer I had to focus on my A-line skirt.
ReplyDeleteI solved this hours ago, but have not been able to post due to a cookie problem I hope I now have under control.
ReplyDeleteFinally! Now that I can post again I will refrain from posting my intended hint as someone already posted one that is similar. Anyway, we are now back to simple and stupid puzzles again as I suspected we would be. No one should need any hints this week in order to solve this.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting listening to Will this morning when he said he reads this blog every... He did not finish that sentence and I am wondering if he was going to say week or once in while. It would be interesting to know, don't you think?
ReplyDeletePretty much every week, actually :-)
Delete--Will Shortz
Thanks for the reply, Will. I, and I imagine everyone else here, will appreciate the quick response. And the Marc Antony puzzle was outstanding!
DeleteIt's delightful to know that you're reading this blog, Dr. Shortz. The Crossword Man's Blog (http://www.crosswordmanblog.com/) is outstanding as well.
DeleteWill, I hope you have developed a fairly thick skin after reading some of our comments over the summer. I know my skin has gotten decidedly thicker after joining Blaine's Puzzle Blog.
DeleteThanks for the shout out today. Blaine is such a fearless leader, our own Rocky, the flying squirrel. Blaine, were your servers swamped today? ;-)
curtisjohnsonimages:
DeletePerhaps you could explain what exactly is so "outstanding" about the other blog. Is it that there is almost no participation? Is it that most comments are nothing more than a guess at the number of respondents? Is it that hints are discouraged? Is it that discussion is only allowed as long as it is saccharine? Is it that speech is discouraged when it is not in agreement with another poster and then the blog administrator threatens to shut down the entire blog unless we all act like nice little children and then get to have ice cream? Is that what you mean? If so, then what about democracy, I ask you? Where is the forum for freedom of speech in this repressive country we have done our best to destroy? Pathetic!
Dr. Will,
DeleteThanks for joining us today on Blaine’s blog; that’s what is known as “making nice.” Sure, we can be a tough crowd but I appreciate your weekly puzzles. I trust that is the sentiment of many others here also. Our occasional quibbles concerning your quizzing (i.e., “puzzles are too easy!”) are offered in a constructive and benevolent spirit. You, and Rachel too, deserve kudos for establishing on-the-spot supportive rapport with on-air puzzle players, as exemplified this morning with Emily Jackson whom you encouraged as she breezed through most questions, except for that crosswordese “oread/mountain nymph” toughie that Rachel also blanked on.
(Speaking of mythological crosswordese, if a dryad/forest nymph served nectar to Zeus at the Mt. Olympus “Tau. Gamma. Iota. Friday’s” I’ll bet he would tip her with a wooden nickel. [hint, hint])
Lego…
Here here, SDB!!! My thoughts exactly.
DeleteThank you Natasha. I do hope you live here in Seattle so that I might have the pleasure of treating you to a fine cocktail at the top of the Space Needle sometime soon.
DeleteSDB,
DeleteI really don't think my simple shout-out to Ross & Magdalen justified such a vitriolic monologue. If you don't enjoy their blog, don't participate. They are doing something different than this blog, and that's fine.
Regarding increased visitors, yes there was a small spike (about double the normal hourly traffic) on Sunday morning, but it has settled down once again.
DeleteBut if there are any new visitors to the blog that have decided to stay, please feel free to join the puzzle conversation.
Or, as I often find, ". . . the puzzling conversation."
DeleteSo true, Bob K.
DeleteI am curious, Blaine...what is the normal Sunday morning hourly traffic? How many folks are stopping by but not joining our puzzling conversation?...And why not (you know who you are). ;-)
CJI:
DeleteI won't bother myself to directly answer your question since my above post fully does that already and you haven't done anything to answer the question I posed in that post, which I fully stand behind each word of. However I will make a suggestion to you to bother yourself a little and read the truly outstanding essay, "Visit to Turkey: Dinner
with the Ambassador" by Miller, Arthur - The Nation, Vol. 240, May 18, 1985. www.questia.com/library/1G1-3777503/visit-to-turkey-dinner-with-the-ambassador
SDB,
DeletePlease reread my post; no question appears. It's a statement, not a question.
Further:
First of all, I'm not going to sign up for a subscription site to read your recommendations. I have enough to read and to do without homework assignments from you. Second, I don't see an analogy between a repressive state and a puzzle blog. Third, you come across as a bully who can't handle any dissent from your views. You are, in fact, doing exactly what you claim to abhor: trying to repress my views in favor of your own. Get over yourself. Your view is not the only acceptable opinion.
CJI:
DeleteYour post seems to imply a question and that is what I am referring to, but more to the point, I find it odd you say, "you come across as a bully who can't handle any dissent from your views." Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? It is your use of the word "outstanding" to describe that blog that I am dissenting about. I think perhaps you do not understand that I am not attacking you, but simply taking advantage of your post in order to express my feelings regarding that other blog after Magdalen's post a few days ago where she again closed all discussion of the puzzle. Had I posted my thoughts there, which I wanted to do, not only would almost no one see them, but they most likely would have been removed. You and your initial post simply provided a convenient opening for me to express my feelings and you are perfectly entitled to your statement, but I still find it impossible to comprehend. I am sorry if you feel attacked by my asking what you label "vitriolic" questions, but in fact are simply honest questions.
Wow, SDB, you're taking Magdalen's comments way too seriously. If you really need to express your views, you have all the freedom in the world to create your own blog and write whatever you want. Please don't drag me into your beef with Ross and Magdalen's blog. Like I said before, if their blog doesn't suit your needs, stop participating. For now, all you're doing is making this blog less enjoyable with your rants.
DeleteWell CJI, you started this with your statement and I simply asked some questions which seem to upset you because you are unable to answer them. Who is ranting now?
DeleteI did not "start" anything. I posted a link to a blog, with which you have an issue. And, it is only your issue; take it up with Magdalen, not me.
DeleteI am able to answer your questions, but unwilling because I don't agree with your premise that you should be able to write whatever you want on another person's blog. I've had enough of this. I'm signing off of this blog for now. When I choose to return, I will do so with the hope that you realize puzzle blogs should be about the enjoyment of puzzles, and the discussion should be at the discretion of the blog owner.
Unfortunately, Leo (below)one boater took his oar and went home. Controversial state of affairs
DeleteYou need both oars in the water to solve this one.
ReplyDeleteSurprised that no one has yet mentioned that both names are common words.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteContrary to the opinion of some others here I’m all for easier puzzles. Saves time Sunday mornings.
ReplyDeleteChuck
Wonder if this position would eventually be held by a space alien?
ReplyDeleteI thought it already was.
DeleteGreetings, Earthling. You must come with me and do my bidding.
DeleteFord, Gore, Horf...Lorj, Mork
DeleteOnly a Coloradoan! When I first moved here, the Mork and Mindy House was at the top of the list of requested landmarks...
DeleteJan -
ReplyDeleteNot only are the names common words, the middle part of the names - the part that isn't slid down the alphabet - is also a common word.
Chuck
One of these people is famous for not inventing something.
ReplyDeleteA parent and facilitator rather than an inventor.
DeleteHigh Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, The Gore Bill, funded the expansion of the ARPANET, (anagram of "A parent") facilitating development of (rather than invention of} the Internet.
DeleteYou can take the common middle letters and the 4 outside letters to anagram a common word.
ReplyDeleteLongfellow got it.
DeleteHere is something new for everyone: ANTIGRAMS
ReplyDeleteAn antigram is a word or phrase whose letters can be rearranged to produce an opposite meaning. Here are a few:
ABET = BEAT
ABOMINABLE = BON, AMIABLE
ADVERSARIES = ARE ADVISERS
ANTAGONIST = NOT AGAINST
BOASTING = IT’S NO GAB
COMMENDATION = AIM TO CONDEMN
CONVENTIONAL = I VOTE NON-CLAN
DEFIANT = FAINTED
DEMONIACAL = A DOCILE MAN
FASHIONABLE = FINE? HA, A SLOB!
FILLED = ILL-FED
FORBID = BID FOR
HIBERNIANS = BANISH ERIN
HOME RUN HITTER = I’M NOT RUTH HERE
HONESTLY = ON THE SLY
HONOREES = NO HEROES
INDISCRIMINATE = DISCERN AIM IN IT
INNERMOST = I NEST ON RIM
LEGION = LONE GI
NOMINATE = I NAME NOT
PROSPEROUS = POOR PURSES
ROUSING = SOURING
THOMAS A. EDISON = TOM HAS NO IDEAS
TIMBERLESS = TREES, LIMBS
WOMANISH = HOW MAN IS
Without any rearrangement at all, IMPARTIALLY can be read as I’M PART, I ALLY. And DEFENCE is DE-FENCE!
Sorry Ron, people not seemingly "interested" in your antigrams. I guess you "need rest it" cause you planted a "seed inertt" LOL.
DeleteI "resign" from offering anything new, but I will "re-sign" when there is a "need to rest it."
DeleteRon, confused here...Auntie or Gram...but not both ;-).
DeleteEllipsis...not involving the sun or moon...
Pitilessly...anonymous.
DeleteActually, each also held another (corresponding) position. Their occupancy of this other position also fulfills the premise of the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI do not accept Will's description that these two individuals occupied the same position, since one was clearly more "on the job" than the other and left a legacy.
ReplyDeleteWe will let the significant other talk about the legacy.
ReplyDeleteWithout saying too much: he's done it again!
ReplyDeleteA sure tip-off, Jan.
DeleteIf you take the first name of the first person and remove the gastroesophageal reflux disease, you're left with the first name of the second person.
ReplyDeleteGerald Ford & Al Gore
ReplyDeleteI did not post a hint to this one because I had hours of trouble trying to post due to a cookie problem and when I finally was able someone had already posted a similar hint to the one I intended. I had intended to post something about if having problems solving this puzzle, just hang in there and the answer will come. A hint at hanging chad, but someone else already used hanging as a hint and adding mine would have been a giveaway. Later I thought about hinting by posting something about gumming up the works, but again thought it a bit too revealing with all the previous hints. That was referring to Lyndon Johnson saying Gerald Ford was so dumb he couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time. I have heard he actually said fart at the same time, but chewing gum at the same time is funnier. None of this prevented me from receiving a few curt replies though. :-)
Gerald Ford, Albert Gore
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “Contrary to the opinion of some others here I’m all for easier puzzles.” For as in Ford.
Chuck
FORD -> GORE
ReplyDelete> There must be a step-by-step method of solving this one.
I.e., an AL-GORE-rhythm. (That's an amusing image.)
> I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, unless it's washed out, like all of those in Colorado that we've been seeing on the news.
In the GORE-Tex Vortex.
> What'll I do then?
FORD the river.
> One of the people is closely related to one of the pictures on the cover of Blaine's book.
FORD was on the Warren Commission, which investigated the JFK assassination (upper right photo).
> After listening to the puzzle, I went for a long bike ride, as usual. With my helmet on, of course.
Lyndon Johnson claimed that FORD played too much football in college without a helmet. (FORD and GORE were both captains of their football teams, but I don't think that's what Will meant by "an important position".)
> It occurred to me that the first person's first name contains the second person's first name. (Sounds like legalese -- "the party of the first part v. the party of the second part".)
FORD and GORE belonged to different parties, of course.
> Some people say the second person's career reached a nadir because of.... hey, that's ironic!
My wife has never forgiven me for voting for Ralph Nader.
> Anyone remember the soft drink with the same name as the position?
"Veep never spoils your appetite."
> (And, no, I'm not being gross here!)
John Nance Garner, the 32nd Vice-President, said the office wasn't worth "a bucket of warm piss". That's important?
> Without saying too much: he's done it again!
Tuesday, 9/17, NY Times crossword: 21A: "Reason for an R rating": GORE. This happens way too much to be random.
jan, reminds me of one of the Al Gore jokes I made up long ago. The idea being Al Gore dances mathematically. He employed algorithm.
DeleteBut my favorite Al Gore joke is, why did Al Gore go to the dentist?
OK, why did Al Gore go to the dentist?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI thought you might ask. :-)
DeleteBecause of an inconvenient tooth.
His appointment was at 2:30.
DeleteCannibals prefer dentists because they are usually filling.
DeleteVice Presidents GERALD FORD ---->>>> AL GORE
ReplyDelete"Tip-off" referred to Tipper Gore.
Ford/Gore: my clue re-"Not worth a warm bucket of piss," and its' unimportance, quote by John Nance Gardner, FDR VP and vice presidency not being important (until it becomes important).
ReplyDeleteI thought this clue was out of bounds, since googling it gets you directly to the vice presidency.
DeleteI agree with you on this one, Jan.
DeleteTechnically indirect. If you still disagree, forgive me!
DeleteSounds like a hanging chad problem. But no worries, benmar12001. Not a big deal (unlike FL in 2000).
DeleteBen, I don't think forgiveness is what you seek when we're talking about Gerald Ford. The word you're looking for is pardon ;-)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI, a democrat, actually liked President Ford!
Delete"thought it might be quite a struggle to come across [ FORD ]the answer, but actually it didn't put up much of a fight; no blood [ GORE ]was shed."
ReplyDelete"These two people also have in common something which did not happen to him/her, although in one's case in a more notable way than the other!" -- Both never had the experience of being elected to the Presidency -- FORD because he was appointed and never ran in the national election, and GORE because he lost the election, but given the conditions of the 2000 election settlement, it may be an open question as to which was the more notable process.
If I'm not mistaken, Ford is the only Vice President and President not elected to either office.
ReplyDeleteChuck
Maybe back then we were all miss taken.
DeleteFrom earlier this week:
ReplyDelete"You can take the common middle letters and the 4 outside letters to anagram a common word."
OR + FD + GE -> FORGED
David
DeleteLongfellow gets it. The smithy stands...
Right, RoRo? ;-)
DeleteBlaine, back in the day when I thought your clue was clever, I was working on the names of two XXth century amateur Greco-Roman wrestlers. So having the wrestlers be in the same position in the wrestling circle was what I envisioned...Guess I was trying to hard to fit it in with Mike Pesca's Olympic discussion.
ReplyDeleteMy son, the non-Olympic squash player, has just returned from five five squash competitions down under. ;-) Might we say he is now stateside, "up over?"
For you, Ron, Anti Podes :-)
Edit: "five months of squash competitions." My keyboard has the hiccups.
DeleteWrite you are, WW. When I got the answer I started singing Chatanooga choo choo , particularly the line "I can afFORD to board, then I remembered Gore was from Tennesee but I did not want to use that line so I used the I got my fare line.
ReplyDelete"controversial state" of course was Florida.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete"Hanging w friends in Africa" referred to the hanging chad.
ReplyDeleteMy hints:
ReplyDelete“…if a dryad/forest nymph served nectar to Zeus at the Mt. Olympus “Tau. Gamma. Iota. Friday’s” I’ll bet he would tip her with a wooden nickel. [hint, hint]” (Ford’s and Gore’s better halves were Betty, “bet he,” and Tipper, “tip her.” "Wooden nickel": Both VPs have been accused of having rather wooden personalities.)
In my “uneasy” hint in an earlier post, the American pop singer is Lesley Gore (nee Goldstein). President Ford’s birth name was Leslie Lynch King.
Lego…
Lego, I thoroughly enjoyed "bet he" and "tip her." Very clever and a wee bit twee.
DeleteThanks, we needed that sweet and gentle clue this week.
~~Purple WW~~
WW,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words. Twee is a great word (etymologically in the same category as widdle icky Boo-boos. Yogi Berra/Bear suffered many such knuckle nicks and finger dings while snagging knuckleballs at Yankee Stadium and picnic baskets at Jellystone Park.)
Lego bricks are… Flame-Reddish-Orange
Lego, I am also a twee fan and a Jellystone fan. Hoping for more twee, less tweet of late. Flame-Reddish-Orange did not link to anything but I can picture you as that.;-)
ReplyDeleteThe blog wore me out this week.
Anyway, have some twee dreams til we discover what Will has in store for tomorrow!
The hatred Republicans, especially the Tea Party Republicans, have for President Barrack Obama cannot be overstated. This is especially true for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a total jerk who will stop at nothing to defeat the president and has openly stated so. It was recently suggested that these two men meet and settle this dispute in a battle to the death which would be decided by Russian Roulette. Obama said he would agree to this under two conditions. First off the revolver would only be loaded with one round of live ammunition and second that he was to go first. In a characteristic fit of obstinacy Mitch McConnell demanded that the revolver be fully loaded in all six cylinders and that he would go first. My opinion of our president has elevated substantially.
ReplyDeleteNext week's puzzle is up:
ReplyDeleteThe name of what character, familiar to everyone, contains each of the five vowels (A, E, I, O and U) exactly once? The answer consists of two words — eight letters in the first word, four letters in the second.
Submit Your Answer
Search me.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteGreat giveaway! That will spoil it for everyone here.
DeleteSBD
DeleteI imagine that this one was really easy for you.
Nice one! Tricky, but Will gives a big hint in the clue, as printed.
ReplyDeleteThat was easy. Now I can go back to bed.
ReplyDeleteThe ultimate in puzzles!
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is interested perhaps we could meet a lesser used week when the number is approaching 200.
ReplyDeleteZeke