Q: Name a famous entertainer: two words, four letters in each word. You can rearrange these eight letters to spell the acronym of a well-known national organization, and the word that the first letter of this acronym stands for. Who's the entertainer, and what's the organization?You're not going to get me to give this away.
Edit: I intended this to be a double clue. The first being a reference to the former military policy of "don't ask, don't tell". The other was a reference to playing cards and not giving away your hand because you have a "Poker Face". By the way, according to Wikipedia, the organization is no longer an acronym.
A: LADY GAGA --> GLAAD + GAY
From last week's thread:
ReplyDeleteI was afraid that solving this one was going to be a major league struggle, but to get the answer I had to lower my expectations a couple of notches.
Blaine, I really enjoyed your clue/edit above, especially the double duty nature of it. The graphic kind of creeps me out, though.
DeleteAlso from last week's thread:
ReplyDeleteTook twelve steps to solve this one!
You may be surprised to hear this but I easily got ROWDINESS and WORDINESS on the on air puzzle. ;-)
ReplyDelete8-letter word themes, here we go! Who needs an 8-letter acronym anyway?
Blaine, maybe adding your standard blurb will keep us in line?
Not an 8 letter acronym, since you still need letters to spell its first word.
ReplyDeleteThe name of this organization always reminds me that I'm angry that it's 2014 already, and I still don't have my jet pack!
ReplyDeleteWhen things are bright and sunny, eat synonym toast. If they are angry and/or bitter, acronymn toast will do. ;-)
DeleteWell Bob and WW, where are all the other regulars who yack around Blaine's table? Heck, even I got the answer after about 10 minutes of heavy thinking. Especially amazing since I'm older than both of you added up. Or down.
ReplyDeleteFinal clue: Famed Jester
Glad you are here every six months or so, MrScience, so we don't forget what you look like.
DeleteBTW, it's no longer an acronym; it's now the full name of the organization.
ReplyDeleteAlso from last week's thread:
ReplyDeleteI posted on Sun Feb 16, at 05:46:00 AM PST:
A little logic helped me solve this puzzle quickly.
Could it possibly be FISH FISH? The organization is, of course, FISH.
ReplyDeleteI meant FISH Fish Information Services Haddington.
DeleteFISH reminded me we never heard the answer to the stinky instinct puzzle, Paul. Kindly illuminate.
DeleteThe instinct ramble was intended to be an over-the-top giveaway clue to my Sun Feb 09, 03:14:00 PM PST (I don't have the patience to turn it upside-down and inside-out) puzzle.
DeletePues bueno, "that was 3 days ago," said Paul frank*ly. We've passed another milestone. As Rachel said to Sherri (not Whiski), "release it."
*lin
Catching is easy, it's the releasing that's not so easy (see comments below).
DeleteThe organization recently nominated the entertainer for an award.
ReplyDeleteThis is a bad puzzle. And on Valentine's weekend, on top of it!
ReplyDeleteDid you know that the T.S.A. was originally chartered to be the Federal Air Transport Airport Security Service and was only changed after the first few uniform jackets with embroidered acronym across the back rolled off the assembly line? On a side note, can we safely assume that Will knows the difference between an acronym (FEMA) and an initialism (FBI)?
ReplyDeleteAnd Medicare was going to be the Senior Health Insurance Trust.
DeleteW*2 - Was the hint you posted earlier intentional?
ReplyDeleteLorenzo, sometimes they are and sometimes they aren't. :-) And we can talk about which one later.
DeleteOur 70 degree F weather today was resplendent, though.
~~Word~~ (not sure W*2 will catch on, Lorenzo, it reminds me of the IRS and it's complicated to create...but thanks for trying.)
P.S. Sometimes things are not always what they seem (see comment below at 4:53 today)
Have a great Valentine's Day. I think you will love the answer. If not, at least you will be happy with it.
ReplyDeleteMy hint: "60 Minutes"
ReplyDeletePretty easy, I had the answer before he finished reading the question. I bet we'll see over 1200 responses.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else a fan of Terry Bisson?
ReplyDeleteNow see what you started, jan. . .
DeleteThis is a downright sneaky and deliberately misleading puzzle fit only for demented puzzle-addicted masochists. Plus you have to know some slang. I actually had to find the answer by looking at my recently-turned-upside-down-and-backward digital clock :) JK
ReplyDeleteChuck
Anyone else care to volunteer a hint? I usually get these puzzles fairly quickly but this has me stumped.
ReplyDeleteI'll just say that I think the wording of the puzzle narrows it down quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteThat's my problem I think. The wording has me confused. Eight letter acronym and the first word of the acronym has the same eight letters as well? I can't think of an acronym for many organizations that is eight letters long (i.e. INTERPOL).
ReplyDeleteJF - Will is looking for an acronym with "x" letters and a word with (8 - x) letters.
ReplyDeleteActually, there's a bit more information given, JF. There must be at least one repeated letter in the entertainer's name, since it can be anagrammed to the acronym plus the first word of the organization (which must start with the first letter of the acronym). For example, if the puzzle called for a 6-letter entertainer instead of an 8-letter one, and if there were an entertainer named "Yob Bas", you could anagram his name into BSA and Boy, which is the first word of "Boy Scouts of America".
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember that the entertainer was involved with an earlier puzzle.
ReplyDeleteHere we go again: Change one of the eight letters to an M, and rearrange to get ... you guessed it! ... a part of the human body.
ReplyDeleteThe Scarecrow asked Dorothy, "Can I solve this one?"
DeleteJust last week, I saw a short, indy film named and about the same body part.
DeletePaul, Bob, and jan, perhaps you've had one or both removed?
DeleteAs far as I know, I've still got mine. Haven't actually checked recently.
DeleteI forget.
DeleteAh, gentlemen, you never disappoint!
Deletejan:
ReplyDeleteYou are most likely aware of the wooly mammoth tusk that has been excavated and removed to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington here in Seattle last week. I think there may be a lesson in this for your (sorry about that) governor, Chris Christie. The tooth always comes out in the end.
I thought it was found in Alabama, where the Tuscaloosa.
DeleteThanks for filling me in.
Deletejan, do you know how to make an elephant laugh?
Delete(I just now made this up, BTW.)
Tell him an elephant joke?
DeleteKnow how to get down off an elephant?
That might work, but you could simply tickle his ivories.
DeleteYou get down off a goose, silly.
Tickle his ivories?
DeleteFrom the Edmonton Journal --
Worker Joe Wells "actually uncovered it with a shovel and sort of figured it was a tusk and stopped and contacted the general contractor," Transit Plumbing owner Jeff Estep said.
Pardon me for interrupting, but I'd just like to say I don't think Joe Wells gets paid enough.
Aaaaah, a minute late and a penny short.
DeleteOK, what did the elephant say to the naked man?
DeleteThe elephant wanted to know how he was able to breath with that thing.
DeleteThis is reminding me of a couple of years ago when I attended our neighborhood Night Out and one young woman told us she worked at our Woodland Park Zoo here in Seattle. She went on to say something about the controversy about if we should relocate our elephants to the San Diego zoo, where they have adequate acreage for them to move around. I then said it was a case of not having enough trunk space.
Perfect puzzle for NPR. Run, MItt, Run.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle brings tedium to my otherwise interesting day!
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing this entertainer would be supportive of the organization in question. Really quickly was able to eliminate acronyms that began with "national".
ReplyDeleteUncle John, National Association To Intrigue Our Nation's Art Librarians? ;-)
DeleteNational Organization Seeking Harmony In Tibet.
DeleteIt took me forever, but I finally solved it! Makes me happy!
ReplyDeleteThis one took me forever, too. I didn't get it until sometime this afternoon.
DeleteI thought I would never get it. I got it while bike riding late this PM. I kept thinking of ways to get a left over letter to work, and then it came to me. When I got back home, a quick Google search confirmed my suspicion.
DeleteSDB, I initially had the same issue with the extra "a", but not being on a bicycle at the time, was quickly able to verify the correct answer on Google.
DeleteRight, and I'm glaad I decided to Google it too. I spent most of my time looking for the organization and mostly four letter ones, but I finally began looking for singers and as soon as I saw LG, I thought I might have it. I had much earlier thought of Sean Penn, but could not make it work. Not too many entertainers with four/four names. I also liked Jack Paar, but it was no better than Sean Penn. I also liked APEC, with the A being ASIA, but nope. I thought this was a difficult puzzle for several reasons, but somewhat satisfying after I finally solved it. I thought I might not get this one, but I don't like giving up on things. I think you got it long before I did.
DeleteHoly Cow, boys! Surprised Blaine hasn't vaporized these.
DeletePlease explain what Holy Cowboys are. Are they always cross? Do they herd discouraging words? Are they Glaad to ride side-saddle? Do they spurn their spurs and polish their chaps and rope their pope?
DeleteDid anyone else notice that there is also an entertainer whose name is four and four letters, and if you anagram the last name you get the Acronym of a well known organization? The first name will only get you jack.
ReplyDeleteThe entertainer and the organization are each associated with a particular network.
DeleteI think if you know who the entertainer is you probably qualify for membership in the organization.
DeleteHuh. Guess I'm nerdier; I was thinking of a different anagram.
DeleteSince Paul already said what I was going to say, I am left with the observation that this one should be easy for the average solver. (Which will be challengeable on technical grounds, I imagine.)
DeleteUnless you are playing a round in Hawai'i.
DeleteI am not understanding the above comments re: my above post/puzzle. The person I am referring to is Jack Paar which anagrams to AARP.
DeleteSpeaking of obnoxious organizations. I believe if I had kept all the junk mail I have received from both AARP and Comcast it would fill the Grand Canyon to the half way mark.
Like I said, I'm enough of a nerd that I anagrammed PAAR to ARPA, Didn't see AARP until Paul's comment.
DeletePaul's comment could refer to the NPR puzzle too. I qualified for AARP long, long ago, but have no interest in joining and see no reason to.
DeleteMy mother says the same thing about the ARPAnet, that whole series of tubes thing....
DeleteHas she considered tubular litigation?
DeleteYou could use the soundtrack from The Exorcist for a documentary about the RBOC's VoIP service.
DeleteYep, jan, you are a nerd.
DeleteRe: AARP mailings
DeleteThey AAR Persistent, AARn't they?
Ye be right about that, matey! Do you think they might be pirates? Arrrrrrrrrrr!
DeleteAre you over or under pa'ar now, sdb?
DeleteWhat does pa'ar mean? I would like to be floating down the Paar River right now on a Viking cruise.
Delete" Average solver " mentioned by Bob K = par (golf). "Challengeable on technical grounds" is resolved by playing a round of golf in HI on the a'a. Hence, pa'ar...Aren't you glad you asked?
DeleteNot really. I don't speak golf (car or sport) and I have never played even a single game. I am not into dangerous sports. I'll stick with skydiving and climbing and biking. I don't know what a'a is either. Is it an organization for Hawaiian drunks? I've never been to Hawaii—not even on a lei-over.
DeleteA'a is hardened lava rock found near volcanoes.
DeleteI must reluctantly protest that WW may be making me look more knowledgeable than I really am. Because I have never played golf, I was afraid that the precise definition of "par" in the game is more like "desired" than "average". But, yes, it was a nod to Jack Paar. I wasn't concerned about the spelling difference between par and Paar.
DeleteInteresting. N'ow I'll la'va vo'wel, please.
Deleteskb, if you really want to use the okina properly as in the Hawai'ian language, it generally goes between two vowels. It acts like a glottal stop (like a consonant).
DeleteThanks. I will consent to yo'ur constant consonant construct. I'm (sorry) still not go'ing to Hawaii tho'ugh.
DeleteNow we glottal stop this nonsense.
DeleteOh, keen on this you're not, sdb.
DeleteAnd the Okina officially curves back the other way to the right but I haven't figured out the html code yet to type it here.
I shan't adore stop.
And, sometimes, sdb, if I am a little out of sorts, (s)pa'aring with you is just what the dr. ordered. ;-)
DeleteDoes the doctor make ho'use calls?
DeleteNot to change (warning, pun on the way) the subject, but earlier today I went on a fairly long bike ride and found five pennies along the way. On my return route I stopped in at a bank and botanical.
Not your finest effort but it makes sense.
DeleteThanks. I am just about to leave the house for an evening at a classical piano recital at Meany Auditorium on the U of W campus, where I am hoping I will not be sitting near any of the older women who tend to make to much scents with their fragrance.
DeleteOk, now that we have the lowdown on par, how about some more hints for us less than average puzzlers who are hitting rough turf on this puzzle. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSure, always like to support fellow puzzlers, jutchnbev.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThank you. I'm thinking we might want to lay off the Pete Seeger songs for awhile.
DeleteReminds me. Does Kate Moss have a brother named Pete?
DeleteMost of these clues leave me sans words: they're just a load of c**p. I would prefer a stab in the muzzle with a sharp stick.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to not read them, then.
DeleteAre you saying I was conceived an infamous traitor, a vicious tyrant, a savge horror on the boundry twix life and death ?
DeleteMy clues related to nine of LGG's tracks: "Speechless", "Scheisse", "Teeth", "Poker Face", "Judas", "Bloody Mary, "Monster", "The Edge of Glory"
DeleteOh, also a tenth clue in the track title "Born That Way"
DeleteNot so many hard-core Lady Gaga fans here methinks, xfyre. Though, I do like Poker Face.
DeleteLast minute hint
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjd1nwvyzHw
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart.
DeleteAlejandro was Released April 20, 2010.
LADY GAGA > GAY > from GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation)
ReplyDeleteMy Hint:
“It took me forever, but I finally solved it! Makes me happy!”
Happy aka gay.
sdb, I knew when you broke out not one, but two, exclamation points, you had solved it.
DeleteHow was the piano recital?
Gla'ad you asked. It was very good as it usually is. We get the world's top pianists to come for over a hundred years now. This time it was Joyce Yang, who seemed to have mastered the hang of it. It began with Bartok: Out of Doors Suite, Sz. 81. I always enjoy bar talk.
DeleteAs to the scents I mentioned. This time I was not bombarded with disgusting over drenched fragrance wafting my way for a change, but I was still not out of the woods because the woman sitting immediately to my left had breath that almost made me ill. Had Custer had this woman with him at the Little Big Horn I have no doubt the results would have been much different as I am convinced the Indians would have retreated in great haste. I don't know how her husband, who was sitting to her left, is able to stand it. Now, aren't you gla'ad you asked?
Note: I am NOT a Custer fan.
ENTERTAINER = LADY GAGA, ORGANIZATION + WORD = GLAAD + GAY
ReplyDeleteLorenzo, what did I know and when did I know it?
Yes, I knew when I posted "Glad you are here every six months or so, MrScience..." It was my favorite clue as it seemed so natural. And from later comments, apparently it did not tip folks off to the answer.
The bright and sunny synonym toast clue also referred to being GLAAD.
All the A'A clues referred to the AA in GLAAD.
My question to Bob, Paul, and jan about the body part puzzle Paul posed referred to AMYGDALA, the tonsil- or almond-shaped part of the brain responsible for memory. Jan's "I forget." was a masterful comeback.
Your "Glad you are here" clue was indeed the one I was asking about, precisely because it seemed so innocuous. Brava!
DeleteLADY GAGA, GLAAD
ReplyDelete> The name of this organization always reminds me that I'm angry that it's 2014 already, and I still don't have my jet pack!
Angry, not GLAAD. "Man from Glad! Man from Glad!"
> Anyone else a fan of Terry Bisson?
He's a sci-fi writer, not a couturier. Wrote my favorite SF short story.
> Here we go again: Change one of the eight letters to an M, and rearrange to get ... you guessed it! ... a part of the human body.
>> Just last week, I saw a short, indy film named and about the same body part.
"Amygdala," by Jeanette Louie, Livingston, NJ, Director's Choice Award at the 33rd Black Maria Film Festival.
The comment I deleted, in response to Word Woman's "Sure, always like to support fellow puzzlers, jutchnbev", was:
ReplyDeleteWhat do u want, applause?
Which turned out to lead directly to the answer via Google.
Yes, my support clue was hinting to the supportive nature of GLAAD. Hope it helped, jutchnbev.
DeleteJan, I was referring to the "I've Got a Hammer" of a clue to hit you over the head with. But, you likely knew that.
Also, the meat story you referenced seemed to bring JF out of the woodwork
No, I broke my two year never miss a submission record on this one. I think I shall hit my own head with a hammer! Damn! Or, Bam! Oh well!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your help!
Just for the record, my two comments both referred to the "aa" in GLAAD:
ReplyDeleteI was afraid that solving this one was going to be a major league struggle, but to get the answer I had to lower my expectations a couple of notches. -- For AA league baseball, and
Took twelve steps to solve this one! -- For the famous 12 steps of AA, Alcoholics Anonymous.
And of course "The Scarecrow asked Dorothy, "Can I solve this one?"" referred to the brain, which the Scarecrow lacked, wherein is found the amygdala.
My hint: Lady Gaga appeared on 60 Minutes!
ReplyDeleteThe hint I had posted earlier this week:
ReplyDeleteI posted on Sun Feb 16, at 10:13:00 AM PST:
Also from last week's thread:
I posted on Sun Feb 16, at 05:46:00 AM PST:
A little logic helped me solve this puzzle quickly.
The logic I used was the realization that with the acronym name plus the first word of that acronym adding to just 8 letters, well that first word must be a little word - a word of few letters. It couldn't be any of the "anonymous" 's; alcoholics? narcotics? gamblers? - all to big. First word couldn't be National, or American, or Society or even People either. What could that first word be? Hey, "Gay" only has 3 letters!
> You could use the soundtrack from The Exorcist for a documentary about the RBOC's VoIP service.
ReplyDeleteThe connection, for non-nerds: Tubular Bells
For a change of pace during "down time," try this NEWS IQ TEST.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot, ron. Now that I took the test and got all the questions correct, they tell me I am now in the 1 percent. I'm going right out and getting a concealed weapons permit to protect myself from my neighbors in case they find out.
DeleteBut seriously, those questions were asked half a year ago and that would make it more difficult for most people to correctly answer a few of the questions that were hot at the time, but not now. One of them is the Dow. I have no reason to pay much attention to the Dow, but made an educated guess and got it right. Same thing with the CEO of Yahoo. I have never seen her photo before. I don't watch TV, but I knew about the story from NPR and went with the age she appeared to be.
Must be a rigged test, since I got 13 right also. The identity of the young woman was essentially a guess, which I got right. But if I recall the stock market question correctly, only one chart showed the deep drop at 2007-08, so that didn't leave much doubt.
DeleteMakes me feel better after blowing the Slate News Quiz this week.
DeleteNext week's challenge: Write down these six words:
ReplyDeleteCupid
Yoo-hoo
Eyeball
Entrance
Seafood
Wiper
The six words have something unusual in common. And when you've figured out what it is, that unusual something will suggest the name of a well-known U.S. city. Name that city.
A city or town of this name is in 18 US states.
ReplyDeleteInstead of a city, I would've said that the unusual something will suggest the name of an old TV show. And BTW, the title of that TV show was NOT the name of a city.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to ME that was only part of the title.
DeleteYou're right. The IMDb agrees with you. Ok, so the unusual something will suggest MOST of the name of an old TV show.
DeleteI'll go with the jazz man.
Delete@Lorenzo
DeleteChecked him out to 1975. Really tight band. Good times.
@Zeke, are you perhaps inspiration for 9-year-old Zeke in Mary Hays Weik's "The Jazz Man?"
DeleteClueless in CO.
Hmmm, I'm just gonna throw out Alex Cord and Karl Marx, while the gettin's good.
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely no sense dancing around with these junk puzzles.
ReplyDeleteComplaint with no bearing on the answer: Will spit out tghose six words faster than I could write them down, and didn't even repeat them as he usually does!
ReplyDeleteAs for the answer, I have an idea, but it seems a bit cheesy, especially since I can't make sense of anyone else's comments so far.
The star of the TV show and the musician would have made a strange pairing.
ReplyDeleteI was trying to remember if he said the fourth word had the accent on the first syllable or the second when it occurred to me that there might be some regional differences. So someone from, say, New England, might have a different take on the answer than someone from, say, the Midwest.
ReplyDeleteIt took me about 15 minutes to solve in order to keep up with the Joneses here.
ReplyDeleteLate to explain my clue, but here it is: "This is a bad puzzle. And on Valentine's weekend, on top of it!" An allusion to Gaga's hit song "Bad Romance" (Velentine's -> Romance)
ReplyDeleteHaven't yet had a chance to sit down with the new puzzle.