NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 20, 2014): In Summer:
Q: Name something in five letters that's nice to have a lot of in the summer. Change the last letter to the following letter of the alphabet. Rearrange the result, and you'll name something else that you probably have a lot of in the summer, but that you probably don't want. What is it? (HINT: the second thing is a form of the first thing.)
What are you waiting for? A clue to this ridiculously easy puzzle?
Edit: My hint was "what are"...
A: WATER --> SWEAT
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.
Here is the puzzle/challenge that was replaced:
ReplyDeleteNext week's challenge: This is a two-part challenge. First, take the phrase "rap yet crash." Rearrange these 11 letters to name something that might follow a crash. Then cross out four letters in this answer. The remaining seven letters in order will spell an appropriate name. What is it?
There is a "better" solution if you "cross out" only three letters from what "might follow a crash" than if you remove 4 letters.
Work on this one since the replacement puzzle is so ridiculously easy!
I posted on Sun Jul 20, at 01:02:00 PM PDT on last week's thread in a reply to Lorenzo, with whom ron apparently agrees. (He asked me if I agreed with him that removing only 3 letters leads to a better answer.)
DeleteLorenzo - No I don't. I find that the "appropriate name" is a real person's name! You might be thinking of something like a map, but try to think of the "something that might follow a crash" trying to somehow connect with that real person. (Hint: a letter is going to be capitalized.)
Ridiculously is right. Every clue I thought of led directly to the obvious answer. Oh well, no worries... another true Shortz challenge is just around the bend.
ReplyDeleteIn the French/Italian/British movie Summer Things, "Numerous mistakes, misunderstandings and surprises are inevitable."
ReplyDeleteApropos this summer Sunday.
I like cold sodas in the summer. I could do without all the toads, though. And who knew that toad soda was a thing?
ReplyDeleteWart for art though, toady? Did time frogot ye?
DeleteI guess having two puzzles this week makes up for back when we had the two week challenge. But then these are both so simple that it hardly matters in this desert where worthy puzzles are so scarce.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to know where you stand on things, sdb.
DeleteI would like to hear what the backstory is on this debacle.
ReplyDeleteI think we know the backstory. Malaysian Airlines flight 17 was shot down on Thursday causing Will to change from the crash puzzle to the summer puzzle with the on-air player on Friday. He simply forgot (or one of the NPR assistants forgot) to change the written puzzle until after 10 a.m.EST today. It happens.
DeleteThe first puzzle/challenge was about Malaysian flight 370 and was probably misworded ("cross out" 3 instead of 4 letters from what "might follow a crash.")
Deleteron, please see my reply to your post above.
DeleteI have no idea what "real" person you are referring to.
DeleteTo reveal the identity of the real person would be a complete giveaway. Suffice to say the real person is no longer living and has nothing whatsoever to do with Malaysian flight 370. I have heard, though, of someone with the same name being in the news recently. This person has no need of the "something that might follow a crash".
DeleteRon:
DeleteClearly 4 letters off for the correct answer.
ron, i know of this real person also. . . and the modern day person as well, EaWAf. Check your aencyclopedia for details.
DeleteAs for the other "crash" puzzle...What, too soon?
DeleteYikes!
My clues from the tailed of last week:
ReplyDelete1. ho ho ho! to another's clue for puzzle #2.
2. Felt familiar to answer part 2 of puzzle #1
The answer is on the tip of my tongue. Yum. And ugh.
ReplyDeleteI took way longer trying to come up with a non-obvious clue than I did solving the puzzle. So I finally just quit trying. However, it is obvious after reviewing all earlier posts that some of you have done much better in this regard than me. This is not a clue.
ReplyDeleteChuck
To say that this puzzle is easily solved is already too much of a hint.
ReplyDeleteJoni Mitchell for both puzzles. But then, she's covered almost everything.
ReplyDeleteHasn't anyone noticed the link between the puzzle that was first posted today and the replacement puzzle that was broadcast?
ReplyDeleteI'm embarrassed to admit how long I pored over this puzzle before the answer came to me.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you jan. That's twelve seconds you will never get back.
DeleteI actually want both things.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, WW, I understand. I think.
DeleteRuth, things would be unpleasant without both. Glad you understand.
DeleteI imagine three quarters of the planet would get the correct answer to this stupid puzzle right away.
ReplyDeleteBlaine!!
DeleteSome states state the need for WEEDS this summer, and much weed leads to the wearing of TWEED (anathema to the world of fine gentlemen'a clothing).
ReplyDeletezeke creek, au contraire, some tweed is so uncool it's cool, according to some reports, heretofore.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlainesvillians,
ReplyDeleteIf you have already unlocked the mysteries of this week’s NPR puzzle, I have cranked up its cryptic status quotient a smidge by introducing a change of seasons. It is the 1:21 AM July 21 post.
Lego(“Please pass the salt… no pepper!”)
Is that the opposite of straight, no chaser?
DeleteThis is one the puzzles I like solving on my Sunday long run. It didn't take long.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have to exert myself for this one.
ReplyDeleteAn AC/DC song comes to mind . . . hic
Work that body(ies)
ReplyDeleteA thing people want lots of in the summer is SUN-RA (phonetically, sun-ray), which can unfortunately become BURNS. Everyone should submit this. It is definitely the answer.
ReplyDeleteCam, I think you are on(to) something.
DeleteWhen you are done submitting the clever SUN-RA >>>BURNS answer, head over to read about "Mr. Potato Head" and a Partial Eclipse of the Sun
What do you call "venae cavae . . . aorta"?
DeleteCam, I thought your question was rhetorical but, maybe not?
Delete"Total ellipses of the heart." Bonnie Tyler would groan. Your post reminded me of this.
DeleteClever (no groaning here). Glad I asked. I thought aorta referred to "I oughta. . ."
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Official Puzzle: WATER >>> SWEAT
Delete"I actually want both things" refers, of course, to our bodies' need to both drink water and to sweat.
"HereTOfOre" was a reference to H2O.
The Unofficial Puzzle: SEARCH PARTY >>> EARHART
Amelia Earhart is the person for whom the search party searched. Another modern-day pilot, Amelia Rose Earhart, from Denver, just successfully circumnavigated the globe in a Pilatus PC-12 single-engine plane.
Oh, and AEncyclopedia referred to Amelia Earhart's initials.
DeleteI guess we're all assuming that the SEARCH PARTY -> EARHART puzzle won't be re-used? Too bad; that one was actually pretty good.
DeleteThe Pilatus PC-12 is the plane I pine for. If only I had $5M laying around!
Yes, it was a pretty good puzzle, especially since Amelia Rose Earhart just completed her trip on 7/11/14. Yet, given the plane crashes this week, a crash puzzle could be in the far distant future.
DeleteMy friend flies a Pilatus PC-12 for the U.S. Air Force. I did not realize the price tag was a cool $5 million.
Your friend flies a U-28A. Those cost $16.5M each.
DeleteI knew it had a different designation for the air force but couldn't remember what it was...Wow, save your pennies for one of those!
DeleteShe told me it was the same plane Amelia Rose Earhart flew. The later Earhart flight got a lot of local press.
I enjoyed reading ron's link (below) about the possible original Earhart artifacts, including freckle cream.
jan,
DeleteI can get you either a 10% discount or buy two and get the third one free! Let me know. Gift wrapping is slightly more.
Ooh, I'll take that 3-for-2 deal. Reselling 2 for a little under list each should be easy, and that'll leave me a PC-12 for a song. Just a matter of a little creative financing.
DeleteWATER > WASTE
ReplyDeleteMy hints:
“I guess having two puzzles this week makes up for back when we had the two week challenge. But then these are both so simple that it hardly matters in this desert where worthy puzzles are so scarce.”
One tends to desire water in a desert.
“I imagine three quarters of the planet would get the correct answer to this stupid puzzle right away.”
We are informed that around three quarters of the surface of the planet is water.
Well it is about time we got another worthy puzzle. I imagine it took some listeners as much as a full minute to solve it.
I see most are going with sweat rather than waste, but I rejected sweat because we should want to sweat even though it may feel uncomfortable because it is necessary in order to cool off our body. If you are in extreme heat and not sweating, you may be on the road to heat stroke. We use more water in the summer and much of it is wasted. An example would be when washing the car, we end up with waste water that we want to get rid of. Another example would be not finishing something we are drinking and wasting it. I expect I will remain in the minority in this regard.
Deletesdb, if it's any consolation, I first submitted WATER & WASTE, but then did a re-submission with WATER & SWEAT. Remember the hint, that the second thing is a form of the first thing. Not all waste is a form of water.
DeleteIronically, I dismissed WATER/WASTE, and then came back to WATER (and ultimately SWEAT) with your "3/4" comment. So...thanks!
DeleteSWEAT is undoubtedly the intended answer.
Well, mike, as I always say, Sweat not; want not. (I hope I got the right word this time.)
DeleteAlong with your other reasons sweat can be good, of course, is "Waist Not."
DeleteI hope I got the right word with ironically/coincidentally...in recent media, perhaps Weird Al can help us?
(Not so sure about Enya!)
mike,
DeleteI guess when you were still working on the puzzle you missed Blaine's clue.
Yes, didn't realize "what-are" until later...but as usual, the clues probably form some sort of gestalt together, possible leading to the answer subconsciously. Which is often what makes puzzle-solving so neat!
DeleteI solved the puzzle right as I finished reading it before Blaine posted for this week and then went back to bed. I usually don't get his hints, but when I read this one I got it right away since I already knew the answer. So, I guess his hint didn't go to sweat.
DeleteWritten Sunday, July 20:
ReplyDeleteWATER
Change the R to an S and rearrange to yield:
SWEAT
Here is the Challenge that was removed:
Next week's challenge: This is a two-part challenge. First, take the phrase "rap yet crash." Rearrange these 11 letters to name something that might follow a crash. Then cross out four letters in this answer. The remaining seven letters in order will spell an appropriate name. What is it?
Something that might follow a crash: SEARCH PARTY.
Remove FOUR letters (scpt) to yield EARHART, “an appropriate name.” Just as Malaysian flight 370 DISAPPEARED, so did Amelia Earhart's flight disappear. See this Washington Post Headline. “Aencyclodepia” was a wonderful hint/clue!
Remove THREE letters (rpy) to yield: SEA CHART (normally known as a “Nautical Chart”), also “an appropriate name.”
Deleteron, I debated whether to use Aencyclopedia as an AE clue, but figured there were only so many ways to cross out letters in SEARCH PARTY.
"Under (or over or both) the sea" at the end of last week referred to SEA CHART also.
Or, remove four letters to get ER Chart (for the survivors).
DeleteWater, sweat
ReplyDeleteChuck
It could be either sweat or waste, I think. I came up with waste at first because in CA we are told not to waste water. Then I realized sweat could work also. It will be interesting to see what Will selects.
ReplyDeleteYes, Natasha, I see both answers being acceptable. I thought of waste as being urine which is also something our bodies need to excrete. Not peeing and not sweating are both troublesome.
DeleteI did learn that dogs sweat through the pads on their paws and that their fur or hair keeps them cool in summer and warm in winter.
Did your "well" refer to a water well and "bend" refer to a bend in a river?
Oops, those were Ruth's clues...
DeleteYes, and I struggled to come up with those. Query whether Blaine's "what are you waiting for?" comment was a simple expression of his frustration at the puzzle or an invitation for someone to unwittingly post "Ah, don't sweat it!"?
DeleteNot to put too fine a (spear) point on it, the persistence hunting theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_hunting) requires sweating for our species to survive. Perhaps not as critical when people are only hunting for a parking spot at the mega mall.
ReplyDeleteI offered Joni Mitchell, who's covered almost everything. "Amelia" is the second song on her album "Hejira". Mitchell is one of many who covered "Cool Water"; it was on "Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm".
When I wrote that "to say this puzzle is easily solved is ... too much of a hint", I was thinking of the phrase "no sweat".
ReplyDeleteWhich is, of course, the supposed sign of a healthy dog.
DeleteRemember Will’s hint: the second thing is a form of the first thing.
ReplyDeleteSweat is definitely something associated with warmer summer weather and activities. When I took the hint into account I decided that sweat could certainly be considered a form of water, salty though it may be. Waste, while it works technically, is a much more generic noun. Depending on what’s being wasted, it may – or may not – have anything to do with water. So I went with sweat.
My two cents :)
Chuck
I immediately went with waste but was troubled by the "form of" and changed to sweat. I suppose the straight no chaser was a bit of a mislead since most alcoholic drinks are chased with sodas or juices and seldom with water
ReplyDeleteAs benmar surmised, my santa reference was in the spirit of ho ho ho - like H20 = water.
ReplyDeleteH3O3 --trioxidanium?
DeleteMy clue: re-ho ho ho (H20) & prior puzzle I believe was Earhart, i.e. phonetic 2 body parts.
ReplyDeleteNext week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Matt Jones of Portland, Ore. There are three popular men's names, each six letters long, that differ by only their first letters. In other words, the last five letters of the names are all the same, in the same order. Of the three different first letters, two are consonants and one is a vowel. What names are these?
ReplyDeleteNext week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Matt Jones of Portland, Ore. There are three popular men's names, each six letters long, that differ by only their first letters. In other words, the last five letters of the names are all the same, in the same order. Of the three different first letters, two are consonants and one is a vowel. What names are these?
ReplyDeleteThat was easy. Now, back to bed.
DeleteYes, that was easy. Our minds must be running at 60 MPH.
DeleteI have three names that work, but I don't know if they're "popular" or not. For that matter, I don' know if we're looking for popular names for men, or names of popular men.
ReplyDeleteACA
I now have another answer, and my previous comment still sort of works as a hint.
DeleteWe're golden. Got it!
DeleteI've got ducks on my brain: Huey, Louis, Dewey; Jack, Kack, Lack, et al. I've also got several correct answers, thanks to the Moby word list (which didn't include one of the names in what I think is the correct correct answer).
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the times when coming up with an appropriate clue is taking me longer than solving the puzzle did. I'll have to try later, after I finish my Sunday chores (laundry, vacuuming and dusting).
ReplyDelete