Sunday, September 21, 2014

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 21, 2014): Go Ahead, Make My Day!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 21, 2014): Go Ahead, Make My Day!:
Q: Name a famous actor best known for tough-guy roles. The first five letters of his first name and the first four letters of his last name are the first five and four letters, respectively, in the first and last names of a famous author. Who is the actor, and who is the author?
Clinton Eastham and Arnolfini Schweiss? They're famous authors, right?

Edit: The hint was They're which contains (Jane) Eyre.
A: CHARLes BRONson --> CHARLotte BRONtë.

94 comments:

  1. Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via 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.

    You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the picture is awesome I guess you could say muscle boy is in the heat of the battle

      Delete
  2. Yesterday, I had to take my car in for repair. I wonder if that helped me think of the actor. Or maybe it was the bagel I had for lunch.

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  3. Easy to figure this one out with access to the web.

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  4. They must be trying to generate more entries from listeners. It seems that by Will adding the "tough guy roles" clue, he made this week's challenge pretty easy to solve.

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  5. Actually my sisters solved the puzzle before I did!

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  6. I posted for following at the end of last week's blog:

    When you solve it, you might ask yourself for whom the bell told.

    Easier than I thought it would be.

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  7. The answer just came to me. I have no idea how one’s brain does that.

    Chuck

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  8. I need to recant, Alexander Pope must be the answer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex wrote, "to err is human."
      Charlotte wrote, "Jane Eyre. "

      Delete
  9. I, for one, can't think of the actor as a roll model.

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  10. Z'zy notvf n tsekove tevehvbg tcakfvsigff urg ffzivr gywf gimqzr, sig yof ecg psg gcfksq, psg ecg fig ft qzgqrwa. Jovu qbehezphkce zg cicorpyp qbddbjwax o zffr tvnczreuveu evznksq gimqzr.

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    Replies
    1. I first thought you were gonna use the NPR puzzle answer as your key, but now I know that the NPR puzzle answer contains your key! (twice!)

      Delete
    2. Could someone tell me what the intended key is - after the deadline of course!

      Thanks!
      Jim

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    3. I could tell you, Jim, but then I'd have to kill you.

      Seriously, let me take this opportunity to apologize to ron for taking his name in vain. The brownstone comment is spot-on, but I expected nothing less from ron.

      I've only been able to think of two possible interpretations of Z'zy, but I'll keep working on it.

      Think of a well-known actor whose name you might associate with the word 'gunmetal'. Rearrange to get a popular tourist destination.

      Delete
  11. The answer just came to me, like a bolt of lightning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I get your clue:

      Lightning > Lightning McQueen > Steve McQueen > Stephen King...

      close enough

      Delete
    2. I think Whill might appreciate whost's sense of humor.

      Delete
    3. I I seem apathetic, it's probably due to watching too many Flintstones cartoons as a kid.

      Delete
    4. Well, Paul, I think your two posts are a bit iffy, or perhaps not. How's that for vacillating?

      Truth is, when I first read your post I read it as you intended it to be, but then I read it again and noticed the mistype. I also made one of those errors earlier today, I now realize.

      Delete
  12. Some amusing mash-up possibilities with these two.

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  13. The author was born and worked close to my own birthplace

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  14. I had a pleasant drink with JM who played Dr. CM in one of the movies of the actor in question, and about whom he had nice things to say.

    ReplyDelete
  15. To be or not to be - that is the question.

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  16. The actor was born with a different name, and is credited in some films with that name, but my wife says that doesn't make the puzzle bogus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh what a tangled web we weave...

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    2. The author's best known work was originally published under a totally different Pen Name

      Delete
  17. I hear they named a dinosaur after the writer, and found some bones in North Carolina...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those bones dry out quickly when exposed to the air. No lighter fluid allowed in the area.

      Delete
  18. I wish I could get this one.

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  19. I had my heart set on my first answer; Jorge Luis Borgnine is a wonderful Argentine author. But then I was reminded about the importance of the actor being Ernest, not Jorge.

    Next I considered Annathony Quinn/Anna Quindlen. But then I googled and found that Quinn had fathered ten children, including one when He was in his eighties. He was no Annathony.

    So finally I opened my Yuhoo search engine and typed in “King James.” All I got was a bunch of stuff about bibles. A handful of pages later, however, I did hit on a website that proved helpful.

    LegoYuhoo

    ReplyDelete
  20. In high school English classes, we learn that many countries and regions around the world have contributed to our literary enrichment. Each country or region has its legends--from the romance and poetry of New England to classics from the American South to the rugged adventures of the American West. From foreign lands come many genres of fiction, poetry, drama and many more. And while all regions have noteworthy authors and works too numerous to mention, I'm particularly fond of literature from the Emerald Isle.

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    Replies
    1. EMP,
      I guess both you and I went to school back when English was actually taught in schools in our country. I am not sure it is any more though. Yesterday I took upon myself the monumental task of editing President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Speech for the understanding and enjoyment of our youth. I hope you will appreciate my improvements.

      "You know, like fourscore and seven years ago our fathers like brought forth on this like continent like a new nation, you know conceived in like liberty and like dedicated to the like proposition that like all men are like created like equal. You know now we are like engaged in a great like civil war, like testing whether that nation or any nation so like conceived and so like dedicated can like long endure. You know we are met on a great like battlefield of that like war. You know we have come to like dedicate a like portion of that like field as a final like resting-place for those who here like gave their lives that that like nation might like live. You know it is altogether like fitting and proper that we should like do this. You know but in a like larger sense, we cannot like dedicate, we cannot like consecrate, we cannot like hallow this like ground. You know the like brave men, like living and like dead who like struggled here have like consecrated it like far above our poor power to like add or detract. You know the world will little note nor long like remember what we like say here, but it can like never forget what they like did here. You know it is for us the like living rather to be like dedicated here to the like unfinished work which they who like fought here have thus far so like nobly advanced. You know it is rather for us to be like here dedicated to the like great task remaining like before us--that from these like honored dead we take like increased devotion to that like cause for which they like gave the last like full measure of like devotion--that we here like highly resolve that these like dead shall not have like died in like vain, that this like nation under like God shall have a new like birth of like freedom, and that like government of the like people, by the like people, for the like people shall not like perish from the like earth."

      Delete
    2. "The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."

      (Ostensibly from a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274 - with that attitude no wonder he was a hermit!)

      Delete
    3. eco,
      Please understand that my complaint above is not with the youth, but with those who teach (or don't) and those who do not challenge the youth to do better although they are in a position to do so.

      Delete
    4. Those who can -- do.
      Those who can't -- teach. (But don't teach skydiving!)
      Those who can't teach teach gym (well, that goes without saying).
      Those who understand teach, but how many of those are there?

      Delete
    5. Paul,
      Very true!
      However, I did have (inherit) a skydiving instructor some years back when I took over the running of a drop zone in another state who was awful! I tried very hard to teach him to be better, but he was extremely resistant to change, no matter how trivial. There is more to the story, but he eventually corrected the situation by dying while making an illegal BASE jump.

      I love your lousy gym teacher comment!

      Delete
    6. I can't agree with the teacher bashing - except the gym teachers. Every teacher I have met and/ or worked with was very dedicated and hard working. Their biggest complaints weren't the students (though smartphones do test their patience) or even lack of resources (very much a problem in the public schools) but overcrowding in their classrooms.

      I saw this while doing volunteer teaching at a local high school; 4 classes, 2 with about 25 students, 2 with about 35 students. Same teacher, same curriculum. Classes with 25 were much easier to work with, the 35 students were packed, and ended up being fairly unruly. And these were AP classes!

      I can't speak to skydiving teachers, but (with all due respect to SDB) I don't think our society fails if skydiving teaching falls.

      Delete
    7. "Very true!"?
      When I ended with a question?
      WTF?

      Delete
    8. btw, sdb, Sylvia Stallone (née Plath)? ? ?

      Delete
    9. ecoarchitect:

      jT = 30 jS ?

      just for starters

      Delete
    10. Paul, are you referring to the Stallone death hoax which is a neigh? (sic)

      eco, I don't have much contact with teachers today, but when I constantly listen to educated people being interviewed on NPR who are using extremely sloppy and incorrect grammar, I can only deduce that they are not being taught English effectively. Math is another issue I have concerns about. Just a couple of hours ago on NPR I listened to a reporter say a mother in Portland, Oregon was "earning 200% below the poverty line." I would still like for someone to explain to me just what that could possibly be.

      Delete
    11. Sorry Paul, I don't have brain capacity for additional code.

      The California Building Code is over 1600 pages, and the Fire, Residential, Green Building, Mechanical, Electrical, Energy, and Plumbing Codes add another 3000 pages. And I have to read different local zoning codes for each jurisdiction I work in. Unfortunately I'm Code-dependent. And yes, I know they are different codes.

      [Side note: remember when they were giving Obama grief about the 2000 page Health Care Bill? It was printed with wide margins and double spacing, typical for laws. In terms of words (or letters) the City of Fremont, California has a Planning Code that is >50% larger!!! And Fremont is a modest city of 220,000 or so.]

      SDB, far be it from me to defend grammar abuse, especially in the media. I can moderately defend an interviewee: I've been a guest on several local radio shows over the years, NPR and commercial, and it takes a bit of practice to actually speak well and with correct diction. To my relief the first shows aired at 2 in the morning, so nobody heard me utter disregard for the language.

      And reporters that have interviewed me have made many mistakes, misquotes etc. They are under tight deadlines, don't get paid very well to begin with, and there is clearly no editing of their copy. Small defense, but there's a systemic problem on top of an individual issue.

      Delete
    12. I dunno, I think I have some cards in my wallet that could render me 200% below the poverty line, but I'm loathe to verify.

      Never heard of the Stallone death hoax ( of course I've heard of the Paul death hoax), but have heard of, though never read The Bell Jar.

      Delete
    13. eco, I tend to agree with you on being interviewed on air, although I have also been there numerous times and did just fine. However I do not see how being nervous would make someone keep using the word LIKE in a manner that makes him appear to be very stupid. Another biggie with me is the all too common misuse of the word I. An example is, "...gave the tickets to my wife and I." Nervousness could not possibly be responsible for this outrage. I hear this particular misuse several times each day and so far I am usually, but not always, able to keep myself from screaming my disgust. I see this one often in subtitles with movies. I even find it in new stage plays I attend, where the grammar is otherwise properly used. I notice a huge difference in the interviews with Brits, who tend to not speak so poorly, and this makes me feel they are being educated far better than children are in this country.

      Delete
    14. Paul, yeah, the credit/debit cards could SPEND you 200% below the poverty line, I suppose, but spending is not EARNING, as was reported. I hope that one doesn't keep up all night. :-) Maybe Will Shortz could use it as a future puzzle.

      Delete
    15. put a comma between read and The

      Delete
    16. Paul, I would like to thank you for your magnanimous generosity in donating that comma in order that we would not feel the need to insert one of our own in this time of financial distress. I have no doubt Donald Trumph would not have done as much.

      Delete
    17. Paul.

      Oh, my Gawd!

      I now find myself, yes me, halving (sic) to donate a like ME between keep and up. I like promise I will no longer hire undocumented proof readers for my future posts, unless the economy continues to like deteriorate and we are again at like war.

      Delete
    18. Should anyone reading my above post LIKE it, then please go to FACEBOOK and look in vain for my page so you may LIKE me.

      Note: I refuse to belong to such sites.

      Delete
    19. SDB,

      I agree the "gave the tickets to my wife and I" is just sloppy grammar. There is the larger question of whether such things will at some point be part of accepted grammar. Unlike Latin, ours is a living language and we are all "impacted" by changes we might find egregious as we "dialog".

      But I think the "likes" are an affectation, and may at least in part be nerves. Somewhat like "um", it is a filler, born of bad habits dating back at least to Moon Unit Zappa, and perhaps before. They can be eliminated through coaching or through concentration.

      Terry Gross says "um" quite a bit; no doubt people have brought this to her attention. I wonder if she has kept umming along to make the interview feel more personal and conversational.

      Another pet peeve, thanks to Harry Shearer's marvelous "Le Show", is starting off a sentence with "So", especially when the sentence is not drawing a conclusion. Very educated people are doing this. I think it is both bad habit and affectation; people believe (subconsciously) that it will make the statement so much more convincing.

      Finally, my Peter the Hermit quote above was to point out that these changes often originate with young people. Sometimes the changes are "good", sometimes not. I suspect parents in the 1950's were appalled at the language and behavior of their teenagers, who are now our seniors.

      Delete
    20. eco,
      I agree with much of what you say, but not so much as to LIKE. I don't hear British kids using it and I would imagine a few of them are nervous. I firmly believe it comes down to poor teaching. I doubt anyone is informing most young people that it is stupid use of language and it makes them appear to be stupid. Kids don't want to appear to be stupid, but someone has to tell them the truth. I suspect most teachers in this country are even afraid to mention it in class. We all lose. I also believe the misuse is so ubiquitous that it is indeed now accepted as correct usage. It makes me want to puke. Our living language is actually dying.

      Delete
    21. SDB: One last thing about education: I suspect you are correct that the Brits are stronger in enforcing the rules of the language. Though our exposure tends to be towards more educated people; when I was last in London I had a heck of a time trying to understand the language of some of "working class".

      More importantly though, I think the Brits are just a little more proper and conservative about many things than we are, including language. I have no scientific evidence for this, except "we" came up with jazz, and "we" wear shorts and flip-flops to the Antiques Roadshow. Of course language skills and habits are formed both in and out of school, and our media is a roller coaster of linguistic insults.

      Delete
    22. I think the "LIKE" is a cultural phenomenon, and such can be found in a country, region, or even a local community. I don't see it as killing our language, though it may take our language in directions that I don't, well, like. Totally, y'know. But young people tend to grow out of these things, too.

      People in the South say y'all, various ethnic communities have their own expressions. You may think it part of a disease, I tend to be more accepting. Though it is like a disease that it spreads rapidly through a variety of media, today mostly through music and television.

      I wonder if the more centralized control of TV in England isn't a contributing factor?

      Delete
    23. eco,
      I again agree with you. My comments re: the Brits vs. us are mostly based on hearing both on NPR in interviews. England is, of course, very much a class society, whereas we pretend not to be. You might want to see the play, Pygmalion or the musical, My Fair Lady. (SDB being a smart ass here, sorry.) But, don't you sometimes wonder why NPR frequently hires people who do not know how to use our language correctly? I sure do.

      Delete
    24. Like totally Man! The Valley Girl talk seems to have thankfully vanished.

      Delete
    25. Just a related story here:

      Shortly after the end of the first Gulf War, it was reported on NPR that Norman Schwarzkopf testified before Congress in civilian clothes. There was nothing incorrect in the report, but I was very disappointed that it was not reported that the general appeared in mufti. That is the way it used to be, but I suppose the reporter didn't even know the word. I love that word, and it seems a shame that it is no longer used here.

      Delete
    26. eco,
      I just now am recalling another related story. A few years back on sundae (sic) evenings, at the end of On The Media, the female voice naming the sponsors, I believe it was, was a Brit with an annoying low class accent that infuriated me. I would jump up and turn it off the moment her recording came on. I could not understand why they would hire someone here with that accent. Thankfully she is long gone now. I suspect she could not get similar work in England and so she came here. If people from our South can, and do sometimes, change their way of speaking, then why not her?

      Delete
    27. This was a clue designed to lead you astray. You might conclude that the author was Irish. However, that would make it too obvious, if indeed, the author in question was Irish--which, as we all know, is not the case.

      "Emerald Isle" refers to Jill Ireland, the wife of the actor.

      Delete
    28. LMP,
      How in the world did it come to happen that so many posts are between your initial post and your explanatory post?

      Also, I apologize for getting your initials wrong above, I did not notice until just now. I am like chagrinned, you know.

      Delete
  21. Whatever happened to Theodore Roosevelt's Brownstone Townhouse on East 20th Street?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ron,
      Apparently you did not hear, but it seems the pigeons painted it, so to speak, white.

      Delete
    2. Charles Bronson >>> Charlotte Bronte

      "Not too tuff" posted at the tail end of last week, referred to the dinosaur Brontosaurus(now properly called Apatasaurus) bones trapped in tuffaceous rock; this evokes Bronte and Bronson both.

      Delete
  22. Charles Bronson & Charlotte Brontë

    My Hint(s):

    “When you solve it, you might ask yourself for whom the bell told.”

    The “bell told” the future success of author, Charlotte Brontë, who published Jane Eyre under the pseudonym, Currer Bell. This was done in order to make it appear the book was written by a man, making it easier to get it published. She was Eyreing on the side of caution, I suppose.

    Note:
    I also wanted to post another hint, but believe it would have given away the answer:

    Of the works both the actor and the author are well known for it can be said they were majestic. (Bronson played the lead in Mr. Majestyk, which I thankfully did not see.)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Charles Bronson, Charlotte Bronte

    Clever and unexpected solution: male actor but a female author.

    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  24. CHARLES BRONSON

    CHARLOTTE BRONTË

    My hint/clue: BROWNSTONE contains the letters of both BRONSON (in order) & BRONTE (in order).

    ReplyDelete
  25. CHARLES BRONSON, CHARLOTTE BRONTE

    > The answer just came to me, like a bolt of lightning.


    Bronte is Greek for thunder. Bronson starred in "A Thunder of Drums" (1961).

    > The actor was born with a different name, and is credited in some films with that name, but my wife says that doesn't make the puzzle bogus.

    Born Charles Dennis Buchinsky.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hence, Brontosaurus = Thunder Lizard.

      Apatosaurus not Apatasaurus, above. Whew, I feel better.

      Delete
  26. and of course no Bronte-saurus bones were found in Charlotte, NC.

    ReplyDelete
  27. My reply to Englishman's clue & to John K's sisters solving puzzle were my clues.

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  28. Monday at 6:51 PM I wrote:
    “So finally I opened my Yuhoo search engine and typed in “King James.” All I got was a bunch of stuff about bibles. A handful of pages later, however, I did hit on a website that proved helpful.”

    Okay, so there’s a kind-of clue in there someplace, maybe. I use Google, not Yahoo or Yuhoo (sic) when I search. But, if I did use Yahoo, a yahoo is a churl, so a “yuhoo” might be a “charl,” as in CHARLles/CHARLotte, I reasoned convolutedly.

    When you type “King James” into search engines you tend to get many results related to the KJB (King James Bible). But if you are patient, you will eventually see results related to Cleveland Cav NBA behemoth LeBRON James, nicknamed King James.

    Remember, new puzzles appear each week, first thing Friday morning, on Puzzleria! Drop by, ponder, solve, bask in the befuddlement… and give your two-cents’-worth if you like.

    LegoElmerBefuddler

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You need to try the search engine DuckDuckGo.com

      Delete
    2. Thank you ron. I have learned to trust your recommendations.

      Also, I encourage all Blainesvillians to visit the wonderful Partial Ellipsis Of The Sun (PEOTS) blog, and congratulate Word Woman (a.k.a. Scientific Steph) on her blog’s one-year anniversary.

      LeDuckDuckGrayDuck…Go

      Delete
    3. The privacy at duckduckgo is quite welcome, ron. Thank you.

      You are even better for Partial Ellipsis of the sun than the Shameless Commerce Division of Car Talk, Lego. Thank you.

      It is still spectacular outdoor swimming weather here in Colorado. Thank you.

      Delete
    4. Word Woman,
      Just call me shameless, often aimless, acclaimless and claim-to-fameless. But call me not blameless, puzzle-gameless, dameless, “that-was-lame-less,” or empty frameless.

      And, I pray never to be “Blaineless.” Blaine has indulged my self-promotion here on Blainesville, his blog. I pray I haven’t tried his patience overly.
      (BTW, can a blog administrator blackball/ban/exile a commenter from her/his blog, either indefinitely of for life? Just wondering.)

      LegoNoShame

      Delete
  29. I no longer use Google or Yahoo, but only this search engine, DuckDuckGo.com

    Read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuckDuckGo

    Then go to it here: https://duckduckgo.com/

    This search engine, unlike Google, won’t profile you or track your searches, so you will receive the same results of a specific search as everyone else making the same search, whereas Google adjusts your searches to your profile. Each person receives different results of the same search according to each person’s profile using Google.

    Try it out.

    ReplyDelete
  30. This was my response to tBlaine's picture: muscle boy is in the heat of m battle Arnold is the brawny son in the Brontë of the battle.

    ReplyDelete
  31. It's a good thing that Chelsea Clinton waited until Friday to give birth. I'm sure she named her baby in tribute to the NPR Sunday Puzzle, and all of us in Blainesville.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I am certain Chelsea and Mark wished to honor all the Charlottans. . .

      Delete
  32. New challenge: Think of a 10-letter word that names an invention of the early 20th century and includes an A and an O. Remove the A. Then move the O to where the A was, leaving a space where the O was, and you'll name a much more recent invention. What is it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I saw through this one pretty quickly.

      Delete
    2. That's nonsense,jan. The chainsaw was invented in 1830 by Bernhard Heine.

      Delete
    3. Jan, Your solution is a towering accomplishment.

      Delete
  33. Bigtime senior moment. Thought I had the answer, but lost it. Checked my Bible and there it was.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Huh. Mary Anderson patented windshield wipers. . .

    ReplyDelete

For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.