Q: Name a well-known clothing company. Move each of its letters three spaces earlier in the alphabet and rearrange the result. You'll name something you don't want in an article of clothing. What is it?I generally enjoy these letter rotation type puzzles, but it took me awhile to figure this one out.
Edit: The two clues were "I general..." (referring to General Zod from Superman) = IZOD and "awhile" from the phrase, "In awhile, crocodile." Though many people thought the animal on the Izod Lacoste polo shirt was an alligator, it was actually a crocodile, referring to tennis player Rene Lacoste's nickname of "The Crocodile".
A: IZOD = FWLA --> FLAW
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.
So if you enjoy this type of puzzle, Blaine, wouldn't you want the fun to go on and on and last longer?
DeleteIs this a female perspective (fellow XX) or do some of you XY guys concur?
I'm more of a ZZ kinda guy.
DeleteThat's awful.
DeleteReally, Blaine? A Caesar cipher disk? Like we didn't have enough of the Romans last week?
DeleteNote this is the trendy/hip version of the clothing company, whereas the general version has been known to try to take over the world.
ReplyDeleteSee Snipper's thread ... or don't!
DeleteI got it, but it left me wondering how in the hell anybody discovered this. "Hmmm. I wonder what happens if you take the names of clothing manufacturers and shift all of their letters up or down the alphabet, and then scramble the results." WHO DOES THIS???
ReplyDeleteLater.
Hmmm. We do.
DeleteSteve Baggish of Arlington, Massachusetts according to Will.
DeleteHe's created quite a few of the NPR Sunday puzzles. I wonder if he's related to Bilbo and Frodo?
DeleteFrodo would love anagrams!
DeleteCarl really loves anagrams (just thought you should know.)
DeleteI came up with an answer whereby the second part was an obscurely used word that would be undesirable describing a clothing defect.
ReplyDeleteFood clue: Spanish chicken croquettes
ReplyDeleteI'm still stuck on this one
ReplyDeleteNot a typical puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI perceive a paucity of comments this week. I suspect this may be because, especially after last week's debacle, many of us are tired of wasting our time on b**l shit puzzles like this new one that is nothing but tedious work without delivering anything redeeming in its wake.
ReplyDeleteTo solve this one, you have to really open your jaws, bite your teeth into it, and be knowledgeable about sports.
ReplyDeleteI think we are both on the same track. Is your word regarding what is undesirable in clothing a bit arcane; notwithstanding, its'
Deleteappearance in the thesaurus?
I don't know what word you might be referring to.
DeleteBy the way, I can think of at least three sports and at least one team related to the answer.
Jaws--alligator (thanks for enlightening me that it's actually a crocodile)
Delete3 sports--baseball (flaw=error, a common occurance in the national pasttime)
lacrosse--close in spelling to Lacoste
polo--another clothing brand that went through my mind on my way to a solution
sports teams--since corrected, but the University of Florida Gators, the nickname for all of their sports teams.
Cyclops.
ReplyDeleteSpoke to the server at the local waffle emporium. She laughed and said, "Anagram this, Zeke." Those folks are awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe iconic symbol many will no doubt recognize, but the name of the clothing company was not on the tip of my tongue. As to the "something you don't want", the word applies to almost any manufactured part. Not a great puzzle but the bar has been set rather low of late...
ReplyDeleteGuys, I've never posted here before, but I can't help suggesting a musical clue: Oginski's masterpieces.
ReplyDeleteOh, now I get it. Very nice. Also enjoying the music. Thanks.
DeleteI kind of agree with SDB – puzzles of this sort are rather tedious and you don’t really learn much of anything in the process. I have spent no time on it and don’t intend to. But I do have a general question about puzzles like these if someone would be good enough to tell me what is customary.
ReplyDeleteIf the clothing company contains an A, B or C, you can’t move back 3 letters in the alphabet – you run past the beginning of the alphabet. So – if that’s the case, do you simply not use a name with and A, B or C in it, or do you go around the horn? I.e., move an A to an X, B to Y and C to Z?
Chuck
You don't use a, b, and c. And yes, after last week's entirely bogus puzzle, this one is a close runner-up.
DeleteI vote for going around the horn, as does Blaine's illustration, as does convention.
DeleteYou wouldn't if you were a programmer :) It yields a different ASCII code (non-alphanumeric).
DeleteI always thought that Will should make it clear each time he presents a similar type puzzle that we should treat the alphabet as circular. If he gave that instruction each time, including it would not be a clue to the answer.
DeleteTierra del Fuego!
DeleteTreating this as a Caesar cipher, A,B,C would go back to the end of the alphabet as X,Y,Z, just like my picture.
DeleteBut the other assumption you could perhaps make is that the clothing company doesn't contain the letters A,B,C or else Will would have mentioned what to do in that case...
Sidenote only (no clue):
Delete"..Will would have mentioned what to do.."?? Blaine, please, I think you are being naive on that point. Years of comments on this site have demonstrated that one has to be mercenary. Will's definition of puzzle incorporates obfuscation by poor construction of any clue.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn honor (?) of last week's puzzle, rotate one letter of the intended answer 90 degrees clockwise and rearrange the result to name something you definitely don't want in an article of clothing.
ReplyDeleteI can hardly wait until Thursday.
DeleteI got annoyed trying to figure out what you meant; then I realized you were talking about operating not on the clothing company, but on the thing you don't want in an article of clothing.
DeleteGood point. Nicely put.
DeleteYou guys have me in tears. Musical clue - Sir Elton.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of tears?
DeleteI shudder to think.
DeletePaul, you changed your tie.
DeleteNew here. Either I am missing something, or the hints posted are pointing at a different solution than mine...
ReplyDeleteWelcome, new guy. Yeah, you can sometimes spend as much time figuring out the clues as you do solving the puzzle. And we sometimes do go off on tangents. Just go with the flow.
ReplyDelete"And we do sometimes go off on tangents."
DeleteWe go off on tangents more than a very angry person yelling at George Hamilton and his twin brother in Florida. On the beach. At mid-day. In July.
While we sometimes go off on tangents, we always sine our work.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteCosine that.
DeleteYou can find lots of tan gents on the Riviera.
DeleteSpeaking of tangents, and going around in circles, and the late Tom Magliozzi, here's a recent Car Talk puzzler.
Deletejan,
DeleteThe problem with that Car Talk puzzler is it requires too much horsing around.
The question is, "Can he or can't he?"
DeleteAnd my first thought is, "Well, now, it's not going to be very much fun if he can't, now is it?"
As I'm making my sketch, I'm thinking, "It's not the horsing around; perhaps it's the paucity of practical applications."
No ... I think it's a damned good puzzle!
Later.
The answer was as easy as Pi.
DeleteKeep in mind, it is easy to start a carrousel, but it takes more than a revolution to rein it in and there will be lots of ups and downs along the way.
DeleteIf you name your kids Biff and Skip, what other problems really matter?
DeleteYou all have been nau help, spanx for nothing.
ReplyDeleteSeems there are different answers being proposed. Mine is full of life.
ReplyDeleteMine is full of an author.
DeleteIZOD >>> FLAW
DeleteThe reference to "in Florida" referred to FL or FLA, the abbreviations for that sunny state.
Izod --> fwla --> flaw
ReplyDeleteOn Monday I posted that I wasn’t going to spend any time on this puzzle. And I didn’t. But while running some errands Tuesday afternoon – not even consciously thinking about the puzzle - Izod just popped into my head. When I got home I couldn’t keep myself from looking at Blaine’s letter substitution wheel. When you’re hot you’re hot :)
Chuck
Clothing Company: IZOD
ReplyDeleteI>>>F
Z>>>W
O>>>L
D>>>A
"Something you don't want in an article of clothing," a FLAW
My anagram clue: “awful” = flaw + u.
Zeke's anagram clue: “waffle” = flaw + fe.
T. Boy's anagram: FLAW>>>FLAΣ>>>FLEA
I am surprised that no one managed to work “ZODIac” into his/her post!
IZOD > FLAW
ReplyDeleteFamous in the 70s & 80s for the Lacoste crocodile on Polo shirts
IZOD -> FLAW
ReplyDelete> There's a historical coincidence involving today's answer.
On November 9, 1822, the USS Alligator battled 3 pirate schooners off the coast of Cuba.
> Food clue: Spanish chicken croquettes
Like the guy on this pollo shirt knows, when playing either pollo or croquette, it's important to keep your mallet up in the air, not pointed at anybody. As Lincoln said, "With mallets toward none...."
> I got annoyed trying to figure out what you meant
Rotate the Z in IZOD 90 degrees clockwise and rearrange to get NOID. I don't want to get a noid.
> Just go with the flow.
Got away with 75% of a giveaway.
Better. I thought you meant a flea in your garment was annoying, but I guess it's a bee in your bonnet.
DeleteI did not solve the puzzle this week because I did not want to spend more than a few minutes on it. I thought it tedious nonsense. However, I see now that in fact I did stumble across the answer and did not recognize it. I quickly thought of flaws and, of course, got IODZV. The problem then became my not being familiar with IZOD, although I did consider it. From the hints, I kept trying to make POLO work, but MILL did not seem to work either. I hated this crap puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI tried Izod - but overlooked the part about rearranging the result - Doh!
ReplyDeleteI had HOT LUXX ==> LIQUEUR.
ReplyDeleteA fly and a flea in a flue
ReplyDeleteWere caught, so what could they do?
"Let us fly," said the flea.
Said the fly, "Let us flee!"
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
jan,
DeleteYou beat me to it. This has always been my favorite limerick, perhaps the best ever written. Quite Nashian.
LegoFlueBug
I guess I was off: I had "irregular" and "Bio Oxford."
ReplyDeleteNow that we're revealing our answers, could share what lists we were using? Specifically, what list of clothing companies includes Izod? I couldn't find the name Izod on Wikipedia's Category:Clothing companies of the United States page, or it's Category:Clothing retailers of the United States page, or on clothingmadeinusablog's Listing of American clothing manufacturers – Retail page, from which I got Hot Luxx. (It was #215 on their Blouses/Tops/Dresses list.)
ReplyDeleteHuh -- I usually cheat, and find a list on Wikipedia, but this time I just tried a couple of short clothing company names, and found it on the 3rd try, I think. I guess it's a good thing I didn't try a brute force search this time.
DeleteHere ya go, E&WAf:
Deletehttp://www.ranker.com/list/world_s-top-fashion-brands/business-and-company-info?var=2&utm_expid=16418821-69.nU0NdIugQ6K34Kl1oxGbpg.1&page=3&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ranker.com%2Flist%2Fworld_s-top-fashion-brands%2Fbusiness-and-company-info%3Fvar%3D2%26page%3D2
That's one time I'm grateful to Google for watching my every move.
Luckily, I did not need a list this week. Since moving letters later in the alphabet is easier than moving them earlier, I started with the thing not desired and after tying hole and tear, I quickly got to flaw.
DeleteBest clue this week: Paul’s elegantly simple “Later.”
Polo & mill (which can mean a "defect")
ReplyDeleteMy first clue in response to Jan's comment about Bilbo and Frodo:
ReplyDeleteFrodo Would Love Anagrams.
To Spipper, I assume you were referring to crocodile tears and EJ's Crocodile Rock
Izod - flaw
ReplyDeleteMy hint involved the gang at waffle house. The server, an avid puzzler, pointed to the menu and said, "Anagram this, Zeke. "Of course she was referring to the word, waffle, printed on the front. She covered the extra f and the e.
I thought it was also a hint to IHOP being similar to IZOD.
DeleteI'll bet she's also an avid George Carlin fan.
Deletezeke,
DeleteI anagrammed "this" and got another "four-letter word." I thought you did that intentionally. Did you?
LegoFullOfThis
I thought your waffle remark was hinting at Nike because their first sneakers soles were made in a garage on a waffle iron.
DeleteSurely you are referring to hits, like this blog has been full of hits lately.
Deletezeke,
DeleteMethinks you might not win in a spelling bee. :-)
The late clue that I deleted was,"An inhabitant of the Phantom Zone. "
ReplyDeleteGeneral Zod from Krypton was the second on the Google list. Too close for comfort.
I do own a garment or two made by the company (Xmas gift), and I have seen polo shirts with reptilian insignia, but I arrived at an answer via a list (see my response to E&WAf above).
ReplyDeleteWill used ALLIGATOR as an example in his on-air puzzle.
Jack Izod created or invented or discovered the Windsor Knot, according to Wikipedia (don't know; wasn't there).
LEE makes BIB overalls. Someone must want them, but I don't, and if you read the question carefully.....
I don't need this! I'm a VIP! I wear YSL!
And I've got a geometry problem to solve.
Your comment yesterday shows that you understand the geometry problem correctly. Surely you have solved it by now!
DeleteSadly, no. James 1:4.
DeleteThe answer is available online.
DeleteI finally figured it out this morning, and then found confirmation this afternoon. I didn't cheat, honest!
DeleteWhat's interesting about the area of an annulus is that the radius of the inner circle doesn't matter. In the degenerate case, the inner circle is zero and the measured chord is the diameter. In other words, the area would be the same for a circle with a 35' radius. A = Ï€•35².
DeleteNot quite. Both radii “matter.”
DeleteThe area of an annulus with outer radius R and inner radius r, is Pi*(R^2-r^2). The chord, and the two radii form a right triangle with one leg equal to half the chord length (C/2), the other leg r, and a hypotenuse R.
By the Pythagorean theorem, R2 = r^2 + (C/2)^2. Rearranging, (C/2)^2 = R^2-r^2, so the area of the annulus = Pi*(C/2)^2.
What I meant was all annuluses with the same chord length have the same area. So we could just set the inner circle to zero and the chord (length C) becomes the diameter. And it then follows that the area would be the standard circle area of Ï€(C/2)², just as you stated.
DeleteTommy Boy - yes, that was what they both were referring to. And I referred to last week's puzzle as a crock of !*! Should have mentioned that the answer was in the center of my birth state (Izod Center in NJ).
ReplyDeleteSnipper, I liked your crock clue very much, especially as it riffed off the previous week's clock puzzle.
DeleteI toyed with Crocs, the shoes, and "IShod," but couldn't quite get there. Busy week.
My first clue was Cyclops, which has only 1 eye. Humans have two eyes (eyes even, but Cyclops has "eyes odd").
ReplyDeleteAbove Leo said his answer is full of life. I responded that mine was full of an author, that is the middle of Izod is "zo", the middle of flaw is "la", therefore "Zola" (Emile).
Are you sure? I always thought Emilezola was a brand of cooking oil.
DeleteI'm pretty sure that Emile Zola married Medusa Gorgon Zola, the cheese heiress.
DeleteYou're right! I almost forgot about that cheesy wedding reception they had.
DeleteThe answer has something in common with last week's incorrect puzzle. When you write "IZOD" using the numbers on a digital clock, it reads "12:00," which is ones of the times that Will neglected in saying that "only" his four times on an analog clock form Roman numerals.
ReplyDelete _ _ _
| _| | | | |
| |_ |_| |_|
David - I liked your clue. It appears the answer was right in front of our "eyes-odd"ly enough.
ReplyDeleteMy question re: biogeography: why are crocodiles found worldwide but alligators are found only in the U.S. and in China?
ReplyDeleteWanna see how Magdalen takes to a proposal of BIOGEOGRAPHY?
DeleteYour venture or mine?
Sure, Paul. Go for it!
DeleteI decided to try it myself:
DeleteOops! There are no matches for “biogeograhy”.
Please try refining your search.
No reason to trouble Magdalen with it.
Hmmmm, "biogeography images" in Google scored at least four score images.
DeleteThis was my favorite. Scroll down a little to penguins talking about the lemurs. It's worth it.
I got much better results on Flickr when I spelled biogeography correctly.
DeleteNext week's challenge: Name a country. Drop one of its letters. Rearrange the remaining letters to name this country's money. What is it?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty slow this morning. It took 47.24 seconds
ReplyDeleteCould someone tell me why Solo (cycling clothes company) - pill (as a bobble) is not a legitimate answer?
ReplyDeleteVP,
DeleteI cannot speak for Dr. Shortz, but I Will anyway. He would probably claim that Solo is not a sufficiently "well-known clothing company."
SoloLambda
Yeah... I would say (and of course, it's in the eye of the beholder) that BOTH Izod and Solo are about as "well-known" as 4:07 looks like "C." But who am I to judge.
DeleteAlthough very late by now, I just have to mention
ReplyDeletethis (silly) solution to the puzzle:
WRANGLER == TOXKDIBO == (the) BOTOX KID or KID BOTOX
Although I don't know who the "Botox Kid" is,
I'm sure that finding him in one's clothing would
scare the Wranglers right off the best of us.