Personally I'd say the sound is more like the last name with a letter removed.Q: Name a famous actress who has four letters in her first name and four letters in her last name. Add one letter, and rearrange the result to name an animal and the sound this animal makes. Who is the actress, what is the animal and what is the sound that the animal makes?
A: TERI GARR + O --> TIGER + ROAR
And the five letters (without the starting consonant) sound like another word that would have fit in the sequence.Q: Think of four common six-letter words that all end in the same five letters, in the same order. And the first letters of these four words are consecutive consonants in the alphabet (like B, C, D, F). No other common six-letter words end with these five letters. What are the words?
A: LOTION, MOTION, NOTION and POTION (alternate BROWNS, CROWNS, DROWNS and FROWNS but Will was less enamored by the use of plurals.)
I incorrectly assumed that each of the letters were replaced by an S (for a total of three Ss). Apparently that is not correct.Q: Name a well-known character of TV, movies and comics. Two words. Replace the 8th, 9th, and 10th letters with an S. Then rearrange the result to name a well-known actor who played this character on film. First and last names. Who is it?
A: GREEN HORNET --> GREENHO(S)T --> SETH ROGEN
Q: Name a state capital. Drop one of its letters. The remaining letters can be rearranged to name of another major city in the United States. What is it? There are two different answers, and you should find both of them.
A: SALEM (MESA) and ST PAUL (TULSA)
Since we've had this puzzle before, I've got nothing further to add.Q: Take the name of a well-known actress — four letters in the first name, nine letters in the last. Insert a letter between the second and third letters of the first name. Remove the last two letters of the last name. The result is a two-word phrase that means "freedom."
A: Cate Blanchett --> Carte Blanche
Well, it isn't Baked Alaska.Q: The following three Thanksgiving dishes have something very unusual in common:
Spit-roast turkey Cornbread stuffing Boiled squash What is it they have in common, and can you name one other thing that might be served at Thanksgiving dinner that has the same property?
A: Each food item uses all five vowels (A, E, I, O and U) exactly once. Other possible foods with this property: Whipped young yams, cranberry coulis, pumpkin gelato, robust Zinfandel. Any food whose name contained all five vowels exactly once was accepted.
Q:Think of a word that contains three consecutive letters of the alphabet together — like CANOPY, which contains NOP. Change these three letters to one new letter to make a synonym of the first word. What words are these?
A: DEFEAT --> BEAT
Or take the letters that remain in the actor's last name, add a letter before and after to name where you might see the actor today.Edit: The answer to my hint was the TV show, BONESQ: Name a famous actor — using both first and last name. Drop the first two letters of the first name and the last two letters of the last name. Then put a Y between what's left of the two names. The result, reading from left to right, will identify who might solve this challenge and play puzzle on the air with me next week.
A: RYAN O'NEAL --> ANYONE
Q: This is one of the "lost" puzzles of Sam Loyd, the great American puzzlemaker from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It's from an old magazine with a Sam Loyd puzzle column. The object is to arrange three 9s to make 20. There is no trick involved. Simply arrange three 9s, using any standard arithmetic signs and symbols, to total 20. How can it be done?The whole point is there are no tricks involved. So you don't need to flip numbers upside down or involve higher order math like square roots or factorials... at least my solution doesn't need those.
A: (9 + 9)/.9 = 20
Too easy.Q: The Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters — seven consonants (H, K, L, M, N, P and W) plus the five vowels (A, E, I, O and U). Use all 12 of these, and repeat four of them, to get 16 letters in all that can be arranged to name a well-known holiday item. What is it? As a hint — it's a two-word answer.
A: HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN
For some of you, it's time to include the other half of your brain...Q: Write a 10-word sentence in which each word ends with the same letter of the alphabet.
For example: Dartmouth frosh clash with Pittsburgh church parish, clinch fifth triumph. Every word in that sentence ends with H. You can choose any letter you like. Entries will be judged on sensibility, naturalness of syntax and overall elegance. The person who submits the best sentence in Will's opinion will play the puzzle on the air in two weeks.
A: The winning sentence chosen by Will, "Can neurosurgeon Ben Carson pin down Republican nomination in 'Sixteen?" — Kate S. of Maryland
I'm not happy that this took so long to figure out. By the way, the deadline is Wednesday this week.Q: Think of a two-word term for someone who might be working at a nightclub. The second letter of the first word is a consonant. Move that letter so it's the second letter of the second word, and phonetically you'll get a made-up, two-word term for someone else who might work at a nightclub. What persons are these?
A: BLUES SINGER --> BOOZE SLINGER
I don't think the name or title will include an N.Q: Name a famous Greek person from history. Rearrange the letters of the name to get the title of a famous Italian person from history. Who are these two people?"
A: EUCLID and IL DUCE
Edit: In one of my comments, before I knew the answer, I said it wasn't BIRTHDATE-BIRTHMATE or WAISTCOAT-WASTEBOAT. I had to delete that for obvious reasons.Q: Take the words FORETOLD and FOURFOLD. They start with homophones, FORE and FOUR, and they end with rhymes, TOLD and FOLD. The challenge is to find two common nine-letter compound words that have the same property. Specifically, the two homophones are each five letters long, and the rhymes have four letters each. What words are these?
A: WAISTEBAND and WASTELAND
And a synonym of the word can be typed with one hand.Q: It's a well-known curiosity that the longest common unhyphenated word that can be typed on the top row of a typewriter or computer keyboard is TYPEWRITER.
Find a common hyphenated word in 12 letters that can be typed using only the keys on the top row of a typewriter or computer keyboard.
A: TEETER-TOTTER
I see a problem with the puzzle; isn't the name of this place a single word?Q: Name a well-known U.S. geographical place — two words; five letters in the first word, six letters in the last — that contains all five vowels (A, E, I, O and U) exactly once. It's a place that's been in the news. What is it?
A: (MOUNT) DENALI
I can't help you with a clue this week... it's too obvious.Q: Name a famous movie in eight letters that has had multiple sequels. The title is one word. Rearrange its letters to get a two-word phrase for a satchel. What is it?
A: SUPERMAN --> MAN PURSE
February 1, 1976: One of the abbreviations applied to him.Q: Name a famous military figure of the past 50 years. The first three letters of his first name and the first three letters of his last name are both well-known military abbreviations. Who is it?
A: COLIN POWELL --> Col. and P.O.W.
I guess we'll all be spending time with a rhyming dictionary and an anagrammer.Q: Take the word EASILY. You can rearrange its letters to spell SAY and LEI. These two words rhyme even though they have no letters in common.
What is the longest familiar word you can find that can be anagrammed into two shorter words that rhyme but have no letters in common? The two shorter words must have only one syllable.
A: CHICKPEAS = CHIC, SPEAKPHYSICKED = PSYCH, DIKEHEAPINGLY = NEIGH, HAYLIGHT-YEARS = SLEIGH, TRAY
Safety tip: put wheel chocks in place before working on your car.Q: Name part of a car. Drop the fifth letter. Now reverse the order of the last three letters. The result, reading from left to right, will name a major American city. What city is it?
A: SEAT BELT --> SEATTLE
Q: This challenge involves a spoonerism. (To recap, that's where you exchange the initial consonant sounds of two words to get two new words. For example, a spoonerism of "light rain" is "right lane.")
Name two animals. Exchange their initial consonant sounds, and the result in two words will be the name of a third animal. What is it?
A: BUNNY + HARE --> HONEY BEAR
Sorry about the delay in posting; I'm still recovering from the puzzle a couple weeks back.Q: Name something in three syllables that an auto mechanic might have. Move the second and third syllables to the front. The result, with some respacing, will name a group of auto mechanics. What is it?
A: SCREWDRIVER --> DRIVER'S CREW
Giving that series medium scores.Q: Write down the following six numbers: 19, 28, 38, 81, 83, 85. What are the next three numbers in the series?
A: 89, 97, 102 (Eighty-ninE, Ninety-seveN, One hundred twO)
And remove two more letters to name something that the experience might involve.Q: Name an occupation starting with the letter B. Remove the second, third and fourth letters. The remaining letters in order will name something you might experience in the presence of someone who has this occupation.
What is it?
A: BARTENDER --> BENDER
I guess we can ignore "salt layer board thing"?Q: The seven words in the following sentence have something very unusual in common — something that almost no other words in the English language share. What is it?
Ira saw three emigrants restock large wands.
A: The words are anagrams of words in the Star-Spangled Banner: AIR, WAS, THERE, STREAMING, ROCKETS, GLARE, DAWN'S
And rearrange the singer's full name to name something you might see in the military.Q: Name a major American company. Drop its first and last letters, and the remaining letters in order will name a famous singer — both first and last names. What company is it?
A: WALGREENS --> AL GREEN
I read the clue incorrectly the first time. Hopefully you'll do better.Q: Take the phrase "I am a monarch." Re-arrange the 11 letters to name a world leader who was not a monarch but who ruled with similar authority. Who is it?
A: CHAIRMAN MAO
For some reason I keep coming back to The Jonas Brothers.Q: Think of an adjective that describes many shampoos. Add the brand name of a shampoo in its basic form. The result, reading the letters in order from left to right, will name a famous musician. Who is it?
A: HERBAL + PERT = HERB ALPERT
Q: Name a famous person in Washington, D.C. — 7 letters in the first name, 5 letters in the last. Drop the last sound in the last name. The result — phonetically — will be the first and last name of a famous living entertainer. Who is it?
A: Loretta Lynch (attorney general), Loretta Lynn (singer)
Not to complain but we were up late helping our son move back from college, so I apologize for the late post.Q: A simple challenge: Think of a 5-letter word that can precede "chicken" to complete a common two-word phrase. Change the middle letter to get a new word that can follow "chicken" to complete a common two-word phrase. What phrases are these?
A: ROAST chicken --> chicken ROOST
Q: Take the phrase "merchant raider." A merchant raider was a vessel in World War I and World War II that targeted enemy merchant ships. Rearrange the letters of "merchant raider" to get two well-known professions. What are they?Sorry, didn't see that one coming so I wasn't prepared. You'll have to sift through the lists to find a pair of occupations on your own.
A: RADAR TECH and MINER or RANCHER and MAITRE'D
On the lists I checked, both the country and the language rank somewhere in the middle.Q: Name a country with at least three consonants. These are the same consonants, in the same order, as in the name of a language spoken by millions of people worldwide. The country and the place where the language is principally spoken are in different parts of the globe. What country and what language are these?
A: UKRAINE --> KOREAN (alternate answers on the NPR website)
Are plurals allowed?Q: The letters of the one-syllable word "groan" can be rearranged to spell "organ," which has two syllables. Here's the challenge: Think of a common one-syllable, five-letter word whose letters can be rearranged to spell a common two-syllable word — and then rearranged again to spell a common three-syllable word. I have two different answers in mind, and it's possible there are others, but you only have to think of one.
A: AIDES, ASIDE, IDEAS or AIMED, AMIDE, MEDIA
Growing up my mother insisted we eat everything on our plate. If you didn't finish your lima beans at one meal, she starved you, and you had nothing but those lima beans until you ate them.Edit: The phrase "she starved you" anagrams to Shrove Tuesday.Q: Think of a common two-word phrase for something you might see in a kitchen. Reverse the words — that is, put the second word in front of the first — and you'll name a food, in one word, that you might prepare in a kitchen. What is it?
A: CAKE PAN --> PANCAKE
It's not Gregory Peck, Harrison Ford or John Wayne.A: Name a famous actor whose first and last names both are seven letters long. Change the first three letters of the actor's last name to three new letters and you'll name another famous actor. They share the same first name. Add the three letters of the first actor's last name plus the first three letters of the second actor's last name, and you'll spell the last name of a third famous actor. Who are these three Hollywood stars?
A: ANTHONY HOPKINS, ANTHONY PERKINS --> (Dennis) HOPPER
Normally I have something to say in response, but this time I'll just leave it to you. Tag, you're it.Q: Take the first names of two politicians in the news. Switch the first letters of their names and read the result backward to name something that each of these politicians is not.
A: MARCO (Rubio) + TED (Cruz) --> TARCO MED <--> DEMOCRAT
Q: Think of a job, in 8 letters, that names someone who might work with actors. Change one letter in this to the following letter of the alphabet to name another person who works with actors. What jobs are these?
A: PROMOTER --> PROMPTER
I can't shake the thought that I should know this. Some days I just can't win.Q: Name something that might be worn on the foot. Change one letter in it without changing the order of the other letters. The result will name something one might wear on the upper part of the body. What is it? Here's a hint: The thing on the upper part of the body is a two-word phrase.
A: BOOTIE --> BOW TIE
I must have misdialed while trying to phone a friend; I got Ed Asner instead.Q: This week's challenge is a little tricky. Given a standard calculator with room for 10 digits, what is the largest whole number you can register on it?
A: If you type 706006 (or 709009) and turn the calculator upside down, it spells gOOgOL (or GOOGOL). That's a 1 followed by 100 zeroes and is bigger than any regular number you could enter using 10 digits.
How does the puzzle rate this week? Like? Dislike?Q: Take the word die. Think of two synonyms for this word that are themselves exact opposites of each other. What two words are these? A hint: they have the same number of letters.
A: PASS, FAIL
Are you just going to sit there waiting for me to drop a hint?Q: Parables of Jesus is an old collection of stories. Remove three of the 15 letters in this phrase and rearrange the 12 letters that remain to get another old collection of stories. What is it?
A: AESOP'S FABLES
Q:No hint this week; you'll just have to earn it yourself.Take a familiar phrase in the form "[blank] and [blank]." Put the second word in front of the first, and you'll name a common part of a large company. What is it?
A: ROOM and BOARD --> BOARDROOM
I won't say what I really think of this puzzle.Q: Name a city whose name ends in a long-A sound in which that sound is not spelled with an "A." Change the sound to a long-O and phonetically you'll name a famous person whose name does not contain the letter "O." What city and famous person are these?
A: MARSEILLE (France) --> (Marcel) MARCEAU
Do you think her middle name was for her mother?Q: Actor Tom Arnold goes by two first names — Tom and Arnold, both male, of course. And actress Grace Kelly went by two first names — Grace and Kelly, both female. Name a famous living actress who goes by three first names, all of them traditionally considered male. The names are 5, 3 and 6 letters long, respectively.
A: JAMIE LEE CURTIS
Q: Name a major U.S. city in two syllables. Reverse the syllables phonetically to get the cost of attending a certain NBA game. What is it?Unless they get rid of that cost.
A: PHOENIX --> KNICKS' FEE
Who's there?Q: Name someone who's the subject of many jokes; two words. Remove the space between the words. Insert the letters O and N in that order — not necessarily consecutively — inside this string of letters. The result, reading from left to right, will be two words of opposite meaning that this someone might say. Who is it, and what are the words?
A: ST PETER --> STOP ENTER
This year I've bet on both teams in the Super Bowl, to increase my odds of winning!Q: Think of a well-known place name in the U.S. that's four letters long. Switch the second and third letters to get a well-known place name in Europe. What is it?
A: ERIE (Pennsylvania, or Lake, or Canal) --> EIRE (Ireland)
I initially thought of a Siren and a siren, but there's no U added. I'll let you take it from here.Q: Name someone who welcomes you in. Insert the letter U somewhere inside this, and you'll name something that warns you to stay away. Who is this person, and what is this thing?
A: BELL BOY --> BELL BUOY
