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?Are you just going to sit there waiting for me to drop a hint?
There were two hints. The first was a hint to the fable of The Fox and the Crow. The other hint was "Are you j..." --> R,U,J the letters that are removed.
A: AESOP'S FABLES
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.
This week’s CHALLENGE is as easy as π ! You should all come up with within a few seconds.
ReplyDeleteRon was right - that didn't take much time...
ReplyDeleteChuck
Don't brag.
DeleteThere are still some posts on last week's blog that should be removed as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but your anagram diagrams are a complete giveaway... You see that, right? You basically map each letter in the original phrase directly to the solution. Leaving out the letters does little to obfuscate this mapping.
DeleteSorry, I thought that leaving out the letters and spaces between words would make for sufficient hiding. I trust that in the future, when BOTH the source and result of the anagramming must be sought after, then diagrams like that would be OK?
DeleteUnfortunately, even with unknown anagram source as well, the mapping directly reveals the number of characters in the answer.
DeleteIt's perhaps an interesting 'problem' to represent an anagram in a 'secure' way, that can be decoded only by those that know the anagram, and doesn't otherwise reveal anything about the anagram itself -- but I suppose just encrypting the full source and destination phrases using standard methods (e.g. hash functions) is about the most practical...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis one's a turkey !
ReplyDeleteTurkey... or turtle? -- Margaret G.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNot too religious an answer.
ReplyDeleteI have this week's answer bookmarked.
ReplyDeleteI am so relieved that all that Ultimate Pi Day hoopla from yesterday has, unlike pi itself, terminated. At least we won't have to go through all that 14/15 nonsense for another century, or two or three. (Of course, I suppose next March 14 will be "Ultimate Pi Day (Rounded-Up)!"
LegoTheProdigal
Nothing really to do with this week's puzzle, but with all yesterday's π Day hype, let's not forget to Beware the Ides of March today.
DeleteWhen my kids were young and on a grocery store trip we called today the "I'ds of March" as in "I'd like some Cap'n Crunch."
DeleteIde also like to thank you for your timely rem-ide-ner, jan,
DeleteAs I noted in Friday’s Puzzleria!:
“Today is Friday the 13th. Tomorrow is Pi Day the 14th. The next day is “Ides-day” the 15th. Indeed it is a week chock-full of celebrations, with St. Paddy’s Day on March 17 and, best of all, the Feast of St. Joseph on March 19!”
LegoTheCarpenter
I'd say so.
DeleteMonday, 3/16, is the first day of the Bacchanalia. And Wednesday, 3/18, is my wife's birthday.
DeleteFor the last several years it has been my standard operating procedure to post a brief hint or clue – or at lease lay down a marker – each Sunday after I have the answer. However, this week I have not been able to come up with one that wouldn’t be a dead giveaway. So you’re on your own, folks. Happy almost spring to each of you.
ReplyDeleteChuck
I, too, lay down a marker at a lease signing. It's the least I can do, Chuck. ;-)
DeleteI got it almost instantly without even looking at the phrase. As I have posted before, when I see the puzzle comes from Ed Pegg, Jr,, I know I won't enjoy it. No Confucian here.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSpoke with a Japanese friend today who remarked "Hope springs in turtles!"
ReplyDeleteHappy almost spring to all!
He missed it by just a hair!
DeleteWW, it is spring. My happily blooming daffodils told me. The calendar is a few days behind.
DeleteSomething about the placement of letters in both the "challenge" and the answer led me to solve it in record time. I tend to learn more if I have to take time to think and figure it out.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAs Pontius Pilate once said, "The jury's out on this one."
ReplyDeletePIlate--great for the day after PI day.
DeleteI seem to recall that years ago Hollywood was considering making a TV series on the life of Jesus, but they did not think it would be appropriate to start with a Pilate. Several years later a movie director made a movie on the subject and most of the reviewers thought he nailed it in the end.
Deletesdb,
DeleteI understand that even before they nixed the Pilate, Hollywood was anticipating several spin-off series. The two I recall were "Simon-Peter: The Ear-ly Years" and "The Redoubtable Thomas." But I think there were others. Do you recall any?
LegoSpinner
I remember hearing something about "My Last Supper with Andre".
DeleteWell I recall there being a TV show called, Father knows Best. Or maybe it was Father knows Bess. Was there a movie, Paul Robes Son? And, of course, there was, The Loan Manger. I especially enjoy, The Mary Tithes Them More Show.
DeleteOr it could have been Father Knows Beth. Not my field of expertise.
Delete'
ReplyDeleteexactly!
DeleteI noticed Will said nothing about last week's puzzle being a repeat from a few years back. Must've been hesitant to admit it. Oh well, he who hesitates is lost.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is much ado about nothing regarding repeat puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that Will didn't mention it.
DeleteThey used the chat time for table tennis talk, I suppose. As the article was on the last page of SI, perhaps that was much adieu about nothing.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRut roh.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSee the deleted comments at the end of last week, Natasha. . .
DeleteNot even gonna try a clue right now. I had this one before I finished reading it online.
ReplyDeleteThe very Ide-a of using a Mae West line as a hint might be at risk if some feel she would represent moral turpitude or moral turtle dooty. WW, LOL, and SDB You guys rock! Jan, my Mom's birthday was 18th and she claimed she was born on St. Sheila's Day and that Sheila was St. Patrick's wife. Though most people will say SP did not have a wife, I was only able to find one tiny reference to this from Newfoundland (sp?). Do you or anyone else know more about St. Sheila!
ReplyDeleteThanks RoRo, and may your boat row on forever.
DeleteAs I said at the end of last week's thread, I consider solving this one so fast to be a moral victory. Those who are slow in getting it should remember slow and steady wins the race.
ReplyDeleteThat comment was removed by the Blog Administrator. You need to delete this also and reread Blaine's standard reminder again.
DeleteIt's all Greek to me.
ReplyDeleteGreek, like the Wrights are Tar Heels, and Neil is from the moon. :)
Deletezeke greek,
DeleteRight you are, as always. The Wrights were WingHeels, like Mercury, from Dayton, home of the Flyers, and Neil just bayed at the moon, never set foot on it.
LegoLEMda
This puzzle isn't grim.
ReplyDeleteNot Andersen?
DeleteJust be grim and bear it - brother.
DeleteI knew a sad farmer - he was a grim reaper.
DeleteVVRCY XBRRK NMJCK HTBZI JFEWY
ReplyDeleteJLYKX SJSMB NSZHV SIRNI MORRW
INUJI ATOTH VEMWM LGZVU TZHXM
ZLEQA LRNGK KYHTF YTFCN HPSGG
GZMOK JJXKM GEKWU WNIEI BHMTX
UOIBP ZKDFR XBXJJ SSEMQ OZRFN
CPWZU TIOOH WYLDI EBGJX RAWLW
NVAFP AHIBP ZJMDN RTKAJ CCNLS
XOUZT FPRMG ZCBZW BKTDI PXUZP
Speaking of that, where is our friend Paul?
DeletePlannedChaos,
DeleteCould you at least give a clue as to how we are supposed to figure out how to decipher your post?
I tried BOTH VERSIONS of Sharky's Vigenere Cipher using as a key this week's answer and its ROT13; both encoding AND decoding; addition AND subtraction.
EAWAF, since you asked so nicely:
Delete"______ oybbql ______," fnvq ravtzngvpnyyl.
I tried inserting your word decrypted into the middle of this week's answer and still neither that result nor its ROT13 work as a key in either version of Sharky's.
DeleteIdes boy and the author have somewhat in common.
ReplyDeleteLet me get this straight. I can't use what I said on my last post, but PlannedChaos can say whatever that drivel was and get away with it? I have no conceivable idea what he or she said or why, but I couldn't possibly have given it away what I said, could I? I must admit I'm still relatively new to giving hints on this blog.
ReplyDeleteIt is very simple. We are NOT to give actual hints that could help someone to solve the puzzles, but we can post something obscure that might prove to someone who has already solved the puzzle that you have too. This works the same after the Thursday deadline.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Deletepjb,
Deletejan's guidelines from last week's blog are reasonable: "How's this for a guideline: if you Google "collection of stories" and a phrase in your hint, and the answer appears on the first page of hits, it's too obvious."
Also, if another blogger requests I delete a post I generally delete it as a courtesy, especially if the same post was already removed once by Blaine.
Hope that helps.
I thought "Blank and blank" was LAST week.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me about last week’s challenge, Charles Gragg. I gave an obscure clue that I neglected to explain after Thursday’s deadline. That is poor form on my part.
DeleteThe NPR puzzle answer was “room and board >> boardroom.” My clue was “sled dogs,” which are associated with “Mush!” and “snow” >> “mushroom” and “snowboard.”
patrickjberry (and others who may be relatively new posters on this blog),
I don’t post many clues. (It’s tough to give a clue when you’re clueless about Will’s answer, as I often am!) But when I do clue, I try to err on the side of obscurity.
We Blainesvillians take very few things seriously. But death, illness and the answer to the Sunday puzzle are three we do. Blaine has provided and entrusted us with this wonderful forum. We owe it to him to be responsible stewards, and so are loathe to betray that trust.
During my time here, I have given clues that bordered on being “giveways.” I remember deleting one that went too far. Sometimes knowing the answer impairs one’s judgment. Most of us have “been there.”
So, I offer this sincere suggestion: Pause and count the digits of pi before you click on that “publish” button. Maybe run your clue through a search engine, or past a clueless puzzle-solving friend.
And try not to take anyone’s comments personally. We are, after all, all robots.
LegoRoboCapTchaTchaTcha
Lego,
DeleteSpeaking of sled dogs, I am concerned that with the advent of global warming we may soon see the end of the Iditarod Dog Sled Races. With the lack of snow I doubt they will make mush sense.
"Mushroom" was my obscure clue for this puzzle, but I didn't use it.
DeleteI apologize if I went too far at all in any of my posts. Just so you know, this post has no clues whatsoever. I have the answer to this week's puzzle, and that's all that needs to be said.
ReplyDeleteHow obscure would this be: Rocky and Bullwinkle?
ReplyDeleteYou're alluding to Noah Beery, of course.
Deletepjb,
DeleteOr to Dudley Mounties Dew, right?
Seriously, your new clue is probably sufficiently obscure not to be removed by our Fearless Leader blog administrator.
Paul,
Good to see you surface. Hate to rain on your St. Paddy’s Day Parade, but I believe pjb was alluding to Noah Green Beery.
LegoBragh
I don't know how you got Noah Berry out of what I said, but sure, go with that.
ReplyDeleteNoah counting for some of the trains of thought here in Blainesville.
DeleteOr ark enemies. . .
DeleteIn the words of Patrick Henry, "...
Delete"Give me liberty or give me Rockfordphiles!"
DeleteLegoPaddyO'Henry
Sorry, Beery.Stupid autocorrect!
ReplyDeleteJan, you're much too fast for me! I was right in the middle of correcting that and you beat me to it with your comment.
ReplyDeleteOne last annoyance for pi haters:
ReplyDeleteWrite the digits 113355 in a straight line.
Draw five straight lines and nothing more
or less to form an approximation of pi.
Midweek Quiz
ReplyDeleteWhat’s Anastasia’s favorite song?
Chances Czar
Chuck
Or, perhaps this?
DeleteLegoCarrotsThroneToTheHeir
The following is from my friend Beatles_and_Melanie_fan
ReplyDeleteHey Blaine's puzzle bloggers!
I asked my friend Enya_and_Weird_Al_fan to post this on Blaine's puzzle blog. I think he has mentioned me a couple of times on a post or two.
He has more time for solving the weekly NPR puzzle than I do! He usually solves it quickly, so I don't really spend much time on it. If he can't solve it, then I like working on it myself which includes reading our puzzle blog!
I have always enjoyed the posts and banter between all the regular members! I usually would rather create a puzzle then solve it, so, here is a link to a puzzle I made up for you guys to try! Here is the link.
http://www.recordshowsofamerica.com/puzzle.html
Sincerely,
Beatles_and_Melanie_fan
AESOP'S FABLES
ReplyDeleteAESOP'S FABLES
ReplyDelete>> Spoke with a Japanese friend today who remarked "Hope springs in turtles!"
> He missed it by just a hair!
As in The Tortoise and the Hare.
Aesop’s Fables
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “For the last several years it has been my standard operating procedure to post a brief hint or clue – or at least lay down a marker – each Sunday after I have the answer. However, this week I have not been able to come up with one that wouldn’t be a dead giveaway.” Standard operating procedure – SOP – as in Aesop. Able as in parables and fables.
Chuck
Aesop's Fables. You say Parables, I say Fables...let's not call the whole thing off.
ReplyDeletePARABLES OF JESUS >>> AESOP'S FABLES
ReplyDelete"When first published, this collection used pica-sized type." pointed toward the name "Aesopica" as an alternate name for "Aesop's Fables."
'Spoke with a Japanese friend today who remarked "Hope springs in turtles!"'. . .As in the Aesop's Fable about the tortoise and the hare.
PARABLES OF JESUS >>> AESOP'S FABLES
ReplyDelete"When first published, this collection used pica-sized type." pointed toward the name "Aesopica" as an alternate name for "Aesop's Fables."
'Spoke with a Japanese friend today who remarked "Hope springs in turtles!"'. . .As in the Aesop's Fable about the tortoise and the hare.
By the time I got to the blog on Sunday, there were several posts which seemed to give away the answer quite openly, which led me to simply spell out the answer. Surprisingly, those posts were removed, but mine was allowed to remain:
ReplyDelete"According to Housman, the usual way to solve this would be to note that MAHABHARATA is eleven letters, ILLIAD/ODYSSEY is 13 letters, etc." -- A. E. Housman + ("usual way" = Standard Operating Procedure = SOP) = AESOP.
(I wasn't quite as daring as Chuck, who later posted Standard Operating Procedure nakedly.)
If a blogger chooses to blog while naked, that's his/her choice ;-).
DeleteHere is my earlier post which Blaine deleted:
ReplyDeleteAfter removing the 3 letters AND spaces, I plan to post something like this on Thursday:
───┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬────
═══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪════
───┼──┴──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼────
───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┴──┼──┼────
───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┴──┼────
───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┴──┼────────┼────
───┴─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼────────┼────
─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼────────┴────
─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼─────────────
─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┴─────────────
─────────┴──┼──┼──┼──┼───────────────────
────────────┴──┼──┼──┼───────────────────
───────────────┴──┼──┼───────────────────
──────────────────┴──┼───────────────────
─────────────────────┴───────────────────
Ok, what I post on Thursday won't look quite this good, but it should still look pretty nice.
And this is what I had planned to post today:
───P──a──a──b──l──e──s──o──f──e──s──s────
═══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪════
───┼──a──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼───A
───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──e──┼──┼───e
───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────s──┼───s
───┼─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──o──┼────────┼───o
───p─────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼────────┼───p
─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼────────s───s
─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────┼─────────────
─────────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────f────────────f
─────────a──┼──┼──┼──┼──────────────────a
────────────b──┼──┼──┼──────────────────b
───────────────l──┼──┼──────────────────l
──────────────────e──┼──────────────────e
─────────────────────s──────────────────s
Charlie Ruggles was the voice of Aesop on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Another of his roles was B. O. Boyne in The Man From 1997, which also featured a young James Garner. Garner went on to play Jim Rockford, son of Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, played by Noah Beery. Noah's ark is believed to have landed on Mt. Ararat, in Turkey. I guess Aesop wasn't born in Greece. Patrick Henry is reported to have said, on a certain occasion, "I smell a rat." Here's a hint I thought unfit to print prior to the deadline: John 13:26(KJV)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Paul. I forgot the Noah's ark clue re: Turkey and Aesop.
DeleteThe frigid place Aesop hales from is Phrygia.
ReplyDeleteThe author,Paul, of the Bible and Aesop are from Turkey.
Ides boy, Julius Caesar, and Aesop have the 'ae' thing in common.
I wrote "It's all Greek to me.", wasn't Aesop Greek? Or is that funny spelling a Latin thing?
ReplyDeleteMuch of their world in that day operated in Greek just as much of our world today operates in English.
DeleteZeke Greek
AESOP'S FABLES Rocky and Bullwinkle would occasionally present a segment called "Aesop and Son", in which Aesop would tell a fable to his son, who would usually give his own punny moral at the end. But the voice of Aesop was credited as Edward Everett Horton. How'd he get the name Charlie Ruggles anyway?
ReplyDeleteMaybe you know something I don't. Edward Everett Horton was clearly credited as the narrator of "Fractured Fairy Tales".
DeleteI just checked an old episode of R&B that contains an A&S segment and no FFT segment -- there are no credits for the individual segments, and Horton appears in the end credits while Ruggles does not.
HOWEVER, Turner Classic Movies states that Charlie Ruggles "went uncredited as the voice of Aesop in the "Aesop and Son" segment of "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" (ABC/NBC, 1959-1964)."(you have to click to view the full biography)
Both IMDb and wikipedia also credit him as Aesop's voice.
Adding to the confusion:
Both men lived from 1886 to 1970 (Ruggles lived a few months longer than Horton), and both appeared in movies with the title "Ruggles of Red Gap" -- Horton in a silent 1923 film as "Ruggles", and Ruggles in a 1935 comedy as "Egbert Floud".
If my sources are to be trusted.
I just looked up Horton's and Ruggles' biographies. If they were two different guys, they sure had similar voices. I had assumed Charlie Ruggles was a pseudonym Horton used. Just shows you don't get everything right.
DeleteMy post that some earlier giveaway posts should be removed as soon as possible was referring to ASAP - sounds like Aesop.
ReplyDeleteRemove JUR from “Parables of Jesus” and rearrange the remaining letters to obtain AESOP'S FABLES.
ReplyDeleteMy hint: the GREEK letter π. Aesop was a Greek Storyteller some 600 years before Jesus.
As Pontius Pilate once said, "The JURy's out on this one.
ReplyDeleteMy clues re- Andersen, Hans C and ' (Aesop's)
ReplyDeleteI wrote" "I have this week's answer bookmarked." Among the blogs in my bookmarks/favorites list is An Englishman Solves American Puzzles, which acronyms to AESAP. Close enough for me.
ReplyDeleteLegoHappySaintJoseph'sDay
Next week's challenge: 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.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you get no credit for answering a puzzle this easy.
ReplyDeleteLast week, I inadvertently crossed the line and gave a too revealing hint. Having once again found the puzzle rather easy, I am feeling like Sisyphus, pushing that stone up the hill as I struggle to come up with an appropriate comment.
ReplyDeleteSuperZee - Perhaps we should play it safe and sit this one out.
DeleteNot sure that Will gets such a high grade for this one. Oh well, maybe next week.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete