Sunday, May 03, 2015

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 3, 2015): Everything, Including The Kitchen Sink

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 3, 2015): Everything, Including The Kitchen Sink:
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?
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.
A: CAKE PAN --> PANCAKE

169 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.

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  2. No clue here but I only went down about three blind alleys before coming upon the correct answer. Took about ten minutes tops. If I can think of a sneaky clue I’ll get back in touch.

    Chuck

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  3. And BTW you don't need the one to prepare the other.

    Chuck

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  4. Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas.

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  5. I spent a while thinking about how I may pull this answer out. I wasn't thinking about it, but my wife and I went shopping and we were in the kitchenwares aisle and I saw the implement; no clue in this sentence, just a true (really) account. ---Rob

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    1. That sounds like a story you would make up, Rob.

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    2. Now that Rob has given away that the "thing you might see in the kitchen" is an implement, my answer of a SPLIT BANANA & BANANASPLIT won't work!

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    3. And I always thought an imp lament was a fairy sigh. . .

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    4. On somewhat a different but similar note how about the President and his S.S. agents?

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  6. I thought I had this one all figured out. The “food (one) might prepare in a kitchen” that I ended up with was “potatoes.” But then I realized my “something you might see in a kitchen” was not a two-word phrase but a three-word phrase, alas, and I had put not “the second word in front of the first” but the third word in front of the first two! Fiddlesticks!

    (This comment contains no intended clue to Will Shortz’s intended answer. It is simply a tale of puzzle-solving woe.)

    HannibalLegoctor(a.k.a.DanQuayleWhoPrefersSingleServings)

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    Replies
    1. Actually my mother used to make the intended answer which included potatoes.

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    2. benmar12001,
      So you're telling me there's a chance? Yes! Lapel pin, here I come!

      LegoLambdumbest

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    4. Uh, let me get this straight. You, legolambda, thought that the "something you might see in a kitchen" was "a toe's pot"?

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    5. Poore olde Dan "Potatoe" Quayle. That's his Legacye. And not a Subarue in sighte.

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    6. When your mom made them, benmar12001, how long did they last?

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    7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    8. Good call. Quite continental, even!

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    9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    10. jan, are you being surreptīcius?

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    11. I think Lego was referencing, in a round about way, a ROAST POT which he might use to prepare a POTROAST.

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    12. I thought a pot roast was only legal in Washington and Colorado

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    13. You are right. I think he found a PARTY BOWL in his kitchen which he used to prepare his BOWLPARTY.

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    14. Well here in Washington bowling alleys have become few and far between. Now it seems to be more Bowling For Concubine.

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    15. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    17. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    18. No. It was his SUPPER BOWL that he used to prepare his Super BOWLSUPPER.

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    19. You are being a little too obvious.

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    20. ron,
      You may be right, but certainly not as obvious as some earlier posts here today.

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    21. Bravo for deleting that post!

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    22. Thanks, ron, but I thought it was well hidden. But I also believe discretion is the butter part of velour.

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    23. It was your least hidden clue. . .other than flat-out giving the answer.

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    24. We all, including Blaine, overstep on occasion and it was your post, WW, 2 or 3 weeks ago that led me directly to the answer to that week's puzzle.

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    25. Word WomanSun Apr 19, 06:08:00 PM PDT
      Welcome, coolinacrisis!

      I think it would work better as a boat trip.

      Delete

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  7. One glance at the Sunday newspaper is all it took!

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  8. Go to Wikipedia, enter the <something you might see in a kitchen>, and you will be redirected to a single word followed by two words in parenthesis. Now enter just that single word by itself, and you go to something you definitely DON'T WANT in your food.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I definitely WANT that in some of my foods. Smile when you say that.

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    2. Oh, jeez, not this again. . .

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    3. I guess it depends on the food. Some of those pictures are going to be in my nightmares. --Margaret G.

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  9. I marvel at the resiliency of people. The 101 year old man being dug out of his flattened home with only minor injuries amazes me. The government gave up hope after a week, but he didn't.

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  10. Another 'bedsolver" puzzle. Anyway it reminds me of global warming. It also reminds me of two jokes, one of which I almost posted yesterday evening. Have to wait until Thursday now.

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  11. (Just thought I'd hop in there with that comment.)

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  12. You might do that on your Berfday, jan.

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  13. I hope bophum don't get zapped by the administrator, Jan.

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  14. Last week's actors yield a make-up puzzle:

    Take the name of a fictional character in books, movies and TV, famous for their profession. Rearrange the letters of their first and last name to name one of the actors named in last week's puzzle. Ironically, the actor is best known for his role in the same profession.

    Two other puzzles while thinking about this week's:
    1) Think of a two-word phrase for something you might see in a kitchen. Remove the last letter and then 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 eat.
    2) Think of a food item in 5 letters. Move the first 3 letters to the back to come up with another food item. (Sneaking suspicion this may have been a puzzle at one point).

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  15. I see no one else contributed this week's puzzle, Will had to make up the thing himself. At first I thought the cards were stacked against me, but I solved this one in no time flat.

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  16. On a different topic, here's an unrelated puzzle: Think of a type of singing group in two words. Add an L and rearrange the rest to get the name of a well-known singer/songwriter whose songs you probably wouldn't hear the singing group perform. What are these? Answer Thursday.

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  17. BTW here's an appropriate anagram following yesterday's Kentucky Derby: AMERICAN PHAROAH=AH, A RARE CHAMPION

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    Replies
    1. Holy Crap! Wonderful anagram!

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    2. I agree, it's a very nice anagram, but I'd be careful what I say, if I were you, UJ.

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  18. I think I'm close but, I keep going back and forth on this.

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  19. Solved this quickly, especially satisfying because I turned 50 today. Reminded me that, age notwithstanding, I'm still a fighter.

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    Replies
    1. Best birthday wishes, Philly Cinephile. Are there any great/good movies that involve birthdays? If so, what is your favorite?

      LegoFellowPuzzleGrappler

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    2. Happy L, PC. Have another sweet trip around the sun!

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    3. Legolambda, two that come to mind are "The Boys in the Band" and the birthday party scene from "Mommie Dearest". I should be able to think of others, but I'm drawing a blank...

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    4. I love musicals; do you think I would enjoy Boys in the Band?

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    5. skydiveboy, I doff my cap to you!

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    6. Thank you, Philly Cinephile, and I too love movies and have an enormous collection on DVD. Most are foreign and independent as I don't care much for Hollywood films. That being said, there are some wonderful Hollywood movies, such as Goodnight And Good Luck. I am still trying to locate a recipe for Connie Casserole with no luck at all.

      As for hats, my favorite is a Stetson fedora, light grey, that was made in the 1940's. There seems to be no way to discover the exact year, but I assume it would have been 1945 or 1946, because that is when men would have been leaving the armed forces in droves and would require new wardrobes.

      This hat cost me a fortune when I found it less than two years ago as I was about to leave a local Goodwill Store and saw it hanging on a rack in an isle to be put away. It looked like it needed a dumpster as it was all crumpled and yellow stained. I could not talk them down from the outrageous $4.99 price tag since it had just come in, so I took a chance and when I returned back home I was easily able to brush off the yellow, which I think was most likely just yellow chalk dust. The following day I took it downtown to our amazing hat store that has been there 81 years now and the owner blocked it for me for free and told me all about it for over half an hour. I get compliments on this hat constantly.

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  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  21. After reviewing the above, it looks like Rob is quickest to spot this item in a store.

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  22. I'm not making any frivolous, facetious, or tongue-in-cheek remarks this week. I'm concentrating on tricky punctuation ¡

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  23. ¡¡¡ʇxǝʇ ʎɯ dıןɟ oʇ ʍoɥ ʇno pǝɹnƃıɟ ı

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  24. I actually prepared this today. Realized it was the answer to the puzzle a few minutes later.

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  25. I will be the first to admit that the following is *Bogus!*, but perhaps m'lords and ladies can follow my twisted reasoning: Take something you might find in your library, briefly, and something you might find in your den, reverse each, string them together, tack on something which, sorry, you might find in your kitchen, and you will get something you almost certainly will find in your bathroom.

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    Replies
    1. Colonel Mustard with the Candlestick in the Dining Room.

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  26. Beerschot 1901 -sounds like a boilermaker.
    Provides a clue to second answer. Word counts OK.

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  27. Here are the letters I can print upside down but not backwards:

    C upside down is C
    D upside down is D
    E upside down is E
    H upside down is H
    I upside down is I
    K upside down is K
    M upside down is W
    O upside down is O
    W upside down is M
    X upside down is X

    Chuck

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  28. Replies
    1. One could *almost* say you have a flair for that sort of thing, jan.

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  29. Happy Star Wars Day! May the 4th be with you!

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  30. Things have not always been so happy here in Baltimore lately. If I knew you were comin, I would tell you wait a bit. The police may try to pat-pat you down. And watch out for those icy stares.
    At least the Film festival is next week. I can get lost in some fantasies

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    1. RoRo, been thinking of you and Baltimore. Take care.

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    2. Thanks. Things are quiet for now since charges are being brought against the officers. One of the professional theaters here is putting on a play about Bob Marley and my daughter is in it. The cast went to the site of the unrest and sang Marley songs of struggle and protest. My other friends are doing agnihotra in the public park daily.

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    3. अग्निहोत्र, RoRo. Glad you can do positive things for your city and her people.

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  31. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  32. I jumped to conclusion right away - is Will slacking off in his puzzle kitchen due to food coma?

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  33. I hop, you hop, we all hop for porkchops

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  34. Blainesvillians,
    If any of you have not yet solved this week’s NPR puzzle (neither have I), I have just posted on Puzzleria!’s Comments Section (May 6 at 8:20 PM) six alternative answers. I cannot guarantee that Will will accept any of them as correct entries, but feel free to pick and choose any if you get desperate for an answer…

    On second thought, it’s probably better to keep working on finding Will’s intended answer. Why waste your email?

    LegoFutileExerciser/Exorciser/Exhorter

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  35. If the answer is an obvious one that jumps into my mind then I have to say this puzzle is BoguS, or better yet: BS!

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  36. Hmmm... There may be a calendar-related theme here.

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  37. Since I will be Otherwise Occupied at 3:00 PM EDT today, I will post my answer now. Not to the official challenge, which I assume everyone here solved long ago, but to my self-proclaimed Bogus puzzle:

    Take something you might find in your library [Oxford English Dictionary], briefly [OED], and something you might find in your den [ROD, as in fishing rod], reverse each [DEO, DOR], string them together [DEODOR], tack on something which, sorry, you might find in your kitchen [ANT], and you will get something you almost certainly will find in your bathroom [DEODORANT].

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    1. Bob Kerfuffle,
      That is indeed a fun clever puzzle. I humbly suggest you submit it to Will Shortz. When he uses it, everyone here in Blainesville will have an inside track on the lapel pin!

      I also humbly suggest one slight tweak, however. Will's snobbish NPR audience will be offended at the suggestion that they might find an ANT in their kitchen. So, keep the reverse-spelling pattern intact and instead write: "... tack on something which you might well have found on 1970s-1980s-era commercial television, and reverse that..." [T&A] = [TNA] >> [ANT].

      Lego"ThisWeek'sPuzzleWasSentToUsByListenerBobKerfuffle..."

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    2. I agree, the stereotypical NPR listeners wouldn't deign to having ant in their kitchens: they'd have a nice oaky chardonnay in the kitchen, and Prius in the garage. I instead have ale in the kitchen, and an old Subaru in the driveway.

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    3. Both my aunt and uncle have been in my kitchen and I am not ashamed to admit it either.

      Once while I was visiting them in their Sycamore, Illinois home years ago, we were planning on attending the company picnic where my uncle was a high level manager, but the weather was questionable at best which caused my aunt to decide not to go with us. I, however, got her to reconsider when I told her, "It won't be a real picnic without aunts."

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    4. I use my Prius to run over ants in my kitchen, after anesthetizing them with an okay, but not great, Chardonnay. I drink my ale in the garage to avoid being disturbed while listening to NPR.

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    5. Are you saying ants are good for what ales you?

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    6. I agree. I have been known to embrace my aunts and my vices.

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    7. ... Until they cry, "Uncle!"

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    8. Which would bring me to my niece.

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    9. ANTS! They're crawling up my arms...and my legs...and SPIDERS...and ELEPHANTS...FLYING PINK ELEPHANTS!!!

      Aunt Bertha! I need a hug!

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    10. Your Prius is not large enough. I think you need more trunk space.

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    11. Did I just now watch La Gioconda at the Hippodrome?

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    12. CAKE PAN >>> PANCAKES

      "Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas" referred to the mixed breed dogs or POTCAKES found there. My friend adopted one--great canine.


      "That sounds like a story you would make up, Rob." alluded to pancake make-up.

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    13. WW, if I'd noticed, I'd forgive you.
      Going to check out POTCAKES now.

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    14. Whatever. I think this puzzle deserves to be panned.

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    15. Oh, I forgot! Pan is Spanish for bread.
      I know that means something.

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    16. Don't rob the Peter Pan to pay, Paul.

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    17. And if anyone can tell me why I'm thinking about Charlie Daniels right now, you win the golden Purkinje cell award.

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    18. Speaking of Pan, I thought of and let go the following: Pangaea, Peter Pan, and Pan for Bread (much less successful than panning for gold).

      "Something" seems singular to me but as long as they are both singular or plural, I can rest easy. ;-)

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  38. CAKE PANS > PANCAKES

    My Hints:

    “Another 'bedsolver" puzzle. Anyway it reminds me of global warming. It also reminds me of two jokes, one of which I almost posted yesterday evening.”

    This is hinting at DEICING and this may be de icing on de cake in regards to global warming.

    “jan, are you being surreptīcius?”

    Or perhaps I could have spelled it SYRUPTICIUS. While I am not excited about this puzzle, I do think it was used at the most propitious time, just two days after May Day. I say this because many people like to use MAYPOLE SYRUP on their PANCAKES.

    Below is the post I deleted which some thought too revealing:

    “I'm still a little unclear about this though. I think it was just two or three days ago my next door neighbor, Jack, was telling me about his super bowl and how good it was. Anyway let's not get into a flap over this.”

    I didn’t think it was as revealing as some others that were posted, but I deleted it in order that it did not cause anyone’s batter to splatter.

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  39. CAKE PAN -> PANCAKE

    > Don't be a creep.

    Sorry, typo, I meant crêpe.

    >> Actually my mother used to make the intended answer which included potatoes.

    > When your mom made them, benmar12001, how long did they last?

    Potato pancakes have traditionally been eaten on Channukah, fried in oil to symbolize the miracle of a day's worth of oil lasting for 8 days. More recently, latkes are giving way to fried jelly donuts. As JFK didn't say, Ich bit ein sufganiyah.

    > You can't make this stuff up.

    Refers to pancake makeup. Originally a Max Factor trademark, developed for the movie industry, when Technicolor replaced Panchromatic (black & white) film, because the previously used product looked too dark. I can't tell for sure whether the name refers the shape of the product or to "Panchromatic" (it used to be spelled "Pan-Cake").

    > (Just thought I'd hop in there with that comment.)

    IHOP reference.

    > I almost found a cure-all.

    "Panacea" is so close to an anagram.

    > Hmmm... There may be a calendar-related theme here.

    This week, Will's other media outlet ran recipes under the headline "Sophisticated Crepes to Sweeten Mother's Day".

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    Replies
    1. You are reminding me of an old joke I would never stoop to tell:

      Did you hear what happened to Helena Rubinstein? Max Factor.

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    2. Why? Are you preparing for a dress rehearsal in Un Ballo in Maschera?

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    3. You guys know a lot about make-up: what comes first--the kiss or the make-up?

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  40. cake pan, pancake

    Last Sunday I said, “And BTW you don’t need the one to prepare the other.” You don’t need a cake pan to prepare a pancake.

    Chuck

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  41. Frivolous, facetious, and tongue-in-cheek are synonyms for flippant.
    Flair is synonymous with panache, which is almost an anagram of panacea, which means the same thing as cure-all.
    Judges 7:13

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  42. Replies
    1. I never thought I'd enjoy watching Eva Gabor losing her cookies.

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    2. ...and please notice I did not say she had shingles.

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  43. My clue - "...looks like roB IS QUICKest to ...." For Bisquick.

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    1. Flew right by me, Snipper. Excellent!

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    2. There used to be a Betty Crocker product back in the 1960's that never caught on. It was an instant beer mix designed for hikers and all you had to do was add cold water. It was called Pissquick.

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    3. One thing about beer, Edith, you can't buy it, you can only rent it.

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    4. Or bank.
      Bunk, bank, bonk ... whatever.

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    5. Bunk as in Bunker. . .or maybe you're just being coy, Paul?

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    6. How does 'noncommittal' work for you?

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  44. Blaine,

    Now that it's OK to freely discuss the answer, what the heck do lima beans have to do with cake pans or pancakes?

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  45. Answers to alternative puzzles:

    DISH + RA(g) reverse = radish.
    Pasta (with first 3 letters moved to back = Tapas (I still think Will used this, but I can't remember...)

    And from the previous week: Philip Marlowe (a fictional detective) anagrams to William Hopper, an actor best known for his role as a detective.

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    Replies
    1. Philip Marlowe / William Hopper

      It doesn't get better than that.

      Thanks, ecoarchitect.

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    2. T'would be the best serendipitous symmetry if Bogie (or someone else who portrayed Marlow) would anagram to Paul Drake. Alas Dick Powell, who comes closest, shares only five letters with Perry Mason's P.I.

      LegoWeWantMorePuzzlesWithGabogart!

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  46. Replies
    1. And jan asked how long they lasted, and I thought he was talking about 'selling like hotcakes'.

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  47. CAKE PAN

    PANCAKE

    I knew there would be at least one reference to IHOP. “Just thought I'd HOP in there with...” “I HOPe...” and the blatant “I hop, you hop...” et al.
    Then there are the “flapjack” people. Way too obvious. And there are the short “stack” “flat cake” & “flat as a pancake” people, also way too obvious. Also “go/sell like hotcakes.”

    People need to remember: “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)... You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away,” to quote Blaine's instructions! IHOP, of course, "leads directly to the answer via an INTERNET SEARCH."

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    Replies
    1. And the cereal killer goes unnoticed ...
      MUWHAHAHAHAAA!

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  48. I'm a little late today. Had two doctor's appointments, the dentist and a regular checkup. Nothing serious. The answer to this week's puzzle is CAKE PAN and PANCAKE, the answer to my puzzle was BOY BAND+L=BOB DYLAN. Don't think twice, it's all right. Or is it in sync?

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  49. I got it I hope you got it

    (cake Pan) & (Pancake)

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  50. While I agree that CAKE PAN/PANCAKE is, "more probably than not" Will's intended answer, while researching potential alternates, I was surprised to learn you can buy bread spoons - actually spoon shaped pieces of toast - as well as the cutters and molds for making them. (They are used as the base for some canapes..)

    With that in mind, I wonder what Will will say about the alternative answer BREAD SPOON/SPOONBREAD...

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    Replies
    1. But canapés ever know or sure? I don't trust monkeys that much.

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    2. Wasn't it the Three Stooges who served a Can of Peas?

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  51. Happy Mothers Day to much of the XX crowd.
    Love, zekiepoo.
    Sorry, no timely response to my clues.
    As my Canadian friends would say, "I was oot and about."

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  52. Next week's challenge:

    This challenge comes from listener Rudy Simons of Southfield, Mich. 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.

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    Replies
    1. zeke creek ,thank you for the good wishes...and how appropo as one third of the trio to this week's puzzle. We had a branch-bending, snow-covering storm here in town last night. Hope mother nature helps with a quick warm up and major melting today.

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  53. ⅔ of my 2 answers (so far) may be unacceptable.

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    Replies
    1. 3 answers, still 66.66% questionable (at best).

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    2. 4 answers, 58.33% disapproval rating.

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  54. I hope my answer found the bullseye

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  55. Clueless as usual I gave up until the Waffle House gang came to the rescue

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  56. "I hope" and "waffle house" sound like clues to last week's puzzle!

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  57. Did you see that latest archeological find? Students from a local university found charred, but fossilized, remains of a woolly mammoth on the banks of a river in Ireland.

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  58. I've submitted 3 answers and a possible 4th. (The 3-syllable word has a 2-syllable alternate pronunciation.)

    If Paul has two of my 3 answers, his concern about 2 of them may be that (at least with mine), in 2 of my answers the 1-syllable words are proper nouns -- and one of those is foreign!

    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.