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 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.
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.
From the tail-end of last week:
DeleteSun Jun 21, 05:09:00 AM PDT
Queueing up to answer this one. . .
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHow now brown cow.
ReplyDeleteNot really a hint, but a Google search turned up this:
ReplyDelete-The Monarch's Daughter-
Once upon a time a handsome honey bee, fell in love
. . . with a butterfly he met in a tulip tree.
He said " I love you madly and I want to share your life.
Let's fly together away. Will you be my wife?"
" No, no, no," cried she. For I am a monarch's daughter. . .
. . . and you're just a son of a bee."
-Allison Sanders-
And, as I said at the end of last week's blog: rodent droppings.
DeleteMoose droppings also?
DeleteSo now what?
ReplyDeleteMow the lawn? Wish dads here a Happy Fathers Day? (yes and yes)
^^^^Father's
DeleteIf it's for all of us fathers, shouldn't it be Fathers' Day?
DeleteSure, jan, why not?! Happy Fathers' Day!
DeleteWould that be A Post Trophy?
DeleteMother's Day was established first and was set so each family to celebrate its mother. Grammatically speaking, it could be Mothers' Day (i.e., a day to celebrate all the mothers in the world). However, the singular possessive Mother's Day is the version used in the law which made the day an official holiday.Later when Father's Day was established by Congress in 1913 it followed this precedence of a singular possessive. Happy Father's Day!
DeleteCongress schmongress.
DeleteHappy Fathers' Day, Blaine, et al..
Yes, it has always kinda bugged me about those apostrophes in MD and FD. But, not nearly so much as the motel sign on our recent road trip "Pet's Welcome."
DeleteFathers, you all are welcome on this Fathers' Day! I agree with Paul about Congress schmongress!
Got an invitation to a block party, urging us to "get to know you're neighbors". But it's the thought that counts.
Deletei like the signs I see frequently at places such as GOODWILL stores that say: MENS or WOMENS.
DeleteCould've been a typo. You have to demonstrate mens rea.
DeleteAt least it wasn't "get to no you're neighbor's."
DeleteMaybe, some day, we can all follow the Apostopholic Creed.
Ahem, Apostropholic. Checking my mens rea.
DeleteAfter I got the answer (one of the easiest puzzles ever), I moved again onto my recliner; it's going to be a day of reading for me, thank goodness. ---Rob
ReplyDeleteHope you have a good book in hand.
DeleteA best-seller, maybe a self-homonym?
DeleteConfucius say, "Man who runs behind car gets exhausted!"
ReplyDeleteAnd he who runs in front of car gets tired, I guess.
DeleteAnd he who runs in front of bicycles gets too tired.
DeleteFor some reason I got this in just a few seconds – before I had even turned off the radio and gotten out of bed. I am reminded of a famous performer.
ReplyDeleteChuck
I submitted my answer an hour ago, but I have not gotten the automated e-mail message acknowledging receipt yet. I have checked AnteSpam, which my e-mail provider uses, but it is not there. Has NPR stopped sending those messages?
ReplyDeleteNo, I got a reply.
DeleteMe, too.
DeleteMe, three.
DeleteChuck
Mine came back immediately. Good luck to us all! ---Rob
DeleteShould I resubmit my answer?
DeletePatience!
DeleteAs Captain Oveur suggested, Will should have kept this one to himself.
ReplyDeleteLee Iacocca likes the best foods.
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you where he can go!
DeleteGot to have chow with Shawne Merriman last week. Not at all like you would think, comrades.
ReplyDeleteVery nice clue!
DeleteI think I've seen better.
Deletechow Merriman - Chairman Mao
DeleteI'm fixin for Nixon.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as we're done shopping.
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite comment this week.
Deletedone shopping.- Deng Xiaoping, Mao's Secretary General.
DeleteDidn't someone try to take out his "Number" once?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletezeke, not appropriate for today, if you get my meaning. Please delete.
DeleteOh, crap, now nobody will be able to figure out my Beatles hint.
DeleteHow about a Pete Seeger / Byrds hint to your Beatles hint?
DeleteNaw man! you got to go back way back, to doo wop. There was a mama version but the papa versiou was more popular.
DeleteNaw man! you got to go back way back, to doo wop. There was a mama version but the papa versiou was more popular.
DeleteBetween the news from Charleston and this puzzle, I'm thinking of "Eve of Destruction".
DeleteSo sorry, Charlie. Potty humor not apropoo. :)
ReplyDeleteWe need a new topic. Any taker's? (sic) AND ;-)
ReplyDeleteOK, WW.
ReplyDeleteMe archangel.
He was no angel but he was a monarch.
Chuck
Ya ha ha.
DeleteWow! Reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons!
ReplyDeleteMy musical clue is also the Beatles. We must all be thinking of the same song. This was the first thing that came to mind when I solved it.
ReplyDeleteHam macaroni pretty much rules any dinner table.
ReplyDeleteI am a monarch anagrams to ham macaroni.,
DeleteI was quite surprised that the answer to this puzzle bears quite a resemblance to one of a few weeks ago! Or perhaps, now that I think more clearly about it, to answers batted around on this blog, rather than to what was the actual answer.
ReplyDeleteI agree - I was also reminded of a similar misplaced anagram with an E instead of an A. --Margaret G.
DeleteFrank Sinatra ruled like a monarch.
ReplyDeleteLeo,
DeleteThis past weekend was the Old Timers Day game at Yankee Stadium. When Whitey Ford was introduced, he received a roaring ovation. That reminded me that when he played for the Yankees in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s he was as popular in New York as anyone ever was, including Frank Sinatra.
In fact, something similar might be appropriate to say about Will Shortz...
DeleteAll I can say about this puzzle is oh, meow.
ReplyDeleteNow that you have all finally solved this easy puzzle you might enjoy a trip over to Lego's puzzle blog and see if you can solve the photo puzzle I came up with last week and Lego is running. It is easy if you pay close attention to my presentation.
ReplyDeletehttp://puzzleria.blogspot.com/
Earlier, I noticed the cleaning lady had disturbed my collection of twelve commemorative coffee cups. After rearranging them, I saw the answer.
ReplyDeleteI solved this puzzle while eating.
ReplyDeleteClues can be found from other performers besides the Fab Four.
ReplyDeleteBesides Frank Sinatra and the Beatles, other performers have names and/or works related to this week's puzzle.
DeleteChairmen of the Board was name of a soul group that had a few hits in the early 1970's "Give Me Just a Little More Time").
Then there's the non-musical comedy album "The First Family", Vaughn Meader's classic impression of JFK and the era of the Kennedy Presidency. One skit has JFK hosting world leaders at the White House. When he asks Chaing Kai Shek what he would like for lunch, the Taiwanese leader responded with "a club sandwich." JFK then asked him "Would you like a little mayo on that sandwich?" to which the General vehemently answered "Please--do not mention that name" (MAYO = MAO). A classic album for the ages, even over 50 years since it was released,
The answer came when I jumped head first.
ReplyDeleteMao's Great Leap Forward
DeleteNear the end of last week's thread I posted on Sun Jun 21, at 05:52:00 AM PDT:
ReplyDeleteThis coming Thursday at around noon my time, I plan to post something similar to the following:
─I────A──M────A────M──O──N──A──R──C──H───
═╪════╪══╪════╪════╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪═══
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──*
Ok, what I post Thursday won't look quite this good, but it should still look pretty good, nevertheless.
February may be the shortest month, but IMHO, it's not nearly short enough for those of us in the Northeast. I say we knock a few more days off and give them to the next month.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, how about the second Sunday of the third month?
DeleteActually, we would be better off moving days from July and August to February. This would both even out the length of months, but also help with global warming, since we are moving days from hot months to a cold month.
DeleteSenator David?!
DeletePresident David!...
Delete"David's our Fave!"
In your brain you know he's bright!"
"The David: Not one to trump his own horn!"
"We crave David in 2016... which, as David can tell you, if you take the sum of its square and cube, results in a number containing one of each digit!"
LegoDavid'sCampaignManager
And I got it while sitting on the throne--how appropriate.
ReplyDeleteMr. Commodude,
DeleteSay what!?
LegoLambdaChamberPotCallingTheBathtubWhite
Howdy Lego and WW,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of bathtubs, and segue to birdbath, could the answer be the bird?
Howdy, zeke creek. We could ask the passersby.
Delete“I AM A MONARCH” anagrams to: CHAIRMAN MAO.
DeletePardon my last minute comment, but I was busy cat-sitting all week. Now, I'll just wait for the 'Will Call' this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteI AM A MONARCH >>> CHAIRMAN MAO
Delete"Queueing up to give the answer" pointed to Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao's fourth wife.
Moose dung is not quite mouse dung but it's kind of close.
"Passersby" in my reply to zeke creek referred to the Passer domesticus, the sparrow Chairman Mao tried to eradicate.
WORD BIRD, as all know, the bird is the word, ababba who MAO MAO.
DeleteRoro's was my second favorite comment this week.
DeleteCHAIRMAN MAO
ReplyDeleteMy hints:
My first hint was deleted by Blaine, but since then several other posters posted similar hints which were not deleted. I suspect Blaine has been conspicuous by his absence again. My deleted hint was:
“I don't think it was Frank Sinatra.” His nickname was Chairman of the Board.
“Didn't someone try to take out his "Number" once?” This hint is pointing in the direction of Chinese take out food, which usually has numbered items on the menu. I have no evidence there is a dish named after him, but if not, I suspect it is only a matter of time.
Sometimes famous people get dishes named after them, but I'm not sure that's generally ... the case.
DeleteMaybe only the Tsosen few.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCHAIRMAN MAO (I threw that photo in for Will.)
Delete> Rodent droppings.
Mousie dung.
> A best-seller, maybe a self-homonym?
A much-purchased but little-read book?
> How about a Pete Seeger / Byrds hint to your Beatles hint?
"Turn! Turn! Turn" -> Revolution
> Between the news from Charleston and this puzzle, I'm thinking of "Eve of Destruction".
"Think of all the hate there is in Red China,
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama."
> February may be the shortest month, but IMHO, it's not nearly short enough for those of us in the Northeast. I say we knock a few more days off and give them to the next month.
Making a Long March.
> Speaking of which, how about the second Sunday of the third month?
Daylight saving time starts: Spring ahead, i.e., Great Leap Forward.
Chairman Mao
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “For some reason I got this in just a few seconds – before I had even turned off the radio and gotten out of bed. I am reminded of a famous performer.” Like Frank Sinatra, Chairman of the Board.
Chuck
I wonder if the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been puzzling over that transient little dip in productivity every Thursday at 3 p.m. ET?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI AM A MONARCH >>> CHAIRMAN MAO
Delete"Queueing up to give the answer" pointed to Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao's fourth wife.
Moose dung is not quite mouse dung but it's kind of close.
"Passersby" in my reply to zeke creek referred to the Passer domesticus, the sparrow Chairman Mao tried to eradicate.
Alright! We got it, already, WW!
Delete:)
The uncommanded reposting is a pain. . .but I could listen to that Beatles rendition 5 times and more. . .
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAny way to stop the reposting, Blaine?
DeleteI've found that closing the browser window immediately after posting seems to help.
DeleteAre we sure it's on Blaine's end? I mean, one person's headache could be ...
DeleteI reported it to Blogger over at Partial Ellipsis of the Sun and it did seem to mostly stop the reposting, especially more than once.
DeleteI will also try closing my browser, jan.
I am a monarch.
ReplyDelete─I────A──M────A────M──O──N──A──R──C──H───
═╪════╪══╪════╪════╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪═══
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──C──┼──C
─┼────┼──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼─────H──H
─┼────A──┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼────────A
─I───────┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──┼────────I
─────────┼────┼────┼──┼──┼──┼──R────────R
─────────┼────┼────M──┼──┼──┼───────────M
─────────┼────┼───────┼──┼──A───────────A
─────────┼────┼───────┼──N──────────────N
─────────┼────┼───────┼─────────────────
─────────M────┼───────┼─────────────────M
──────────────A───────┼─────────────────A
──────────────────────O─────────────────O
Chairman Mao.
These always remind me of the plugboards on the Colossus computer, EAWAF. It's an enigma...
DeleteAlways, jan?
DeleteEnya_and_Weird_Al_fan’s grids always remind me of crooked rain, crooked rain.
DeleteLegoMao’sWasACrooked“Reign”
Nothing always reminds me of anything.
DeleteOff to investigate crooked rain.
Paul,
DeleteThat is bad. But not as bad as this.
LegoNothing/Something/Anything
The Simpsons episode Goo Goo Gai Pan (2005): Madam Wu says " I give you the great American acrobat Homer Simpson to attempt our most popular stunt-- Chair Man Wow! "
ReplyDeleteMy Mon Jun 22, 04:30:00 PM PDT comment, responding to Jay:
ReplyDeleteMr. Commodude
Say what!?
Mr. = Mr.
Commod(e) = chair
Dude = man
Say = tse
What!? = dung
Legungdungho
My clue re- Nixon.
ReplyDeleteI AM A MONARCH=CHAIRMAN MAO "But if you go carryin' pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow." One of my favorite Beatles tunes, by the way.
ReplyDeleteI checked in to see if any jubilant Blainer could report getting the call yesterday; it seems not. I had written on Sunday, "After I got the answer (one of the easiest puzzles ever), I moved again onto my recliner; it's going to be a day of reading for me, thank goodness." There's the chair, and I am the man, and I _M_oved _A_gain _O_nto, but it wasn't just a hint that I'd got it, it was true reporting. ---Rob
ReplyDeleteMy clue included Whitey Ford and Frank Sinatra, both of whom were nicknamed “The Chairman of the Board.”
ReplyDeleteIt occurred to me that we should give Will Shortz a new nickname, in addition to the “NPR’s Puzzlemaster.” How about “Chairman of the Board (Games)?”
Any comments?
Thanks – Phil J.
My comment regarding rearranging 12 coffee cups was based on rearranging "a dozen mug(s)" to Mao Zedung. Only later did I realize the preferred spelling is Mao Zedong. The joys of transliteration...
ReplyDeletePhil J.,
DeleteMahjonggarvelous idea!
SuperZee,
Close enough. We prefer your spelling.
LegoTransliteramba
Thanx Lego
DeleteNext week's challenge: The challenge comes from listener Daniel Grossman of New York City. 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?
ReplyDeleteNot hard to corner this answer
DeleteLook up the famous singer in Wikipedia, and scroll down to that person's Discography. Take the second item listed. Remove the last letter. What remains, including spaces, is a statement involving two colors which is incorrect.
DeleteOh, yes.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle suits me to a t.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, start with another company, remove a word and rearrange.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLorenzo - clever clue. Makes a lot of sense!
ReplyDeleteHaving solved today's puzzle, I will head to the kitchen and see if my latest home brews are ready for bottling.
ReplyDeleteFootware
ReplyDelete