Sunday, June 07, 2015

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 7, 2015): Let Me Entertain You

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 7, 2015): Let Me Entertain You:
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)

121 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. Now that you've solved this no brainer of a puzzle, you might head on over to Lego's, http://puzzleria.blogspot.com/ He is now presenting another of my home made puzzles, and I think you will find this one both easy and more enjoyable than this one here. Oh, and it is one I sent in to Will Shortz at least three times over the last more than five years.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Was there an actor named Buck Timov?

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    3. Oh, you must mean One Buck Tim.

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    4. Might he have done a movie with a bunch of stoned presidents?

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    5. If more of our presidents were stoned they might have been more effective. In any case I think we should stone many of them. What does this have to do with Ol' One Buck'd 'Im?

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    6. I dated his brother, Tim Buck Two because One Buck Tim was married to Little Two (Late Too's sister)

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    7. There's always room for another nut in the Republican fruitcake.

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  3. Sunday puzzle clues generally contain a minor contrivance or two. This one’s no exception.

    Chuck

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    1. "Minor Contrivance"... Wasn't that a song by Cole Porter?

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  4. Always good to keep up with current events, otherwise most of the banter seems to have little to do with the subject matter of Sunday's puzzle.

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  5. The following 3 posts appear at the end of last week's thread:

    I posted on Sun Jun 07, at 06:38:00 AM PDT:

    Looking up the famous living entertainer in the IMDb, I made the following discovery: Add one of the chemical elements onto the beginning of this entertainer's last name and the result (first name and new last name) is this entertainer's true birth name!

    Then, SuperZee posted on Sun Jun 07, at 06:57:00 AM PDT:

    Enya_and-Weird_Al_fan. I think we have come up with different answers. We'll have to wait and see how Will judges them.

    Finally, Lorenzo posted on Sun Jun 07, at 07:46:00 AM PDT:

    SuperZee: Your answer could also be linked to a chemical element.

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  6. Interesting coincidence involving the entertainer's age and the DC person's position.

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  7. For some unknown reason the system will not let me make a reply to my own post above.

    SuperZee and Lorenzo: I now know what your answer is and I agree that yours is most likely the intended solution although my answer definitely should be an acceptable alternative.

    Difference between our atomic numbers: 73 -- off by ten from the coincidence number pointed out by jan.

    Oh, and your answers and my answers; all the same gender.

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    1. I associate my answers with two elements, too, but the difference between atomic numbers is just 41.

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    2. Amazing what a good night's sleep and a change of perspective can do. The penny has just dropped and 41 it is.

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    3. In my earlier post involving the 1st answer that I found, which I now realize is NOT the intended answer, I said "Add one of the chemical elements onto the beginning of this entertainer's last name and the result (first name and new last name) is this entertainer's true birth name!"

      Now about the intended answer:

      If you look up the the famous living entertainer on Wikipedia, it begins: "<entertainer's name> is a <a 7 or 8 word phrase - depending on how you count it; it ends with either a long hypenated word or two words separated by a hyphen>" This phrase actually contains the name of a chemical element - the SAME element to which I was referring with MY answer. But that's NOT the element with which this entertainer is associated!

      Over to the right on the entertainer's Wikipedia page is a column table. Below "Birth name", we see "Also known as" and 4 phrases. (Some might think 5, but one of the phrases is so long it ends on the next line.)

      Now one of the phrases is "The", followed by a 3-word phrase in the form "<substance> <occupation (possessive form)> <relationship>" In the section following "Early years", we see the same 3-word phrase twice in one paragraph.

      Now if you look up the <substance> on Wikipedia, you can scroll down to see a table of columns. The first word in the 1st column header is "German". The first word in the 2nd column header is "English". The 3rd column header starts with a "V". Then you see 4 columns of chemical elements. The column headers are designated "<element symbol> <element name> and %". In the 1st of these columns, the 1st entry is "60-75". All other entries are 75 or better.

      Now when Lorenzo posted "SuperZee: Your answer could also be linked to a chemical element.", I feel certain that it was this element, the 1st element listed in that table, to which he was referring.

      As you can see, the atomic number for this element and the atomic number for my element differ by 73.

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    4. My favorite element is Babar, although there is some grey area.

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    5. So jan and SuperZee; in my post above I've explained, without giving them away, the associations with both the intended answer and my 1st answer with their respective chemical elements.

      But with both of you having atomic number differences of 41, it therefore seems that your alternate answer is not the same as my alternate answer.

      Perhaps one of you might take us through an association with a chemical element that's 41 away from the element associated with the intended answer?

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    6. Treat the chemical symbol as an initialism.

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    7. Oh, it appears as if you've made chemical element connections to both ends of the SAME answer. (The initialism being that of a title.)

      Do either you or SuperZee have an alternate answer? Or have either of you figured out my alternate answer?

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  8. I'm guessing that the person in question is not K.T. Perrier...

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  9. Cannot relate chemical symbols to my answer. I think I have the correct answer, though.

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    1. I didn't want to Buck the system. (See above.)

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    2. All those elementary numbers must be interpretable somehow. If I make any progress I'll get back to you.

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    3. Sorry, the only numbers I come up with are 9 and 27.

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  10. After several passes thru the periodic table I can't find the chemical links. But I did convince myself there isn't an entertainer named Richard Nicks.

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  11. If you're wondering if I've got the answer, just wait until Thursday, because one's on the way.

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  12. While you're trying to figure out this week's answer, here's a similar puzzle idea of mine: Think of a well-known singer/songwriter, first and last name. Drop the last letter of the first name, and the first letter of the last name. When put together, both names will spell a type of music heard at least once a year. Who is it, and what is it? Answer Thursday.

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    1. patjberry,

      Very nice puzzle. You have a knack, and should submit some of these to Will Shortz.

      My visual hint to your puzzle.

      LegoHopesWillShortzSez:"ThisPuzzleWasSentToUsByPatjberryWhoSaysHeLovesTheBlogPuzzleria!"

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    2. Thursday is so far away. Just a hint?

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    3. When they sing "Happy Birthday" to me once a year, the last line always sounds sorta Janian, so I'm guessing Janis Ian.

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    4. Maxwell agrees with lego.

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    5. Maxwell agrees with lego.

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    6. Well, Max, I did a double take.

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  13. I had no trouble coming up with an answer, so I spent the rest of the day listening to music and reading the sports section. I found the fact that many a great horse comes up short in the Belmont after winning the Derby and Preakness very fascinating.

    Also, my two answers share an interesting trait semi-related to the challenge in three different ways.

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  14. Has Will ever had an astronaut as his on-air contestant?

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  15. Replies
    1. ... has too many letters in her first name,

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    2. There's more than one First Lady.

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  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. There's also a hint in Will's on-air challenge. Think John Lennon.

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  18. The answer to this week's puzzle is rapper extraordinaire "ba-ROC ko-BOMB"

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  19. One might start looking around the kitchen for a clue...

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  20. Since Legolambda did mention I should send in my puzzle ideas, I have to ask: Has anyone on this blog been able to send in their ideas without using the Submit Answer Here function? I'm not sure sending my answers that way really gets anything accomplished. Shouldn't it have something on it that says "Submit Sunday Puzzle Ideas" instead of "Story Ideas"?

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    1. patjberry,

      When you submit your puzzle answer to NPR, they send you a reply like this:
      Thank you for sending your puzzle entry to NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. This reply acknowledges that we have received your entry.

      Please note: If you are writing with a puzzle suggestion, please reply to this e-mail and we will route your suggestion appropriately.

      Sincerely,
      Weekend Edition Sunday staff

      So, you just reply to that email, including your puzzle.

      LegoLotsaLuckpatjberry

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    2. patjberry,
      When you send in your puzzle suggestion you should eventually receive this:

      Response to Message #XXXXXX
      Dear Your name,

      Thank you for contacting NPR.

      Your submission will be taken into consideration. Should we have any questions, or require additional information, we will contact you.

      Please note that all entries become the property of Will Shortz and National Public Radio, and will not be returned. Each contest entrant consents to the use of his or her name, voice, statements, and puzzle answers, or any portion thereof, in connection with the puzzle, over the air and in any and all media and manner, now or hereafter known, in perpetuity without compensation. NPR is not responsible for any damages or losses relating to the puzzle or acceptance/use of any prize.

      We appreciate your ideas.

      Thank you for listening, and for your continued support of public broadcasting. For the latest news and information, visit npr.org.

      Delete
    3. patjberry,
      The form letter that skydiveboy provided indicating NPR's reception of one's submitted puzzle is essentially the same one we use at Puzzleria! when skydiveboy sends us a puzzle to use on our blog. Our form letter goes something like this:

      Response to skydiveboy
      Dear Mr. boy,
      Thank you for contacting Puzzleria!
      Your submission will be tossed onto that pile of jumk mail in the corner of our office and we might glance at when we get around to it. Should we have any questions, or require additional information, we will just make a paper airplne out of your puzzle and fly it out our window.

      Please note that all entries become the property of LegoLambda and National Public Puzzleria!, and will not be returned. If you send us an SASE we will steam the stamp off of the envelope and then use the stamp for our own nefarious purposes.

      Each contest entrant consents to the use of his or her name, rank, cereal number (We've always been partial to Product 19 and Basic 4.), voice, ugly mug and other images, crackpot statements, rantings, and puzzle answers, or any portion thereof, in connection with the puzzle, on the blog, over the air, under the ground, and in any and all media and manner, now or hereafter known, in perpetuity, throughout infinity and all of eternity, for life everlasting, forever and ever, and without compensation, Amen.

      Puzzleria! is not responsible for any deaths, dismemberments, diseases, damages or losses relating to the puzzle or acceptance/use of any prize. (On the advice of counsel, we no longer send out to our puzzlemakers those gold-plated mousetrap earrings and/or cufflinks, but we still incude this disclaimer in our materials anyway, just to cover our ass.)

      We appreciate your harebrained ideas, your apparent masochism and your obvious gullibility.

      Thank you for following Puzzleria!, and for your continued support of our blog. For the latest news, call your Uncle Seymour in Schenectady. For the lastest weather information, stick your head out the window. For the latest sports scores, get a life.
      LegoLegalLunacyLambda


      That said, we have seriously never rejected even one of Mr. boy's puzzles. And we hope to use more if he allows us to.

      LegoWhenInDoubtLambDisclaimDisclaimDisclaim

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    4. He does go on a bit.

      Please, jan, send Lego some sleeping pills.

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    5. I don't need sleeping pills, skydiveboy. If I want to go to sleep I just read anything I have written... I always doze right off. It's foolproof.

      Legominex

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    6. So that's how you do it! I will have to give it a try.

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    7. Remember, skydiveboy, Morpheus does not make a housecall if you read your stuff. You have to read my stuff.

      LegoTerificallySoporific

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    8. And that, my dear Lego, is exactly what I meant too and I have already printed out a copy and set it beside my bed, just in case. :-)

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    9. Oh my gawd, LL and SDB, this is funny! I'm splitting a side! Have the two of you ever been in the same room before, to trade this stuff back and forth in person? Maybe you should have spears and shields for the jousting?

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    10. Oh my gawd, LL and SDB, this is funny! I'm splitting a side! Have the two of you ever been in the same room before, to trade this stuff back and forth in person? Maybe you should have spears and shields for the jousting?

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  21. Reaching back to last week's puzzle for a clue: henpeck.

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    1. The entertainer in Will's likely intended answer and the spouse of the entertainer in a possibly Will-worthy alternative answer both have a connection to a guy named Buck.

      LegoGivesABuckCluejanGivesACluckClue

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  22. Investing these days is a hazzardous endeavor, unless you invest in bonds.

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  23. Info about Helmut's young 'uns?

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    1. Please summon whichever caregiver is assigned to me, Pop.

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    2. That's what I'm talking about.

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  24. Here in Seattle it is just a few minutes after 6 PM. About 5 minutes before 6 PM I heard some guy with a British accent on my local NPR station telling us about how Einstein informed us why objects fall at the same rate. I cannot find the segment on the NPR site, nor am I able to contact the station via phone. I am wondering if anyone here also heard this nonsense. Why does NPR continue their nonsense of telling us that objects fall at the same rate? This has been going on with them for years now. Objects do not fall at the same rate unless in a vacuum. I have discovered the Internet is also full of this garbage. After hearing Ira Flatow, on his Science Friday program, spew this crap I wrote him a long letter both setting him straight on this and suggesting he check his facts with a respected physicist, but he did not do this. I later wrote a second letter and was able to get through live on his radio program to challenge him on this, but he denied he said some of what he clearly did say. I was eventually hung up on. I then telephoned the physics department at the University of Washington and spoke with one of their physics professors to ask him if they were teaching this. He insisted they were not. I told him I had also heard this several times from high school science teachers. He thought I must mean they were teaching that it was true for objects in a vacuum. I told him that was not the case. He was surprised and I am not even sure he believed me. NPR should be a place we can get reliable information, not bogus, common misunderstandings such as cold causes colds and object fall at the same rate. Any experienced skydiver lives the truth that objects do not fall at the same rate, that is why Tandem skydiving requires the use of a drogue chute in order to slow the rate of fall to that of an average solo jumper, otherwise the speed is increased about 50% faster. I could give other real world examples. Please post here if you also heard this segment and have a lead to where I can locate it. Thanks.

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    1. So, you're saying that, in a vacuum, a cat in a spacesuit, with a slice of buttered toast on her back, would fall how, exactly?

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    2. jan,

      First we must know if the cat (a female cat, you say) is pregnant or not. Also is it real butter or I can't F-ing believe it ain't butta?

      I actually have given some thought to why the butter, or in my case, the peanut butter slice of bread I usually have for breakfast will always land the way I really would rather it not. I am convinced it is because the buttered side is heavier, and the heavier side of an object will tend to face closest to Earth. A jump student will, on his first jump, and even later jumps sometimes, tend to want to look for the ground as he exits. As if it were not there. Since the body will tend to follow what the head does, he will bend forward at the waist, which will cause him to instantly go on his back. This, of course, is more than just where the heaviest part of the body is, because it will not change due to body position, but aerodynamics come into play as well. All he needs to do then to right himself is to arch. Because of this I developed the training technique of not just telling students to arch as they exit, as other instructors do, but to tell them to get their head back as far as possible, and to then tell them why (just as important). I had much better success getting my first jump students to exit properly once I began using this technique. Most drop zones will have one experienced jumper who is around 300 pounds and they will make a game of seeing if anyone can catch him in freefall.

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    3. In space, no one can hear you kvetch.

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    4. Not even in the Spacelab? I'm not going then!

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    5. He does go on a bit.

      Please, jan, send skydiveboy some sleeping pills.

      LegoTerse

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    6. Lego,
      Thanks for your concern. jan has already forwarded an email of your post, so I will not have to rely on pills. It worked just fine and I slept very well last night.

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    7. SDB - I remember hearing that comment about "things fall at the same rate." I remember it as a promo for an upcoming story or show rather that the story itself, though my memory for such things isn't great. In any case, things do not "fall at the same rate" in a vacuum either -- they accelerate at the same rate. It's not the same.

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    8. Bryan,
      This was a rather long segment at the end of All Things Inconsiderate. It may not have been part of that program because lately our local station has sometimes been inserting their own stuff at the end of NPR programs, and sometimes other, programs. I phoned the local station today and the receptionist could not locate the segment and referred me to the program director. I had to leave a message on his answering machine, but have not heard back.

      Almost everyone knows that objects fall at the same rate in a vacuum, but what is so disturbing is all the ignorance about objects falling in an atmosphere. That being said, you may be correct in stating that objects in a vacuum accelerate at the same rate, but do not actually fall at the same rate. I do not know, but it was taught back when I was in school that they do fall at the same rate in a vacuum, and nothing was mentioned about acceleration. I have since, as an adult, encountered several high school science teachers who are teaching that objects fall at the same rate and they seem to believe that Galileo proved this by dropping objects of the Leaning Tower Of Pisa. This myth has generally been discounted, but is apparently based on his considering doing some experiments that way, but being advised by colleagues that it was not high enough for it to be at all conclusive. He may have performed rolling ball experiments on inclines, which would have been far more revealing. Objects that are falling NOT in a vacuum do NOT accelerate at the same rate. I know this from personal experience skydiving. The difference can be very dramatic. It takes twelve seconds for a typical skydiver to accelerate to terminal velocity and I have been told that all objects take the same twelve seconds to reach terminal velocity, but I suspect this may not be true.

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    9. If you throw a ball straight up, it is not even falling but gravity is still pulling down -- the ball is accelerating downward as it goes upward (in everyday language we would say it is decelerating upward -- same thing). Compare that to a ball you throw down. Clearly the two are falling at different rates.

      I teach physics and in our intro classes we teach that objects near the earth's surface fall with constant acceleration IF other forces (such as air resistance) are negligible. We include the "IF". Later we show the students a model for air resistance so they can estimate terminal velocity. Terminal velocity does not depend on mass, by the way, but on size and shape. That is why two sky divers falling side by side will be slower than two who are in tandem. Or a sky diver with their arms and legs extended horizontally compared to going head down -- obvious speed differences. Less area for the air to push against and they fall faster.

      Then some time after that we show them Newton's law of gravitation which shows that if you get too far from the surface the acceleration is not even constant.

      I don't know where the 12 sec rule comes from. Drop or throw something like cotton ball and it comes to terminal velocity much faster than that. At best I would say that that rule has limited applicability. More likely just bogus.

      Experiments can never prove a theory. Galileo's real contribution was that he proposed an experiment to test the theory. Previous philosophers would just state what they thought was reasonable and it would be accepted or not. The idea that theories should be tested with experiment is historically relatively recent and Galileo was one of the first. Einstein's theory, by the way, was not so much about "near the earth" as it was motivated by astronomical considerations. Hence to associated "falling at the same rate" with Einstein is quite misleading.

      A long way from Loretta Lynch, but hey.

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    10. Oops. Should have said ...terminal velocity does not depend ONLY on mass...

      (If you put "terminal velocity" into google, you get a nice one-page result from NASA).

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    11. Bryan,
      I basically agree. Although, objects only continue accelerating because they are too close to Earth to reach terminal velocity. A skydiver, or group of skydivers performing Relative Work (that means a large formation) will actually slow down after they reach terminal velocity. It is too slight to notice. But in the case of a jumper such as Joe Kittinger or Felix Baumgartner, who jumped from extremely high altitudes, their terminal velocities were at or near or faster than the speed of sound, but they slowed down significantly as they became closer with Earth. Kittinger used a drogue, which is why he went slower and had a longer FF although he did not jump from as high. Felix Baumgartner's jump is the truest, highest and longest FF because he used no drogue. Another interesting point is that the larger number of skydivers in a RW formation, the slower they will be falling. The old joke is trying to figure out how many jumpers would be needed to negate the need for wearing parachutes.

      Another way of looking at this whole thing is Soap Box Derby or Cub Scout model car races down slant tracks. Both of these have weight limits. When I was a Cub Scout (yes, it's true) each year we would be given one of these small, wooden car kits and we were to carve and assemble them. Later we would be graded on the best looking cars and the fastest cars. My dad would always do all this himself instead of allowing me to make my own car. I really didn't care as I am not good at carving/whittling, but he was able to do them perfectly. He always drilled out the underside and filled it in with lead just to the maximum allowed weight. Of course the wheels had to be properly aligned too in order to win, but his cars always came in first, second or third place.

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  25. ATTORNEY GENERAL LORETTA LYNCH > LORETTA LYNN

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    1. I thought about posting a hint about a connection with this puzzle and my puzzle over at Lego's, but felt it would be too revealing. The connection is Attorney General & General Grant.

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  26. Loretta Lynch, Loretta Lyn(n)

    Last Sunday I said, “Sunday puzzle clues generally contain a minor contrivance or two. This one’s no exception.” Generally as in U.S. Attorney General. Minor as in Coal Miner’s Daughter.

    Chuck

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  27. Loretta Lynch
    Loretta Lynn
    My hint: "current events," which to me is bland on subject, etc.

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  28. LORETTA LYNCH -> LORETTA LYNN

    > Interesting coincidence involving the entertainer's age and the DC person's position.

    Lynn is 83 years old, and Lynch is the 83rd U.S. Attorney General.

    > I associate my answers with two elements, too, but the difference between atomic numbers is just 41.

    Ag, for the A.G., is 47; C, for the Coal Miner's Daughter, is 6.

    > Reaching back to last week's puzzle for a clue: henpeck.

    How else would you pronounce HNPCC, for Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer, also known as Lynch syndrome?

    > Freezing mimics are feeble.

    Cold mynahs dodder.

    > Info about Helmut's young 'uns?

    Kohl minors' data.

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  29. I submitted Boxer Bach also Connection between names: music. Johann Sebastian Bach is a composer, Barbara Bach is married to Ringo Starr (Starr being the basis for my astronaut question), and The Boxer being the title of a Simon and Garfunkel song.

    Other posts: Barbara Bach is a Bond girl (reference to bonds as an investment) that are not hazzardous (gotcha on this one--the Dukes of Hazzard starred Catherine Bach, not Barbara Bach--false lead there).

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  30. J.K.=>Jean Kasem=>Loretta Tortelli

    I'll get back to you=>Sweet(not Swit) Loretta Martin(or modern)

    9 and 27=>somebody's scheduled to appear in the nation's capital on September 27th

    Maxwell agrees with lego=>I'm no stranger to pataphysical science

    Cartesian Space=>means nothing

    Please summon whichever caregiver is assigned to me, Pop.=>Call my nurse, Dada.

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  31. Clue not posted: Fee-fi-fo-fum (alluding to the AG's recent indictments).

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  32. On Tue Jun 09, 06:18:00 PM PDT, I wrote:
    The entertainer in Will's likely intended answer and the spouse of the entertainer in a possibly Will-worthy alternative answer both have a connection to a guy named Buck.

    LegoGivesABuckCluejanGivesACluckClue

    Loretta Lynn

    Ringo Starr (Barbara Bach’s hubby)

    Buck Owens

    LegoUnnaturalActor

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  33. LORETTA LYNCH LORETTA LYNN The answer to my puzzle was CAROLE KING CAROLING. I prefer Carole to Loretta, though. Also, "One's On the Way", used in one of my past posts, was a hit for Loretta Lynn.

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    1. Carole King was born Carol Joan Klein. This was my visual clue.

      LegoAnotherPleasantValleyPuzzleFromPJB

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  34. BARBARA BOXER, drop the sound “sir” to yield:

    BARBARA BACH
    , née GOLDbach, Ringo Starr's wife.
    Former first lady who shares the same first name: “Barbara” Bush.

    Second answer: WILLIAM CASEY, CIA Director under Reagan (1981-87).
    WILLIAM KAYE, jazz pianist.

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    1. I like your William KC answer, ron.
      LegoLynchBoxerCasey...

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    2. Wow, I haven't had to think about William Casey for a while. The Capitol Steps did a parody, "Ol' Man Gipper", back before Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's (but after Casey's death). One verse went, "He don't know Ollie is on probation, he thinks Bill Casey is on vacation, dat Ol' Man Gipper, he just keeps...", etc.

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  35. So, SDB Wouldn't you have to know what kind of bread was on the cat's back? Like would pumpernickel fall faster than Wonder enriched White bread?
    I predict we will all meet one day at WW's house. BTW, I haven't visited here for a bit. Where is WW?

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    1. She's hit rock bottom over at PEOTS.

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    2. RoRo,
      The only wonder about Wonder Bread is why anyone would ever buy it. I love it! They remove all the nutrients from the grain in making that crap and then they call it enriched.

      WW is short for Western Washington, where I live.

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    3. Hey, RoRo, good to hear from you. We could easily meet at my home although last night we had a downpour that caused the creek near us to rise almost to the footpath. It was the highest I'd seen it in the 20+ years I've lived here. You could all arrive by boat!

      And I now have internet and phone service once more. It should work well from the canoe, rowboat, or kayak.

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    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  36. The new Car Talk Puzzler is worth a look.

    A barber had his first customer of the day, who happened to be a friend. When he was done, the barber refused to take the money from the customer. The fellow said, "Look, I know we're friends, but, business is business. I want to pay for my haircut."

    The barber said, "Here's what we'll do. You open the cash register. I don't have any idea how much money is in there. But, you match whatever is in there, and then take out 20 bucks."

    The customer says, "Okay," and he does that.

    The barber says, "Gee, I kind of like this." So, the next customer comes in, he gets his haircut, and the barber says, "You can do the same thing my first customer did. Open the cash register, match what's in there, and then take out 20 bucks."

    The second customer does that, and he leaves. The third customer does the same. The fourth customer, after receiving his haircut, opens the cash register, and says, "I can't do it. "

    The barber says, "Why not?"

    "There's no money in here. Not a cent."

    The question is, how much money was in there to start?

    This is an easy one, but can you solve it?

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  37. Next week's challenge: 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?

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    Replies
    1. Continuing last week's elemental theme, I can't say this puzzle is an unalloyed success.

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  38. This is a puzzle? You could have fooled me.

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  39. Agreed, but Jan should still get a medal for solving it first.

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  40. A very relevant puzzle this week.

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  41. Being "follicularly challenged" (I can wash my hair, and dry it, with the two ends of a single Q-Tip) I usually pass right by the shampoo aisle. So I was shocked to learn this morning that Amazon has over a quarter million listings for shampoo - and that so many of them would fit today's criterion.

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  42. Sorry no response to last week's puzzle. I was fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Lousy reception.

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