NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 27, 2015): The Duck Says "Quack"

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 27, 2015): The Duck Says "Quack":

Q: Name a famous actress who has four letters in her first name and four letters in her last name. Add one letter, and rearrange the result to name an animal and the sound this animal makes. Who is the actress, what is the animal and what is the sound that the animal makes?

Personally I'd say the sound is more like the last name with a letter removed.

Edit: GRR!

A: TERI GARR + O --> TIGER + ROAR

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 20, 2015): Four Six-Letter Words Ending with the Same Five Letters

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 20, 2015): Four Six-Letter Words Ending with the Same Five Letters:

Q: Think of four common six-letter words that all end in the same five letters, in the same order. And the first letters of these four words are consecutive consonants in the alphabet (like B, C, D, F). No other common six-letter words end with these five letters. What are the words?

And the five letters (without the starting consonant) sound like another word that would have fit in the sequence.

Edit: Without the starting consonant, the remaining letters sound like OCEAN which would have fit into the sequence at O.

A: LOTION, MOTION, NOTION and POTION (alternate BROWNS, CROWNS, DROWNS and FROWNS but Will was less enamored by the use of plurals.)

Christmas Puzzle for 2015

Our annual Christmas puzzle is available now.
As in prior years, the reward for solving is a video Christmas card, but you'll need to figure out the password by solving the puzzle first.

Note: If you need some help, the full answer is posted here, but try solving it without help first... it's more fun that way.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others). We are always looking for new ideas for next year's Christmas puzzle, so submit those too.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 13, 2015): Character of TV, Movies and Comics

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 13, 2015): Character of TV, Movies and Comics:

Q: Name a well-known character of TV, movies and comics. Two words. Replace the 8th, 9th, and 10th letters with an S. Then rearrange the result to name a well-known actor who played this character on film. First and last names. Who is it?

I incorrectly assumed that each of the letters were replaced by an S (for a total of three Ss). Apparently that is not correct.

A: GREEN HORNET --> GREENHO(S)T --> SETH ROGEN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 6, 2015): State Capitals Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 6, 2015): State Capitals Puzzle:

Q: Name a state capital. Drop one of its letters. The remaining letters can be rearranged to name of another major city in the United States. What is it? There are two different answers, and you should find both of them.

A: SALEM (MESA) and ST PAUL (TULSA)