NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 31, 2016): Middle East Cities and Countries

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 31, 2016): Middle East Cities and Countries:

Q: Take the name of a country and a well-known city in the Middle East — 12 letters in all. Rearrange these letters to name another country and another well-known city in the Middle East. What places are these?

To clarify, the cities and the countries may not correspond but everything is in the Middle East.

A: BAHRAIN, DUBAI <--> IRAN, ABU DHABI

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 24, 2016): Three Phrase Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 24, 2016): Three Phrase Puzzle:

Q: Take these three phrases:

Turkey breast

Ski slope

Cash drawer

What very unusual property do they have in common?

I suppose you could hire a private escort to help you get to where you need to be with this puzzle.

Edit: If you anagram the second word in private escort you get private sector.

A: In each phrase, the second word can be anagrammed to complete another common phrase:
Turkey breast —> turkey baster
Ski slope —> ski poles
Cash drawer —> cash reward

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 17, 2016): Three Letter Category

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 17, 2016): Three Letter Category:

Q: This one is an extension of the on-air puzzle where the example was vegetable --> leek or lettuce.

Think of a category in three letters in which the last two letters are the first two letters of something in that category. And the thing in the category has seven letters. Both names are common, uncapitalized words. What are they?

I was going to make a pun, but it was unfunny.
Edit: And you would have liked it... it was a real gem. :)

A: GEM --> EMERALD

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 10, 2016): Does this Puzzle Measure Up?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 10, 2016): Does this Puzzle Measure Up?:

Q: Name a unit of measurement. Remove two consecutive letters. The letters that remain can be rearranged to name what this measurement measures. What is it?

Wouldn't this be easier if we switched to metric?

Edit: We still use the same units of base-60 time even in the metric system.

A: MINUTE - NU --> TIME

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 3, 2016): The Cat's Away...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 3, 2016): The Cat's Away...

I'm unable to post the puzzle this week, but I didn't want to leave you without a place to post comments on the puzzle. Somebody help me out by posting a copy here. Then feel free to add your *hints*.

Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any outright spoilers 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. Thank you.

A: By adding/subtracting a letter each time, you can go from WHOLE to HEART in six steps. WHOLE —> HOLE, HOE, HOER, HER, HEAR —> HEART.