What are you waiting for? Something here to lead you to the answer?A: Think of two well-known American cities, each five letters long. The first two letters of the first city are the state postal abbreviation of the second city. And the first two letters of the second city are the state postal abbreviation of the first city. What two cities are these?
Edit: The hints were "what are" which sounds like "water" and "lead" referring to the metal.
A: MIAMI, FL(orida) and FLINT, MI(chigan)
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.
Correction, Wednesday at 3pm ET.
DeleteTake the remaining letters and rearrange to get a phrase describing what kind of guy Brian Pagliano was.
ReplyDeleteAccomplice?
DeleteWow, Blaine, both of the states are on that map. Generally, you don't give such a giveaway.
ReplyDeleteThis is a rare time where I got the puzzle right away and I can see how Blaine's clue alludes to it. Unfortunately, after reading many of the other comments, I wonder if I am actually right.
DeleteShouldn't it be a Wednesday deadline?
ReplyDeleteArrr!
DeleteWith two small databases for U.S. state abbreviations and for 5-letter well-known cities, it's easy to get there. No hint needed.
ReplyDeleteNothing magic in this puzzle or the solution. Rather a mechanical puzzle; check five-letter cities, check state abbreviations. But it did lead me to a couple of hints, presented here. ---Rob
ReplyDeletePretty bodacious clue, Rob.
DeleteOh, dear - I hope "bodacious" does not mean over-explicit. I always worry about that...
Delete"I see a Tom Swiftie coming." she said heatedly.
DeleteGotta’ get me some hot rocks, my friend.
DeleteAarrr!
Deletehot… heat… Miami Heat; rocks… stones… Flint Stones; with additional clue “my friend” Mi AMI
DeleteSo, I think I have the right answer, but I'm not sure what Blaine's clue has to do with either Cabot, Arkansas or Arvin, California. What? Those aren't well known?
ReplyDeleteI don't think Paris, Maine and Media, Pennsylvania are it either, although to a reader of Le Monde, both would be well known...
DeleteIt must be these "well known" cities: Utica, Alaska & Akron, Utah.
DeleteArabi, LA (pop. 3635)
DeleteLamar, AR (pop. 1654)
Saa-LUTE!
Arabi is well known to me! It's just outside New Orleans (my home), and I have friends from there. Not so sure about Lamar.
DeleteWalla, I repeat, Walla, WA.
Deleteron,
DeletePlease don't upset the wallabies.
The data base here is so small that finding the answer was almost a no-brainer.
ReplyDeleteRearranging the postal codes twice can provide a naughty phrase.
ReplyDeleteI submitted a very similar puzzle to Willy's dark pit years ago.
ReplyDeleteIf you like Postal CODE (Colorado and Delaware) wordplay, there is a whole series on FunTrivia by a player with the handle "scalar." Take that, Lego!
I loved the way the on-air guy mowed down the PM's extended list of posers this morning.
He was indeed amazingly sharp!
DeleteA perfect record that might give a clue: Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark'
ReplyDeleteA musical clue would be the Standells.
ReplyDeleteThere is a DJ that could put you on the right track, or the wrong track as the case may be.
DeleteTheir big hit back in '65 was Dirty Water. Sure it referred to Boston at the time but still made me think of Flint, MI
DeleteNo lists needed. Especially easy when one answer can pretty much be found in the puzzle answer from a couple of weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteRight. I solved it in about three minutes after reading it and returning back to bed and not fully awake. With my eyes closed too; no need for me to even light a candle.
DeleteOf course, no one here would give away the answer on purpose.
ReplyDeletePurpose. Porpoise. Dolphin. (Chortle)
DeleteI really liked mi amiga rlene's hint. (May I call you mi amiga, rlene? I hope so.)
So why have I been talking like a pirate? Tommy Boy got me started by confusing me about how many eyes Bryan Pagliano has, and then Blaine overlooked the deadline change, and that was just IT for me.
I'm not really planning to change my name to PAul. SQuire Rushnell can have that little bit of business all to himself.
Acts 17:30 (KJV)
What's the longest word you can come up with using only US state postal codes?
ReplyDeleteThat is a great challenge, Word Woman. My "Memorial Day Weekend Slice: Memento Mori" from two years ago was along those same lines and in the same vein (geological allusion).
DeleteLegoInvitesMendoJim&Scalar&AnyMarineToVisitPuzzleria!
Never try to speak Mandarin while eating calamari.
DeleteOr wash it down with Coca-Cola as noted in Lego's blog linked above. . .
DeleteI have a "malarial pain" over this one.
Delete
Deleteron: Try calamine lotion.
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ReplyDeleteGood self-censoring, Natasha.
DeleteGood point, SDB.
DeleteNumerical clue 27-75.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle is making me thirsty. -Kramer?
ReplyDeleteww: 10 letters
ReplyDeleteSame here, Mendo Jim. Has anyone found a 12-letter or longer word to this add-on puzzle:
DeleteWhat's the longest word you can come up with using only US state postal codes?
How about convallarial?
DeleteLily-of-the-valley is such a lovely spring flower. Not sure that works as an adjective with ending 'L', but maybe, eco. . .
DeleteMembers of the Society To Improve Flowery Language Exchanges (Edith Bunker, President for Life) think it should be.
DeleteI was afraid this puzzle might cause someone hear to Go Postal.
ReplyDeleteMusical clues: Grand Funk Railroad, Gloria Estefan
ReplyDeleteMusical Clue: Rolling Stones
ReplyDeleteI hope nothing I post here sparks any ideas in my fellow readers. Zipping out for now...
ReplyDeleteIt's bad enough I can never solve these puzzle. Your oh-so-clever clues add insult to injury. I rue the day I discovered this blog!
ReplyDeleteAs J. Louden said "Rue de something?"
DeleteSo frustrating, I spent hours thinking about this only to realize I was doing it wrong the whole time. For some (still inexplicable) reason I thought that "state postal abbreviation of the second city" meant that the city itself had its own abbreviation and I spent far too much time trying to compare cities to cities, imagining them having their own postal abbreviations. Whatever, I got it now...
ReplyDeleteI also saw the puzzle that way at first.
DeleteThe MAINLAND DEAL over MAINLAND COAL was certainly MAINLANDRIAL.
ReplyDeleteIt was a MAINLANDCOALDEAL.
DeleteI assume you are referring to this article
DeleteYes, I was hinting at that MAINLANDWIDE COAL DEAL.
DeleteDo I have a movie clue? Affirmative, and I am not going to reveal it until Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteI bet it won't have a Aston Martin in it!
DeleteI think I get your reference, but I'm thinking of a different movie, involving (coincidentally) a much more mundane make of motorcars.
DeleteHmmm, now you've got me curious, zowie! I'll be looking forward to your post tomorrow!!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteErr, Wednesday :)
DeleteNo need to say more.
DeleteThis puzzle is strictly for the birds.
ReplyDeleteThis past week I was in one of the states in the puzzle. Think down south, close to my home state.
ReplyDeleteCONVALLARI is as far as I can push it.
ReplyDeleteNV is a difficult Postal CODE to use in a word. Can you think of any?
Mendo Jim,
DeleteWe ought to be convokin' some kind of postal code assembly to brainstorm this!
LegoChannelin'HisInnerZekeCreek
If you throw in territorial abbreviations, you can make CANVAS.
DeleteTwo more of seven tough CODEs to use are MT and TN. Any ideas?
Jaden and Willow have to be the worst celebrity children. I'd love to see them play with a can of outdated Chinese paint.
ReplyDeleteI just noticed that all the recent NPR.org automated responses to my puzzle answer submissions list an old phone number, and not the one in my submission. Anyone else notice this? No wonder I haven't gotten the call...
ReplyDeleteI just now checked and the two I still have extant are correct. But you must remember that I always wait before submitting until I am sober.
DeleteMy phone number was correct but had been converted into Roman Numerals when holding it up to a mirror.
DeleteAre you sure the mirror wasn't upside down?
DeleteWell, that would have reflected bad on me!
DeleteBryan, I noticed a similar issue. . .
DeleteAnd to be clear, when I say "old" I mean it is a number I haven't used on a submission for maybe 6 months or so.
DeleteI believe the submission redesign in the past year keeps some old data. Buggy redesign in many ways.
Delete68Charger,
DeleteYou might try using a Paris Scope. It should give you an Eiffel.
Never been to Paris, (I've heard its 'facet'nating, though).
DeleteBut I've been to Oklahoma
Well they tell me I was born there
But I really don't remember!
It could be just an image you have in your mind.
DeleteFLINT, MI, and MIAMI, FL
Delete> Do I have a movie clue? Affirmative, and I am not going to reveal it until Wednesday.
Roger and Me was a 1989 Michael Moore documentary about the economic impact on Flint, MI, of General Motors
CEO Roger Smith's decision to close GM plants there.
I think 68Charger was thinking about the James Coburn flicks, Our Man Flint and In Like Flint.
>> Name a five letter city whose first two letters are its own state's postal abbreviation.
> Similar pronunciation, in a Three Stooges kind of way.
Nyack, New York. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.
My response to your comment was "[no] need to say mo[o]re. I was hoping for a "Roger that" response.
DeleteVery good! Yes, I kept thinking about 'Roger and Me' but couldn't find out what car lines were shut down in Flint, MI. So that left the James Coburn movies but they were tricky to leave clues for. I used zowie in that one reply because:
Delete"Z.O.W.I.E. is the fictional not-so-secret service depicted in the movies Our Man Flint and In Like Flint. It is an acronym for Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage. While it is nominally the same agency, Z.O.W.I.E. is depicted differently in the two films."
I wonder how many correct answers this week.
MIAMI, FL & FLINT, MI
ReplyDeleteFlint, MI
ReplyDeleteMiami, FL
Not much to say except that with so few 5-letter cities, this has got to be the easiest solve-at-home puzzle Will has used in a long time.
MIAMI, FL
ReplyDeleteFLINT, MI
Easy if you look HERE.
Longest word using only state postal abbreviations: mainlandwide (12 letters, no repeats).
Your city list link must be missing a lot - off the bottom of my head I can think of Davis and Chico, CA (party schools!), Aspen CO, Elgin IL (watch out!), Paris, TX (with its own movie), and Cairo, IL (pronounced oddly by the locals).
DeleteIt was never suggested that that city list was exhaustive...
DeleteMIami, FLorida and FLint, MIchigan
ReplyDeleteI alluded to databases as in the lead and other chemicals found in the Flint, MI, water system recently.
"Pretty bodacious clue, Rob." referred to Pb, the chemical symbol for lead.
I plum(b) forgot we were posting early this week. . .
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Deleteone answer can pretty much be found in the puzzle answer from a couple of weeks ago. Flint is a form of quart[z], unless WW says otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThere is a DJ that could put you on the right track, or the wrong track as the case may be. It might be a vice case, the DJ would be Don Johnson. Did anything exemplify the 1980's more than Miami Vice?
Yes, and keep your chert on, eco ;-).
DeleteAnother "12 letter word" is ALL-AMERICA.
ReplyDeleteoops. Forgot that Thursday came early this week..belatedly...
ReplyDeleteMiami, FL/Flint, MI
The only clue I posted was a reference to heat, a comment both on the weather there and the name of the Miami’s NBA team.
As to my rip-off. The city with a five letter name, whose first two letters match its state’s postal code, I had in mind was Nyack, NY. A hearty n’yuk n’yuk goes to Jan for the Three Stooges reference. I don’t want to admit to the number of hours I spent watching their antics.
I don't want to admit to the number of hours I've spent in Nyack, NY, waiting to crawl across the Tappan Zee bridge. Fun factoid: to reduce corrosion caused by pigeon droppings, the state installed nest boxes for peregrine falcons in the bridge superstructure. Alas, corrosion won, so the bridge is being replaced. I say the new bridge should be named for Moe, Larry, and Curly, but I think the Governor is more likely to choose his late father.
Delete(At the other end of New York: Niagara Falls! Slowly, I turned. Step by step. Inch by inch...)
DeleteSo, I solved this puzzle off the top of my head. But, I decided to build an Excel spreadsheet to figure out how many solutions there are if you count every city and town in the US. (There are A LOT of matches that are not well known.) Anyway, after I did that, I searched 6 letter cities and towns. I was delighted to find this match:
ReplyDeleteMOLENA, GA
GALENA, MO
Up here in Minnesota and Wisconsin, Nick, my pals Ole and Lena would be just tickled with your excellent mOLEla/gaLENA discovery. Ole's pal Sven, however, might be a bit miffed.
DeleteLegoYahYouBetcha!
How about:
DeleteDENTON, NEbraska & NEWARK, DElaware?
We guess that answer works okay, ron, but we still prefer Molena and Galena!
DeleteLegOleLenambda
Nick Missios: A wonderfully balanced find!
ReplyDeleteTheir populations in the 400's are much alike as well.
Galena is the source of lead, a tie to Flint, MI.
FLINT, MICHIGAN; MIAMI, FLORIDA
ReplyDeleteAnd this past week I was just in Ft. Walton Beach, FL, though I don't know how far it is from Miami.
ReplyDeleteI wrote, "Nothing magic in this puzzle or the solution. Rather a mechanical puzzle; check five-letter cities, check state abbreviations. But it did lead me to a couple of hints, presented here. " "Magic" refers to the nickname of Miami, "The Magic City." "Lead," pronounced another way, refers to the inexcusable mess of Flint's water system. ---Rob
ReplyDeleteRob, your clue was great. I wished I'd thought to use the alternate pronunciation of lead as you, Blaine, and others here did.
DeleteThe giveaway musical clue would have been Flo-Rida. The naughty phrase from rearranging the postal codes twice was MILF FILM.
ReplyDeleteFLINT, MI and MIAMI, FL
ReplyDelete"Jaden and Willow have to be the worst celebrity children. I'd love to see them play with a can of outdated Chinese paint."
Jaden and Willow Smith are the children of Will Smith who performed the famous song "Miami" and Chinese paint had lead in it much like the water in Flint.
My numeric clue, 27-75, refers to two major highways that connect the two states.
ReplyDeleteLate Breaking Bonus Puzzle (another rip-off, conflating 2 WS puzzles):
ReplyDeleteName a means of transportation, 8 letters, that can me made from the postal abbreviations of US states. Bonus hint: there's a specific "creature" association with this, but only if you're a total Monty Python fanatic.
I have an answer that works but, so far no clue to Monty Python. My answer has a connection to something that's been in the news this week.
DeleteIs the Concorde still considered a means of transport?
DeleteBut of course. . .
DeleteAbsolutely it is! Just like the Costa Concordia, which I watched them raise and float away.
DeleteBTW, we here is Seattle have one of the Concords in our Boeing Museum of Flight. I have been aboard it, but I don't think I would have enjoyed being a passenger, as they were packed in like sardines. No olive oil was even provided to prevent chafing.
I've still got my "Keep Calm And Vada A Bordo, Cazzo" T-shirt."
DeleteThe Concorde got roomier in flight, expanding by nearly a foot due to aerodynamic heating.
DeleteI was thinking of 'AIRPLANE'. I suppose the Monty Python connection could be the skit where John Cleese and Michael Palin are airline pilots and deliberately try to annoy the passengers using the PA system.
I still can't believe that Costa Concordia going down as it did.
Too bad the Concorde isn't still flying. I did see the one at the Smithsonian. What a beautiful plane. I know there's a lot to that story!
Hmmm, 68Charger, can't find AI or RP on my U.S. states map of postal codes. . .
DeleteAs so often Ron has sussed out the answer, and WW has made the Python connection, which can also mostly be seen on this video. I would also have accepted the Dennis Moore scene.
DeleteThere is a group proposing to recommence Concorde flights. I heard many sonic booms when I was a kid, and have seen the Concorde take off; its very steep climb was really marvelous. And loud, which was another passenger complaint.
WW:
DeleteI just used the letters, not necessarily keeping them paired up!
AIRPLANE
(AIRP)
PA - Pennsylvania
RI - Rhode Island
(LANE)
LA - Louisiana
NE - Nebraska
Hey WW, speaking of trans-porting, I see Colorado has broken new ground with Misty Plowright!
Deleteeco, I mist that news.
DeleteI believe using the codes in order was part of eco's challenge, yes?
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DeleteWW,
DeleteGoing by the post of 6/30, 4:01 PDT, I don't see that stipulation of them needing to be be in order or keeping them grouped.
As eternal Lord Master over the Bonus Puzzle, I hereby decree that WW's interpretation of the rule is correct.
DeleteViolators will be rearranged.
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DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteEco,
DeleteHa,ha!
In the interest of happy puzzling I am willing to avoid early fireworks and submit to Lord Master!
Happy 4th of July, everyone!!
68Charger!
Hey eco:
DeleteReading your "speaking of trans-porting" post above gave me the idea of someone making a film or documentary entitled, TRANS-SPOTTING or TRANSSPOTTING. Riffing off the Trainspotting movie I never saw, but heard of.
In many parts of the Bay Area trans spotting is pretty easy; I suspect the same for Seattle. Happily it's becoming less and less of an issue.
DeleteGiven the recent advances perhaps the documentary should be trans-putting?
And Trainspotting was a pretty good movie, though the worst toilet in Scotland scene was a bit grim.
You are right, eco. Just a week ago I was sitting at the computer in my house, (definitely not designed by an architect or a logical person) located on a corner with lots of interesting foot traffic that passes, and watched as a guy well over six feet tall sauntered down the middle of the road (no sidewalk there) in skin tight black tights and very high heels. He/she seemed as comfortable as someone walking up to accept a diploma at Harvard. I was impressed.
DeleteThe toilet scene was my favorite in Trainspotting. Speaking of which, there is a pharma company that's marketing a drug specifically to counteract the constipating effects of narcotics. And, I've recently been alerted that some addicts are taking massive doses of over-the-counter Imodium, which is a somewhat related compound.
DeleteThanks, eco and 68Charger, for clearing up the postal code ground rules. It's a slow Friday so I noted that one could use all letters of the alphabet except B, J, and Q if one uses the postal codes in any order. {Poor Nebraska (NE) lost its B in NB to New Brunswick, Canada, as we've discussed here.}
DeleteJan - there's a hole conversation you've started that I hope goes no further.
Deleteeco - But you sure can admire the work Jan's crack research team does.
DeleteYou've wrecked 'em for all of us. . .
DeleteWe don't usually see such tight dialogue here.
Delete^^^^Nix the "J," Jersey boys and girls.
DeleteYou mean we can't bbq in any US state?
DeleteOr mind our b's and q's!?
DeleteWake up, you snoozing Blainesvillians! Puzzleria! is now uploaded.
ReplyDeleteFittingly, we feature a great puzzle created by patjberry titled "Snoozy Sleepyhead Soldier Slice: Bilingual bugle call." It involves a singer, a song, and a soldier who lingered in his bunk too long!
The other eight Puzzleria! puzzles this week are titled:
Nine pyrotechnic page-turners
The Mailer’s Tale... of Two Cities
Pigskin veggie boys
United Shapes of America
Reading a postal pattern
Making model cars in shop class
(TH)inking outside the pushed envelope
Statesided Journey
Blaine has alertly (he ain't snoozin') provided a link to "Joseph Young's Puzzleria!" in his PUZZLE LINKS.
LegoSoStopHittingThatSnoozeAlarmButtonLikepatjberry'sSleepyheadSoldierAndInsteadClickOnOurLink
Interesting.... The new NPR Sunday Puzzle page is up, with the on-air puzzle, the answer and winner of last week's puzzle, even a button to submit your entry for this week's puzzle -- but omitting the new puzzle! Guess we'll have to wait for the audio.
ReplyDeleteLOL! He only said it once, and it was a little complicated. I hope someone here can take dictation!
ReplyDeleteTake the word FALSE and divide it in two. FAL is the beginning of FALL and SE is the end of RISE. FALL and RISE are opposites. Now do the same with SHALL. You decide where to divide SHALL, but there are 3 pairs of words. You need to find all 3
ReplyDeleteConsider the word FALSE. The first part of the word, FAL, is the beginning of FALL, and the second part, SE, is the end of RISE, and FALL and RISE are opposites. Now, do the same for SHALL, i.e., find the dividing point, and the words on either side of the dividing point that are opposites.
ReplyDeleteI have an answer with just two opposites but, are there three?
DeleteThree _sets_ of opposites?
DeleteAnd there were 3800 correct entries last week.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to find clever clues this week, but there's a way.
ReplyDeleteQueary: Is it one dividing point with three solutions; or can it be different dividing points with solutions. (No clue; legitimate question.)
ReplyDeleteI have two answers that have different dividing points. I have another answer, with the same dividing point as one of the other two, that checks out with Thesaurus.com.
ReplyDeleteAnd then I have a 'family' of answers which, if correct, depend upon something from my third answer.
Speaking of "Querrey" I got to watch him beat Djokovic on my nice big screen tv.
ReplyDelete