Q: Think of a phrase that denotes a particular major-league sports team in 12 letters. The first 6 letters are the same as the second 6 letters rearranged. What team is it?
A: THE MIAMI HEAT
Sunday, July 10, 2016
NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 10, 2016): The Boys of Summer
NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 10, 2016): The Boys of Summer:
176 comments:
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.
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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.
Ack - sports again. Expect no input from me this week, and there is certainly no hint here! ---Rob
ReplyDeleteDitto Rob
ReplyDelete"A long, long time ago..." "Drove my Chevy to the levee..." How does it start?
ReplyDeleteOnce again I agree with your deja vu comment!
ReplyDeleteI am . . .
ReplyDeleteA semi-anagram of an ambiguity.
ReplyDeleteAt least Willy probably won't have to begrudgingly adnit to any alternative solutions.
Does anyone have any idea what Will is looking for? The name of a team? A phrase such as "Let's go . . . "?
ReplyDeleteWhen you get there, Dave, you'll know it.
DeleteHmmm . . . sounds like a Yogi Berraism ;). When you get to the fork in the road, take it.
DeleteDave,
DeleteI am going to give a straightforward hint, which is unusual for me. But this one is a little tricky... not unfair, really, but perhaps bordering on the unfair. So I deem a straightforward hint justifiable (no hint thus far).
Will Shortz and/or Martin Eiger (the puzzle's creator) wrote, "Think of a phrase that denotes a particular major-league sports team...," not simply, "Think of a particular major-league sports team." The key word is "phrase."
Incidentally (no hint hereafter), when I began working on this NPR challenge I considered team "nicknames" (such as "Bronx Bombers" for the New York Yankees, but then realized that "Bronx Bombers" probably connotes rather than denotes the New York A.L. team. Will/Martin's answer does indeed denote a major league sports team.
Only one hint in this post -- my "phrase" obsevation.
LegoNotesThatYogiBerraWasOneOfTheGreatestBronxBombers
The 12 letters of the NPR answer can be anagrammed to form a phrase that might be exclaimed by one of the three cheeky critters in this week’s puzzle on Joseph Young’s Puzzleria! (see Blaine's PUZZLE LINKS) that is titled: “Noah’s Ark Cargo Hors d’Oeuvre: All God’s creatures, 5 and 3 letters long.”
DeleteThe phrase would take the form:
“_______ __? ___!” (The words are 7, 2 and 3 letters long.)
There is also a “Boys of Summer” puzzle over on Puzzleria! titled: “Sporty Unspicy Slice: Lettermen not named David.”
It doesn’t just “border on the unfair,” it IS unfair… but I have provided hints in P!’s Comments section.
LegoIsNowDeliveringACrookedbackwardHintToWillShortz’sPuzzle
Thanks for the explanation. I was thinking about Bronx Bombers, Brooklyn Bums, etc. I'll have to try something different.
DeleteOkay, Lego, then what would be an example of denoting a sports team rather than confronting one?
DeleteI meant connoting, not confronting. Autocorrect can be a bit fast sometimes.
DeleteSo basically when I say this puzzle sucks, that denotes the puzzle.
DeleteI see London, I see France.
Deletepatjberry,
DeleteDenotation: Milwaukee Brewers
Connotation: Brew Crew
Denotation: Cleveland Indians
Connotation: Tribe
Denotation: Cincinati Reds
Connotation: Big Red Machine
Denotation: Florida Marlins
Connotation: Fish
Denotation: Abe Vigoda
Connotation: Fish
Also, to refine my Sun Jul 10, 11:45:00 AM PDT comment:
In my “Noah’s Ark Cargo Hors d’Oeuvre: All God’s creatures, 5 and 3 letters long” Puzzleria! puzzle, the cheeky critter might also have exclaimed:
“__? _______? ___!” (The same words, in a slightly different order, are still 2, 7 and 3 letters long. The 3-letter word is a palindrome.)
LegoThinksAbe(NotApe)IsTheRealDealTessioMarlinBrandoFishSoAcceptNoSincerestFlanneryFormsOfWiseBlood
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNow we delete. Sorry. Just got it.
Delete"Adnit" was not a hint, just a typo.
ReplyDeleteNice to again have a week off.
ReplyDeleteThe week's end is approaching. Ergo, your rapier wit need not remain MIA, as it were.
DeleteBill Cosby. Now, that guy had a rapier wit...
DeleteThanks for the compliment, GB, but when it comes to sports puzzles I am at my wits end. I don't expect I will even understand the answer when it is revealed later today.
DeleteLike Bill Maher, I never thought he was funny. He did fool me into believing he was a decent person though. Perhaps he could share a cell with Jerry Sandusky. They could play rapier wit each other.
Deletejan, Well, maybe ol' Bill can hold out for a HillaryDeal. Meantime, my Poe Baltimore Poetry is still for the birds. I say, "Nevermore!" SBD, the solution, if I'm correct this go 'round, is vanilla at best. I just wonder if the solution rate will be high or low. I know I went all around the place before hitting on something.
DeleteSDB, I tried to give a hint to my guess with the MIA reference. If it pans out, it's still not much of a denotes or phrase. Methinks there were herrings d'red in the wording.
DeleteGROAN!
DeleteI decided to sit this one out, but from the comments I soon figured it had to be either Miami Dolphins or Miami Heat, but I did not consider THE. I don't think the puzzle was worded well.
I haven't solved this yet, so nothing I say here has any intentional clues. So, why do NYC and Chicago get two teams? Yes, I know they're 'Merica's first and second cities. But, seriously, we only have two teams in the entire Mountain West. That's two teams in the entire time-zone. And, only two each NFL and NHL teams in the entire time-zone. I feel so neglected. At least we have three NBA teams. End of Rant.
ReplyDeleteMLB rant, right, Curtis?!
DeleteRight
DeleteCoulda been ping pong, for all we knew ;-).
DeleteYou’ve come a long way, Curtis Baby, in 63 years. In 1953, the St. Louis Cardinals were the sole bird perched on the Mississippi, the Gateway to the West, and the St. Louis Browns were about to become the Orioles and fly East to Baltimore! With all other teams already East of the Big Muddy!
DeleteLegoTheyJustDidNotListenToCommissionerHoraceGreeley
Putting on my Cliff Clavin hat here, Lego: 'Twas John Babsone Lane Soule who said "Go West, Young Man, Go West!" first. Horace Greeley quoted JBLS (Junior Baseball League, Sir ;-))
Delete. . .And, Go Rockies!
Word Woman,
DeleteMr. Clavin (and the PEOTSmaster) know their Greeley/Soule, I must admit. I defer.
(And I know Mr. Clavin knows his postal codes!)
LegoRiddle:WhatDoesMrClavinUseToKeepHisPostalUniformUnwrinkledWhileHeIsOffDuty?
By next week, everyone's attention will be on the Republican convention in Cleveland, not that politics is any nobler than sports.
ReplyDeleteOne phrase that relates to this team is "wait til next year".
ReplyDeleteDespite my earlier pessimistic post that I would be sitting out this week, I now have learned the answer quite unexpectedly. I really dislike professional, college and individual sports. I don’t even watch the Olympics. Proof that one doesn’t really have to know diddly about sports to solve this puzzle. And yes, there may possibly be a clue lurking nearby...
ReplyDeleteI have the answer and it is a straightforward (no tricks) phrase that denotes a well-known professional team.
ReplyDeleteEagles.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get to a fork in the road
DeleteTake it
To the limit
One more time.
I had a similar experience just over a week ago when I rode my bike back home from a nearby auto repair shop where I was getting some advice on what might be causing my odd car problem. As I proceeded on the sidewalk I suddenly noticed a plastic fork in my path. I, of course, stopped, and right away knew there was something I was required to do in such a situation, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what it was. I would have bent down and picked it up, but it was kinda messy and I didn't really want to touch it. So I did not take Yogi Berra's advice and "take it," but instead simply stood there dumbfounded. Eventually, after several uncomfortable minutes, I proceeded on without figuring out what I should have done in that situation. I felt so sorry for the next poor slob to come along and find himself in the same predicament. I still don't know what it was I was supposed to do in that situation.
DeleteMaybe the assumptions being made here are wrong, but the only professional sport I follow closely is baseball and this has me stumped so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm not even going to blame it on the anagram.
If someone wants to help, tell me if I am looking for an answer with six different letters total, i.e. twice each.
Sensu stricto, yes, Mendo Jim.
DeleteMendo Jim,
DeleteMay I suggest That you invite your friend Katie over and include her in your brainstorming session?
LegoWhoBelievesThatKatieQuickly(ButNotAllWithinTheSpanOfOneTwelveHundredthOfAnHour)WillBarTheDoorLockItAndThrowAwayTheKeyTherebyTurningItOverToTheGreatCosmic"DepartmentOfLostAndNeitherFoundNorWon"
I am stumped, which happens about as often as when the Cubs (last championship in 1908) and the Indians (1948) are both in first place. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so stumped this week. I have to think the answer is a baseball team as I don't know any other sport that refers to themselves as "major league". Yet I'm wondering why they didn't just say baseball.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming this is a phrase like "don't count your chickens" or the like that isn't specifically meant to symbolize a sports team, but it fits? Going crazy this week.
Sarah rose,
DeleteTrue, baseball is the sport to which "major league" has usually and historically referred. But in recent decades, I believe, it has been used more broadly to encompass all "league sports" (football, hockey, basketball, soccer etc.) in which athletes who are the best at their professions participate. The use of "major league" in this puzzle is kosher, in my opinion.
Incidentally, my friend Marygolden thinks that Will's/Martin's use of the term "phrase" is somewhat misleading. She would have worded the beginning of the puzzle as: "Think of a title that denotes a particular major-league sports team in 12 letters."
LegoWhoFindsItDifficultToVerbalize...No,ToArticlulateHintsForThisPuzzle
Title? Hmmm. Song title? Book title? movie title? Formal title? Still clueless.
DeleteSarah rose,
DeleteTeam title.
LegoThinkOfTheTitleOfAMovieWithAGuyInTheCastWhoSevenYearsLatedDiedMakingAMovie
Team title! Not team name, but team title! Okay...Super Bowl Champs! World Series champs! Stanley cup champs! NBA champs! No! No! No! No! How about.....second place! runner up! Conference winner! Naaa
DeleteThankyousomuchalsothereareaboutthirtyactorswhodiedfilmingamoviesothatcLuedidnotrevealanythingtomebutthankyousomuchanyway
Not trying to be a smart butt here. Just frustrated and amazed I just can't see what's probably right in front of my face.
This guy was very "Combative" as a young actor on TV.
DeleteLegoThinksVictoryShallBeYoursSarahSoSeeYaTomorrow
I know who you're talking about, Lego, but I have no idea at all what it has to do with the puzzle answer.
DeleteSame here. Perhaps you need a different thesis. . .
DeleteYeah, jan and Word Woman, I got a little convoluted there, even more than I usually do. In my sign-off to Sarah rose in my Mon Jul 11, 04:46:00 PM PDT , I said to “ThinkOfTheTitleOfAMovieWithAGuyInTheCastWhoSevenYearsLaterDiedMakingAMovie.” The earlier movie was made in the mid-1970s and starred the daughter of an actor dad. I thought that discovering that title might lead Sarah rose to the solution. For some reason, I am empathizing with those who are struggling this week.
DeleteLego:EmpatheticOrJustPathertic?YouDecide!
So The movie is the bad news bears? Bears? Chicago Bears? Chicago? Major league like baseball so Chicago Cubs? That's only 11 letters. Argggggg why is this puzzle so frustrating??? And why can't I solve it?
DeleteI feel your pain. It's morning, and victory is not mine.
DeleteSo the phrase is a title, but the phrase which is a title is not the name of the team.
And apparently Bad News Bears will somehow lead me to victory?
It is to laugh.
OK, maybe I dont know who you're talking about, Lego. But the guy I thought you were talking about, in the last movie he made before the one in which he died, played a guy who shares a name with someone with whom I share a name, who's related to this week's puzzle. Convoluted enough yet?
Deletejan,
DeleteThe Commish (Kenesaw Mountain Landiss?) is correct about my intended movie.
Sarah rose,
"Bad News Bears" may not lead you to victory but I was hoping the movie title might.
LegoWhoWantedToBeTheBearerOfGladHintingsButTurnedOutInsteadToBeTheBearerOfBadClues!
John Campanelli and Sara rose--Hmmm, how to articulate this? Simple: don't overthink it. . .
ReplyDeleteI have to laugh because this may be the most frustrating puzzle I've encountered in a while. Reading through the cryptic references about going west, wait till next year, I think the answer is the Brooklyn Dodgers. But what could be the phrase? Discussion on this blog makes me think song titles, Neil diamond, the word "under" and Bo Jackson may be involved. I still don't know--is it a baseball team? A real team or fictional? Trying not to overthink, really.
DeleteI swear I heard some fans in Oakland promising to "DIE AS RAIDERS!" That's got to be it, right?
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle might be a bit abstract, but it's definitely a well-constructed one, with a singular answer (hopefully!)
ReplyDeleteMike –
ReplyDeleteSeveral points. First, as far as the wording of the puzzle goes, there’s definitely a certain amount of obfuscation going on. Of course, you expect that in most – if not all – puzzles. But this one crosses the line for me.
Second, when I first got the answer, I thought there were two answers. But I was wrong. Upon closer scrutiny, there is one and only one answer.
Third, this is not the first time Will has used a puzzle by Martin Eiger. See 8/9/15 – seat belt, Seattle.
Fourth, cut and paste for a picture of Eiger (far left), Will and a few others:
http://www.theexaminernews.com/examiner-news/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/275-KenKen-Tourney-pic-1.jpg
Good post, Chuck -- I'm curious about your almost-second answer.
DeleteOxymoronically, I like how the obfuscation is clear(!) here, as the phrasing is particular and suggestive. I think there are reasonable heuristics to approach the puzzle, where a person is most likely to outperform computer analysis. Cheers!
I've been wading through the wave of responses and it makes me realize that this puzzle is a bit trickier than it seems on the surface. As a sports fan, I enjoy challenges like this.
ReplyDeleteI dunno; I thought this was a completely straightforward and un-tricky puzzle, and I'm no sports fan. People are getting all excited over nothing, IMHO. I hope cooler heads will prevail.
ReplyDeleteI agree. See my post above.
DeleteSeconded. Team. Phrase. That's all, folks.
DeleteMaybe I have the wrong answer, but a puzzle answer from a couple weeks ago comes into play. No? I'll probably get bounced for this clue.
ReplyDeleteLes sor losers - Golden State Warriors
ReplyDeleteNobler LeBron - Cleveland Cavs
Very Cleveland..., I mean clever, zeke creek.
DeleteLegoWhoHasBeenAccusedOfPossessingACavalierAptitude
The answer really got my blood boiling because I thought so hard about the answer and the answer was so simple.
ReplyDeleteSome like it hot. I recently submitted a puzzle to Puzzleria! that involved an entertainer from the city in the answer.
ReplyDeleteA few recent posts gave it away for me. Let's put the kibosh on easy clues, okay?
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel any better, I've read every comment about twenty times and it's given me nothing.
DeleteSarah rose: I am also completely stumped.
DeleteI finally got it. And now that I did, I wonder why I wasted my talents on this week's puzzle. But now that I can move on, I have to say, Sarah rose, that some of the clues here are worthless and perhaps intentional smoke screens.
DeleteHave tried clearing my mind of all comments. Just concentrated on the puzzle itself. It's simple, right? Hmmmm.
DeleteMy use of "kibosh" was a reference to Heat player Chris Bosh.
DeleteThink 80s television...either a sitcom or a drama. The city in the answer has been the setting for both.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYou're floundering in dangerous waters, Sarah rose. Remember the Prime Directive, and please delete that last comment.
DeleteI stepped up to the plate, gave it 110%, took it to another level, kept my eye on the ball at gut-check time, avoided all the sports cliches, and I'm still behind the 8-ball on this one. Good thing it's not one-and-done.
ReplyDeleteI got it! Or, to be honest, I had the answer handed to me about an hour ago.
ReplyDeleteI am one of those who dismissed the challenge because it was about sports. Up to last night, I had read all the comments, hints, interpretations, etc., and from that whole mess, I derived no useful ideas. But earlier this morning, with the radio on as I was washing dishes, the critical words were spoken! And I was enough tuned in to get the answer.
And, yes, I have embedded a "marker" above (not really a hint.)
I just listened to the segment you heard, I think. Not being a sports fan, the subject was unfamiliar, but his last name sounds appropriate.
DeleteYes, Jan, I suspect we are on the same page (or same station!). I had thought the same thing!
DeleteI just saw a recent news article on the team.
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd never get this one, but thanks to one little article, plus a wiki list, I did. Phew! --Margaret G.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the answer at all. It's kind of stupid. Let's just say that if you were to be watching the team play on TV, you wouldn't almost never see them (or any other team) appear this way on an infographic.
ReplyDeleteBob Kerfuffle and I heard them referred to exactly this way on the radio today.
DeleteTeamwork, here and on the _______.
DeleteI don't think I am going to like the solution to this when I hear it.
ReplyDeleteServes me right for violating my always eschew anagrams rule.
The puzzle did not ask for an anagram. . .so you may have at it, MJ.
DeleteSay what?
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle: "The first 6 letters are the same as the second 6 letters rearranged."
DeleteAn anagram: "a word or phrase made by changing the order of the letters in another word or phrase."
There's a disconnect there. . .And therein lies the puzzle answer.
That which we call an anagram, by any other name would smell.
DeleteLike agar, man? ;-)
DeletePhrase? Denotes? In the final analysis the solution to this one is elementary. No anagram. No elegance. I kept trying to shoehorn a Poe Poem title character out of it. Then the genuine article fell right into place.
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a Sunday puzzle,
ReplyDeleteGuided By Voices, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Prefab Sprout, Linkin Park, Talking Heads, ABBA, Chicago, Boston, Kansas, Black Oak Arkansas, America, Dire Straits, It’s a Beautiful Day, Manchester United, Led Zeppelin, Weezer, Ween, Spirit, Moby Grape, Del Amitri, Hothouse Flowers, A Tribe Called Quest, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Savoy Brown , Black Sabbath, A Flock of Seagulls, Big Country, AC/DC, Yes, No Doubt, Pride and Prejudice, Catch-22, Slaughterhouse Five, Paradise Lost, Dubliners…
End
LegoFeelsLikeAPhraseOrTitleThatDenotesAParicularMajorFlawInTheFabricOfOurUsageThatFraysFraysFrays
Lego, let it not be said that you are a space cadet. Though that might help, actually.
DeleteWord Woman,
DeleteI may not be a "space cadet," but I once had an "escaped cat" named Noosie. (She returned after 3 weeks.)
L e g o W i l l N o w B e S p a c e y !
ReplyDeleteTHE MIAMI HEAT
"I am. . ." (Word) Woman referred to Miami being the only major U.S. city conceived by a woman, Julia Tuttle.
"Same here. Perhaps you need a different THE, SIS."
"Hmmm, how to articulate this? Simple: don't overthink it." referred to the article THE.
"There's a disconnect there. . .And THErein lies the puzzle answer."
I liked the 'aha' moment realizing THE was part of the team name. If THEMIA had anagrammed into a word, that would have made this a superior puzzle, IMHO.
Boston Bruins
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said: “Despite my earlier pessimistic post that I would be sitting out this week, I now have learned the answer quite unexpectedly. I really dislike professional, college and individual sports.” “Pessimistic” like a BEARish investor, a bruin being a bear. “Now have learned” = NHL, the National Hockey League. “Really dislike” = cannot BEAR.
Hmmm, what?
Delete"Brusin' Bruins" has appeared -- you can google it. So the answer to "what team is it" is Boston Bruins. It works. The Miami Heat is better.
DeleteI thought it was Bruisin' Bruins. . .
DeleteTHE MIAMI HEAT
ReplyDelete> It's deja vu all over again!
Miami was (part of) the answer just 2 weeks ago!
> "A long, long time ago..." "Drove my Chevy to the levee..." How does it start?
With a Biscayne key.
> By next week, everyone's attention will be on the Republican convention in Cleveland, not that politics is any nobler than sports.
LeBron (anagram of "nobler") James also moved from Miami to Cleveland.
> I just listened to the segment you heard, I think. Not being a sports fan, the subject was unfamiliar, but his last name sounds appropriate.
It was a report on NPR on the retirement of Tim Duncan from the San Antonio Spurs. There was audio from a game against the Miami Heat. "Duncan" is a good name for a basketball player, don't you think?
The heart of my comment: "Up to last night, I had read all the comments, hints, interpretations, etc., and from that whole mess, I derived no useful ideas." All true. Then I (and jan) heard an NPR story about the retirement of a gentleman named Duncan (hence our amusement that he had played basketball: dunkin') who had played for The Miami Heat. Bingo! But by the time I posted, I had to carefully specify that I had the answer an hour before, since Sarah rose had just spilled the answer on the blog.
ReplyDeleteAnd my "marker" was "mess, I" for Lionel Messi, another famous player in some other sport who had just announced his retirement in the last week or so.
Bob, first Tim Duncan never played for the Miami Heat, life long Spur, and Messi did not retire. He indicated he MIGHT retire from the Argentina National Squad.
Delete@Garry Rust -- Thanks for the clarifications. As I said, sports is not my thing. I only half-heard the story about Tim Duncan, during which the words "The Miami Heat" were spoken. That was enough to solve the puzzle, which was all I cared about. And two weeks ago, I was on vacation in Spain, among a lot of. German speakers, and it was mentioned that the great Messi had announced his retirement. Who am I to question that (or care)? But for history's sake, it is good to have the facts straight!
Delete> OK, maybe I dont know who you're talking about, Lego. But the guy I thought you were talking about, in the last movie he made before the one in which he died, played a guy who shares a name with someone with whom I share a name, who's related to this week's puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI had thought legolambda was taking about Vic Morror (who starred in Combat! in the 60s and died making Twilight Zone: The Movie). In his penultimate film, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, he played a guy named Hammer. The composer Jan Hammer wrote the theme for the TV show, Miami Vice.
That's Vic Morrow. I sure wish we could edit contributions after posting them!
DeleteI never did get the “right” answer to this week's puzzle – but I did like some of the “wrong” answers I came up with:
ReplyDeleteNassau Saunas
Athens Thanes, and my personal favorite
El Paso Paleos
The Miami Heat
ReplyDeleteMy comment about the June 26th puzzle, and Miami was part of the answer, also my clue about being "bounced", a basketball term reference.
Ross Perot could have been describing this puzzle with his hearing a giant sucking sound.
ReplyDeleteI came up with Brusin' Bruins when I saw a license plate frame with "Boston Bruins" on it....and where I saw the car is nowhere near Boston.
ReplyDeleteSarah rose, I hope you finally figured out the answer after you deleted (quickly, thanks!) your giveaway posting.
ReplyDeleteSuggestion/Request: if you are referencing a recent puzzle in your hint, please do be vague about when. . .
ReplyDeleteIt keeps a little mystery.
And Happy Bastille Day!
What do you think the Bastille stormers would do with a president whose hairdresser was paid 10,000 Euros a month? A little off the top, a la Louis XVI, maybe?
DeleteSeeing recent Hollande photos? Oui, oui, more than a little off the top!
DeleteThen there's W. dancing at the Dallas police officers' funeral. . .Molly Ivins must be grinning somewhere at the Shrub.
I would call that shear madness! Talk about a clip joint.
DeleteDid he charge per strand of hair?
DeleteIf he did, that would really make me bristle.
DeleteTo pay or not toupee?
DeleteCrime does not pay as well as politics... (jobbery)
DeleteLet us spray and then part ways.
DeleteIn Medieval times (we're heading there fast) barbers also performed surgery. Perhaps the original phrase was "turn your head and coif."
DeleteWas it better to be the cougher or the coffee?
Deleteeco, I will mullet over.
DeleteBeehive yourself.
DeleteAt least it's cut rate. But that's just splitting hairs.
DeleteOh, good. I am so glad I didn't spend time on this. The answer rings no bells with me. Told you I was ignorant about sports..... ---Rob
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. What does the author mean by “the second 6 letters”? The Miami Heat folks thinks it means letters #7 through #12. The Boston Bruins folks (including me) thinks it means letters #2 through #7.”
ReplyDeleteAs founder of the Society To Repudiate Anagram Puzzles (please give) I am glad I was among THE MIA.
ReplyDeleteAlmost makes me long for the upside down alarm clock puzzles. Note I said almost.
Give or forgive, eco? ;-)
DeleteGive money, forgive sins. Just indulge me.
DeleteI have no snappy riposte, eco.
DeleteIf it bugged you a little would you be a protest ant?
DeleteEusocial, me social.
DeleteNo riposte, eh? I thought an entomological reference might setulose.
DeleteHard to bristle tonight with events in France and in S. Sudan.
DeleteMy state dept. friend in S. Sudan is helping get AmCits out of Juba. Her lament tonight is why we can't be kind and help each other here in the U.S.?
Incredible evil.
DeleteLike the Orlando shooter it's sounding like this killer was driven by his personal demons, not macro political forces.
DeleteDoesn't make it any better for the victims, but in a level-headed world the hate-filled rhetoric would be toned down. I long for that world.
Unfortunately they're like copperheads. You have to identify them and then steer clear or kill them. There's nothing to negotiate with.
DeleteGB: Are you referring to the shooters or the politicians?
DeleteThey all do have interchangeable traits. At least with the copperhead, one knows where one stands.
DeleteLast time I saw a copperhead I was running, not standing.
DeleteSuperZee called it evil; I recall the book "The Power of Evil" identified 3 types of evil:
1) individual evil, as in psychopaths and sociopaths, as might be the case of Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza. This may be genetic, or at least found in the very youngest of children. Can also be caused by trauma or stress, like the Dallas shooter, Orlando shooter, and possibly the Nice driver, who was getting a divorce. Can often be resolved with therapy.
2) Group evil, when 2 or more people get together, usually involves fear, anger or revenge. Columbine shooters, urban (and rural) gangs. I think too many police are verging on this. Impossible to eliminate, but economic and social stability go a long way to reducing.
3) Collective evil: when an entire society commits evil, caused from severe stress, historic/ ethnic hatred, and demonizing another group. Nazi Germany is the clearest example, also Hutu's vs Tutsi's in Rwanda. Lest you think we're above that I would suggest our history with slavery, racism, and anti-LGBQT attitudes puts us in that realm.
Not to stray to far from this week's grand puzzle:
Delete1. The guy, or gal, who finally "goes postal"? We all probably border on that - in the stress variety anyway. These need to be identified and helped if possible, but certainly kept away from sharp objects. Often they are protected by youth, or political correctness. A good example is probably the ex-newsman who killed the TV reporter and cameraman during a live program in Virginia not long ago. He was doubly protected - black and gay. He was passed from employer to employer, no one wanting to be called a bigot or sued, until. . . The Bad Seeds or simply stressed seeds need to be identified. A tall order, but it beats hand wringing.
2. Shirley that doesn't include my (well regulated) neighborhood Citizens Free Militia. Police and military are creations for order. Again, identifying and weeding out the bad eggs in all those categories is the solution - along with stability.
3. Put ISIS at the top of that heap as the current manifestation. Slavery in this country is largely a thing of the past. Racism is a term that gets used a lot but is rarely, if ever, defined. I'm not sure different people even understand it the same way. I saw a conference on the subject once, and the term was never defined. It's a problem, but more perceived than real, and principally exploited by persons who gain by racial strife. Most people go about their business and don't let it be an issue. Same with sexual orientation. Widespread anti in that regard is largely a myth. Most people have real things to do and just don't care what lifestyle the other fellow or gal lives. The issue arises from extremists on both sides. The USA, or what's left of it, just doesn't hold a candle to the Nazis or ISIS.
Now, what's the next puzzle?
Eco,
DeleteYou forgot Blog Evil. This is where a group of bloggers rise up against crappy puzzles.
SDB: That's justice, not evil!
DeleteVoila, naive vultor!
And what about boll weevil?
DeleteI saw that movie. Steve McQueen anagrammed Blog Evil and got Live Glob - who later played Jabba the Hutt. Or was that Pizza the Hut?
Deleteeco,
DeleteJustice is what remains when you finish your cocktail.
Question: How many people can ride in a turkey coupe?
DeleteDid Anthony ever ride in a Wienermobile?
DeleteI really don't know, GB. If you overload it, it might cause a brake drumstick problem.
Deletejan,
Not sure, but to be frank, I bet he would relish the thought.
Not to worry. Colonel Sanders has the recipe to fix that.
DeleteTHE MIAMI HEAT (NBA team)
ReplyDeleteTHEMIA=MIHEAT
There is also, of course, the Atlanta BRAVES BARVES!
The “critter” that LEGO is referring to is an APE which might utter these words: “Imitate me? Hah!” or “Me? Imitate? Hah!”
Willy is known for the occasioal obfuscation as in "a phrase that denotes" instead of "the name."
ReplyDeleteThe real question is whether he was on the same track in calling basketball "a major league sport" instead of "professional sport" or if he plain old didn't know any better.
I think I know.
Mendo Jim,
DeleteThe use of "a major league sport" instead of "professional sport" made the puzzle easier because it meant we needn't consider the myriads of professional but minor league sports.
ron,
Thanks for explaining my “Me? Imitate? Hah!” anagramatical hint.
jan was correct about the actor I was getting at in my hint to Sarah rose. It is Vic Morrow, who was on TV’s “Combat,” and was in the cast of “The Bad News Bears” about seven years before he died on a movie set. I was hoping the “The” in the title might lead the befuddled solvers answerward.
At 6:00 PM on Suday PDT, Mendo Jim said the only professional sport he follows closely is baseball, and that he was thus far stumped. I suggested he invite his friend Katie over and include her in his brainstorming session.
Now, I have no idea whether Mendo Jim has a friend named Katie, but if he were to “include” a KT (or “Katie,” shades of U R A Q T. K T!) in the mix with his beloved “BASEBALL” he would then have BASKETBALL, which is the sport the Miami Heat ply.
LegoWhenHePlaysBasketballTalksNoSmackOrTrashButInsteadTalksBabel;LegoDoesNotNeedToTalkSmackOrTrashOrBabelWhenPlayingBaseballBecauseAllBabesLoveBaseballPlayers
A Google search for major league baseball gets 67 million hits, for major league basketball 3 million.
DeleteThat is not the result of the popularity of the sports, but simply that the term "major league" connotes (if you will, Will and Lego) baseball.
Sure, I will, Mendo Jim, but I am guessing that Will won't.
DeleteLego...WillDoWhat,Exactly?
A late reply...but I really liked the "phrasing" of this puzzle. Better than others!
DeleteStrict team names (besides not working) would have been highly computer searchable. Not-that-there's-anything-wrong-with-that, but the 'phrase' part eventually led me to thinking about fitting "the" into it...trying to find 3 of the 6 letters in a shorter list of short team names made it a pretty neat observation, IMHO -- especially because it ended up being 3 of the 4 letters in the team name itself.
I had the same initial question about "major league" -- which I thought would mostly apply to baseball and possibly soccer (MLS). One doesn't generally hear of NBA and NFL being called "the major leagues," but googling "major league sports" quickly suggested that it is indeed a sufficiently common label for the major professional sports. Learned something new there!
THE MIAMI HEAT
ReplyDeleteMy clues included "Some like it hot" and a reference to Miami Vice and The Golden Girls.
My reference to "wait til next year " - wait sounds like Wade, as the Heat's best player is no longer with the team.
ReplyDelete"Wading through the wave of responses,,," was another reference to Dwayne Wade and Heat wave.
Puzzleria! is again gloriously uploaded!
ReplyDeleteWe offer seven puzzles this week, including three Riffing/Ripping Off Shortz efforts. The answer to one of them echoes bullfighting, but actually has nothing to do with bullfighting.
The titles of our 7 deadly puzzles this week are:
“Snippet in the bud;”
“20,000 major leagues under the C-notes;”
“New vowel, same old dead end;”
“Name’s the same? No, name’s the ‘synoname’”;
“Condensed plot summary;”
“Identical triplets on Tripoli’s shores;” and
“Doobie doobie double refer madness.”
Just click on Blaines’s handy “Joseph Young’s Puzzleria!” link under PUZZLE LINKS to access tons of hot puzzling fun fun fun in the summertime! Hope to see you here!
LegoTheSevenPuzzlesAreNotDeadlyButTheyDoDwarfOthersOfASimilarGenre
Next week's challenge from listener Ben Bass of Chicago: Name a prominent American politician — first and last names, 11 letters total. Rearrange these letters, and you'll get a country plus the former name of another country. Who's the politician, and what countries are these?
ReplyDeleteSeems like a fair enough puzzle.
ReplyDeleteFits to a T.
DeleteWhat you can't teach an old dog.
ReplyDeleteI told my wife the puzzle and she got it. (Musical clue)
ReplyDeleteI'll be, Mendo Jim. More anagrams.
ReplyDelete