Sunday, February 05, 2017

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 5, 2017): And They Lived Happily Ever After

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 5, 2017): And They Lived Happily Ever After:
Q: Name a prominent figure in a fairy tale. Write this in all capital letters. Add a stroke to one letter and rearrange the result. You'll name another prominent figure in a fairy tale. What two fairy tale figures are these?
A: FROG —> OGRE

145 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. Change one letter in Blaine's hint to clue the answer in a punny way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jan, we are all awed by your clue!

      Delete
    2. I don't even SEE any clue from Blaine...where IS it? [But I got the answer already, so it's not that I need to see the clue, I'm just bugged by my inability to find what BLaine wrote.]

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    3. They mean the image, "...and they lived happily ever after."

      Delete
    4. Oh, thanks, eco. I always thought Blaine's clues were written out below the image/restatement of puzzle. I'll be waiting to find out what jan meant, because even knowing the answer, I can't figure out what s/he is talking about, which meaning 11thplace and ww clearly grasped.

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    5. VT,
      jan is a wonderful and ingenious gentleman, from New Jersey I believe.

      And, speaking of "wonderful and ingenious, "I notice that "clotheslover" posted a comment this morning on Blainesville.

      LegoWhoTooWouldBeAwedByjan'sClueIfHeKnewWhatTheAnswerWasToThisWeek'sPuzzle

      Delete
    6. Ἰατρέ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν.

      Delete
    7. Hoppily, harpily, nappily, sappily ...
      ... Am I in the wrong thread?

      Delete
    8. Ah, thanks, Lego, for the info. New Jersey.....where I grew up! I wonder in what town jan lives?

      Delete
  3. Well the HAPPY(Disney dwarf) HARPY doesn't require any rearranging and the well-known fictional character, GERTIE, becomes GRETEL when you add a stroke to the I and it becomes an L. I do have the "real" answer.

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  4. Can we use figures from the Bible?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only if you want a fight with the fundamentalists.

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    2. So take DOC. Add a judiciously placed line and you get DOG.
      That's fine.
      I can take a joke.
      Severally of them, actually.

      Delete
  5. This is a good puzzle to make smiles on a rainy day. ---Rob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But there's no rain in the forecast until Wednesday.

      Delete
  6. Abey baby
    We took the poll down at the waffle house that's what we came up with

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr. Washington contributed to the soundtrack of a tribal rock musical. Which reminds me that President's Day is coming up. As is Purim. I've been promising myself to read the whole megillah one of these years. This year? Maybe; I'll keep you in suspense.
      And I still haven't solved this puzzle.
      I hope Mr. Cranston has.

      Delete
  7. Show of hands, can you change a T to an R using the rules above?

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  8. T to I
    P to R
    F to E
    D to P
    H to A
    L to U
    N to M
    O to Q
    V to N

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    Replies
    1. I to T
      I to L
      J to U
      U to W

      Delete
    2. You left off quite a few, like C to G, C to O, F to P, J to U, P to B, N to W, Y to X. And how about K to R, I to P and T to F?
      Does the "stroke" have to be straight or can it be a curve?

      Delete
    3. No one mentioned L to Z, which does not work.

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  9. You could add V to Y.

    Bonus puzzle:
    Name a character that one wants to be in a fairy tale, change 2 of the letters to the 4th letter following (e.g. A + 4 = E), rearrange and you get another character you wish were in a fairy tale.

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  10. I arrived at an answer I believe is the intended one, but may not be. At first I tried to make the character in the ballet I attended last night fit, but it didn't. Sorry-no hint yet.

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    Replies
    1. Wonder what ballet company you saw.
      I had the alternate answer last week but did not send in. Thought WS would not accept.
      Need hint for today's puzzle.

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    2. https://www.pnb.org

      Pacific Northwest Ballet

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    3. Thanks. Partial to SF Ballet where I live.

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    4. looked at preview. Amazing!

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    5. It was. Usually Cinderella has a glass slipper as a prop, but not in this new version. Probably a good idea too as glass can be a pane. For that night only there was a guest lead: Lucien Postlewaite, who used to dance here with PNB.

      Delete
    6. I will see SF Ballet Cinderella in May. Saw magical glass slipper on the Pacific ballet preview.

      Delete
  11. This whole puzzle's giving me what must feel like a stroke. Anyone have a suggestion for a surefire website in which to find the answer? The degree of difficulty for these puzzle is such that this isn't fun anymore.

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    Replies
    1. I will offer you a "surefire website" on Thursday. On this blog we respect Blaine's requirement:"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."

      Delete
  12. Replies
    1. Golf is a good option if you feel like you're having a stroke. I like playing it where the highest score wins.

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    2. eco, Playing via your option I doubt you could beat me.

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    3. Swimming works also. Pool your resources.

      Delete
  13. Not a bad puzzle I suppose. It only asks for two silly things.
    On top of on-air anagrams.
    My local station mercifully failed to air the whole thing.
    Did I hear there was an alternate for last week?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.npr.org/series/4473090/sunday-puzzle
      O new as one was one wastebasket.

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  14. Replies
    1. Because thinking leads to fulfillment; sometimes you just have to work backwards.

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  15. I know there's a fairy tale called "Nix Nought Nothing", because so far that's what I've got.

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  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. I will once again ask, with the hope that others on this blog will say something intelligent or helpful or both should they choose to answer, what is clearly meant to be a rhetorical question:
    WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER?!

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    Replies
    1. Well now you've got me wondering what the answer to that conundrum is.

      Delete
  18. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  19. Rumpelstiltskin was a crazed maniac.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, who was this Trump El Shit Thin?

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    2. You mean the fellow who drove into the town whose denizens are used to operating at molasses speed and hit 'em with the bumper line before the truck even stopped? Funny as heck watching the snowflakes scramble.

      Delete
    3. Plagues and diseases move pretty fast too, be it the locusts of ancient Egypt or the Armyworms of Ghana today.

      Hitler's Panzer Divisions drove into Warsaw pretty quickly too, perhaps that's more apt to the Pol(e)'s of today. Shock and awe are usually reserved for enemies, odd that the Blonde Bomber opts to run our country that way.

      And GB, in 2000 we had a right-wing rootin' tootin' pro-pollutin' anti-regulatin' President barely elected by the Electoral College and not by popular vote. How'd that work out?

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    4. Meanwhile the "tolerant" Brownshirts set fire to Big Sis' U in Berkeley?

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    5. So that's the best you've got? Some agitators joined the peaceful student protest and flipped some trash bins, broke some windows, etc?

      The ones caught assaulting Repub’s were not affiliated with UC. The damage was from a group called the “Black Bloc”, which has appeared at a number of gatherings, and they are not UC students. Unfortunately those things happen at many large gatherings in the Bay Area, including “celebrations” after winning the World Series. Maybe we should ban baseball.

      Your argument has all the strength of Betsy DeVos’ resume, compare that with actions by our so-called President to:
      1) ban refugees
      2) not honor visas already issued
      3) allow discrimination by private businesses AND the government
      4) eliminate health care for 30 million
      5) privatize social security and medicare
      6) reduce taxes on the wealthy and corporations
      7) "drain the swamp" by filling the cabinet with oil and gold. Other nominees have stated their intention to eliminate their departments, or are incredibly underqualified for their positions – e.g. a Secretary of Education who never went to college (you probably don’t know the Department also oversees public colleges) and believes in private, religious schools, at odds with over 100 years of successful national policy, not to mention the Constitution.
      8) declare war on the media
      9) declare that the judiciary system is invalid (Marbury v. Madison is so 19th Century).
      10) declare that anything against him is a lie
      11) spew various lies (excuse me, alternative facts) directly and through his surrogates, ranging from small (size of his crowds) to the large (the country is dangerous, the economic fortune was stolen by politicians - in fact it was stolen by super-rich capitalists, though politicians following Republican ideals did facilitate).
      12) increase tensions with China
      13) potentially set off a trade war with Mexico
      14) insult leaders of long term friends and allies
      15) issue an arbitrary and capricious rule that requires elimination of 2 existing rules for every new rule (this is just dumb)
      16) threaten war with Iran (which my Persian friends point out has not started a war in over 200 years. If you won’t believe them maybe you’ll believe Ron Paul)
      17) give Russia nods that their invasion of the Crimea is okay.
      18) violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution
      19) refuse to divest of his own businesses while President, leaving an opening for conflicts of interest that you could drive a golf resort through
      20) order public agencies to not release information about their programs and activities
      21) reduce regulations on the financial sector, the very thing that brought the crash of 2008
      21) threaten all inspectors general (which have been immune from political manipulation for 36 years) with mass dismissal
      22) fire his own interim Attorney General (a supposedly independent position) because she disagreed with his immigration order
      23) eliminate labor and consumer protection laws
      24) ask the Army Corps of Engineers to violate their own policies by issuing a permit without proper environmental review
      25) strain relations with NATO allies throughout Europe
      26) enhance China’s strength worldwide with our allies
      27) publicly question the election system because it did not fit his narrative, and did so without any credible or even incredible evidence, just made stuff up.
      28) replace experienced military staff with his political advisor in attendance at security briefings (probably not the last time he'll substitute personal politics for intelligence.
      29) attack the intelligence community as a whole when it does not support his wild claims.

      Those are just some from memory. And it's only been 17 days or so.

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    6. Assuming the carbon footprint of all of this is minimal ... I'm cool.

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    7. Still, you gotta like the Knights of Socialism at UCF. In training to "Bash" the Deplorables. Now if it was the Knights of something-or-other else and they wore white hoods instead of black hoodies. . . well, there might be objections. Anyway, these are exciting times. HerHillaryness, Pocahontas, and Michelle already elbowing each other in the primaries to take up PBO's mantle in '21 for the inexorable march to tolerance and income equality (except for the Elites, of course). And it is great to watch the Lib Preppers in the neighborhood. They put in a safe room after the election to avoid the chaos to come. Fortification and hoarding supplies. No guns, of course. Nice folks actually, but. . . whew! Not to worry though. The Establishment will prevail. We'll be back on the road to no borders and Global Warming (or is it Global Cooling - hard to keep track sometimes) before you can say Political Correctness. Can't wait to see the Leftie Brownshirts take on ISIS. TV ratings should be sky high - if it's reported. Yessiree, these are exciting times. Grab a seat and enjoy spectacle.

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    8. And on the DeVos thing - why are the Right to Choose/Power To the People/Freedom of Choice folks so dead set against school choice? Something just doesn't add up there. More than meets the eye perhaps?

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    9. It seems like every day there is some new twist of facts or outright lie from Trump or his minions. Today I hear of the 78 terrorist news stories that were not covered. This in spite of the fact that we did see these incidents in the news. What a bunch of baloney!
      I keep thinking either Trump is without scruples or he is just plain crazy, maybe both.

      Delete
    10. The issue with "school choice" is siphoning off taxpayer dollars to pay for religious or private for-profit schools, not to mention the basic union-busting intent. Plus, the issue with Betsy Devos is her lack of experience and financial conflict of interest.

      Delete
    11. I say cool is a rule, but
      Sometimes, bad is bad.

      Delete
    12. Consider this Trump quote:

      "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."

      I think he has shown great restraint, for him anyway, in not shooting anything off but his mouth so far. But "let's give him a chance." Suppose the German people had not given Hitler a chance just because they did not agree with him when he was appointed chancellor.

      Delete
  20. Just got it after trying Dictionary.com again! Thanks ZC! I apologize once again for being slightly angry that I didn't get it right away. I do usually try to solve these things on Sunday afternoon, but lately they have been a little tougher, you gotta admit. It is better to get these things over with that day(although by now it's Monday morning!). Any longer and one might sometimes give up hope(almost).

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    Replies
    1. I still haven't gotten this one. I used to solve at least 50 of 52 a year. But, lately, I just don't have the patience to wade through lists to try to correlate a couple names.

      Delete
  21. Basically, I just wanted to get it over with before the Super Bowl came on, and I could concentrate on the commercials. A few good ones, I thought, like Terry Bradshaw ending up doing laundry at Jeffrey Tambor's house. Hilarious!

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  22. This puzzle forced me to use the dark and mysterious place in my brain I like to call my 'Aisle of wrong'.

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  23. Anyone remember that awful building collapse in Bangladesh in 2013?

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  24. Speaking of fairy tales, something about them certainly seems to be ... enchanting. Michael Cunningham has slim collection of modern retellings of classic stories, A Wild Swan, and other tales. One fun selection from the book appeared in The New Yorker in 2015.

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    Replies
    1. Has anyone here read Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes? I enjoyed her discussion of fairy tales and wolves.

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    2. Little Man was fun. Thanks, jan!

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  25. Community supported radio, Wet Mountain Valley.

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  26. Were Little Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood siblings? Or have we been hoodwinked?

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    Replies
    1. Well no, actually I meant Little Rich Rotten Slut. There might just be a connection to the President here; and Nordstrom too.

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    2. Interesting article in The Nation about Ivanka's life, her history with The Daddy, and her place in the world of working women.

      Hard to feel sorry for one born into such wealth, but she is a pawn in Daddy's world, and the pic of her as a 9 year old in a gold mini-skirt is just creepy.

      Delete
    3. Haven't read the article yet, but did take a look at the photos. I didn't find the gold costume bothersome, but in the same photo a much younger Trump has almost black hair. How does hair that color transform itself into golden yellow when you are a septuagenarian? Also he is wearing his bow tie incorrectly. The collar wings are meant to go over the tie and not behind.

      Update: I just happened to catch and read the paragraph just to the right of the photo. Now, that IS CREEPY!

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    4. There have been other, well publicized, pictures of her in her early teen years sitting on Daddy's lap, with his hands in places you don't associate with a parent.

      I thought kids usually stop sitting on their parent's lap when they turn 8 or so....

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    5. Also worth noting that the parrots in the 2nd photo appear to be doing the "dirty bird".

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    6. I think so too, but I also agree with you that she could probably "turn 8 or so...." tricks a night.

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    7. Is she checking to see if he got a close shave so he won't irritate her face when he slips her the tongue?

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    8. Apparently it is a parrot parenting.

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    9. I suspect Ivanka knows if the small hands theory is true or not.

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  27. Living in that family must be awful, sort of like Sartre's "No Exit."
    I hope the Chump accomplishes his inevitable self-destruction before he kills us all.

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  28. I admit I know next to nothing about history.
    I'm skeptical about reincarnation.
    But I try to be open minded.
    And I like to think out loud.
    So:
    Is Steve Bannon Rasputin?
    I know for a fact a lot of people are asking that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is it all about pushing buttons?
      If so, the game is flawed.

      Delete
  29. On a lighter & different note, I was just watching the national news and they were showing New York city clearing the snow using garbage trucks outfitted with snow plow blades. I have never seen that before. If it works, more power to 'em. Looking on the internet, other cities have been trying that too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not only is that a good idea, but all the snow is recycled too!

      Delete
    2. PRUNELLA >>> RAPUNZEL

      Ἰατρέ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν refers to "Physician, heal thyself" which points to Prunella vulgaris , known also as the self-heal plant.

      : refers to the self-heal plant used in colon cancer research.

      "Community supported radio, Wet Mountain Valley" is KLZR.

      Delete
    3. As an old New Yorker, I can tell you that using Department of Sanitation Garbage Trucks to plow snow has been standard practice there since at least the early 1950's. I've always thought it perfectly reasonable - NYC has a large fleet of heavy duty garbage trucks and having each of them fitted out with a plow and hitch is far cheaper than having a serparate fleet of snow removal vehicles. And if garbage pick up is delayed a day or two in "outlying" areas, it isn't a big problem as the cold will keep the trash from becoming malodorous.

      When there is a major snow event they also use payloaders and dump trucks to clear the snow from the streets in lower Manhatten - where there is no place to plow it. The trucks then shuttle to the East and Hudson river piers and dump the snow into the rivers..

      Delete
    4. SuperZee - I cee! Not a bad idea. Around here, all the local metro cities use utility vehicles that have snow blade attachments.
      Anymore, I wonder if the newer trash trucks around here are heavy duty enough to handle snow plowing?

      Delete
  30. ALADDIN - change one D to a P and rearrange to get - PALADIN

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  31. FROG / OGRE. I wrote, "This is a good puzzle to make smiles on a rainy day." Leonidas W. Smiley was the owner of the celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras county, and the _Ranidae_ are the frogs. ---Rob

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  32. FROG -> OGRE

    > I have a personal connection to one of the stories, which I mentioned here previously.

    Donna Jo Napoli wrote The Prince of the Pond: Otherwise Known as De Fawg Pin, a wonderful retelling of The Frog Prince. Her son and my son have been friends since college.

    > Change one letter in Blaine's hint to clue the answer in a punny way.

    > Anyone remember that awful building collapse in Bangladesh in 2013?

    It was the Rana Plaza building. Rana is a common genus of frog. And "awful" in German is schrecklich, like the ogre.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I'm impressed that we have 3 legitimate answers this week!

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    Replies
    1. I am going to take a page outta Trump's playbook and declare it is unanimous that my answer is the correct one.

      If you do not agree then please address your comments to my press secretary.

      Delete
    2. Yes, congrats to everyone who answered this one! I wonder how many correct answers will be submitted and how many WS will accept. It better be all three unless there are stil more.

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    3. I don't hold my breath when it comes to W.S. playing fair.

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    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  34. "Golf is a good option ... playing it where the highest score wins" - "golf" backwards (highest score wins) is close to frog.

    "Because thinking leads to fulfillment; sometimes you just have to work backwards." was a reference to Descartes' Cogito ergo [ogre reversed] sum. "Erg" is also a unit of work, but I got bored and didn't work that joule in.

    Bonus Puzzle: add 4 letters to the I and N in PUTIN and you get PUTMR, and even a bad high school student can anagram that.

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  35. Abey baby. We took a poll...
    One of President Lincoln's sons was Thomas 'Tad', because he squirmed like a tadpole as a baby.
    FROG OGRE

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  36. The FROG in Grimm's “The Frog Prince>>>add a stroke to the F to make it an E and rearrange = OGRE, a fairy tale villain.

    Cranberry, here is your “surefire website” as promised: Crossword Heaven. Just put in the clue: “fairy tale figures.”
    Now you can see why a “surefire website” cannot be posted before the deadline.

    ReplyDelete
  37. BREAKING NEWS!

    All three Ninth Circuit judges told Trump: F. U. 2!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trump must be furious! You know he won't ever let this go!
      Maybe he should go shopping at Nordstrom's for Kellyanne, to relieve some stress.

      Delete
    2. He should commit seppuku with a rusty knife.

      Delete
    3. Impeach Trump!! Enough of this psycho.

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    4. Trump needs to start building bridges instead of burning them.

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    5. Is that when we will see him at the lead of a flock of flying pigs?

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    6. Paul:
      That was good, but how about:
      Rapunzel haired sp**ge trumpet? or
      Trash tweeting tower turd?

      Delete
    7. "Dulles Tower, Whiskey Tango Hotel here, we have a bogey at 12'O'clock high, appears to be a flock of flying swine heading to the DC area. Over."

      "WTH - We confirm your sighting. Please vector 90 degrees and avoid any contact. Bogey has been tracking on radar since mid January. Over"

      "WTH again, bogey appears to be a serious hazard here. Anything else that can be done? Roger?"

      "Negatory WTH. We'd like to comply but Bogey controls all the strings. Suggest you remain clear of DC for the next four years and avoid Nordstrom's until remaing bogey stock is gone. Over."

      "Tower, this will (crackle) be a long four years. Over."

      "WTH, ROGER THAT!!"


      Delete
  38. I went with PRUNELLA, RAPUNZEL. Can't believe FROG, OGRE didn't occur to me.

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  39. If the Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Price Nomination to Serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services is struck down it will be a Priceless statement of disapproval of the Trump Reich.

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  41. Puzzleria! has just been uploaded. Seven puzzles for your perusal and enjoyment: Three "fractured fairy tale" rip-offs plus four others, including a nifty number puzzle. Bingo!

    Simply click on "Joseph Young's Puzzleria!" in Blaine's PUZZLE LINKS.

    Incidentally, my answer this week was Prunella/Rapunzel, but I believe Will's intended answer is ogre/frog... they are figures. Rapunzel/Prunella seem to be "names" rather than "figures."
    What Will accepts as kosher will be interesting.

    LegoAsks:"WhereDidBingGoToCollege?"Answer:BasketballPowerhouseGonzaga(WhichKindaSoundsLikeTheNameOfAFairyTaleFigure)

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    Replies
    1. Rapunzel/Prunella are fairy tale characters; I have no trouble with that. I do have a problem that ¯+L represents Z. It's not even close (¯L), L to Z does not work in my opinion.

      Delete
    2. Besides, while turning an L into a Z may be a cute idea, I'm not convinced it's righteous.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, Lego, the answer I sent in was FROG and OGRE. WHen I had read some of the comments well above, I began to wonder if I'd done it wrong.

      Delete
  42. WITCH/WIGHT was my answer. But I'm sure it's not what Mr Shortz is after.

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    1. CLOTHESLOVER!!! You're BACK! It's been months and months (maybe even over a year?) since you showed up on Puzzleria! I was actually worried about you.....where have you been?

      Delete
    2. VT: *blushing* thanks for noticing my absence. I just had to prioritize my time. Full time Uni(transfer of schools), 2 jobs, an internship, international travels; and I also got a crazy "viral pleurisy" last year and was very I'll for months. All of which hasn't/doesn't leave much for riddles, puzzles, and giggles.

      Delete
    3. clotheslover:

      Sorry to hear you were "very I'll for months." At least you were not ill.

      Sorry again, but I could not help myself. :-)

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    4. Oh, CL, what a saga! While much of it sounds fascinating (international travels? DO TELL), or mysterious (an internship and whatever "Uni" means), I am, like sdb, so sorry to learn that you were so sick for so long. I will have to look up what that condition means....do you suppose you caught something while overseas?

      I do hope you are ALL BETTER....and YE,S WE ALL MISSED YOU!! Lego hopes you will return to P!, as well.

      Delete
    5. Duh, I just grasped that "Uni" means college. Duh, I say yet again.

      Delete
  43. I wonder if anyone else happened to notice that the same result can be obtained without the need to add a stroke to a letter if you consider Tarzan, or perhaps even King Kong, to be fairy tales, and combine either of them with The Princess and the Pea and change pea to ape.

    You might even consider making it plural by adding an S if you are using Tarzan as one of the fairy tales as there were numerous monkeys in that one I seem to recall. Also the princess almost certainly would have had a canopy above her bed, not to mention a can of pee beneath.

    I cannot imagine how anyone could have lived with such a difficult person. There simply would have been no peace. Or perhaps there would.

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  44. Is it "your innate" (say it fast) wish to appease us?

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    Replies
    1. It depends if I can a-void it.

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    2. That's what depends are there for.

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    3. I wuz wundering if yu'd pik up on the Depends bit.

      I wood halve replyd earlier, but wuz @ the symphony and Hillary Hahn. I don't know if you would say the music offerings were pee-riod pee-ces, but they wur wunderschon.

      Delete
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  46. Even without Rob's addition, I'll bet the audience cleans up on this one.

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  47. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    Replies
    1. Wow. I _really_ didn't think so. But I have removed the comment. ---Rob

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  48. That was easy. Now back to sleep.

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  49. Next week's challenge: This week's challenge is an easy one, but it's pretty. It comes from listener Michael Shteyman of Odenton, Md. Name some things commonly seen on a kitchen table. Switch the positions of the fifth and sixth letters of the word, and read the result backward. You'll name two things commonly seen in a kitchen. What are they?

    ReplyDelete

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.