The first person who says it's a little more than 5.3 million is getting banned.Q: If ELI is 173, and LOIS is 5,107, how much is LESLIE?
Edit: Turn the name upside down and you get the number, but not 5,318,008.
A:LESLIE = 317,537
Sunday, May 28, 2017
NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 28, 2017): Fancy Math?
NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 28, 2017): Fancy Math?:
Edit: Turn the name upside down and you get the number, but not 5,318,008.
Edit: Turn the name upside down and you get the number, but not 5,318,008.
150 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.
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.
I don't think James Bond would much appreciate this week's puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI just realized what your clue meant. How funny.
DeleteAn odd puzzle indeed. Will must have turned over the responsibility for creating this week's puzzle to an amateur working the holiday weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe answer has 11 as one of its factors...
ReplyDeleteI, too, was a five-seconder on this one, as I bet most posters here were. A numerical hint, extraction omitted: 1128867. ---Rob
ReplyDeleteNot much of a puzzle this week. I can't think of an apt clue.
ReplyDeleteUnlike SDB's performance, this week's puzzle is truly Lilliputian.
ReplyDeleteHow much Leslie costs depends on the value of his of her "services".
ReplyDeleteIf I have this correct, TRUMP = 531734
ReplyDelete531753200771454517734-7134
DeleteNice job SDB!
I don't think this puzzle presented a real challenge to the hardcore puzzlers who visit here. But, it did give me an idea for a puzzle to suggest...
ReplyDeleteSDB: Spectacular performance! You should wear that pin proudly! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteThank you to all who commented here and at the end of last week's blog. What surprised me most this morning is that they ran it exactly as recorded with no editing at all. From some past posts of previous on air players I was expecting it would be shortened, but I am glad it wasn't. I don't think it was on the easy end of the scale as far as they go, and I am happy it wasn't, but when Will asked the first one, my initial reaction was that it was going to be a disaster, though I am happy with the outcome.
ReplyDeleteAs I listened, I was glad it wasn't me playing on air. You did swell; this was tough, although I thought (in opposition to the usual patterns) that the posers became easier toward the end.
DeleteThanks, Rob. I'm glad to hear that I am not the only one who thought it was a bit on the tough side. Actually when Will presented the puzzle to me I thought, okay, this won't be too hard, but then I got the first question and that changed my thinking.
DeleteExcellent job SDB. I tried to solve them looking at the list of words on the "Sunday Puzzle Website." I had them all fairly quickly except for "cruder" but then I was LOOKING at the the words and you had them only orally, even thought Will spelled them out for you. So remarkable good job SDB.
DeleteYou did great SDB! Impressive work. And you cracked up Will Shortz with the dropout quip.
DeleteThanks guys; much appreciated.
DeleteSDB: They must have been impressed to have broadcasted the entire quiz! I kept thinking that it was so much longer than other times.
ReplyDeleteNatasha:
DeleteI was worried since the end of the taping and Lulu said they were now going to tape an alt ending, which was a long letter someone sent in. I was afraid if they used the alt ending much of my part would be cut, but they did the right thing, in my opinion, and stuck to form and did not use the other ending. Maybe they learned from the "special guest" fiasco not to mess with the format. Anyway, now that I guess I didn't make too much of a fool of myself, I am pleased I didn't turn it down. I came really close though. Also, playing on air has given me a somewhat different perspective of the whole thing.
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DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhat is your new perspective?
DeleteBasically more respect for the experience of playing on air, which before I could not relate to.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI would be terrified...Would give fake name.
DeleteI would be terrified...Would give fake name.
DeleteNatasha,
DeleteLast Wednesday afternoon I received notification that I had won a drawing for two tickets to Pacific NW Ballet's new program for Saturday, June 3. I can't find anyone to take, as everyone seems to be going out of town, so get on up here.
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DeleteOk!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThanks for invitation. That is so nice. I have to give nursing entrance exam. You sure have been lucky! Buy a lottery ticket...
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNatasha, I do not believe in luck. I really mean that.
DeleteI did not think you did. Wrong word.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSBD -
ReplyDeleteI congratulated you toward the end of last week's thread, but I'll say it again this week. I thought you did really well with a difficult on-air puzzle.
Chuck,
DeleteThanks, I appreciate that.
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ReplyDeleteDidn't Will give the answer to this about three years ago on NPR?
ReplyDeleteGreat job, SDB! I will say the CARNIVAL/CARDINAL error was an honest mistake. But I was right with you word for word on that puzzle. In fact, I think ESTATE warrants two answers: ESTIMATE and ESTIVATE. Not as common, but it is a word. Congrats, and I hope you wear that lapel pin prominently and proudly!
ReplyDeleteVery well done, SDB! I am quite impressed! And by the way, when I went to the Sunday Puzzle website, there was an advertisement at the bottom with a skydiver, which I took as a shout-out to you. :) --Margaret G. who thinks the puzzle this week is way easier than your on-air puzzle was.
ReplyDeleteMargaret G. - Thanks.
DeleteJust back from my bike ride, and I took a look at the Sunday Puzzle website, but found no skydive pic or related. Maybe they change stuff. Also, while there are some photos of other stories at the bottom, I am not seeing any advertisements.
I tried to add a picture here, but was unsuccessful. The ad I see is for TIAA, an NPR sponsor. I expect it's different depending on the viewer, as most ads seem to be targeted more than they used to. I have no idea why I would get TIAA! --Margaret G.
DeleteIf you go to google images and type in "TIAA ad skydiver" you may see it then - for me, it's the 2nd entry.
DeleteI tried that and believe I got the photo you mentioned. It is of a Tandem skydive and the student is wearing a red jumpsuit. It appears they are using the equipment I jumped, which is from Strong Enterprises, owned by Ted Strong who invented Tandem skydiving. The student is doing well too.
Deletesdb, no one ever chickened out on a skydive with you?
ReplyDeleteThat's quite remarkable, if so. . .
WW:
DeleteTo answer your question: Even if a student is unable to jump due to weather or other problems, or chickens out and doesn't jump, they are still dropouts.
On a more serious note: I can only remember one first jump student who I taught and jumpmastered who chickened out and did not end up jumping and had to be brought back down with the plane. There is a much longer story with that incident, but I won't go into it here.
There were a very few of my students, both on the old static line program and Tandem, who chickened out on the plane, but I always got them to jump. It was not always easy to accomplish, and each case was unique. Those are usually the students who enjoy it the most afterward though.
I consider it unprofessional to bring a student back down who chickens out. That is not what they came out, paid for, and went through the training to have happen and then feel bad about themselves maybe for the rest of their life. I have several stories I could tell if time and space here allowed. I developed my own method of dealing with students on the ground prior to their getting on the plane for the jump. This greatly reduced the times I would need to deal with it in the air.
When I was running a DZ (drop zone) at an airport West of Phoenix my chief instructor, who I inherited with the place, was constantly bringing first jump students he trained back down because they chickened out. He did this because he chickened out on his first jump. I told him it was not his job to empathize with his students, but to give them the experience they came for. I sometimes had to take a student of his back up myself and never had any problem getting them to jump. I dealt with it on the ground. He was a lousy instructor and jumper and died on an illegal BASE jump off El Captain.
Thanks, sdb.
Delete"Chicken out" is a rather strange expression, eh? I've not found a definitive source for its origin.
I did discover that to "bottle out" is the British equivalent of the phrase.
Merriam-Webster says the use of "chicken" as an adjective meaning cowardly dates to 1889. Can't understand why; my niece and her schoolmates at USC are always yelling about fighting gamecocks.
DeleteI hadn't heard "bottle out" before, and I tend to know Brit slang.
DeleteI suspect "chicken out" was coined long ago by Col. Sanders when he ran out of food to serve due to all the chickens crossing the road.
98.9952/128
ReplyDeleteHELLo
DeleteI think Blaine should delete his reprinting of this week's puzzle at the top of this blog, since it violates his rule about posts that lead directly to the answer via an internet search...
ReplyDeleteskydiveboy, May 18, 2017:
ReplyDelete"On the other hand I submit each week, but have zero chance of ever being chosen because, like you, I am openly critical of WS. I only submit so I can have the pleasure of turning them down should they make a mistake and call me. I have no interest in being on the program."
That's the sdb we have come to know and love.
It is a good thing that Shortz called some dude named Mark instead and saved himself some certain grief.
Every time I go flying, I don't think it is "chickening out" to hope I have to be "brought back down with the plane."
Mendo Jim:
DeleteI will happily take the ribbing, and it is not unexpected. I still have not fully understood why I accepted the challenge, but I am glad I did. Maybe it had something to do with this blog and team support, but I don't know for sure. I hope you get the call one day.
As to your flying post: You seem to be adding apples and oranges. When you go flying you do not have the expectation of jumping, and you most likely don't even have the means with you. When a person expressly comes to your business in order to experience a jump via S/L or a skydive via Tandem, he is determined to do it, however depending on variables, such as how he is taught, his personal relationship to heights, etc., he may chicken out when the door opens for him to jump. But, and you may not understand this now, he still wants to have the experience; he just doesn't have the confidence in himself to do it. It is the instructor's job to help him follow through. Many instructors will not do this for reasons such as fear of lawyers; not giving a s**t; knowing they will get paid regardless and only doing teaching to pay for their jumps; and other reasons. The majority of the thank you letters I have received from my students are from ones I helped through their self doubt and my not giving in to it, but helping them push beyond what they thought they could not do.
I should also say that you cannot deal with the person's fear itself; we all deal with our fears alone. So, telling the reluctant student, "You CAN do it!" and encouragement like that is just a waste of time and effort. Psychology is required, and I have found each time it is needed is different, and many times is very humorous at the conclusion.
Any professional opinions on today's Navy skydiver death, SDB?
DeleteI happened to be in upper Manhattan on Tuesday, before the official start of the Fleet Week activities, of which this was part. I saw my first V-22 Osprey, flying up the Hudson toward the George Washington Bridge with the rotors tilted up, in helicopter mode.
jan:
DeleteI hadn't heard, but just finished reading the NYT piece you linked. You can never tell from what the media report on skydiving accidents because the reporters are ignorant of the sport and those in charge may be feeding them bogus info. Also the eye witness accounts are usually a total joke, although not necessarily funny.
It may have something to do with the flag. It doesn't say clearly if he cut away and then didn't activate the reserve, or if he had a partial and rode it in, or until he cut away too late. Those are likely causes and are preventable. The rules apply equally to novices and experienced jumpers alike, but some people believe they are too good to follow them.
The V-22 Osprey sighting must have been a real treat!
DeleteI have only seen one V-22, and it was at a distance, but I'd like to know how loud they are. In my area, there is an Army Reserve base with CH-47 Chinook helicopters & they are loud, with no element of surprise. I know they are not supposed to be stealthy but you definitely know when they are airborne.
Delete68C,
DeleteEven though (a.k.a. thoROugh) you can hear them, I suggest you behave yourself. You never know. :-)
An aircraft flew directly over my head at lunchtime an August or two ago. I watched it because it sounded different, not loud, and had what looked like stubby wings. It wasn't until it was well past me, and I saw the sun glinting off the huge blades pulling it along in flat flight that I recognized it for what it was. A sight to behold.
DeleteSDB – Your fearless initial leap into the on-air void was an unqualified success. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed hearing the reassuring sound of your voice, but I still doubt you would be able to convince me to jump out of a plane!
Lorenzo,
DeleteThanks for the post.
As to convincing you re: making a skydive. I am even more convinced that I could talk you into it in fewer than 30 minutes if I could talk with you at a skydive center when it was happening. If that were not possible, but we were meeting in person, I could turn your thinking around in under 15 minutes. I am not saying you would commit at that moment, but I am saying you would see it very differently. I am not exaggerating.
Thanks again.
SDB - The next time I’m in Seattle (which happens every few years) I would enjoy taking you up (no pun intended) on your offer (of the conversation,that is, not the actual jump).
DeleteCheers.
Lorenzo,
DeleteI am already looking forward to it. It will be a great pleasure to meet someone I truly respect from the blog. That conversation will not take long, so I will offer to show you Seattle as I doubt you have not seen her before. Promise to pick a sunny day now, okay? I like your pun by the way.
SDB: A late congratulations to you. Good job on the challenge!
ReplyDeleteThanks mucho.
DeleteNo offense SDB, I'm sure you're very good at skydiving(for one thing, you're still alive!), but you could never, EVER get me up there to do that. The idea of being so many feet up in the air, for an indefinite amount of time, holding on to nothing, scares me to death. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteNo offense taken. On the contrary I love your objection. So, now I am abandoning my first idea of a response and instead will try something different. I can always return to Plan A.
DeletePlan B: Think about this for a moment before you answer. I accept all your objections as being truthful, although based on ignorance, which is completely understandable. So, here is my question to you: Forget for a moment about all your objections and that you could never do it. If, however, you did do it. How would you feel after?
Depends upon if I were to survive after. If so, I would say, "I'm never ever doing that again!", because I would be petrified as I did it. Technically I don't think I would even be able to speak though, because I would have spent most of the trip down screaming in terror, and thus I'd most likely blow out my lungs.
Deletecranberry:
DeleteI was hoping you could set aside, just for a moment, your fear of falling and restrict your thoughts to how you might feel after surviving a skydive. You did not do this. You cannot let go, even for a moment, the fear of falling. This is too bad because what you described is something that never happens. The actual experience is not what you imagine. What I know, and you cannot even get close to understanding, is that, were you to do it, you would be ecstatic and enjoy it more than most who try it. Phobias are conquered by confrontation, and when that happens the results can be astounding.
I signed up for an introductory sky diving lesson when I was in college, but something came up and I never got around to it again. The idea of jumping out of an airplane doesn't particularly scare me, but I sprained an ankle badly many years ago, and the likelihood of a majorly inconvenient minor injury like that, plus the sheer uselessness of it, has kept me from looking into it again. Plus, at that time, I think they started you off with static line jumps, whereas I find the idea of today's tandem jumps unappealing.
Deletejan:
DeleteI began with 5 (the minimum required) static line jumps, which, by the way, are not skydives. Skydives are the freefall part, which there is none of on a static line jump. I did not want to do S/L, but at the time there was no other way. I soon became a Jumpmaster and then Instructor and taught thousands of students via S/L. I never liked the program though. It is a backwards method of learning.
Then came Tandem. It took several years to catch on because, like you are saying, most found it unappealing, to say the least. This is because of a lack of understanding the reality of what Tandem skydives are like. It was not at all unreasonable for people to feel that way back then. Now, I rarely encounter objections to Tandem. Back then I had to develop methods of getting across to beginners why it was the way to go, and it was anything but easy to accomplish.
I had to learn how a Tandem skydive was different for an experienced jumper vs. a novice. An example is that for the experienced jumper it feels like someone is on your back, but for most first timers it feels like they did not get fastened together and they are alone.
The student is in the position of control, and not the instructor. As you know you fly by using the air. The instructor has little access to the air, but the student is unable to control the dive in a manner that will keep it out of control. The experienced instructor has enough air access to make it work. That is how it is possible to safely do Tandem.
As to your ankle injury. Jumping a round would be a really bad idea. fortunately not much of that is happening now. All Tandem is with ram air, which changes the landing completely. However, it may still be unwise for you to even do that if your ankle is weak. I frequently ask people who tell me they have a problem they are afraid would make it unwise for them to jump what would happen were they to jump to the ground from standing 3 feet up. Now days that would be an extreme landing in most cases. Body weight should also be taken into consideration, along with physical health in general.
Another thing. S/L is an experience of falling. An actual skydive does not include the feeling of falling. It has to do with perspective, but why S/L has some falling feeling, I really never have been able to figure out.
"I still have not fully understood why I accepted the challenge, but I am glad I did."
ReplyDeleteThe power of promising shiny baubles is as strong as ever!
eco,
DeleteThat dog won't hunt! I have absolutely no use at all for any of the prizes, including the pin. I almost told the intern not to send it, but am now glad I didn't. More about why later.
I first began entering the weekly contest in order to receive the Merriam Webster dictionary. Mine was getting very old and I use it a lot. Then they stopped the good prizes, but I kept on out of habit. Or maybe it was more because of this blog, which I enjoy. I already have two wood boxed Scrabble sets I never use, except for solving the puzzle a couple of times. I do not play crossword or Sudoku puzzles, and I have lapel pins that are really important to me. Some are one of a kind and I am the only person in the world to have one. Made for me exclusively. I doubt I will ever fully understand why I took the challenge when I was sure I would turn it down, but I am now very glad I did, because it has really changed my perspective. Also I have been offered $100 cash for the pin earlier this evening. An interesting story.
Now, on the other hand change shiny baubles to tiny bubbles and I might agree with you. Truth is though, I do not enjoy champagne. Can we make it Scotch?
Are you sure which Washington you're in?
Deletedeny: "I have absolutely no use at all for any of the prizes, including the pin. I almost told the intern not to send it"
distort: "I first began entering the weekly contest in order to receive the Merriam Webster dictionary... Then they stopped the good prizes, but I kept on out of habit. Or maybe it was more because of this blog, which I enjoy."
deflect: "I have lapel pins that are really important to me. Some are one of a kind and I am the only person in the world to have one. Made for me exclusively."
distract: "I have been offered $100 cash for the pin earlier this evening. An interesting story.
Now, on the other hand change shiny baubles to tiny bubbles and I might agree with you. Truth is though, I do not enjoy champagne. Can we make it Scotch?
Spicer's job may be available, they're prepping for a big dive!
eco:
DeleteI love it! When are you sending me my Sean Spicer pin?
Can you imagine working for DT?
In my defense: The main difference between Sean Spicer and me is no one is accusing Spicer of being honest. My comments you mention were honest when I made them, and my later comments, etc., were also honest.
I will keep an open mind to taking over from Spicer though. If hired, I expect to survive at least halfway through my first "news" conference.
SDB, I suggest you listen to your hero, Noam Chomsky, in a one hour talk where he begins by saying that "the Republican Party is the most dangerous organization in world history!" Click HERE. This was just aired today on Memorial Day.
Deleteron:
DeleteThanks, I just now returned from my bike ride, which begins and ends going through the cemetery I live just one block from. They are just now beginning their annual Memorial Day Veterans Day ceremonies. I hate war and despise this shameless display of false glory. I was in the army for 3 years during Viet Nam too, but hated it. I earned a medal, but left in too much of a rush to receive it, but do not want it, nor would I accept it.
I have heard Noam say this before, but will go check out your link now. Thanks again.
ron:
DeleteYes, that was filmed back in April and I watched it already, but it will be worth a second viewing.
On another issue-our country's failure to realistically deal with racism-I got to thinking about it on part of my bike ride. My first thoughts were on how we as a nation refuse to honestly deal with its reality, but then I considered the Civil War Confederate statues and the like being taken down, and I agree with this being done, as they should never have been erected in the first place. But then I got to thinking about unintended consequences. I hope this will help, but it may simply drive racism further into the shadows. I don't see taking down these vile symbols will change the minds of any racists, but it may be making it more of an out of sight; out of mind thing, keeping us from open discussion which needs to happen. I hope I am wrong about this, but I was thinking about the possibility.
So, a Weekend Edition lapel pin ranks higher than a National Defense Service Medal?
DeleteYes, I would agree with that statement, with some exceptions. If we are forced into a war and must defend ourselves, then that changes it in my mind. WWII probably qualifies, but I cannot think of another that does in recent times. Even WWII could have been avoided.
DeleteA Sean Spicer lapel pin raises all sorts of possibilities, ever since the upside down flag incident. How about: this? or this? or this?. The Russian in the third has its own charm, just don't tell the boss what it means.
DeleteYou raise an interesting question on this Memorial Day: the monuments to Civil War generals and leaders in the south are being slowly removed, a belated acknowledgement that their views were not virtuous. So may it be with our incursions into Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and Iraq again.
Is there an appropriate term to describe veterans of wars that history will not look upon well? The political leaders are certainly villains, and some soldiers acted criminally, but I suspect many (most) soldiers were there unwillingly or because they believed the lies that were put before them. Service in today's army is voluntary (though many come from economic circumstances that bend the meaning of volunteer).
The Right will call all service-members "heroes", but can you apply that label to an unjustified cause - many did act heroically in their particular combat circumstances, that's a separate issue. I keep thinking "victims", but I'm not sure that's right either.
I like "pawns," & "duped," & "ignorant," & "naive," & "racist," & others.
DeleteDid you happen to catch the Sen. John McCain interview this morning on The Takeaway, hosted by John Hockenberry?
McCain paraded that old lie about Viet Nam soldiers returning and being spat upon. Even when I was flown back to New York from Germany in August 1966 we were not in contact of any kind with the public.
Wearing his flag pin upside down may have been the only honest thing Spicer has done since becoming Propaganda Chief.
DeleteWatch Chris Hedges The Final Stages of Capitalism (1 hr 9 min). He is saying and covering the same issues as Chomsky. Well worth the time, particularly the final 20 minutes. This speech was also delivered earlier.
Deleteron - I will do that. Thanks, I have attended many of his lectures and I read all his books and many of his articles.
DeleteNot all Confederate honors are going away. There's a certain irony in recognizing that when U.S. Army officer Nidal Hasan took up arms against his fellow U.S. Army soldiers, he did so at Fort Hood, named in honor of another U.S. Army officer who took up arms against U.S. Army soldiers. No word yet on whether the Army plans to name an installation in Hasan's honor.
DeleteDo you think we are being Hoodwinked?
DeleteSDB: I think no one has verified actual spitting, but I wouldn't doubt that some returning vets were treated badly.
DeleteI didn't hear McCain this morning, but I suspect he, like so many, is thinking of this quote: "Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don't turn it off! It wasn't my war! You asked me, I didn't ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn't let us win! And I come back to the world and I see all those maggots at the airport, protesting me, spitting. Calling me baby killer and all kinds of vile crap! Who are they to protest me, huh? Who are they? Unless they've been me and been there and know what the hell they're yelling about!"
The quote has a lot of appeal because it doesn't use any of those nasty big words. The line was real, it was on tape, from "Rambo: First Blood." Perhaps McCain is channeling his inner Reagan, who was never clear on what was real and what was in the movies.
And since this is Memorial Day, you can rest a Sherman, I will Grant you some Leeway, and won't Pickett your bad pun.
BAD PUN!!!??? Just how dare you!?
DeleteNo, the interview was somewhat intelligent for McCain, and not at all like that idiotic movie quote. I never saw the movie, but have seen the clip of that ambulatory cave era imbecile, Stallone, spewing that crap.
Actually it has been well researched. This nonsense did not emerge from the swamp mind of war bigots in the '70's, but in the '80's, long after the war had ended and even McCain had come home to bask in his undeserved glory for crashing his jet. (I have met a few of his peer classmates who despise him.) If his daddy wasn't an admiral with a dozen stars he would have washed out of his training, I am told.
Yes, RayGun, like John Wayne and Bob Hope were great war "heros." Too bad none of them ever were in the military, but had no qualms about demanding we do so. Cary Grant wasn't either, but he quietly worked behind the headlines, frequently flying across the pond to help. And how about David Niven and Sterling Haydn? They, however, did not go around afterward bragging about their legitimate exploits either. And Julia Child used real butter!
Back in the sixties thru the eighties I saw numerous servicemen in uniform traveling alone and never once did I even so much as see a disapproving glance in their direction, and they were easy targets.
SDB, watch Thomas Frank: Why Democrats Lose (58 min), which was a Seattle Town Hall; maybe you attended.
Deleteron:
DeleteJust finished watching the Thomas Frank piece, and Chris Hedges earlier. Both are excellent. Of course the real problem can be stated in much simpler terms: Humans are STUPID!
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ReplyDeleteSalutations to all the veterans here.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Chuck.
DeleteLegoSalutationsAndSalutesToo
I don't know if I'm coming or going on this puzzle. I'm about ready to flip out!
ReplyDeleteWow. I got this puzzle so quickly I was doing headstands! Finally I got one easily!
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: Diana Ross
ReplyDeleteVery good. I thought of that one too.
DeleteA supremely good clue!
DeletePeter Gabriel OVO
Deletesdb: Did your jumping start in the Airborne?
ReplyDeleteNo. I was Chairborne. My MOS was Cryptography. This had something to do with my being secretly recruited to be in the CIA shortly after I was discharged from the army. I met with them, but turned it down. I didn't make my first jump until years later.
DeleteI'm not as clever as most of the posters here. This weeks puzzle had me standing on my head.
ReplyDeleteSDB - 26 kudos to you for a good showing on air. You are now one of "us." When you served in the Army, were you a volunteer or drafted?
ReplyDeleteAlso, regarding jumping out of airplanes for excitement, I would rather take my chances with a gas station chili cheese dog.
TomR - Thanks. Never had a chili cheese dog; just the thought scares me.
DeleteInstead of waiting to be drafted, or volunteering for the draft, I joined because at the time they would allow you to choose either Asia (poor choice) or Europe for your tour, after training if you joined, which meant an additional year. Or you could choose anything you qualified for. I qualified for everything, but did not want to be stationed in Korea or Viet Nam, so I chose Europe, figuring I'd be sent to Germany, and that is what happened.
It seems like it would be an honor to get recruited for the CIA. Although, I don't know that I'd accept either. I guess it depends on the offer.
DeleteI agree, and that is exactly how it went, it was on her and off her the whole time.
DeleteI'm stumped--every method I've tried produces COVFEFE. Any way out of this dead end?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Google Translate, it's Samoan for "covfefe". Может, это что-то значит на русском?
DeleteЭто означает, что мы выиграли
DeleteCovfefe. Yes in means, "I resign" or "I quit" in Russian.
DeleteMake that "it means" for "in means."
DeleteLooks like Ron and DT need spellcheck!
DeleteНет, это сигнал нашему маньчжурский кандидату для продолжения его инструкций.
ReplyDeleteOkay, folks I discovered the answer. Covfefe is the secret word that gets you a second scoop of ice cream when dining at Mar-a-Lago .
ReplyDeleteIt's been a struggle.
Deletejan,
DeleteWhen I had finished reading that I left the sin agog.
LESLIE=317,537
ReplyDeleteL=7
E=3
S=5
L=7
I=1
E=3
My clue about Diana Ross points to her song "Upside Down". In order to solve this puzzle the letters need to be turned upside down, then flipped backwards. The letters have been given a numerical value based on alphabetical likeness, then written down backwards.
LESLIE equals 317537.
ReplyDeleteMy reference to Lilliputians, is based on their depiction in Gulliver’s Travels as being buried standing on their heads – the position from which it is best to view this puzzle.
317,537 These are digital calculator names when the device is turned upside down.
ReplyDeleteI wrote, "A numerical hint, extraction omitted: 1128867." The "X"traction was the multiplication sign: 11 x 28867. ---Rob
ReplyDeleteEchoarchitect - can you explain your statement
ReplyDelete"531753200771454517734-7134"?
I get "Heil hellishshillooze lies" if I am looking at it correctly.
Thanks if you can elucidate.
You left out a 5/s, my statement was:
Delete"Heil - hellish shill oozes lies"
Of course it's been what, 15 minutes since he did that in the Rose Garden.
Thanks Echo!
DeleteYou say Echo, I say Eco,
DeleteHe says covfefe, we say WHAT?
Let's call the whole thing off. Way off.
Is there an eco in here?
DeleteYou like to sound off.
Delete"There is nothing to ear but ear itself."
DeleteRotate each letter 180° (to the right or left) and then read each name backwards: E = 3, L = 7, I = 1, O = 0, S = 5, so LESLIE (reading the letters backwards) = 317,537 = 11 x 28867.
ReplyDeleteTrump 531734 = he lies.
531753200771454517734-7134 = heil-hellish shill oozes lies.
My clues - "
ReplyDeleteAn odd puzzle indeed. Will must have turned over the responsibility for creating this week's puzzle to an amateur working the holiday weekend."
Odd puzzle referred to the odd numbers in the answer.
"Turned over responsibility " referred to the need to turn over the numbers to read them.
317537
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said: nothing. I couldn’t think of any comment or clue that wouldn’t have been more or less a dead giveaway. Sorry I missed the witching hour post today. I have serious intermittent DSL modem problems :(
317537
ReplyDeleteUpside-down calculator letters made from numbers. Ho hum.
I wonder if a whole new generation of calculator-on-your-phone users never see this as their phones reset to upside-up when they turn their phones around.
NOTE TO WILL: Isn't our world upside-down enough these days?!
A couple of the titles on this playlist were part of my entry in the Hot (pun intended?) 100 creative challenge from a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteInteresting playlist! I liked the website, including the article in it regarding "Trump Voters Being Cautiously Optimistic". Very much on the money...
DeleteLESLIE=317,537
ReplyDeleteI didn't even need a calculator. I solved it that fast.
BTW for those of you wondering what COVFEFE means, it is a technical term for the act of holding up what looks to be the severed head of our sitting President for misguided comic effect. Used in a sentence:
"Kathy Griffin pulled a covfefe, and now she's so screwed." If you listen to "Says You" sometime in the not-too-distant future, it should come up in the bluffing round. Coming from Scottish derivation, it is loosely translated to "career suicide".
I never thought she was very funny to begin with.
DeleteActually, there are two bluffing rounds. I misspoke. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty sure someone here on the blog would get the call again this week, but then I realized we weren't on our toes due to the puzzle being upside down again. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteThis week's Puzzleria! is now uploaded. Go to Blaine's PUZZLE BLOGS and link to Joseph Young's Puzzleria!
ReplyDeleteOur featured puzzle this week was created by always-on-his-toes-except-when-he's-up-in-the-air skydiveboy.
It is a puzzle involving two world capitals that he had sent to Will Shortz to use as a weekly NPR puzzle. When skydiveboy played the NPR puzzle on-air recently he asked the Puzzlemaster after the taping if he had received the puzzle. Will said he did, but thought it was "more suitable for use in print." So skydiveboy said he would let me use it on Puzzleria!
And, so I've used it... this week. It is "packaged" as an "Hors d’Oeuvre" and is titled “A tour of two cities.” Thanks skydiveboy!
In addition to skydiveboy’s excellent "print-worthy" puzzle, we also serve up eight fresh puzzles, including four Rip-offs of Will Shortz’s “Eli, Lois and Leslie” puzzle.
Also on our P! menus are four other puzzles that are:
1. mysterious but magnificent,
2. “Puzzly and Herriot,”
3. suspenseful yet secretive, and
4. a bouquet of two flowers.
Drop by. Dive in. skydiveboy would.
LegoWondersIfAnybodyHereHasSeenHisOldFriendsEli,LoisAndLesley...CanYouTellMeWhereThey'veGone?
Next week's challenge: This challenge comes from listener David Herbst of Inverness, Calif. Name a well-known U.S. city with two words in its name. The second word sounds like the last name of a famous 20th-century writer. The first word is something found in virtually every work of this author. What is the city, and who is the author?
ReplyDeleteIs this a copy of a previous puzzle?
DeleteWe've seen this one before, tough to clue in about, without giving it away.
Delete