NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 30, 2017): Acirema fo Setats Detinu:
Q: This puzzle might require a little research. There is a city somewhere in the United States with a population of about 24,000 people. Change the last letter in the name of its state. If you now read the name of the city plus the altered name of its state together, the result is a palindrome — that is, it reads backward and forward the same. What city is it?
Edit: The only tricky part was realizing that part of the repeated letters came from the state name so that the city name was shorter than the state.
A: ZION, ILLINOIS
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.
There are several palindromic CITIES:
ReplyDeleteKANAKANAK (Alaska)
KINIKINIK (Colorado)
GLENELG (Maryland)
CAPAC (Michigan)
RENNER (South Dakota)
And there is, of course, the palindromic YREKA BAKERY in Yreka, California.
We stopped in Yreka not too long ago and found out that the Yreka Bakery had gone out of business. We were told we could visit the Yrella Gallery, if we were fans of palindromes.
DeleteAnother purported palindrome is:
EKALAKA LAKE (Montana)
I've confirmed there is a city called EKALAKA in Montana, and there are several lakes, but I couldn't confirm that there was one specifically called EKALAKA LAKE
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ReplyDeleteA far as I know, this place is not known for its scenic canyon.
ReplyDeleteHey, for ONCE I understand this hint!!!
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ReplyDeleteIt's a bit of an oddity that this town and state are so close to being palindromes, and I am glad to see it. But Will advised that the puzzle would need research, and so anyone who found a list of US towns including those of around that number of population would get the answer. I don't think there is any other way to do it, so this isn't really a _puzzle_ that one can just work on and figure out.
ReplyDeleteYou can take the town's name, perform on two letters a transformation with which everyone here is familiar, swap the letters, and you get the town again. ---Rob
Actually, I started with a slog method, but didn't have a list of cities. I suddenly realized an unusual property, and the answer miraculously appeared.
DeleteWow. Maybe it is a puzzle, after all.
DeleteRob, Why don't you hop in your Miata and wanda outta here?!!!
DeleteI lucked out; the answer just hit me while looking at a list of states names, probably not the best solving method for this puzzle. I am now searching for an alternative answer.
Deletejan, hinter extraordinaire, gave a nifty clue at the end of last week's comments.
Rob's "transform-two-letters-and-swap" exercise (to confirm what we believe to be Will's intended answer) smacks of a Shortz-Rip-Off puzzle that appeared not so long ago on Puzzleria!
LegoWhoHopesSomedayToVacationInMazdaGasCar
De riuqert silon. Rews naru oyd nifot semi twefa [enigneh cra esetir ovaf foe mantres ni] esuot dee nylnod luoh suoy,
Deletetiev loso twoh tuoe rugifu oyec no. Elzzu pre porpas is iht, Eer gai, bor.
And if one were not familiar with these common tricks? Can you give any more help, Rob?
DeleteWhy, no. I can give no help, and indeed, this is not the place to get help in solving the puzzle. Inadvertently I or some other contributor might let a real clue slip; but my description of the answer I got was not meant (and is not supposed to be) a help to those who do not have the answer yet, but just a demonstration that I do have an answer, phrased in a way that will be a confirmation to those others who have it. ---Rob
DeleteGood thing I wasn't asking for help solving this particular puzzle. I was asking for you to clarify the familiar transformation.
DeleteBryce, you were born with an advantage in solving this puzzle.
DeleteI think clarifying the transformation would be too much of a hint.
Deletejan,
DeleteYou hit another one outta the park!
I cannot clarify without giving too much away. The obscurity was deliberate, for the reasons mentioned.
DeleteNice, SDB!
DeleteJan, I figured it out last night. Your "hint" led me down a long rabbit hole of introspection and conspiracy (what does Jan know about me?!) and I didn't exactly get that various placenames are often grouped as one. But I got it. Thanks for adding to the puzzle.
DeleteRob, I now understand the transformation you were talking about. My confusion lay in your use of "transformation," but I believe I understand how that describes your method. Forgive me. I've long since enjoyed these weekly puzzles, but only recently started giving them a go myself.
Forgive? Completely unnecessary. Glad to have you puzzling here. ---Rob
DeleteI wept. It's on this list.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-cities-and-towns-in-the-United-States-2023068
I'd have wept too, knowing I wasted my time on that website for nothing. Whereas EUGENE ONEGIN was a legitimate answer I should have gotten earlier than I did, I can honestly say I've done the research on this puzzle and have nothing to show for it. I conclude it is nothing more than a hoax. And several of you have fallen for it.
DeleteI wept when I remembered Zion.
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ReplyDeleteIf it is, then your clue just narrowed down the number of states by quite a bit, don't you think? Your other clue is also a little too obvious.
DeleteState names are a good place to start.
DeleteNo doubt, this town has a few NPR listeners and maybe even some who post to this blog. I hope that Will mentions how many correct entries he got from residents of this town, and if he selects such a resident to play the on-air puzzle.
I can safely say that it is not EUGENE OREGON. My post of "Saturday Night Live" to that week's blog was in reference to two SNL cast members appearing in films that were filmed there: Jane Curtin in "How to Beat the High Cost of Living" and the late John Belushi in the icon "Animal House."
My first inclination led me to two islands it turns out are actually nowhere near each other.
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: reggae.
ReplyDeleteJah, Mon
DeleteLike a Lion!
DeleteOkay I know I have been a rabble rouser here at times but I probably one of the few person to have had a submitted puzzle used on air and to have solved a puzzle and called by Will Shortz.The puzzle I submitted was used on the June 1,2008 show.It dealt with transforming Harrison Ford to synonyms garrison and fort.The on-air puzzle I solved was on June 11, 2011 and dealt with getting Eric Idle out of American Idol. I love showing of my lapel pin and playing Scrabble with my granddaughter.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see Scott Kim make an ambigram of the city and state names.
ReplyDeleteNOW NO SWIMS ON MON (Upside down).
DeleteCheck out John Langdon's ambigrams and art.
DeletesɯɐɹɓᴉqɯᏌ are great fun!
DeleteNot a bad puzzle, it may not have been a walk in the park, but still good!
ReplyDeleteAibohphobia (fear of palindromes)
ReplyDeleteDOGMA I AM GOD.
I always use "Dogma is, "I am God".
DeleteIt's Roger, Oregon.
ReplyDeleteENOUGH WITH THE OREGON PUZZLES, WILL!
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DeleteI must admit that Oregon was on my short-list, but I found a city I already knew about near where my aunt lives. I confirmed it by looking up that town's population... but heaven help me, I didn't have to search reams of populations lists! --Margaret G.
ReplyDeleteBlaine! Maybe you missed deleting the original comment above?
DeleteOh nevermind... I see it's not even a real town after all. There is a place called Rogers - but that doesn't work for the puzzle.
DeleteExactly... it's not the answer. But I too must admit that I wondered if it wouldn't be an Oregon puzzle again. It's not, so that leaves 49 states for you to check.
DeleteIs it giving away too much to say that it isn't the "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations"? Problem with that name is the sign was bigger than the state....
DeleteHmmm ...
ReplyDeleteI found another city that has the same property, but it only has about 8,000 people. Maybe there's another to make up a Trinity.
ReplyDeleteWhat a novel idea!
Deleteno need to switch my answer. i guess i have the right one indeed
DeleteI solved it without using a list of cities. I suspect I solved it the same way Lego did. I just looked at the names of states and made up a city name that would work if it were a city, and then looked and found it is, and the population fits too.
ReplyDeletehttp://theus50.com
ReplyDeleteHere is a pretty decent database from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: http://rochester.nydatabases.com/database/population-us-cities
ReplyDeleteShout out to the ROC! Nice.
DeleteIt's a really old city - at least the first one.
ReplyDeleteWell, I know it ain't my favorite small town, Moab, Utah.
ReplyDeleteI have to say this puzzle was a beaut.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a bumper sticker plastered on a tourist vehicle in the movie Cars...
DeleteIs that the one that reads: "Watch out for the idiot behind me?"
DeleteThat could be it. Or it's the one that says Sorry for driving so close in front of you.
DeleteFunny! One of my favorite bum5per stickers was on a car in Vermont. It read: "Wicket good bumpah sticka".
DeleteThat's a good one. I like the one that says Dyslexics are Teople Poo.
DeleteBahahaha!
DeleteIt never ceases to amaze me how dependent we are of technology. Today I was picking up a couple of DVD movies when the zeros in our neighborhood library broke down on the keyboard to check items out. Everything came to an abrupt halt!
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, "Saxet, Texas" and "Adaven, Nevada" are both real places. However, I dont think anybody lives there.
ReplyDeleteGood observation, revoltnemrag. Ghost towns both. It seems to have been all the rage in the 19th/20th-century rural west to name cattle/mining towns after semordnilaps of the states in which they upcropped.
DeleteLegoSaysNobodyLivesThereAnymore...It'sTooCrowdedWithGhosts
Geetings from Notsob, Sttesuhcassam! Not a real place and never was one!
DeleteSomebody explain to me how a puzzle is "good" when for most people it requires slogging through lists of states and small cities. Maybe it's just me but I prefer puzzles that I can do in my head. If you did this in your head, good for you. But I think most solvers probably tried the research approach, or like me, said, catch ya next week, Will.
ReplyDeletePG:
DeleteI at first felt similarly to you about this puzzle, but decided to try and solve it sans lists of cities. I am so glad I did that and was able to solve it with a bit of work and logic. I now really am enjoying this puzzle, and far more than most. Don't give up so quick.
I have always liked palindromes, especially compared with anagrams.
ReplyDeleteWith this awkward puzzle, Short Willy is trying to change that.
It was hard to get an answer and hard to like the one I got.
What is really striking this week is that I feel I have been away for months instead of regularly following along.
2,900 correct answers? Come on. At least Lulu emphasized "correct" and "random."
Then, all of a sudden Blainesville has ten or so brand new posters this week. What is up with that!?
Here's one for you. Think of a city in the U.S. Change the second half of the letters to make it read the same backwards and forwards.
ReplyDeleteNOME>>>NOON ?
DeleteI trust RNPG is being a bit wry, this would work for any city with an even number of letters.
DeletePortland-->Porttrop, Philadelphia-->Philaaliph, Washington-->Washiihsaw, etc. Even Euggue works! Doesn't make a lot of sense, but works every time.
I assumed the resulting "word" (palindrome) needed to be an actual word.
DeleteI think RochesterNYPizzaGuy is just screwing around.
DeleteGiven the condition that the resulting palindrome be an actual word, I think my answer, NOME>>>NOON, is UNIQUE.
DeleteDENVER-->DENNED, it's not unique.
DeleteGood. I am glad to see you are taking it as a respectable challenge.
DeleteAnd REVERE-->REVVER
DeleteAnd PERU (in many states)-->PEEP
Delete""ACME REVOLVING DOOR COMPANY" here, did somebody call??"
ReplyDeleteEasy come; quickly go.
DeleteIsn't that the truth!!
DeleteLooks like "chaos" to me...
I'm going to miss the "Mooch", it was kind of like having John McEnroe in the White House.
DeleteJohn Kelly held his first White House staff meeting today.
Eco - That's a good one!
DeleteLooks like "The Mooch" got that divorce for nothing. Sad.
I think Trump now is running a new game show called: Wheel of Misfortune! Anyone care to take a spin?
Delete"Jeopardy!" might be a more apt moniker. Or "I've Got a Secret". Jared and Ivanka might be in a "Family Feud" with the little boys. Or "Are You Dumber Than a 5th Grader"?
Delete"Survivor" and "Tattletales" also come to mind. For that matter "The Joker's Wild" might be most succinct.
Health care was more like "Let's Make A Deal": "Okay America, you already have the health care plan and you know what it's worth. But you have to trade that in for the box that Paul Ryan is bringing down, or do you want what's behind the curtain that Carol Mc(con)Merrell is standing next to?" What they don't tell you is all the options are Zonks.
And I was just getting used to saying, "The Mooch is louche"!
DeleteThe TV shows I'm reminded of are, "I've got a Secret", and "Queen for a Day".
DeleteBut certainly not, "To Tell The Truth".
"Truth and Consequences"?
Delete"The Biggest Loser"?
"Sale of the Country"?
"Ticky-Tacky-Doughy"?
"Who Wants to Impeach a Billionaire"?
And after this morning's Washington Post revelations: "Whose Lie is it Anyway?"
I wonder if the clouds ever look down at us and say, "Oh look, that one is shaped like an idiot".
DeleteThe clouds look down on us and weep.
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ReplyDeleteI knew that t*** was going to get flushed fast, but I was looking forward to a little longer of his making fools of himself and his orange doppelganger.
ReplyDeleteDo the trump fired employees get unemployment now?
ReplyDeleteOne can solve puzzle with mere logic and not using lists.
ReplyDeleteNatasha:
DeletePlease, please stop deleting your posts unnecessarily. Your earlier post on this today was far better written and there is no reason for you to keep deleting your posts. It makes you appear to be lacking confidence in what you say. Trust yourself and wait a minute or two with a re-read before you hit the Publish button, and then let it stay so the rest of us can understand what the flow is. I am not saying there is never a reason to delete a post, but not all the time.
Ok.
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DeleteI agree completely!
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ReplyDeleteWith The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus folding its tents, its good we have the tRumpian follies to keep us entertained.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to watch to see whether the lion(s) eat their new tamer.
So, another slot has opened up. . .
DeleteSo, how long will we have to wait for a Burp?!
DeleteYou shouldn't lionize him!
DeleteI don't know, he seems kinda cagey.
DeleteThere ain't no way to hide your lionize.
DeleteBut we could make a rug out of the hide.
DeleteHe's a mane-iac, mane-iac, on the floor....
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ReplyDeleteNow I go home to figure out why my text editor search didn't work. I suspect I blew the Perl expression.
ReplyDeleteI even knew someone in the cakes by mail business in that town.
Is her name Ann?
DeleteNo, husband and wife team working out of a church kitchen. They moved away many years ago. I was told that they designed a box that stood up to USPS. Maybe passed it on to Ann.
DeleteNoted in passing: Troy New York comes about as close as Rogers Oregon. Only a single bad letter match in each.
While at work I thought this to disclose
ReplyDelete(to take a small break I suppose)
As I stare at Excel
(not honed in on one cell)
I've found clues in the columns and rows
:)
DeleteColumns and rows (a matrix)
DeleteZion was the last human city in the film
I had no idea Donald Trump has such a clever and sophisticated sense of humor. I have been laughing out loud all afternoon at his quip to law enforcement officers regarding how to safely place those arrested into squad cars. My knee is now sore from all the slapping.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much public goodwill went down the drain after that speech?
DeleteHis comments also drew a rebuke from the International Association of Chiefs of Police. In a statement Friday, the group did not specifically mention Trump by name but appeared to respond to his speech by stressing the importance of treating all people, including suspects, with respect.
Delete“Managing use of force is one of the most difficult challenges faced by law enforcement agencies,” the group said. “The ability of law enforcement officers to enforce the law, protect the public, and guard their own safety, the safety of innocent bystanders, and even those suspected or apprehended for criminal activity is very challenging.
“For these reasons, law enforcement agencies develop policies and procedures, as well as conduct extensive training, to ensure that any use of force is carefully applied and objectively reasonable considering the situation confronted by the officers,” the statement continued.
Trump is his own effigy.
Sad.
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DeleteHis sense of humor is from a different, well, who knows?
DeleteFor once I agree with Trump: he reportedly said "The White House Is a Real Dump".
DeleteSure, look at all the trash that it's been filled with lately.
Funny you should mention Talky Tina, 68Charger. That Twilight Zone doll was voiced by June Foray, who died last week, and who also voiced Rocky and Natasha, as I noted in last week's blog.
DeleteJan - You're right, I forgot about June Foray doing the little doll's voice in that episode! Although I will always remember her first for the "Rocky & Bullwinkle show", I always think of her next, for the final TZ episode, "The Bewitchin' Pool". They had some kind of sound problems in the outdoor scenes, and used June Foray's voice for the little girl named "Sport" (outdoor scenes only). She was the actress famous for playing 'Scout' " in the movie "To Kill A Mockingbird".
DeleteJune Foray was so versatile!!
SDB: Think Progress has some of Trump's best knee-slappers. Joke's on us!
Deleteeco:
DeleteThose really are inspired! I wish I could develop my wit to be that sharp.
To go with your twit who has proven to be that dull.
DeleteSpurred on by skydiveboy, I solved it, but it wasn't a satisfying, "Aha" solution. I get the logic, where the state's concerned. I got that pretty quickly. But I've never heard of the city. Heard of the name, sure, but I didn't know there was a city by that name in that state, so I had to do research to confirm the answer. So I still don't get how one could solve this without resorting to lists, or at least research, unless you are aware of that city's existence. And for me, if I have to research it, it's not a good puzzle.
ReplyDeleteKiawa, Hawaii, and Shad, Idaho, are lovely this time of year.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you don't mean Kiawa Island, South Carolina?
ReplyDeleteAt first I looked at lists of cities. Then I used logic (research was too laborious). Seeing that SDB used logic, I decided it was workable. Was lucky that the second state I looked at worked. I made up a name of a city that would fit the parameters and then found that there was such a city with the needed population.
ReplyDeleteThere are not going to be 2,000 correct entries this week.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the 24,000 loyal NPR listeners in the answer city, who all listen to a station whose call letters end with the first letter of that city?
DeleteGo easy on him Jan :)
DeleteJan: I like your comment. People who even used to live there may submit also.
DeleteI'm going out on a limb and betting on fewer than 17,000 correct entries this week. Anyway we should find out just over the horizon.
DeleteI initially overlooked the city in question because I was looking at a list that had its population stated as considerably more than 24,000, or at least high enough that a reasonable person couldn't round it down to that number. Fortunately, other sources have the correct statistics. Like almost any place name, this city's name isn't unique; many communities and places in the U.S. share it, as well as a few places around the world, and a few quasi-well-known folks in several disciplines
ReplyDeleteZion, Illinois > ZIONILLINOIZ
ReplyDeleteMy Hints:
“jan,
You hit another one outta the park!” This was a compliment to jan’s excellent hint, which referred to Bryce & Zion National Parks, which are also both canyons. It came to mind due to all the hints last week re: baseball.
“It never ceases to amaze me how dependent we are of technology. Today I was picking up a couple of DVD movies when the Zeros In Our Neighborhood library broke down on the keyboard to check items out. Everything came to an abrupt halt!” Zeros In Our Neighborhood = ZION.
“I'm going out on a limb and betting on fewer than 17,000 correct entries this week. Anyway we should find out just over the horIZON.” The last 4 letters of horizon anagram to Zion. (My hint especially for Mendo Jim.)
I did not want to slave through a list of towns to solve this, so I tried working it from a likely state. I looked at the spellings of the states and quickly saw that ILLI in Illinois could work. I then looked at the last 4 letters: NOIS and discarded S. That left about 19 other letters which might replace the S. I then wrote IONILLINOI and mentally went through the alphabet and when I came to Z at the end, I saw that it formed Zion, and that if there is a Zion, Illinois, then it would solve the puzzle. I looked at a road atlas I had by the computer and the list of cities had Zion at the end of the Illinois page. I then Googled Zion, Illinois and the census confirmed it is the intended answer. I had never heard of this town, but I did not need any list by just using this logic method to solve it, and because I solved it this way I love this puzzle. It is very satisfying and I have been enjoying it all week. We need more puzzles like this.
It would seem King Erroneous, Ralph Loizzo and I went down the same rabbit hole.
ReplyDeleteCity: Zion, Illinois; palindrome: ZIONILLINOIZ.
ReplyDeleteMy hint calling this puzzle a beaut, was based on buttes and mesas being features of Zion National Park, which my wife and I will be visiting next month.
ZION, ILLINOIS
ReplyDeleteChange the S to a Z to obtain:
ZIONILLINOIZ, a perfect palindrome.
I used THIS LIST and scrolled down to cities having a population of 24,000⁺ After that, it was easy.
Ambigrams for jan: ZIONI˥˥INOIZ
or with uncapitalized l's: ZIONIןןINOIZ
So these are almost (except for the L's) perfect sɯɐɹɓᴉqɯᏌ as jan hinted at.
ZION, ILLINOIS
ReplyDelete"So, another slot has opened up. . ." refers to the slot canyons in ZION National Park.
ZION, ILLINOIS
ReplyDelete> After last week's "Going, going, gone" puzzle, Will kept his eye on the ball this time.
Sounds like he kept his Zion the ball...
> Bryce, you were born with an advantage in solving this puzzle.
There are two great National Parks in southwestern Utah. One is Bryce Canyon, Bryce Caron. The other is Zion. (I hiked both a couple of years ago.)
> What about the 24,000 loyal NPR listeners in the answer city, who all listen to a station whose call letters end with the first letter of that city?
WBEZ in Chicago. (Posted before I learned about WGTD, in Kenosha, WI, which is closer. But what about effective radiated power? What do people in Zion listed to?)
And what do people in Zion call themselves? Zionites? Zionists? Zionians?
I wrote, "You can take the town's name, perform on two letters a transformation with which everyone here is familiar, swap the letters, and you get the town again." The transformation is turning the letters 90 degrees, from ZION to NIOZ, and then swapping to get back to ZION again.
ReplyDeleteI commented:
DeleteRob's "transform-two-letters-and-swap" exercise (to confirm what we believe to be Will's intended answer) smacks of a Shortz-Rip-Off puzzle that appeared not so long ago on Puzzleria!...
My puzzle (in the July 7 Puzzleria!) read:
Think of a philosopher’s name in four letters. Write it in all capital letters. Rotate three of these letters 90 degrees and interchange the first two of the three you rotated. The result will name a philosopher. Who is it?
Lego'sParadox:HeWasXenophobicYetKindaLikedThisAlbum
Do you mean ZENO to ZENO? Really only needs two letters rotated. Swapping the first two letters yields ENZO Sereni, the Italian Zionist philosopher.
DeleteHere's the greatest tribute to philosophers ever.
Yes, eco, that was my answer. The stipulation of "3 rather than 2 rotated letters" was my attempt at introducing a red herring into the puzzle.
DeleteThe ZENO/ENZO/ZIONist link you discovered goes to show that all puzzles are related.
LegoLambdaLionizingZionAndPayingHomageToHerrings
I wrote "I suddenly realized an unusual property, and the answer miraculously appeared." I suspect many started with the state name, and probably shorter named states.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at Utah, Iowa, Ohio, Texas, etc. I noticed that Illinois starts with an anagram, as do Alabama & Alaska. Removing the first four letters made it pretty easy.
The miracle is, of course, a biblical reference. Side note, the story of the city's founder is remarkable and as apt today as then.
As I posted above, this is an awkward puzzle with a bad solution.
ReplyDeleteBad becomes a "palindrome" if you change the d to b, but so what?
I am still curious about the other oddities I mentioned. (But so what?)
At first I experimented with a few four letter states with no luck. Then, thinking about the town that the puzzle creator lived in, Creve Coeur, MO., I decided to start with the state closest to it, Illinois. A quick Google search of Illinois city populations and voila, I got it.
ReplyDeleteMy reference to this puzzle "not being a walk in the park" was of course referring to Zion National Park.
The first potential solution I found that alas didn't have the right population was Arab, Alabama.
ReplyDeleteAnd how did that Sheikh out for you?
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ReplyDeleteWe are about to experience a major solar event with a full solar eclipse. Everyone here seems so excited, but not in Mexico. Is that because they are used to a Corona every day?
ReplyDeleteHow are you west coasters faring in the heat?
DeleteStrange here to not break out of the 70's. . .
What heat?
DeletePortland was 101 F, but I now see Seattle was just 87 F. . .
DeleteIt only got to 93 today. They always promise us more, but it seldom happens. We are now flooded with smog from Kanadian wildfires and the winds are blowing it all down here. Why is Trump not putting up a huge wall along the Kanadian border to keep out the Kandadian Geeseses with their little green lawn bombs and all this haze? The haze is keeping it cooler, but where is the blue sky? I hate you Justin Trudeau.
DeleteWW:
DeleteThe official temperature for Seattle is taken at SeaTac Airport. It is not at all the true temperature here in Seattle. God, I hate this stupid country! It can't even get the temperature right!
That's a line from an old comedy routine (maybe George Carlin?):
Delete"It's 90 degrees and cloudy at the airport ... but who lives at the airport?"
Don't really know if I have heard that George Carlin piece, and did not find it online, but to answer your question, I would say it is frequent flyers, or at least they most likely feel that way.
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DeleteWhen I first flew it was when I was 18 and flying from Seattle to San Francisco for basic training. It was kinda fun back in those days, and the food and service was good too. Years passed and it became a waking state nightmare to fly commercially, and no sleep was possible for me, no matter how tired or drunk I became.
DeleteThen came my skydiving career, which also took place at airports, but these were tiny, and usually with grass runways. Now flying became fun again, and I could easily sleep, sitting on the floor with a heavy rig on my back, on the way to altitude.
I still do not feel comfortable on a commercial flight, but do in a private plane, especially if I have a rig with me. Skydiving is safer than flying privately.
George Carlin rained supreme as Al Sleet, the hippy dippy weatherman. The line is roughly 7:55 in this clip. I always remembered his line "Tonight's forecast: dark, turning to partly light in the morning."
DeleteCommercial flying definitely degenerated after deregulation, but was still tolerable even through the '90's. Seems like it turned really bad after 9/11.
eco:
DeleteThanks for that link. I watched the end part you suggested, but plan on going back and watching the full clip. Never seen it before.
My thoughts watching it were at how stupid Carlin appears, but how brilliant he actually is. How receptive the audience is to his wit, which is based on careful observations, and which must have an element of truth to them in order for them to actually be humorous.
My next thoughts were about how compartmentalized we in this country are when it comes to humor. His observations are appreciated and laughed at wholeheartedly by his audience, which is there hoping to be amused. Had Carlin said the same things in an everyday situation he would have been rejected. This is how humor is received in this absurd country. I experience this frequently, but not when I visit other countries, either for business or pleasure. I have never been able to accept the reality I have to endure living here that I must compartmentalize my humor. I understand that is the mindset, but I have no respect for it at all. There must always be balance. That is why Hitler was so successful; he always kept his sense of humor as he was destroying everything around him. (If you do not get the last part of my post, then you are making my point for me.)
Carlin's wit is largely about having fun with language, a long tradition going back to Shakespeare, or earlier, and perhaps more immediately associated with Henny Youngman.
DeleteI don't know that I am going to blame our whole country for compartmentalizing humor; I don't have enough experience in other lands to know how the other 95% thinks. I do think we have a threat to humor when it is used as a justification for outrageous statements.
I agree. When cops are arresting humorists, they should be protective when they seat them in the squad car.
DeleteIf they tried to put George Carlin in the paddy wagon would he ask "Where's the rice?"
DeleteOnly if he arroz from the dead.
DeleteWell...I thought I posted my answer earlier, but it's not there anymore.
ReplyDeleteZion, Illinois
Admittedly, I did not easily come to the answer. I skipped the whole population aspect and started right away looking into various states and trying to make words with them. I tried many, many states before Illinois. But! I learned several new things in the process. Liked this challenge.
I commented on saukriver's excellent reggae music hint with "Like a Lion!" after Bob Marley's song "Iron, Lion, Zion".
There's something mighty smelly about Martin Shkreli.
ReplyDeleteIt will be very interesting to see how long long his term in jail actually is!
DeleteDon't get me wrong, I have absolutely no sympathy for that guy!
DeleteI just hope he gets along well with Bubba.
DeleteHa! Maybe they're made for each other!!
DeleteRandomness, math, and fortune cookies: Your days are numbered .
ReplyDeleteThanks for that! Seems like their fortune generating bot had an "extra ingredient" in the shortbread.
DeleteNext week's challenge:
ReplyDeleteNot too hard a challenge this week. The word INAUGURATION contains the letters of GNU, GOAT, IGUANA, and AGOUTI, which are all animals. The name of what 9-letter animal can be spelled from the letters of INAUGURATION?
Somehow, Trump comes to mind
DeleteSometimes, it's hard to see the trees for the forest, man.
DeleteWill left out ANT, GNAT, and NUTRIA
Deleteand TANG
Deleteand RAT
DeleteForgot TUNA
Deleteand TUNA
Deleteand my AUNT TINA
DeleteNo urinating in the natatoria!
ReplyDeleteI want to leave a hint that I know the answer - but it would be way too obvious.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing about this puzzle is it gives me an excuse to hang around the zoo.
ReplyDelete"More than 500 correct answers" this week.
ReplyDeleteAT OUR INAUGURATION, I RAN INTO AN IGNORANT GIT, RUINING A NATION. *GROAN*
ReplyDeleteNot much ratiocination required.
ReplyDeleteGeez, that was easy.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the Trump reference above! So fitting since there are more of this type of animal in the world than people who showed up to Trump's inauguration!
ReplyDelete2 meters
ReplyDelete