Sunday, August 27, 2017

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 27, 2017): All Signs Point To Sequoias

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 27, 2017): All Signs Point To Sequoias:
Q: This week's challenge is a common two-word expression. The expression consists of 8 letters and uses all five vowels — A, E, I, O and U. It has only three consonants, one of which is repeated. The first word in the expression has two letters and the second has six letters. What familiar expression is it?
I saw a sign that said "Sequoias", but that's one word, not two.
A: AU REVOIR

196 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. Many may find this puzzle quite annoying

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    1. Grrr! Now I see the second word has only SIX letters, not EIGHT as was originally published on NPR and here.

      I came up with "NO NUISANCE", which is a phrase commonly found in lease agreements. Oh well, back to work...

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    2. Got it. See you all next week.

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  3. What about the West African football cheer
    "GO GUINEA"?

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  4. With all the Civil War commotion going on, I wonder if the music will be blackballed next.

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    1. Mr Lincoln had a song that will be at the top of someone's hit list. He enjoyed Dixie.

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  5. Republicans may have an advantage in solving this.

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    1. I don't know, I think Democrats used the phrase more recently.

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  6. A synonymous four-letter expression has no vowels at all.

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  7. Maybe listening to a little Diana Ross might help me solve this one...

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  8. I am continuously amazed by Will's tin ear in promulgating puzzles.
    Last week he turned a clever (albeit anagramatic) puzzle into an overly difficult one (250 entries).
    I found I needed the "ends in T" part that he left out to solve it. Even "ends in the same letter" would have made it more accessible.

    This week is a solve-in bed offering might have been better stated:
    "Think of a common two word, eight letter phrase that uses all five vowels once each and only two consonants."

    The joy of enigmatology is in being challenged by and solving puzzles, not by being stumped.
    I think the PM might have spent more time on these.

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  9. This puzzle seems a little foreign to me, no?

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  10. https://wheeloffortuneanswer.com/filter/?category=Phrase

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  11. Does anyone else worry that there may be two or possibly three answers to this puzzle?

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    1. To auntie the answer is opaque. It can be found up Peoria way, while, for much of Texas electricity is in outage, but they will take up opiate, or WW will go augite.

      As for me, I'd outeat my, uh, hoagie with me quinoa.

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    2. Someone has too much free time on his hands.

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    3. If the puzzle is too easy the revved up engine in my brain explodes.

      Berkeley is under semi-siege this morning, there's a large-ish gathering of lefties in the park across from my house. Can't see any fascists, but from the helicopter stream there look to be about a dozen of them downtown, outnumbered 20:1 by anti-fascists. No violence, though somebody just did something, he was surrounded by 8 cops and 50 camera people. Unfortunately I have to leave for SF soon.

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    4. Oh another Berkeley resident!!

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    5. How are things in Berkeley now?

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    6. Yes, Eco let us know. I did not venture anywhere close to those areas. I have gut reaction due to 60s riots.

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    7. I was in San Francisco all afternoon, just got back. I understand there was some scuffling near the campus and downtown; my neighborhood apparently only had peaceful rallies.

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    8. My street had lots of loud obscenities for most of the day, although there was no demonstration. I am afraid it was I, who was replacing the rear brakes on my car and not finding it at all as easy as the videos I had watched earlier, last week. I still have the front ones to do. We'll see how sore I am tomorrow. I am glad the puzzle came to me easily as I was preparing my breakfast.

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    9. The fascist are the ones cleverly disguised as Isis adherents.

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    10. I don't think you can call those folks fascists, and I wish I could satisfy myself in thinking that all of the protest troubles come from the right wing.

      Over the past few decades at many of the protests - whether from the left or the right - there have been a group of masked folks (looking much like Isis adherents) who appear, usually late in the evening, bent on causing violence and random destruction. They seem able to get away in the confusion. Yesterday's group was identified as part of antifa, the anti-fascist movement, and they attacked the right wing protesters.

      But the same pattern has happened at demonstrations against wars and police brutality, and in favor of gay rights. I find it hard to believe any one group has political allegiances with all of these views, and I also find it unlikely that different folks choose the same strategies.

      So I don't think they are of any particular political leaning, I think they are modern-day Vandals, interested only in smashing and burning things, and generally causing mayhem. They will don the cloak of whichever group is countering the main protest, or more commonly identify themselves as "anarchists". And they are fueled by the knowledge that their tactics will further entrench both sides into harsher confrontations.

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    11. eco,
      I think you are on the right track. Back in 1999, when we here in Seattle had the WTO protests, it all began very peacefully until eventually these young troublemakers began smashing windows and doing other damage. They were said to be from Eugene, Oregon (some here may have heard of it) and were called, Eugene Anarchists. The cops, in riot gear, did nothing even though legitimate protesters from different groups pleaded with them to stop the vandals. Later they turned on the legitimate protesters who were behaving properly. So, the riots were not caused by protesters, but by the anarchists and the police. The police have a long history of inciting violence during protests they don't agree with in Seattle, and I strongly suspect other cities as well.

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    12. I wonder if there isn't a parallel between them and the Tea Party. Both have grievances (which may be legitimate) against the way the "system" has treated them and therefore seek to destroy the system.

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    13. It seems odd that none of these "anarchists" have been arrested and interrogated. It seems like they would have been and their motives and political ties exposed. Why haven't we heard more about these people?
      Just asking because I really do want to know the truth.

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    14. How many parts did you have left over from the brakes? It isn’t done right unless there are parts left over.....

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    15. I guess I must have done it all rong then. The only parts left over were the rong front brake pads Amazon.com sent, which I sent back earlier today.

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    16. Take an incorrect spelling of a word meaning "not right". Write it backward inside an abbreviation meaning "that is", and ... oh, never mind.

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  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. Musical clue: The Flying Pickets --Margaret G.

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    1. The Flying Pickets had a song "So Close" in which was used the phrase "au revoir" --Margaret G.

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  14. I don't even speak the language and I got it right away. Bye for now!

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  15. On today's on-air puzzle ("Each clue is a thing that belongs to two categories. Name something that's in both categories"), for "Breed of dog + Olympic athlete", did anyone else get "Spitz" instead of "boxer"?

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    1. I had a Washington Husky...

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    2. Make that a Washington Husky Football player.

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    3. For the "tool drink" I had "Gimlet".

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  16. BTW, Jowett Cars of Idle, England made a two seat sports car named the Jupiter from 1950 to 1954.
    Will rather haughtily dismissed the answer.

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    1. I think Mr. Shortz can be forgiven for not knowing about an obscure British car of long past. How many are aware of the British sport car Atalanta which was produced from 1937 to 1939 and perhaps fewer than 20 produced. I was not aware of them until I saw one in an exotic car repair shop about fifteen years ago.

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    2. Yep, you found a rare one. Too bad nobody ever named a planet after it.
      The Jowett Car Company, in contrast, produced somewhere around sixty thousand cars over fifty years.
      Peter Ustinov and Red Skelton both owned Jupiters.
      There have also been cars named Venus, Mars and Pluto. Uranus is a car in a video game.

      The Atalanta is now back in production and will only set you back about 200 grand.

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    3. I'm not surprised WS never heard of the Jupiter, or other planets.

      That the contestant stumbled on Mercury should come as no surprise either. I've heard even something as simple as working on the brakes will drive you to rage.

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    4. Well I just finished installing the front brakes on my Mercury Grand Marquis LS, which is supposed to have the normal brakes, not the police version used on Crown Victrolas with the police package. However mine seems to have these brakes, so when I removed the calipers and shoes I was surprised to find I had the wrong parts. I was able to walk to the OReillys store 4 blocks away today and get the proper pads. Now I have to figure out how to send the wrong pads back to Amazon.com.

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    5. Well that'saturn for the worse. Certainly mars your day. I hope you didn't work on the engine, an ineptune-up can do a lot of damage. When returning those pads, did jupiter in a special envelope?

      And please don't bother responding with planet #7.

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    6. eco, another grand image from Idaho (just a week ago!)?

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    7. Some kid down the street, and around the corner, bought a Crown Vic Police Interceptor at the city auction and evidently got a bargain. It's an unmarked type, jet black with no body damage and still has the outside spotlight. When I see him pulling out of his side street, I find myself tapping the brakes because it still looks like an active police car. I'd like to find out what size engine it came with!

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    8. For the last 22 years they (Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis & Lincoln Town Car) have all had 4.6 liter V8 engines. They have a reputation for easily going 4 hundred thousand miles or more. Mine now just turned 121.000 miles and uses no oil at all. The engine runs like it did brand new. I take good care of it and do my own work.

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    9. That's great, good for you! A friend of mine that I used to work with, had a 2004 Marauder that he just loves. He babies it and I don't blame him. What I thought was kind of cool was all these Marauder owners around town have kind of a 'brotherhood' about them. When one came up on the market the excitement built! They have a regular pipeline about these.
      This isn't his but it's just like his Marauder.
      It's something how long engines can last these days. It used to be 100K and they were shot, but not any more!

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    10. WW: yes, those are 2 in a herd of about 20 bighorn sheep, all ewes and lambs. Hoping I don't offend, they aren't as impressive as the horny males. At first I thought they were goats, especially since they were in someone's back yard.

      I tried to find males, but they are elusive. A local ranger wearing a BLM shirt (Bovine Lives Matter?) said you really have to hunt to find the dudes. Have you seen them in CO?

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    11. Yes, eco, I've seen many bighorns here in CO, from Mt Evans to right on I-70 (!) to at Snow Mountain Ranch and beyond.

      My friends were at Echo Lake for the eclipse and a herd of 20+ bighorn sheep appeared right after the darkness. They got some great images.

      Wonderful animals.

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    12. sdb: Am I mistaken in assuming that at 121,000 miles this was at least the second if not the third front brake pad replacement?

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    13. I purchased the car just over nine years ago with 66,000 miles on it from a Jeep dealership. They said they had replaced the brakes, but I don't know if that also included the rear pads. I don't know the brake history prior to that time. The brakes were still working well when I changed them, but it was about time. They are working better than ever now I changed them, and I did not turn the rotors as they were true and fine. I did the job for under $100 and saved over $800 doing it myself. I could not be happier with the outcome, but it was more difficult than other brake jobs I've done in the past.

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    14. 60k is good mileage for front pads on an American sedan with an auto trans. The police beef-up probably helped.
      Getting to them before the lining is gone saves the rotor and another $1000 +.
      I have always liked doing my own mechanical work.
      Good job.

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    15. Most of my driving these days is local and the traffic in Seattle is fierce, not to mention all the hills, which is very hard on brakes with all the stop and go BS. I have always been easy on brakes though. Long highway driving puts lots of miles on the car, but little wear on the brake pads. I am getting ready for another road trip though now everything with the car seems well.

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  17. Sometimes these puzzles just play me out.

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    1. Play Me Out includes the song I Can't Say Goodbye to You. Helen converted to Judaism before marrying Jeff Wald. She became a naturalized American citizen in 1974.
      I note that "Yo, Aussie!" fulfills the mechanical requirements of this puzzle, while "Oy, Aussie!" does not.

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  18. If, instead of repeating a letter, you included a number, would a plausible answer be U2 ROADIE?

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  19. Some uncharacteristic behavior from Richie's sister on "Happy Days" might be considered UN-JOANIE.

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  20. Ridiculously, every time I hear or say this phrase,I think of the movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Oh the impressionable minds of kids!

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    1. As do I!

      This was referenced, in a way, in an episode of Twin Peaks: The Return last month.

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    2. Ha! Glad I'm not the only one;)

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  21. i learned a valuable lesson with this weeks puzzle...back in the good old days, before i started losing my memory (i'm 74 now), i trolled this blog starting at dawn sunday mornings, hoping to get an "accidental hint"...nowadays, most of you young people seem to get answers BEFORE YOU GET OUT OF BED !...(and quite naturally, love to rub it in !)... sometimes you then comment on how easy the puzzles are these days, and even criticize W.S. himself !! (seriously ?)...this can be a real downer for me,especially with a puzzle i find difficult, so i have totally kissed off reading this blog early in the week!!...from now on, i'm working it alone...either i get it myself, or i don't get it at all ! ...good luck to you , i'll be back in a couple of days !

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    1. this seemed obscure enough when i wrote it, but, in the end, with all the "goodbye" hints others submitted i guess it was too much of a spoiler...never again !..see y'll next week! ( with luck )

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  22. Replies
    1. 我不知道為什麼 你說再見, 我打招呼 - 


                            保羅爵士

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  23. This puzzle is liberating.
    Steam.

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  24. literally figured it out in two minutes while driving. :D

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  25. I don't know when but this puzzle is a rerun.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  26. Actually a contraction of a 5 word phrase.

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  27. I got it, admittedly thanks to a hint I found here, but I'd say it's a poor puzzle, as presented. There's a very important thing to know, that was left unsaid. If it came to you, tres bien, but I don't think it was fairly presented.

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  28. I think WS is playing a little loose with the “common expression.” To me common means people use it often. I don’t believe anyone out there will have NOT heard it, but I don’t know anyone that uses it unless they’re being cheeky.

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  29. If you decided to go to a different SUNY campus, are you UN ONEIDA?

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  30. This reminds me of a song in The Sound of Music which this expression is noticeably not present!

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    1. Ah, but it is there! (At least, according to Metrolyrics.)

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    2. It reminds me of that song from the Sound Of Music as well. How do you solve a problem like a puzzle?

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  31. I wrote to NPR about the way they do the lottery. They said the method is random.

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    1. If so, they are not doing it the way they did when they described it to me a few weeks ago, which was semi-random at best.

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  32. The message the ombudsman (woman) sent me stated she spoke to the person in charge and that person assured that it was a random selection process. I do not believe her as you were told something different. At least I received a response.

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  33. This is the message I received yesterday:
    Thank you for contacting my office. I was finally able to talk to the show’s executive producer about this and your information on the process is inaccurate. We can assure you that the selection is indeed a random one, as stated on air. Thanks again.

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    1. Let me guess. Is this the same NPR that insists it is fair and balanced and non-partisan, but has an open door policy with outrageous Right Wing think-tanks such as The Hemorrhage Foundation and The Cato Indispute, yet never invites Noam Chomsky?

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    3. Это случайный процесс. И у американцев есть свободные и справедливые выборы. Мы все смеемся!

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    4. Trumptransition: Да, вы могли бы сказать, что это случайность, но не то, что я думал. Я прошел через NPR!

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  34. I was so depressed when I read that message yesterday. I knew someone was lying. I am not going to send in answers anymore..hope their census goes down. Need to boycott.

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    1. I have become so cynical I no longer place my broken teeth under my pillow at night!

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  35. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. I almost forgot to send in my answer this week due to now understanding their outrageous method of choosing a winner and holding off until later in the week. I remembered and sent it in at 8:15 AM today.

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    2. SDB: I wrote to the ombudsman again today asking her if she asked the executive director about the specific selection process I described to her. I am curious if they said that is the process they use and it is considered random.

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    3. SDB: I am surprised that you still submit answers and yet think the selection process is outrageous. I consider their process an ethical issue and equate it to Trumpian methods. I may write to the NYT.

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    4. Natasha:
      While you're at it you might also ask why some of us, such as Lego and me, still have not received all our loot for winning.

      I don't really know why I still submit answers. I ask myself the same question and tell myself I am interested in how many are sent in.

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    5. SDB: Whew! Glad to know you question your submitting. I thought you were above that. You can write to the ombudsman too about your "loot" for winning. I am consulting scientists about their selection process and then if they agree with me, I will write to the NYT. This is not something to just let go. It is an very important to the integrity of the program. I would not be surprised if WS supports Trump.

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    6. Found out from Physicist that their selection process is random. I still do not approve!

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    7. I would call their process random, since no one knows what submission time will be selected. But I wouldn't call it fair or equal. I suspect this method is used for its ease by folks that aren't particularly savvy with computers.

      Based on WS's re-use of old puzzles we know they don't have/ use a digital archive system that would avoid repeats. So why would we expect a more sophisticated randomized selection process? Too bad, I enjoy a good conspiracy as much as anyone, but I think it's laziness/ lack of knowledge, not anything intentional.

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    8. Eco: I do not think it is a conspiracy either. However, I do think the use of random is misleading since most lottery type competitions use a different method, ie excel programs etc. The physicist I consulted stated: "I can't think of a way to game the system. Can you? That means it's random." Whatever that means. I asked for further clarification and no response yet.

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  36. I have a 1:30 CDT car appointment today so I’m pretty sure I won’t be back home logging on here right at the deadline. I made one submission with three possible answers earlier this week. All meet the puzzle’s technical requirements but I’d be hard pressed to characterize any of them as a common two-word expression.

    Back at you later.

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  37. Replies
    1. Is that what French skydivers say instead of "Geronimo!"?

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  38. AU REVOIR

    > ... and which bears a certain resemblance to the last puzzle Will posed in which we were asked to find two words containing all five vowels and three consonants.

    That was VOTE AQUI.

    > A synonymous four-letter expression has no vowels at all.

    TTFN.

    >> This reminds me of a song in The Sound of Music which this expression is noticeably not present!

    > Ah, but it is there! (At least, according to Metrolyrics.)

    "So long, farewell,
    Au revoir, auf Wiedersehen.
    I'd like to stay
    And taste my first Champagne."

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  39. I wrote, "Water over the dam." This is eau over the
    re [ser] voir. Obscure enough for you?

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  40. When I wrote "Republicans may have an advantage in solving this." I was referring to the (Fifth) French Republic.

    I think many of the clues were bordering on giveaways, Blaine is perhaps too forgiving.

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    1. I thought you might be referring to all the pink slips the White House has been so generous with lately.

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    2. I figured it was because of their revolving door policy. They are used to saying "goodbye"!

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  41. AU REVOIR

    "I'll add on to that." refers to the Italian good-bye of 'addio,' somewhat comparable to the French au revoir. {Although, "arrivederci" is closer to the meaning of until we meet again.}

    King Erroneous and Paul, the "in Seine" jesting was fun.

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  42. do adieux, do adieus, so adieus

    “Do adieux,” “do adieus” and “so adieus” all seem to fulfill the technical requirements. However, I don’t think any of them could be characterized as a common two-word expression.

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  43. Au revoir, mi amouré

    My hints:
    You're golden...
    Lawrence Welk. Their sign off song included au revoir.

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  44. Another Thursday when my phone didn't ring, unless you count phone spam.

    So I'll just say, AU REVOIR.

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  45. AU REVOIR = Goodbye, So long.

    ADIEU = Farewell. God be with you.

    À BIENTÔT = See you soon.

    (À) TOUT À L'HEURE = See you shortly, See you later.

    À VOIR = See you...

    In my opinion, there were way too manygiveaway hints” this week:
    1. See you “Later, (alli)gator” = goodbye.
    2. “This puzzle seems a little foreign to me.” Ah, it's a foreign expression for “goodbye.”
    3. Wheel of fortune answers, just put in “number of words = 2” “number of letters = 8” “first word number of letters = 2” and voilà, you have the answer.
    4. “I don't even speak the language...Bye for now” So it must be “Bye for now” in a foreign language. This narrows it down to ADIOS, AU REVOIR, AUF VIEDERSEHEN, ARRIVEDERCI, SAYONARA... Makes it pretty easy.
    5. “If it came to you, très bien.” Ah, the language must be French...

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    1. I agree with you, and glad you spent the time to call out the miscreants.

      Just for the record, it's Auf Wiedersehen; Germans pronounce a "W" like we pronounce a "V", and their "V" is pronounced like our "F". Sadly they don't pronounce an "F" like we pronounce "W".

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    2. Thanks. Yes, I knew it was "Auf Wiedersehen," just bad proofreading on my part before posting.

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  46. Au Revoir

    Classic goodbye scene from a movie I watched way too many times, while stuck at the baby-sitters house as a kid.

    "Au Revoir Pee Wee, Au Revoir!"
    "Au Revoir Simone!"

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  47. AU REVOIR
    The French equivalent of "Bye for now".

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  48. The Civil War music:
    Ashokan Farewell
    Click next line for the story.
    Oh, reservoir.

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    1. Ashokan Farewell is a favorite song. Thanks for the welcome nudge to listen once again.



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    2. Thanks, jan.

      Enjoyed the reintroduction to Broyle's Law and the comparison of Ken Burns' hair to a Lego character ;-).

      That music, though. . .

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  49. Lawrence Welk, every week I think. Gag.

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    1. Lawrence Welk vs. Mitch Miller... could be a toss up!
      Just follow the bouncing ball!!

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    2. Lawrence Welk was a schmuck who would have been a strong Trump supporter. Or you might describe him as a Champagne Nazi who marched to the goose-step cadence of, "Ah-One, Ah-Two, Ah-Three." He was despised by his employees who he mistreated.

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    3. This never gets old.

      LegoWelkSays"ThankyaThankyaThankyaForThatModernSpiritualTuneInNextWeekWhenDale&GailWillSingAnotherModernSpiritualTitled'God'sSong'"

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    4. "ThankyaThankyaThankyaForThatModernSpiritual" had me thinking of this before I clicked the links.

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    5. The below is a cut & paste of one of the comments below the Welk piece:

      Dan Fiebiger 2 years ago:
      I actually saw this show when it first aired. (See * below.)

      Lawrence Welk had no idea what the lyrics were really talking about, which was common for rock-pop songs in the late 60s & early 70s.

      They heard the phrase "Sweet Jesus" and, thinking it was a religious song, decided that it was good enough for them.

      Yes, note how Welk describes it as a "Modern Spiritual" at the end of the song. He really thot that's what it was!

      It also makes you wonder why Myron Floren almost looses his voice at the beginning. Did he know the truth? Had he been toking backstage himself?

      If anybody had told Welk what a 'toke" was, ahead of time, he wouldn't have allowed the song to be performed.

      He found out later on, much to his embarrassment, and was more careful to have someone check all lyrics of outside material from then-on.

      * The only reason why I saw this show was that I had became familiar with Welk's show from visiting my grandmother (my dad's mom) on Sunday evenings when we visited her. She was a huge Welk fan and watched him every week, with the volume on her TV set turned up to rock-concert levels, cuz she was hard of hearing by then, but refused to use a hearing aid. We'd sit and watch the show with her to keep her company for awhile.

      None of us ever toked as we watched the show, but we should have.

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    6. Thanks for hashing out the story, bud, weed never have known. Doobie ever vigilant, and reefer us to new junk, that's your roll. I thought it disjointed that Welk had chosen this puff piece, but was too lazy to look it up and decided to leave it alone.

      I was very young when the song came out, a decade be four-twenty, and even I knew what the song meant.

      But isn't it wrong to call the song a "one hit wonder"?

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    7. That was a song that I liked when it first came out but the raidio stations played it into the ground. Now, whenever it comes on I push the channel button as quick as I can. Same for "Brandy" by "Looking Glass"!!

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    8. 68Charger: Just for you:

      Did you hear about the naked cowgirl with chapped lips? She could be herd for miles exclaiming her unbridled delight. Yes, Brand’E’ was indeed a fine girl, but it wasn’t just a cowpoke she was after like the cowboys. She not only wanted a home on the range, but a range in her home and some thought she was masochistic when she asked for lariat at the bunkhouse.

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    9. SDB - Very good, I just hate that song so much! I had to drive a delivery car back in those days and all it had was a standard AM radio. I don't even think it had push buttons for the tuner. There was talk radio & maybe one rock n roll station, so at times I was stuck listening to some pretty crumby songs.

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    10. Thanks. I coined that one a couple of years ago. I don't think most catch all of the double entendres.

      Years ago, when the weather was unkind to skydiving in the darker months, I would set up a kiosk with a TV at each corner on the main lisle of the shopping mall that is said to be the first in the nation, and is close to my house. I would run VHS tapes of skydiving done here. I did this as a way to generate revenue during the long, mostly unjumpable, months here. Some of it was experienced jumpers on the tapes, and some was students, especially Tandem student skydives with me and other instructors. A music tape that repeated over and over was also put together on the tape with songs I mostly did not like. One was the song by Tom Petty - Free Fallin'. I requested it be on the tape because it is perfect for selling skydiving gift certificates, which is what I did from the day after Thanksgiving through Xmas eve. If you don't think 28 days in a row, hearing that song over and over from morning mall opening until closing at ten or even after midnight sometimes wasn't a pain in the ass, you have no imagination. Especially when you are not into crap pop culture, but committed to Classical music. The financial rewards made it all worthwhile though. The song that I most enjoyed hearing was the one that begins: "There is no way you would ever get me in the plane!" I can easily sell most of those on doing it by creating in them the desire to experience what it is actually like, and not what they think it is like.

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    11. SDB - That's a great story! Yes, I did like all your little inside jokes. I think I got them all! That would be hell having to listen to the same bad music all the time! I would get frustrated even listening to the songs I did like!!
      I was watching the TCM channel a couple of weeks ago and they had an interesting filler documentary that you might have liked. It was about a 20 minute show, showing the making of the movie "The Gypsy Moths" with Burt Lancaster.
      I always liked that movie because it centered on skydiving and from what I could tell, used very little trick photography. The documentary showed the photographers suiting up, packing their cameras and making their jumps with the actors. Now I am sure there were plenty of stuntmen being used but it looked like actual jumps.
      Anyway, it showed the crews packing their chutes, even showing what not to do! It was a great behind the scenes documentary.

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    12. I should say that by having little trick photography, they had no CGI.

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    13. I suspect you were watching:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeeQAetUWAY

      I just now watched it. Never saw it before. It is mostly accurate. Near the beginning something is said about falling at 180 mph. That is not correct. Normal terminal velocity FF is @ 120 mph. You can fall even faster than 180, but it requires skill and/or weight.

      You might have noticed there is a 'chute shown numerous times, and that used by Burt Lancaster, that is all black other than a section near the apex that is several different colors. The parachutes they are using as mains in this film are more advanced than standard "rounds" and are elliptical, and much more complex in design. They are Paracommanders. I occasionally jumped one of these during my student days, and later on was given a "church window" some guy had been keeping in his garage for many years. I jumped it several times and then sold it. It was identical to the one in the film, and is called a church window due to how it looks when deployed to the jumper beneath. i.e. stained glass.

      Carl Boenish is introduced along with a few other experienced skydivers at the beginning of the film. He was born 4 years to the day prior to myself. He is considered the father of B.A.S.E. jumping and died in 1984 on a base jump in Norway. He made wonderful skydiving videos prior to that and they always had wonderful Classical recordings that I loved.

      The Wing Suits you see in this film were outlawed due their killing most who tried using them. Now history is repeating itself with the wing suites that are being used by a few, who are killing themselves as before. One of these died a couple of years ago about half an hour from where I live and his body may never be discovered in that, open, but impossible to navigate area, which is near where I began jumping.

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    14. I always hated Tom Petty and the Earache.

      If you were to sell Wing Suits at the mall would you play Patsy Cline? Would Natasha play the theme from Rocky?

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    15. If I were to sell Wing Suits at the mall, or anywhere else, I would starve quickly. I actually kinda like that song, even when the sync is way off, as in that video.
      Natasha gets her marching orders from Putin.

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    16. Was the theme song to Rocky ("Gonna Fly Now") really an homage to Rocky J Squirrel?

      Nobody seems to have suggested that before, and I wouldn't except with this hellish heat wave it's still 85° inside my abode. Maybe I'll sleep in my car with the A/C on.

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    17. Wow! I wish I were there now; I love the heat. It was 88 here today and wonderful.

      We have squirrels here in Seattle. That is all I have to say on that subject. Nuts!

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    18. 88 is fine, but it was around 103 here today, and the same yesterday. And it didn't cool off at night.

      Being a good communist city, we all rely on free, universal air conditioning provided by the state. Once in a while it fails.

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    19. Is that solid-state air conditioning?

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    20. Usually it has high liquidity.

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    21. Very different than the "too big to fail" banks.

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    22. The nice thing about A/C is that it only fails when it's really hot. You can always count on it during the winter.

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  51. Al commented in a noonish post this past Monday:
    "I don't know when but this puzzle is a rerun."
    Al was right. (Al is always right!)

    A version of it indeed appeared on the April 7, 2002 NPR broadcast.
    You can download an audio file of that broadcast by pasting the following into your browser:
    http://www.npr.org/templates/dmg/dmg_em.php?id=141267&type=1&mtype=RM&orgId=1&p=10&story=1141267&t=progseg&e=13052053&seg=8&siteplayer=true
    (By the way, the puzzle segment that day clocked in at 8 minutes 55 seconds!)
    It ended with Will giving the following challenge:
    "The phrases 'Gasoline Pump' and 'Fountain Pen' each contains the five vowels (A, E, I, O, U) exactly once. What familiar two-word phrase, having two letters in the first word and six letters in the second word also contains all five vowels exactly once. Hint: The first and last letters of the six-letter word are the same."

    ...I think oui all know the answer, mes amis.
    I suggested to Charles that he remove his helpful, astute and correct reply to Al's comment only because Charles mentioned the phrases Will used as examples: "Gasoline Pump" and "Fountain Pen." Unfortunately, if you type those two phrases, along with "Blaine's puzzle blog" into a search engine (DuckDuckGo, for example) you will be able to easily access this Feb. 9, 2014 edition of Blainesville in which our friend David, by sheer coincidence, posted:
    "What was the first puzzle you submitted an answer to? Mine was..." and then printed out that 2002 puzzle!
    I think we can cut Will some slack for reusing a puzzle from 15 years earlier. I am sure he doesn't do this willfully. Will fully appreciates the importance of offering us fresh puzzles. These occasional repeats are remarkably rare given the thousands of puzzles he has give us over the decades.
    Incidently, about a year ago on my Puzzlria! blog, I reused a puzzle I had published on Puzzleria! only two months earlier!

    LegoLegoLegoLegoLego...

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  53. Next week's challenge: This challenge comes from listener Patrick Berry of Jasper, Ala., who had the clever AMERICAN DAD + C = CANDID CAMERA anagram a few weeks ago. This challenge is another anagram. Rearrange the 15 letters of COOL HIT FARE IN L.A. to name a famous song that's appropriate to the given phrase.

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  55. Nice puzzle Cranberry. Solving it felt as good as making a hole in one (on a par three).

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  56. 450 correct responses this week.

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  57. Au revoir, maybe not. Grats cberry .

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  58. Patrick (cranberry) deserves big-time congrats for having two puzzles chosen by Will Shortz within the span of a month! Gotta be some kinda record. Quite a feat.
    And he is a Blainesvillian, one of our own.
    He is also an extremely clever cryptic crossword puzzle constructor.

    LegoYouGoCranberry

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  59. This puzzle seemed a bit easy, but I'll take it like that once in a while.

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  60. Congratulations, Patrick!

    Trying to maintain composure, here.

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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.