Sunday, September 17, 2017

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 17, 2017): Back to School Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 17, 2017): Back to School Puzzle:
Q: This puzzle is for the new school year. Think of two antonyms, each in three letters. Set them side by side. In between them arrange the letters of TRY TO ACE in some order. The result will name someone at school. Who is it?
Don't make the mistake I did.

Edit: I originally thought all the letters had to be anagrammed, not just the ones in the middle. It was much easier to solve after that. And my hint was a reference to the quote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (or any of the numerous variations of that quote).
A: HISTORY TEACHER

278 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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    1. I was, but I don't. Never heard of the song, nor of the big shot who recorded it.

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    2. Oh, dear. I thought it was obscure enough, and even did web searches on what I wrote. Sorry!

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  3. 550 correct answers this week.

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    1. I was surprised there were only 550 correct answers last week.

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  4. Perhaps one of the easiest puzzles ever?? Especially given the on air narration.

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  5. Thought of the answer when stepping out of the shower.

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  7. Got it as Lulu was reading the submitting instructions, no Sonny Liston this week.

    Bonus Puzzle: Think of a 2 word phrase, 10 letters, that most parents are happy to see. Remove the space and the resulting 1 word is something no parent wants. What are the phrase and the word? Hint: there is no rearranging of the letters, and the last 3 letters are "ing". Bonus bonus: This came to me watching the start of a 1970's movie, what is the movie?

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    1. The movie is related to a puzzle from earlier this year.

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    2. I recently watched a film that was just re-released for it's 40th anniversary, and has a scene like that not too near the beginning.

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    3. I take it back. The 2-word phrase scene is at the very start. The one-word scene comes later.

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    4. You have a different movie; mine features 2 of the greatest all-time actors/ actresses who are each separately associated with another great actor/ actress, who was a puzzle subject about 3 years ago.

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  8. Some adjectives have their pros and cons.

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  9. One of the antonyms is commonly used in a four letter variant; the other is always three letters.

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    1. How about the four letter variants both ending in "n". Yeah, I know. Just picking on "always".

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    2. What if I had said, "In proper English..."?

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    3. Would still have made the comment.

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  10. The winner this week said he got the answer in "5 seconds", and he got on the phone and sent in his answer. Can one presume that means he submitted his answer early Sunday morning?

    There are then two possible explanations: the simple one is the randomly selected time was Sunday morning. The more complicated is that they finally have a different method for randomly selecting the winner. Let's hope the latter, and Natasha's persistence was successful.

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    1. Thanks Eco. Would like to think that is true.

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  11. I must admit I don't know much about this puzzle.

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  12. I think the words Will wants are more accurately thought of as synonyms.

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  14. Yet another case where one of the clues, to be nameless for now, led me to the answer.

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  16. Gore Vidal is my hint for today.

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  17. Gotta love a good puzzle you can solve at first sight! Now I won't have to worry about it on my cruise this week. Unfortunately, they won't have Wi-Fi on the ship, so I probably won't be able to listen next Sunday. And of course, I won't be home Thursday either. So it's a good thing I got it right away!

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  18. Carlos said this already.

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  19. Blaine!!!

    I don't want to point out which post I am referring to, but there is one that anyone who has already solved the puzzle will see as a giveaway, and if it is Googled it goes right to the answer.

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    1. I agree. There are at least two extant clues at this point that I consider giveaways.

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  20. This could be fun: ruin a book title in one letter.

    I'll start -- "Goodnight Moan."

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    1. I enjoyed all three titles above.

      "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Scone."

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    2. clotheslover:

      And you complained about my joke! :-)

      (Actually I love it! As did those I told my joke to at wine tastings this weekend.)

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    3. Turder on the Orient Express.

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    4. "50 Shades of Clay" {A Geologic Memoir} [And, I know I changed 2 letters.]

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    5. Well if we're going to do that:

      Fart Of Darkness.

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    6. My plumbers like "The Way of All Flush", and the pissed off interior decorator is reading "The Drapes of Wrath".

      Wasn't there an Addams Family story called "Naked Lurch"?

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    7. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Mess.

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    8. SDB: I was sure you were going to include "Animal Fart", written by the same historian who wrote about the October Surprise, "Nineteen Eighty Foul".

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    9. The African Queer.

      (Oh, here it comes.) It's a joke!

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    10. The Watcher in the Rye
      or, The Catcher in the Dye

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    11. One Hundred and One Damnations.

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    12. Variation on one of my earlier ones: The Hun Also Rises.

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    13. For you know who:
      Price and Prejudice
      The Gropes of Wrath
      A Crockwork Orange

      SDB: if you mean from last week, my thoughts were scattered (say each syllable slowly).

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    14. And WW: that certain person is working on the nuanced "50 Shades of Grab".

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    15. "Mopy Dick"

      Curtis, "The Pun also Rises" could be our official blog book!

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    16. eco - I am shocked! Over it now though. :-)

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    17. In Michael Jackson's case, Lonesome Glove

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    18. The World According to Gary

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    19. Slaughterhouse Live

      Slaughterhouse Jive

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    20. "In Search of Lost Lime"

      or

      "In Search of Last Time."

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    21. Sunday In The Dark With George

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    22. gotta go watch premier of The Vietnam Bar, I mean War.

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    23. Or the Tom Cruise movie: Top Fun

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    24. SDB - looks like that Vietnam Bar/War series is going to be pretty good. I watched most of tonight's episode and am looking forward to the rest of the series. The 1st episode had film clips I'd never seen before.

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    25. 68C - It is very good so far, and I look forward to the rest.

      One interesting thing really bothers me. This is a well crafted documentary that is supposed to run around 18 hours. So far, in the first one and a half hour segment, we have been treated to footage and descriptions of incomprehensible violence and death, but they bleeped it in the middle so it could not say the words, shit sandwich. I do not believe any person has ever been killed or harmed by a shit sandwich, but we had to be protected from that word. This tells me that even after all the decades and more of these violent and destructive wars that hurt us all we still have learned nothing.

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    26. "The Girl with The Draw-on Tattoo"

      "The Girl who Played with Wire"

      "The Girl who Licked The Hornets Nest"

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    27. I am literally laughing out loud at these.

      How about

      Apocalypse Not

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    28. I meant:
      The Man Who Would Be Kind

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    29. I thought the rule was one letter changed.

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    30. Natasha - You are right, but Word Woman broke that rule last night and is now meeting with her attorney.

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    31. Change one letter, change a consonant blend, drop a letter -- the game evolves!

      I was surprised at how quickly folks here dove right in! My college friends and I did the same.

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    33. Maybe you can share attorneys.

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    35. We can share as long as I get a drumstick.

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    36. Sounds like you need a wishbone.

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    37. @sdb: Far from being scattered, my thoughts went for a new direction. Say the syllables in the last phrase quickly.

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    1. Wordnerd - Why did you delete? Now all three are gone.

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    2. Now all three what are gone?

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    3. The Wine; the Mind and your post, not to mention the Wind.

      Your post was good and you should have left it.

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  22. Gone with the Mind? Star Bars (welcome to LA)

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  23. You could add a letter: The Old Man and the Seal

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  24. The Bun Also Rises
    Pleasure Island
    Prude and Prejudice
    Romeo and Joliet
    Rodeo and Juliet
    Green Eggs and Spam
    Hop On Top
    The Fat in the Hat

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  25. Zen Little Indians
    A Tale of Two Pities
    The Sound of The Baskervilles
    The Three Mousketeers
    The Count of Monte Crisco
    The Call of The Mild
    A Massage to India
    Tom Lawyer
    Grime and Punishment
    A Clockwork Strange
    Finnegans Cake
    The Pot And The Pendulum

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  26. It's like Lenin said, man. "Who benefits?" I am the walrus?

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  27. Thanks again for obvious hints to Ace the test this week. We make it every day.

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  28. A Tale of Two Cuties
    A Tale of Tao Cities
    A Liver Twist
    The Sex Around Us
    The Old Man and the Sex
    A Farewell to Arts
    Wuthering Weights
    Lard of the Flies
    Lord of the Fries
    The Tale of Benji
    Arrowsmite

    And changing 2 letters to get everyone's favorite:

    Eugene Oregon

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  29. Grave New World
    Sanity Fair
    Granny and Zooey
    Tranny and Zooey
    A Tree Glows in Brooklyn
    The Brothels Karamazov
    The Idiom
    Rabbit, Gun

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    1. Wind in the Pillows
      Wine in the Willows
      Charlotte's Wet
      A Separate Peach
      A Separate Lease
      Thatcher In The Rye
      The Red Dodge of Courage
      Ben Fur
      Bed Hur
      A Doll's Horse
      Das Loot
      Teahouse of the August Moan
      The Longest Lard

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  30. Among many concerns about the Burns' Vietnam movie is the poor quality of the subtitles.
    They are small, have muddled contrast with the background and, worst, more often than not are shown too briefly to read.

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    1. I didn't have a problem with the subtitles. While I understand the intent (the first episode was entitled "Deja Vu"), I found the cutting between late 1960s and earlier footage to be distracting. But I thought it was pretty good overall.

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    2. After reluctantly becoming a student of things Vietnam fifty plus years ago, I have since read pretty much every relevant fiction and non-fiction I found. I think this was better for my mental health than the forgetting and denial that many of my comrades went through.
      One result is that I read and listen very, very carefully to what is written and shown on the war.

      Last night, there were several statements and claims that were meant to be heard, but not necessarily comprehended, i.e. just short of subliminal. This has been an ever more effective ploy by those who would re-invent the history being presented.
      The Pentagon, in its "anniversary celebration" preparations starting a few years back became expert in this deception.
      Without proof, it seems to me that making subtitles (Vietnamese speaking interviewees) harder to comprehend than spoken (English) ones is a good way to skew the experience.
      That I had a bias to expect this doesn't make it any less true.
      The more watched show must have been the one with all the people and shows I have never heard of.

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  31. Gunga Dim
    Rabbit Fun
    Our Gown
    The Matinee on the Bounty

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    1. Don't you have a book to write? "At Easy", or something like that?

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    2. Yes. And if you'd stop bothering me...

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    3. ... your life would be very dull.

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    4. Do you mean it could get worse?

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  32. I predict this puzzle will have the All-Time most correct entries.

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  33. Seeing musical Anerican in Paris wed. In sf. Has anyone seen it yet in sf?

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  35. Interesting puzzle. Some basic logic made it an easier puzzle than it should have been.

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  37. My post from yesterday morning mysteriously vanished. In regards to the puzzle: I hated one, I've dated one, and am I'm related to another one.

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  38. I have now watched the first two segments of Ken Burns's epic, The Vietnam War. I am very impressed so far, and my only concern is David Koch having backed it, along with numerous others. I as yet don't see why he got involved as it so far seems extremely fair and balanced.

    At this point in the production it has mostly been involved in the background and political aspects of the war. I was waiting to see if John Paul Vann would play a significant roll in the film, and he has emerged, as have others who are critical to the events. I also was very impressed that Mosadegh was even given recognition, as this is so forgotten and unknown by most in this country, yet so profound in our present situation.

    It will be interesting to see if in the following segments the day to day experiences of those on the front lines in the field, and also those in behind the lines duties in Saigon are covered in detail, as I very much hope they are.

    As to the subtitles, I paid particular attention to them tonight due to the complaint made earlier. I found them to be among the very best I have ever seen. They were large enough; clear enough; left on screen long enough, and most importantly, they were yellow, which has shown to be the very best for easy of reading with all backgrounds.

    There can never be any film that will adequately cover such an enormous period in our history as this war to satisfy everyone, but I suspect this will come as close as any ever will.

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    2. SDB - Regarding your previous post about that "cuisine", I think the producers were trying to respect president Diem's last, dying words. As told to Diem's bodyguard, Rothebudd, Diem's answered Rothebudd's question about how he felt, by saying: "I feel   like   a  thit   thandwith,   R o s  e   b    u      d .  .  .".

      or so I heard.

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    3. 68C - Not sure if you are making a joke, referring to Citizen Kane, or a serious comment.

      I was pointing out how NPR bleeped, or more accurately cut out, the S word, where a soldier was describing their situation. This modified the dialogue and insulted the audience. Shame on NPR for caving in to this nonsense.

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    4. That's PBS, not NPR. Wrong tote bag.

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    5. Oh, I know what you were saying. I was just having a little fun!

      Some say that he was trying to name a new sandwich at McDonald's.

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    6. jan - Thanks for correcting my error. NPR would never censor their broadcasts, now would they?

      68C - I thought so, but could not tell for sure. I have never had a Big Mac, so can't comment on the effluvia they sell.

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    7. Tonight you might listen for the narrator's "retaliation for the Tonkin Gulf attacks."

      Just for an experiment I would like to contend that black is black.

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    8. MJ - I really do want to hear the background story on this. This ought to be interesting!

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  39. I Know Why The Caged Bird Stinks

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    1. Yeah, because you haven't changed the newspaper at the bottom.

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  40. Replies
    1. That's good! I wonder if most retail walk-in stores will sooner or later become a memory? Not many people like to talk about that.

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    2. Do you really want most stores to go?

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    3. No, but I think the writing is on the wall...
      Home Depot, Target & Wal-Mart already have those self-checkout registers. I'm the first one to use the ones at Wal-mart, though.

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    4. If Wal-mart had a free checkout line, I don't think I would shop there.

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    5. I'm not sure all brick & mortar stores will die off. I still like looking at clothes, and making sure they fit, before buying them. But, I've gone to buying shoes completely online for an odd reason. I wear 8EE shoes, which are hard to find in retailers. New Balance, known for its range of widths in shoes, has a franchise store here in the Denver area. But, the franchisee refuses to carry any widths, other than men's D, in sizes smaller than 9. Yes, the store can order shoes for me, but I can order for myself, saving two trips (one to order, one to pick up) to the store.

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    6. SDB - I see I didn't write that response very well about 'Toys R Us'. When I wrote "That's good", I just meant to say that your "Toys Were Us" reply was "a good one"!
      Curtis - I can't see all stores going away but I wonder what stores might be left in say, ten years??
      One kind of store that I can't see going away are grocery stores. But, the big chains are sure trying to get more people to buy their groceries online. I just can't see doing that!

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    7. Now I understand why you wrote that. :)

      Does this mean The Mustang Rance will be going online too?

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    8. 68Charger, you and I are on the same page. I don't want to order groceries online. I think, in ten years, stores will need to offer something other than commoditified commercial products. They'll need to offer real hands-on experiences with the products so consumers can understand the difference between commodity A and commodity B.

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    9. If you look at what we buy at the grocery store it’s likely very constant. 90% of what I buy for food each week is the same stuff (my brand of cereal, yogurt, the fruits I buy, etc) in basically the same quantities. Same with laundry and cleaning. There isn’t any reason I have to travel there to get those things. Once they get those systems scalable (like Amazon’s automated centers) most of us will probably get our regular deliveries. Who knows, it may be a future evolution for the USPS. But people will always want places to pick up things ad-hoc and to see new products. I think those stores will just be smaller.

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    10. Amazon doesn't carry Soylent Green.

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  42. We are now at 200 posts again. Don't forget to click Load More at the bottom.

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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.