I can't think what it would be.Q: Think of a convenience introduced in the 19th century that is still around today. Its name has two words. Take the first three letters of the first word and the first letter of its second word, in order, to get a convenience introduced in the 21st century that serves a similar purpose. Their names are otherwise unrelated. What two conveniences are these?
Edit: I eventually figured it out. My comment contained hints to "reference lists" and to enlisting the help of others.
A: YEL(LOW) P(AGES) --> YELP
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.
Digital media.
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle, imo.
ReplyDeleteI hope that's not a clue, Blaine, because I can't think what it would be either, and I'm serious about this.
ReplyDeleteWell, it isn't a carpet sweeper as that has nothing to do with cars...
ReplyDeleteNor a kitchen sink which has nothing to do with 21st Century kits.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWere you going for pilot light and the 21st Century pill?
DeleteLooks like it’s my turn for the disappearing post glitch.
ReplyDeleteSecond attempt.
Unlike the newer incarnation, the 19th century version could be recycled. It was also of great help raising children.
If you're talking about you post on last week's blog, it didn't disappear. It was one of several post that came after the 200th post of the week, so you have to click on "Load more" at the bottom of the page to see it.
DeleteJan - the post that disappeared was here, but disappeared. I paraphrased my original and reposted./ Second version is above.
DeleteInteresting to refer to these as "conveniences". On my ambulance squad, "convenience bags" are what we give patients to throw up into.
ReplyDeleteHmmm -- Got a "Notify me" email from saukriver in response to this posting, but it's not here now. It looks like postings are indeed disappearing.
DeleteOh, the inconvenience!
DeleteYou don't have it, do you, WW?
Delete#me neither
#me_neither either
DeletePaul, #got_it. I'm not shy about posting that, either.
DeletePaul, Saul, and All, #how_about_you?
DeleteIn the 19th Century, you saw the first reports of UFOs and space men in the U.S., which conveniently gave people with nothing better to do something to talk about. Now, we have spam email for that.
ReplyDeleteThat's a little out there.
DeleteBut not too far from in here, JC.
Delete“If it’s out there, it’s in here”, from a set of iconic Yellow Pages ads created by Jay Chiat (JC) of Chiat/Day advertising agency, in the mid 1980’s. “Furniture Stripping”, “Rock Drills”, “Conductive Shoes” and others.
DeleteBut isn't that only really true in Nevada, if you know what I mean?
DeleteGot all bases covered except "similar purpose."
ReplyDeleteSo, if we can establish some universal purpose to which all lesser purposes contribute, I think you're GOLDEN, MJ.
DeleteI am afraid my first post disappeared also. Where can I complain?
ReplyDeleteI think you just did.
DeleteNone of my posts have disappeared, but then I haven't figured out the puzzle either. Not particularly crazy about this one. Not angry, just not crazy about it. If I check back here later and someone's actually said something that sounds like a good enough hint I might be able to work with, maybe it'll be worth it. Otherwise I got nothing, but I've had worse problems lately and Christmas is another week away, so I'm not saying I don't particularly care about this week's challenge. I've just had more to think about these past few months without trying to solve a difficult challenge every few weeks. I'm probably just going to wait it out until Thursday. Then those of us who haven't solved it yet will learn something new, whether it really is a clever puzzle or not.
ReplyDeleteI can't speak for others, but I think this puzzle only came quickly to Jan, ken, Superzee, Buck Bard, and maybe Brain, whose crues are way too Blainy for me.
DeleteI heard it while driving north, and got it listening to the NPR piece on Hallmark TV movies that followed, though not very directly.
Though it could be wife immured....
Last week it was Smith, but this week I think Vassar and Radcliffe are what we seek. Or not.
ReplyDeleteeco, I think I see where you are headed here. I almost headed to Vassar myself up until mid August when Smith came through with a better aid package. I have wondered what a difference that last-minute choice may have made in my life. {Although Northampton, the town, beats Poughkeepsie hands down.}
DeleteI went through many reference lists, but when I finally just asked my wife for her input, it finally came to me.
ReplyDeleteSo it's THIS CRUE that's too Blainy?
DeleteThe 19th century convenience would have been unimaginable without a prior invention. Although not requiring a physical connection, the two were commonly co-located, and often used together.
ReplyDeleteThe 21st century convenience also requires the use of other devices.
In the form of the intended answer, that's true. But the 19th Century "convenience" existed much earlier, in only slightly different form, almost 200 years before the invention you note.
DeleteI think I must save how I knew this until Thursday.
I based my comment on the chronology given in Wikipedia for the specific convenience. I don’t doubt there were predecessors and I’ll be interested to learn which ones you refer to.
DeleteAh, Paul, I see elsewhere that you are there. Not saying where. . .
ReplyDeleteI found a better answer than yesterday, but it too seems to fail the "similar purpose" test, Paul's reassurance notwithstanding.
ReplyDeleteMJ, I concur.
DeleteI have come up with 2 or 3 answers that don't seem to me to be quite valid.
DeleteI have two answers that do not appear suspect.
DeleteIn the 19 Century, they used BASic Senses to predict the weather. Now, we've got Big Mouth Billy BASS.
ReplyDeleteA bit of a stretch, jan, but worth it.
DeleteIs that what happens when a fish gets Hooked on Phonics?
Deletejan, I think you should scale that down a bit and put it the Bass-O-Matic.
DeleteAre you fin-ished?
DeleteI'm sure all the Alexas out there are thrilled. How did they choose "Alexa" anyway? I may be taking on Alexa-like qualities .
DeleteWW: so you're saying you "make noises ... your digestive system makes when you eat too many beans"?
DeleteVery mature.
Amazon chose ALEXA as the Echo's default wake word due to its relative rarity in day-to-day conversation. You can use the Echo app to change the wake word to COMPUTER, ECHO or AMAZON. As a Star Trek fan, I changed the wake word to COMPUTER one of our devices - but as my wife is an IT/Communications Specialist, our routine conversations caused too much confusion and we went back to using ALEXA on all three of our Echos.
DeleteAhem, eco, I did not mean those noises but instead my ability to answer an asked question (with that link). But, you likely knew that. . .
DeleteFor me, passing gas is left for the gas fields of Texas, CO, and OK.
I should have solved this one more quickly since I used the century 21 convenience just yesterday. Now that I have the solution, I would say this is a very good puzzle.
ReplyDeleteDid you cry when you got it? #FAKE PUZZLE!
DeleteI agree, Lorenzo. I’d give it four stars.
DeleteThe breviloquence astounds. . .
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOMG, nooo.....
DeleteTsk, tsk, hints!
ReplyDelete..."similar purposes" continues to baffle.
Sooo..is the answer really just 4 letters???
ReplyDeleteI've only come up with a few innovations/conveniences that occurred in the 21st century. Nothing seems to work with things like iPad, iPod, or apps.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Curtis, no help with the state car of CO this week.
DeleteActually, your state car is not too far off as a clue.
DeleteNot seeing a strong connection but looking forward to hearing more Thursday.
DeleteCurtis, go north of us, young man!
DeleteI just came up with an interesting potential answer, but I doubt it is the intended answer.
ReplyDeleteIt's an appropriate puzzle for this time of year, maybe. I'm seeing a lot of patients with running noses lately.
ReplyDeleteHope you catch them in time, jan.
DeleteAnd their feet are probably smelling too.
DeleteAppendix surgery?
ReplyDeleteknife work if you can get it.
DeleteYeah, if you can make the cut.
DeleteSew you say.
DeleteAnd it was a long gurney getting you there.
DeleteSurge on, ether way it's an aesthetic.
DeleteI think I'll bypass that.
DeleteChicken package?
ReplyDeleteCrazy puzzle! It's a pity it has nothing to do with Shirley Temple or turtle doves.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMaybe it doves, cranberry pie.
DeleteSorry, PJB, I couldn't help myself.
DeleteThanks for the comment, Sadistic Deviant Blogger.
DeleteIf y'all will excuse me, by now tomorrow's New York Times crossword should be up and running. That's a real and far more satisfying challenge.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLast night at 2:30am in the hallucinatory limbo between wakefulness and sleep, I managed to convince myself that Plutonium Generator must be the intended answer. Needless to say, I woke up and realized I probably will not be solving this weeks challenge...
ReplyDeleteNow that I got the answer I'm never going to be able to unsee this.
ReplyDeleteI finally got it!
ReplyDeleteHere is my hint:
I am reading another of the many books on El Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James). This one is by Paulo Coelho, "The Pilgrimage." I have in the past read numerous books on this subject, thinking I might even make the walk, as my younger brother did years ago. But the more I read about it, the more I don't want to do it. I find reading about it far more fun than I would the actual experience.
"Dive, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dive. Will you stop Dive? Stop, Dive."
Delete??????????
Delete"Look Dive, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over."
Delete???
DeleteWatch the Martin Sheen film THE WAY 2010.
DeleteI watched it a long time back. Thanks for the clarification.
DeleteDoesn't clarify for me, unless you're trying to cross link the awful 2010.
Delete"Dive, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye." Explanation tomorrow.
Sounds like Aussies doing 2001. "Open the pod buy door, HAL!" (Move each letter up one to get IBM, of course.)
DeleteSolved this? You're a lucky man.
ReplyDeleteLegoLucianoLindyCharmsStarStrikeNumberHorseshoeDuck!
When one extracts the newer convenience from the older convenience all that remains, paradoxically, is the essence of youth.
DeleteLegoSaw
Or certain fees, eh, Lego?
DeleteDumas books and lamb's ears seem to come to mind.
ReplyDeleteIf you ask me, this entire experience has been held liable. Whoever came up with this puzzle must be some sort of pony-driving SCUBA master.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually the best puzzle of the year I think.
DeleteCame up with an answer, but I don't think it's right. At best, it's right-ish...
ReplyDeleteI hardly even give a fuchsia kwintet anymore.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, what kind of Jerome Kern came up with this one? Such a foot locker!
ReplyDeleteEek! Methinks not!
ReplyDeleteI think it's safe to say it's not Synthetic Lipid Imitation Butter.
ReplyDeleteLast minute hint: All roads lead to the answer.
ReplyDeleteI tried Cecil Rhodes to Zimbabwe and it doesn't work.
DeleteYellow Pages & Yelp
ReplyDeleteMy hint:
“I am reading another of the many books on El Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James). This one is by Paulo Coelho, "The Pilgrimage." I have in the past read numerous books on this subject, thinking I might even make the walk, as my younger brother did years ago. But the more I read about it, the more I don't want to do it. I find reading about it far more fun than I would the actual experience.”
The story is true, and I first thought I would post that I had FINGERED it out, but then I thought that might be too much of a give away. I was thinking of the slogan: “Let your fingers do the walking” that they used back in the day. I then thought of the book I am now reading that I used in my hint.
My hint was telling you that it would be far easier for my fingers to do the walking, as in turning the pages of a book, than to be actually doing that tedious walking. I was indeed letting my fingers do the walking.
Thanks for perhaps the best puzzle of this year, I loved it, even though it took me three days to answer it.
1. First commercial TOILET PAPER in the U.S. 1857. See: History of Toilet Paper.
ReplyDeleteToIP → Text over IP
“Serve a similar purpose” → Can be used to “clean up” noisy environments, etc.
2. The APPLIANCE STORE, (Sears Roebuck, mail order appliance stores, 1893), a 19th Century convenience.
21st Century Internet APPS, can be obtained/purchased on line, a modern convenience.
I really like your first answer, Ron. Though I fear another poop emoji coming on....
DeleteThanks, jan. I thought I had the answer there and I did not go any further looking for another answer.
DeleteYELLOW PAGES, YELP
ReplyDelete> Digital media.
Let your fingers do the walking...
>> I would say this is a very good puzzle.
> I agree, Lorenzo. I’d give it four stars.
... Which is a very good rating on Yelp.
> It's an appropriate puzzle for this time of year, maybe. I'm seeing a lot of patients with running noses lately.
If your nose can run, I guess your fingers can walk.
Jan, I considered using the four-star comment but feared the wrath of Blaine and settled for "very good."
Deletejan, I thought running noses referred to YELLOW snot.
DeleteYELLOW PAGES >>> YELP
ReplyDelete"I'm not shy about posting that, either." refers to Shy Anne or Cheyenne, WY, where the first YELLOW PAGES were accidently printed on YELLOW paper.
"Look north, young man." to Curtis here in CO also refers to Cheyenne, WY (see above).
Lego's clever observation refers to LOW AGE, which can also be LOWAGE, a certain tarriff on shipping.
"Last minute hint: All roads lead to the answer." >>> as in the YELLOW brick road from the Wizard of Oz.
The answer came to us in a Hong Kong hotel on Monday after we used the site to research the evening's dining choice: Ho Lee Fook: **** "Come for the name, stay of the food."
ReplyDeleteCan Fook cook?
DeleteExcellent Buck Bard. Although I don't hate the local channel, they did show all the journalistic responsibility we associate with Fox.
DeleteOr promoted to Fox News.
DeleteYELlow Pages.
ReplyDeleteI got this while they were talking about the TV ratings for the Hallmark Christmas movies.
Smith and last week's puzzle referred to the Seven Sisters and the Pleiades star cluster: Radcliffe merged with Harvard and Vassar is no longer coed thus there are only 5 sisters (5 stars!); Subaru's logo has 6 stars, so was only off by 1 star.
"Did you cry (Yelp) when you got it? #FAKE (phone-y) PUZZLE!"
"OMG, nooo...." (no "o") refers to the line "My God, it's full of stars!" (like Yelp), from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the book, not the movie. I could have skipped the "nooo...."; it's been many decades since I read the book, the actual quote is “The thing’s hollow -- it goes on forever -- and -- oh my God! -- it’s full of stars!”. I guess Ron remembered they used the line in the sequel movie 2010, which I hold in disdain. Though it is an odd coincidence with the dated connection to the Martin Sheen film. Mostly I had fun teasing SkyDaveBowman.
While the Yellow Pages came after the telephone, there were very similar "trade directories" in London dating to 1677, 200 years before Bell. Side note: What would have happened had his name been Glockenspiel? And I’ll countenance none of this Antonio Meucci garbage! America First!
I had to look that up, but I remembered in Sherlock Holmes' "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk", the hapless Hall Pycroft is paid to write out lists of pottery sellers, though he exclaims “Surely there are classified lists?” The story was written in 1893, after the invention of the telephone, but that convenience was not widely available and wasn't included in Holmes stories until "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", set in 1902 and written in 1924.
All in all an excellent puzzle, I give it 5 stars!
Curtis, I don't know how you could have missed eco's Subaru star clue (not!).
Deleteeco, I did not know about Antonio Meucci, the Italian phone inventor. As to "America first," wasn't Bell from Scotland, not the U.S. of A.?
DeleteWW: no comment on your (yellow s)not! comment.
DeleteBell was originally from Scotland, but he was an American citizen. Besides, he was white (and male, and straight), which is all that matters these days. Italians are too dark and artsy...
Are you saying you are not fond of Yellow Journalism?
ReplyDeleteAPPLE SLICER and APPS both can segment a Macintosh
ReplyDeleteI keep bombing out! Last week I had Toyota Sienna / a nice toy yacht and this week I had telephone operator / Telo. Argh.
ReplyDeleteOf all the four-letter "conveniences" there are(and there seems to be a lot of them), YELP never once occurred to me. Hope I didn't sound too insulting. I was disappointed I couldn't think of it, so I played with words according to the directions in the puzzle. Being a gentleman, I can't really list many of the four-letter words I used. Sorry. Just being playful.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMY hint:
ReplyDelete"Solved this? You're a lucky man," was a musical clue.
The "Y" in "You're" + the ELP (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) who had an early hit with "Lucky Man," spells out YELP.
LegoGoingBackForASecondYelping
Okay, I didn't submit this week. I don't consider either of these items as conveniences. The yellow pages, when they still delivered them, were decidedly inconvenient. And, what can I say about Yelp? I don't use any online reviews, except Glassdoor, and even then, I take a jaded point of view about the reviews: the upset customers/employees are more motivated to write a review, so most reviews skew lower than they out to.
ReplyDeleteCame up first with apple sauce, then apple slicer, both leading to apps.
ReplyDeleteThen I got Ivory Soap leading to ivos, intelligent voice operating system. All the sort-of refs to HAL made me think others had gone this route.
Neither satisfied the "similar purpose" caveat which may have been meant as a hint, but was also a limiter.
Even the Yelp/Yellow Pages answer is weak in this regard.
A bit late, but
ReplyDelete19th century convenience Yellow Pages; 21st century convenience Yelp.
In addition to its primary use, the Yellow Pages, was commonly used at family dinners to, as a booster seat. Hence its use in “child raising.” This was especially true, growing up in New York City, where phone books were thick.
Whatever happened to 68Charger?
ReplyDeleteI'm still around! This was a tough puzzle! I had no luck at all with it. Great Puzzle! Congrats to everyone who figured it out!
DeleteHe lives! He lives!
DeleteI kept thinking that any second it will hit me but it never did!!
DeleteI think the reason this was such a difficult puzzle is that even though some of us do not use any of the 4 letter new conveniences, or at least not often, such as UBER, LYFT, HULU, MOTH, IPOD, etc., we do hear of them all the time on NPR and probably many other places I am not using. When was the last time you heard YELP mentioned?
DeleteThe clues were out there but yeah, I never pay attention to "yelp". Plus, I figured the Yellow Pages were a 20th century thing, but I'll have to admit, I didn't even think of it :(
DeleteI spent too much time going down the rabbit hole trying to somehow get "ether" to work, even though it was five letters. Oh well, just a bad week of puzzling for me!!
Not so with duckduckgo.com. Another reason to use it!
DeleteCamera Studio / cams
ReplyDeleteCame up with, and entered, TROLLEY CAR and T-ROC, a vehicle introduced by Volkswagen in 2014, and not to be confused with TROC, which my fellow Philadelphians will recognize as a convenience of a different sort...
ReplyDeleteMy own DWAG (Desperate Wild-Ass Guess):
ReplyDeleteIMAging Camera ==> IMAC
The Christmas edition of Puzzleria! is now online (go to Blaine's PUZZLE LINKS and click on Joseph Young's Puzzleria!). Ten puzzles.The sixth Shortz Riff Off puzzle ought to be a snap for Will Shortz himself to solve.)
ReplyDelete(As an admitted Luddite, I beg the assistance from some helpful fellow Blainesvillian in accessing the annual family video in Blaine's excellent 2017 Christmas puzzle. I have solved his clever puzzle, but when I try to type the letters into the boxes to "unlock the video," I cannot make letters appear. I left-click in each box, but nothing happens. Help! Blaine's excellent year-end videos have become a kind of Christmas tradition with me. Thank you.
LegoWhoFeelsLikeTantalusKingOfLydia
Don't try typing into the PDF. That's just there to let you know there's a "k" in the middle of the word. Go to the vimeo link, and enter the password you've discovered.
DeleteThanks, jan. Duh!
DeleteLegoWhoReliesOnTheKindnessOf"Strangers"ToWhomHeParadoxicallyFeelsOddlyKindredTo
New puzzle:
ReplyDeleteThe name of what well-known U.S. city, in 10 letters, contains only three different letters of the alphabet?
Merry Christmas Eve!
Here's one I actually know - I have a college friend who's from there. Love the name! --Margaret G.
DeleteYes, it just came to me, too. No tricks.
DeleteCincinnini?
Deleteblue
DeleteOnly 150 correct answers last week. Perhaps 1/5 to 1/4 of those from here at Blaine's?
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the puzzle, ja... I mean Word Woman.
ReplyDeleteThis week's NPR puzzle is a Christmas gift from Will Shortz, one barely wrapped.
(Check out Blaine's excellent Christmas puzzle and video if you haven't yet.)
LegoAdds:ButThenAgainWeAllDeserveAChristmasBreak!(AndIHopejanIsInFineHealth)