Reminds me of a puzzle from a couple years ago.Q: Name a part of the human body, insert a speech hesitation, and you'll name a country. What country is it?
A: BRAIN + AH --> BAHRAIN
For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.
You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.
Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via a chain of thought, or an internet search) before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.
ReplyDeleteYou may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.
How do we even answer this week's puzzle? They don't have it available on the website yet, and I already have the answer! I could say something about the irony of what the body part is in the answer, but that would give it away for sure.
ReplyDeleteI believe it's the same link every week.
DeleteSubmit your answer
For the answer I got, I would not have said that it was a speech hesitation, which for me involves other letters. I think of the sound I got not as a hesitation, but as sort of opposite of the first syllable of the country into which it is inserted.
ReplyDeleteA rumor this month in Berkeley: The Muppets tried to seize the grand prize for a soft core porn film. FAKE NEWS!
ReplyDeleteI only have eyes for the kitchen tool.
ReplyDeleteWill must really be into animals. Two weeks ago we had bunnies. Today’s puzzle makes me feel sheepish.
ReplyDeleteI got off my camoon and shook my itrea.
ReplyDeleteI think I preferred last week's poor April Fool joke to this week's shameless promotion of a Fox TV sitcom.
ReplyDeleteThe on-air player had the nerve to say he never heard of it. Me neither.
I never heard of it either.
DeleteHayden Field.
DeleteМы смотрим это каждую неделю, чтобы мы знали, о чем думает наш слуга.
DeleteTrumptransition2016: Must be nice to have servants.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteГоворя о политических переходах, видел ли кто-нибудь еще «Смерть Сталина»? Смешной фильм. Я понимаю, что в России это запрещено.
DeleteНаташа, мы ценим, что Америка платит за нашего слугу.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteTransition: Наверное, вы благодарны президенту.
DeleteБлагодарные? Нам потребовалось много лет, чтобы достичь этого великого достижения. Мы поднимаем наши стаканы водки, но не бренд Trump.
DeleteTransition: Вы делитесь слугами с DT?
DeleteВозможно, мы не сказали это правильно. DT - наш самый главный слуга. И он так хорошо служил нам до сих пор.
DeleteTransition: Большая ошибка!
DeleteBhala isiNgesi, nceda.
DeleteDon't be so cliquish, MJ.
DeleteUchaneke?
Deletendinayo ikhowudi
Deleteukuphosa,
WW
Nyt puhumme!
DeleteAnd Я in Russian means I or Me. . .so the soon-to-be-defunct Toys 'Я' Us has been Toys I Us all along?
DeleteWorth mentioning that Tahiti is not an independent nation.
ReplyDeleteI got up very late today and am very disappointed to discover that someone has spoiled my intended comment. :-)
DeleteFortunately for me, I got up at the Asumscrack of dawn.
DeleteBTW, the Asumscrack region is not an independent nation either. East Asumscheek and West Asumscheek have been fighting over it for decades in the seemingly never-ending Asums Civil War. Many lives lost. A real bummer.
I make no assumptions.
DeleteHooters
DeleteOh put your shirt back on!!1
ReplyDeleteMaybe I have the wrong answer. From the lack of posts, I am wondering if I imagined that the country I found fits or not.
ReplyDeleteSolved it straight away. More satisfying than last weeks puzzle.
ReplyDeleteVery timely puzzle this weekend in the world of sports.
There is a formula.
DeleteYou done good!
DeleteFormula 1 Gran Prix of Bahrain took place last Sunday.
DeleteCould be used in a derogatory manner.
ReplyDeleteA pore is an opening in the body. The opening through which I melodically vocalize I call my sing pore.
ReplyDeleteGroan. Porous! ;-)
DeleteAre you saying that argument doesn't hold water?
Deletejan, poor, poor, poor us.
DeleteI've an answer that seems too easy. Doesn't "insert" mean within the body (no pun intended) of the word?
ReplyDeleteI thought of that one, too. I don't think it's the intended answer, but, oddly, the same Latin root applies to both body parts.
DeleteNPR has now posted the TRANSCRIPT of this morning's broadcast.
ReplyDeleteYes, but they still don't include a "Submit Your Answer" link. And, "www.npr.org/puzzle" still points to last week's puzzle.
DeleteNPR still has not posted the puzzle to their puzzle page, just the transcript to the broadcast page. How many weeks in a row now have there been screw ups of one kind or another? I think at least six.
DeleteThey must have a new intern.
DeleteProbably, but would you really want an old intern?
DeleteI guess an intern is new by definition if you want to be grammatically correct. However, this could be a new intern to this site. A different intern.
DeleteThis one needs help. You know what they say: one good 'tern deserves another.
DeleteThis intern should turn in.
DeleteSay hello to the New Intern!
DeleteI guess there might be a big "tern"over at NPR. Difficult job to read all those submissions, do the lottery, post the puzzle correctly as well as submission page.
DeleteWe could Wave to the intern like on messenger on facebook with the picture of the hand. I do not think some of these bloggers are facebook people though. I can think I one blogger who is not on fb.
DeleteYes it really is bind moggling.
DeleteJust recalled the hands Blaine posted. We could wave with those.
Deletecorrection: of one blogger
DeleteI was not surprised at the large number of web assets devoted to crossword clues and words.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that the combination Will wants doesn't seem to come up.
I should have said "come up very often."
Delete68charger: nice picture of new intern. No wonder there is so much trouble at NPR Sunday puzzle.
DeleteNatasha: I don't see this intern retiring very soon, though!
DeleteA lot of people of almost any age are retiring at Goodyear.
DeleteI didn't have the heart to post a comment or hint for last week's puzzle because I thought it was a weak entry. This morning was more satisfying.
ReplyDeleteI will never get the answer to this so not going to try.
ReplyDeleteThe list of countries is not very long.
DeleteI agree with jan.
DeleteSharon: Do not give up. You can do it.
DeleteI agree with Natasha.
DeleteYou are funny Jan. That IS a long list.
DeleteNo, Sharon, Hungarian Rhapsodies 1-19 are a long Liszt.
DeleteMy head hurts! :~P
DeleteCongrats to all who got it. I did not. Easy though in hindsight.
DeleteWell,I sent in my answer even though the speech hesitation isn't actually "inserted". I guess I'll find out on Thursday.
ReplyDeletePS does anyone think my answer is right?
ReplyDeleteCheck back here Thursday 3pm and you will have that answered for you.
DeleteName a body part and insert a speech hesitation and you know it is a Latin baby name (female).
ReplyDeleteAfter thinking about it, I finally got the right answer
ReplyDeletegreat!
DeleteYeah, other answer has the hesitation as sort of an addendum.
DeleteI solved this with just a small hiccup after some coffee, two cigs, seeing the film "1945," attending a campy production of "L'imitation of Life," three drinks, a pizza, and chocolate..but when I go to the NPR site, it still has last week's puzzle on it, so I'm left scratching my head not knowing how to submit my answer.
ReplyDeleteLee, scratch and submit here
DeleteThanks, WW.
DeleteContemplating my navel led me to Innie-uh.
ReplyDeleteHow very admiral.
DeleteWasn’t Admiral Bobby Innieman the Director of Navel Intelligence before he led the NSA?
DeleteI don't think you should overlook Sir Navel Mariner, the great conductor of navel operations.
DeleteYou can also take a plural name for a manufacturer of cars and insert a speech hesitation to yield a different country name.
ReplyDeleteTo this puzzle, I say: Humbug.
ReplyDeleteWell done Leo the Lion!
Delete'Cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me roar
DeleteGot two answers, don’t know which to send. One is simpler and one is more elegant.
ReplyDeleteYou all here seem to be clueing the more elegant one.
DeleteI'd put money on the more elegant one. . .and wait and see what happens.
DeleteWell, I wasted 18 minutes last evening (12 were ads).
ReplyDeleteThat "Brooklyn 99" could actually be in its fifth season boggles the mind.
I hope Fox made a nice contribution to NPR for dominating the show with its plug yesterday.
Was it Will's idea?
My brothers and niece and nephew have left Denver for an Airbnb in Steamboat after a fun weekend together. The younger set thought the puzzle was really fun.
ReplyDeleteDoes this puzzle remind anyone of that great Jane Fonda movie, The Porcelain Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteIndeed – my simpler, less elegant answer!
DeleteNo matter what you may think of Donald Trump, I don't think you can say he hasn't found his Tweet Spot.
ReplyDeleteI am looking for a "big diversion" to make people take their minds off his troubles. I think specifically an attack on Syria or on Grenada.
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ReplyDeleteWould a queen or king in Madrid who liked to stay airborne be involved with a reign in Spain staying mostly on the plane?
ReplyDeleteWell, I've never been to Spain, but then Mama told me not to come. Eli's coming, though.
ReplyDeleteThis was a difficult puzzle.
ReplyDeleteEven if Mueller manages to indict the President, won't the charges be Trumped up?
ReplyDeleteAnd if he succeeds we'll all be Penceive.
DeleteName a part of the human body, insert another speech hesitation to give the sound of a loud belch, home again in Indiana.
ReplyDeleteThis week's puzzle has finally been posted on the NPR puzzle page with their SUBMIT YOUR ANSWER link!
ReplyDeleteMuch better hearing the puzzle than reading the transcript, by far.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteRisky business, posting a clue like that...
DeleteIF I ONLY HAD BAHRAIN!
DeleteIt is scary windy for the eagles on Santa Cruz Island this morning.
ReplyDeleteI think it was Dave Barry who said the song “You Are The Wind Beneath My Wings” reminded him of the farting noises you make with your hands in your armpits.
DeleteOr Red Skelton flying in from the coast.
DeleteBahrain > Brain + ah
ReplyDeleteMy NON-Hint:
"Does this puzzle remind anyone of that great Jane Fonda movie, The Porcelain Syndrome?"
Hinting at the movie, The China Syndrome. China cannot qualify as the answer as the "A" is not inserted, as the puzzle states, but added at the end. I did not post a hint this week.
BRAIN + AH = BAHRAIN
ReplyDelete* "You done good!" >>> John Donne, author of "No man is an island." as in the geography of BAHRAIN.
* "I'd put money on the more elegant one. . .and wait and see what happens." >>> Wait and see if it RAINS.
* "jan, poor, poor, poor us." as in it's RAINing, it's pouring. . .
* "My brothers and niece and nephew have left Denver for an Airbnb in Steamboat after a fun weekend together. The younger set thought the puzzle was really fun. >>> Airbnb referred to Brains 'n' Bahrain. According to Wikipedia, "Brains in Bahrain was an eight-game chess match between World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Deep Fritz 7, held in October 2002."
BRAIN + AH → BAHRAIN.
ReplyDeleteAH → “Some of the common filler words in English are um, uh, er, ah, like, okay, right, and you know.”
There is, of course, CHIN + A, if you accept “A” as a “speech hesitation insert,” yielding CHINA.
My hint: “Hayden Field” the role played by BRIAN HAllisay in “Bottoms Up.”
Brian Ha → Bahrain
B(ah)RAIN, and a second answer of CHIN(a)
ReplyDelete"A rumor this month in Berkeley: The Muppets tried to seize the grand prize for a soft core porn film. FAKE NEWS!"
The Muppets famously sang Manamana, which is mostly a homophone (like a rumor, something heard) for Bahrain's capital Manama ("FAKE NEWS!" adds the missing "nah"). Slate.com reported the song was originally from an Italian soft core film titled "Svezia inferno e paradiso" (Sweden: Heaven or Hell).
Later this month Berkeley hosts documentary shorts from the Arab Film Festival.
In Arabic Bahrain means "the two seas"; to seize was another homophone.
Bahrain hosted auto racing's Formula One Grand Prix last weekend, hence the grand prize.
Something oddly 45-like about that "orange-haired hepcat" in your first link unsuccessfully trying to persuade two hot-pink creatures with long, disapproving snouts to get into the “Mahna Mahna” groove.
DeleteVery funny. I had only watched the first 15 seconds or so of the video, but context is everything, and you have to watch (and listen to) the whole tape - anyone else having a flashback moment?
DeletePerhaps it's no coincidence that Witch Hunt and White House both start with WH?
Delete^^^ The " " are implied in "Witch Hunt," of course.
DeleteThe "Witch" in Witch Hunt is just as real as the "White" in White House.
DeleteNo disrespect intended to those who call themselves witches; there are many around here, and those I've met are good people who believe they have special powers.
I remember when the Russians had Francis Gary Powers.
DeleteI wrote, " I think of the sound I got not as a hesitation, but as sort of opposite of the first syllable of the country into which it is inserted." One says "Ah!" with pleasure, but "Bah!" with contempt.
ReplyDeleteI usually say "uh" when I'm hesitating; I think William F. Buckley, Jr. used to say "ah". I sometimes use "ah" when I see something I like.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't think of a way to use phrases like "she's not there', "tell her no", or "time of the season" without looking too obvious, and then I remembered "All You Zombies" and dropped my hint in the thread where I figured it was most likely to be misinterpreted.
What you say re: William F. Buckley, Jr. is true, but you neglected to mention that what he inserted between his "uh"s was no more relevant.
DeleteBRAIN + AH -> BAHRAIN. Also, CHIN + A -> CHINA.
ReplyDelete> Oddly, the same Latin root applies to both body parts.
“Mental” refers to both thinking and the chin.
As I posted earlier, "ah" as in Bahrain, is most commonly used as an expression of wonder, pleasure or discovery.
ReplyDelete"Uh" (for some reason I can not find spelled "er") and "um" are the most common for pause or hesitation.
If we are to consider short-i Chin+ah, then we should do the same for Tongueah (Tonga). All body parts in close proximity.
I had a teacher who used "ah" to cover his severe stuttering.
DeleteIn case you were wondering, I called you cliquish because your "Bhala isiNgesi, nceda." comment was in Xhosa language, which uses vocal clicks for consonants.
While your Xhosa post clicked with me, I am not sure I cared for its tone.
DeleteVisit Africa, being in continent will make it better.
DeleteDepends on if I happen to run into any of Leakey's Angels. Goodall the same though, I Suppose.
DeleteI hope someone Attends® to your being so Fossey.
DeleteThank you for sharing with us your stream of incontinence. I am Dian to see what's next and where you gorilla with this.
DeleteIntended answer: Brain + ah = Bahrain
ReplyDeleteAlternate answer: Chin + a = China (but the hesitation is, ahem, not inserted, merely appended.
My feeling sheepish comment was a pointer to baa. I’d considered a comment asking how Ebenezer Scrooge might describe the weather in Seattle (bah rain) but decided it might be too much of a hint – so I really enjoyed Leo’s humbug.
AH in BRAIN=BAHRAIN
ReplyDeleteMy comment using the Three Dog Night song titles was NOT a clue. I just threw them in after Curtis's "reign in Spain" pun because I wanted to. Had absolutely nothing to do with Bahrain whatsoever.
Friday morning's "Joseph Young's Puzzleria!" blog will feature a modified “two-week creative challenge” similar to the sort Will Shortz periodically presents on "The Puzzle" during NPR’s "Weekend Edition Sunday" program. It is, in my opinion, the best puzzle I have ever composed...
ReplyDeleteI will not reveal the answer to this puzzle until Wednesday, April 25th. In the meantime, however, I challenge you to discern what “very curious property” is possessed by the five questions I have presented.
But, better yet, after you have figured that property out, I encourage you to create your own questions that share the same property and post them in Puzzleria!'s comments section (or here on this blog comments section, if that is okay with Blaine). You can post your “unusually curious” questions at any time – beginning April 12 and running through April 25.
Thank you.
LegoWhoWasAlaysLousyAtPlayingTwentyQuestionsButIsBetterAtPlayingFiveQuestions
Good one, Lego!
DeleteI solved it earlier this morning and recommend it to those here.
Thank you, skydiveboy. Congrats on solving it. Solving it is challenging, but coming up with other questions with the same property is even more challenging.
DeleteHere is the first of my five questions that I posted on Puzzleria:
"What helps undo Eskimos' overcoats?"
LegoGuessesWhoHasComeUndun...ItIsEskimos'Overcoats!
I so wanted to reference The Wizard of Oz, but I knew our beloved Administrator would have none of that.
ReplyDeletebrain + ah = Bahrain
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “Could be used in a derogatory manner.” You wouldn’t want to be called an A.H., would you?
Sorry I missed you guys Wednesday. The Geek Squad was working on my new computer via remote control and I couldn’t use it at all. They didn’t finish up until about 1:30 AM Thursday morning.
I don't know, I think I'd be somewhat flattered if someone mistook me for Aldous Huxley.
DeleteObviously, I meant _Friday_ morning in the second paragraph.
DeleteWhen I write about some of my camping experiences during my youth, should I refer to them in the past tents?
ReplyDeleteNo doubt you will be Bard throughout the land.
DeleteBack in 1994 & 1995 when I was running a skydiving operation out in the Desert on I-10, just 30 miles outside of the West edge of Phoenix, AZ, I was provided a furnished double wide two bedroom with king size waterbed, softsided. Life was good. Well not so much when I had a moment to turn on the TV in the evening. I only watched the PBS channel and they repeated the same programs every two hours. Red Green, which I had not heard of, was one of them. I confess I did watch it out of boredom some evenings. I have to admit that some Canadian programs, such as The Newsroom, back at that time, were outstanding, but this was just lousy. It always brings back memories of the much better experiences I had back then. All you had to do was look at these two idiots to quickly tell that they couldn't erect a tent at a public park on a sunny day.
DeleteOn the other hand the NPR station was an outstanding source of classical music mostly outside of the standard 200 piece repertoire. It was a true pleasure.
Must be a lot of double wides out there - 20 years ago I had a project in that area, about 15 miles west of Arlington and the same distance south of Wintersburg. My clients were living in a double wide, raising goats, ostriches, and mastiffs.
DeleteThe only other structures visible were the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, though now I see there are some enormous photovoltaic generating stations.
I suppose it's a good location for skydiving; when the chute fails (and you yell "Oh Chute!") there's really nothing to splat except some mesquite bushes.
The Palo Verde Nuclear Site was due West of my location. It was just a few miles away and I could see it clearly from my work site on the airport, which was also where my lodgings were too, and only separated by about ten feet. It was optimal for me and I really enjoyed it. Not the Nuke site, but my situation, which I knew would only be on a temporary basis as I did not want to live there permanently, although I was begged to do so by the almost never present owner, who was mostly in Palm Desert with his winter time operation.
DeleteI remember one day when some moron from the nuke site came by to inform us how safe it all was and I told him he was full of shit and to get off my property. My pilots loved to fly over the actual site and I told them never to fly there with me on board.
The desert is an interesting place. The people who live there do not respect it at all. They tend to use it as their god given garbage dump and are enthusiastic in doing so. I was appalled. This is different from being appled here in Washington State. Once or twice every afternoon when I was not busy I would get up and go outside and grab a 33 gal. plastic garbage can and walk around picking up trash and then dump it in our dumpster. Sometimes I did this twice a day and if there were lounging skydivers hanging around I would get them to pitch in. They always did, but I am sure they did not want to. This was anathema to them. The odd thing is that most of the trash is not very visible, which is strange considering the landscape gives the impression that anything misplaced would be obvious.
As to splat. I have watched it happen, not there, but hereabouts. I never worked at a DZ where a student bounced. I devoted myself to safety and always had far fewer student injuries than anyone else who worked with student jumpers. I also maintained the highest rate of student retention and made my classes thoroughly enjoyable without feeling any need to intimidate, which some did due to their fear of losing control. If you exude confidence and knowledge the students will know that right away and follow your lead with pleasure.
So you must have worked out of Buckeye, and I'm guessing Desert Skydiving Center, which has a double wide nearby - Skydive Buckeye seems to lack such luxuries.
DeleteI can't say that's my favorite part of the world, the land isn't terribly hospitable and the people do treat it like trash. And Phoenix is a dump, a large sprawling dump.
Next week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Alan Hochbaum of Atlanta. The letters of SWITZERLAND can be rearranged to spell LIZARD and NEWTS — LIZARD being the singular name of an animal, and NEWTS a plural. Name another country with this same property. That is, name another country whose letters can be rearranged to spell two animals — one singular and one plural. It's a major country. What country is it?
ReplyDeleteAbout a factor of 20,000 difference in size.
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Deletejan, your answer coincides with mine.
Delete