Sunday, July 29, 2018

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 29, 2018): Let Me Phrase That Differently

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 29, 2018): Let Me Phrase That Differently:
Q: Think of a familiar two-word phrase in 8 letters — with 4 letters in each word. The first word starts with M. Move the first letter of the second word to the end and you'll get a regular 8-letter word, which, amazingly, other than the M, doesn't share any sounds with the original two-word phrase. What phrase is it?
A: MAIL SLOT --> MAILLOTS

Sunday, July 22, 2018

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 22, 2018): Part Human

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 22, 2018): Part Human:
Q: Name two parts of the human body. Say them out loud one after the other. The result, phonetically, will name something delicious to eat, in 7 letters. What is it?
I could claim credit for this puzzle based on something I wrote several years back.

Edit: I used BROW, KNEE (BROWNIE) as a hint to a previous puzzle involving body parts.
A: BROW, KNEE (BROWNIE)

Sunday, July 15, 2018

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 15, 2018): Famous Chicagoan

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 15, 2018): Famous Chicagoan:
Q: Name a famous person from Chicago — first and last names. The last name ends in an E. Change the E to an I and rearrange the letters in just the last name to get a famous actor — whose first name is the same as the first person's. Who are these people?
Technically their first names aren't the same. The actor has played a character in the same occupation as the person from Chicago and possibly based on the person.

Edit: The first names are AL(phonse) and AL(fredo). Al Pacino played Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy.
A: AL CAPONE --> AL PACINO

Sunday, July 08, 2018

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 8, 2018): Slicing your Pancake

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 8, 2018): Slicing your Pancake:
Q: The word PANCAKE has an unusual property. If you remove its last letter, you get a series of U.S. state postal abbreviations — PA, NC, and AK. Can you name a major city and state that both have this property? To solve this, first think of a state in which you can drop its last letter to leave a series of state postal abbreviations. Then find a major city in that state that also has this property. The city and state names have to be different. What city and state is it?
To your pancake, add butter, syrup or whipped cream, as you like it.

Edit: One of the characters in Shakespeare's "As You Like It" was Orlando de Boys.
A: ORLANDO, FLORIDA

Sunday, July 01, 2018

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 1, 2018): Your Title Goes Here

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 1, 2018): Your Title Goes Here:
Q: Name a woman's title. Drop the first and last letters and read the result backward to get another woman's title. Both titles are common English-language spellings. What titles are these?
It's a pity I live on a rocky hill.

My comment was pointing out that Ñ isn't always the same as N. The name Peña means rocky summit or rocky hill. But without the tilde, the word pena means pity. NPR recently had a similar problem with año and ano.
A: BARONESS --> SEÑORA (or just SENORA in some dictionaries)