Sunday, December 16, 2018

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 16, 2018): What's on Your Bookshelf?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 16, 2018): What's on Your Bookshelf?:
Q: Think of two words meaning "certain groups of females." If you have the right ones, you can rearrange all the letters to name a famous novel by a female writer. The title has 13 letters in total. What novel is it?
Let's see where this goes.

Edit: One thing you might consult to get places is an atlas.
A: DAUGHTERS + GALS --> ATLAS SHRUGGED (by Ayn Rand)

99 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. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  3. "How Nancy Got Her Gavel Back"

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  4. I suspect many females would prefer being referred to in different words.

    But congrats to Mighty Joe Young, the source of many puzzles, for his gir-ill-a puzzle, even though the Society To Reject Anagram Puzzles must object.

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  5. The novel has had influence that is not literary.

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  6. So, Joseph, I was wondering (and maybe you will want to wait until after Thursday to answer), how did you discover this property of this novel? Were you looking at the title and shifted the letters around and discovered two groups? Did you go to the title and think, "What can I make of this?" Or did you see the title and the two groups popped out at you? Insight, please, into the puzzle's composition.

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    1. Very good question, Rob. I think I'll wait until Thursday to answer it, however. I don't want to let slip an unintentional hint to this relatively easily solvable puzzle. There were 600 correct answers to Dominick Talvacchio's excellent CRAPS/SCRAP puzzle last week. I predict more than 600 answers this week.
      Thanks to Blaine for the excellent graphic and heading he chose this week to accompany my puzzle. He comes up with such great "packaging" every week, and does it very quickly. Blaine, what would we do without you!
      In the meantime, here is a puzzle I ran two weeks ago on Puzzleria! It also has a literary component:
      Place the first name of a young sitcom character in front of the one-word name of a male literary character.
      Remove an “o” and divide the result into two equal parts to name a female literary character, in two words.
      Who are these three characters?
      Hint #1: The first name of the young sitcom character is gender-neutral.
      Hint #2: The female literary character is also the title character of a novel.


      LegoWhoObservesThatBlaine'sBookshelfImageRemindedHimOfHisPuzzleOnPuzzleria!

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. I got the answer as soon as I read your comment. Dead giveaway.

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    2. If that’s the case, I’ll delete it.

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    3. It’s like the question about the one wing eagle.,..a matter of a pinion.

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    4. FWIW it didn't give the answer away to me. But it did confirm it once I'd solved it. --Margaret G.

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  8. Got it. Nice puzzle, Lego.

    On my first reading after staying up late last night to publish Partial Ellipsis of the Sun on Golden Spirals I misread the clue as "certain groups of tamales."

    One cup of coffee later, the answer appeared.

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    1. Coda:

      Misreading the clue as "certain groups of tamales" made me think hot? Christmas?

      My Christmas in Cobachi, Sonora, Mexico, I was presented by the entire community at a gathering hall with a pork tamale, to traditionally unwrap like a Christmas present. No one would eat til I took a bite; I was a vegetarian at the time. But, I ate that tamale, to great cheers from the crowd.

      The tamale was delicious.

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    2. I commend you on the good manners you displayed on that occasion. More important to be gracious than dogmatic.

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    3. What's a Dogmatic? Is it a K9 robot? I checked Best Buy and they don't sell them.

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  9. I certainly won't show any indifference toward Mr. Young's fine puzzle. Still working on his latest Puzzleria!, BTW. Being such a great puzzlemaker can be a huge responsibility.

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  10. I'm just a sweet transvestite, from transexual, Translyvania... Uh huh!

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  11. Do these females wear a certain piece of attire? By the way, at last look, the intern hadn’t posted the answer yet.

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  12. I think anagrams very seldom satisfy, much like the author's works.

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  13. Replies
    1. "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers

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    2. Now that you have explained your hint, Shyra, I love it. Thank you.

      LegoLaughingAloud

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  15. The title Daniel Deronda could generate "Adored Annelids," but I dunno if they have gender.

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    Replies
    1. Some of them each have both of them. (How binary of me!)

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    2. Rebel and resist. Binary a thing for Xmas.

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  16. This time of year reminds me of when my son used to play in the annual Tubachristmas concert at Rockefeller Center in high school. He was trombonist, but borrowed a euphonium for the event, along with a glass mouthpiece, so his lips wouldn't freeze to the brass.

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  17. Musical clue. The Standells.

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  18. I never cared for the author's thoughts

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  19. Is this a two-word phrase meaning "certain groups of females," or two different words, each describing a certain group of females? Or is it deliberately ambiguous? Lots of you folks appear to have solved it without concern for the ambiguity.

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    1. Bless you, Lancek, you are truly a Great Soul.

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    2. I was confused too initially. It's *not* a two-word phrase. It's two words.

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    3. I have an answer but one of the terms is not specific at all regarding "certain groups of females". Pretty generic term really.

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    4. Both terms can be applied to pretty much any group of females, though one has fallen out of favor somewhat.

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    5. But you're not saying that is a group of fallen women, I hope? :-)

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    6. Thanks for the "two words" clarification; got it. I knew this would be the place to go for better directions.

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    7. Yes, Jan I believe you are right.

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    8. “Two separate and distinct words (not a phrase) for two groups of females”

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    9. The above comments just now helped me solve it...I too, had thought that it was meant to be a 'two word PHRASE"....and was thus had been having trouble, even though I had pinned down the novel. [I did an awful lot of counting to 13!]

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  20. Only one unused clue from today's On-air challenge:

    This Sunday's New York Times has a special 14-page section called "Puzzle Mania," which I edited, containing puzzles of all sorts. Here's the start of one I made called "Silence Is Golden." I'm going to give you a word and a letter of the alphabet. Rearrange everything to make a new word in which the added letter is silent.
    Example: WAN + G → GNAW

    9. MULES + C →

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  21. Remember when people were picking on poor Donnie T. because he didn't join in reciting The Apostle's Creed at George H.W. Bush's funeral?

    Well, perhaps you bullies should show some sympathy! Be Best! Maybe Laura Bush can help.

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    1. I've wondered about his reading ability for a long time.

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  22. Did anyone else notice Stephen Miller yesterday on CBS's "Face The Nation"? It looked like he had used "spray on hair"? I found myself ignoring whatever he was saying and focusing on that awful mismatch on his head.

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  23. "I found myself ignoring whatever he was saying..."
    Can't go wrong doing that.

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    1. Unfortunately I suspect 80 years ago a lot of Germans said the same thing about Miller's doppelganger.

      We ignore at our peril.

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    2. Hah! Colbert made reference to that nemesis from 80 years ago, on his show tonight.

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  24. Good puzzle, Lego, and any darn fool should be able to solve it.

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    1. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed it.

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    2. It's pretty obvious Lego replaced skydiveboy with skydivebot.

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    3. You guys may be missing something.

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  25. I join the list of darn fools.

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  26. Hello Friends! I just got the best Christmas gift ever. I found the hidden word in The NY Times Puzzle Mania Contest!

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  27. The Beatles
    Def Leppard
    The Police
    Pink Floyd
    Credence Clearwater Revival
    Soundgarden
    Nirvana
    Fleetwood Mac
    Oingo Boingo

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  28. I'm not a robot.

    How do it know?

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    Replies
    1. Great point, Charles Gragg. Great graphic, David Dahari.

      LegoWhoRevelsInTheCreativityOfBlainesvillians(ButWhoAlsoWondersHowDavidMadeThatParenthesisSlantAtAFortyFiveDegreeAngle!)

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    2. Lego: Here's a link to that symbol. It appears to be Japanese in origin. Maybe with a little more research you can figure out how to break it down into two parts.

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    3. Thanks, 68Charger. The symbol resembles sobbing on a curved spike.

      LegoJustTryingToSingAlongInTwoPartIdeogramy

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  29. I see an interesting connection between the author’s name and the title of the novel. Probably coincidental.

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  30. Some English language peculiarities:

    Which letter is silent in the word "Scent," the S or the C?

    If you replace "W" with "T" in "What, Where and When", you get the answer to each of them.

    If 2/2/22 falls on a Tuesday, we'll just call it "2's Day". (It does fall on a Tuesday)

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    1. Very nice, ron. You seem to always come up with some wonderfully interesting observations.

      LegoWhoAlsoFindsItFishyThatFridayTrulyIs"Fryday"AtManyChurchesAndRestaurants(EspeciallyDuringLent)

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    2. 2/2/22 will be Wednesday. But 2/22/22 will be Tuesday.

      https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/monthly.html?month=2&year=2022

      --Margaret G.

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    3. Sorry. I meant to type 2/22/22 will be a Tuesday.

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    4. That's even better yet! Our first president will celebrate his 290th birthday on that "Twosday"!

      LegoWhoIsNotCertainButBelievesTheStoneYouGivesAsAGiftForOne's290thBirthdayIsARuby

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    5. Which letter is silent in the word "Scent," the S or the C?

      Well "Sent" and "Cent" are both legitimate words that have the same sound so I don't think you can say.

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    6. And you can all thank me for not offering my two scents.

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  31. In order to get this answer you need to get a life.

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  32. AYN RAND > DAUGHTERS & GALS (or SLAG would work in England)

    My Hint:

    “Good puzzle, Lego, and ANY DARN fool should be able to solve it.” Anagrams to AYN RAND

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  33. I wrote, “The novel has had influence that is not literary.” It got awful reviews, but has lots of neoconservative fans like Glen Beck, Paul Ryan, and Clarence Thomas.

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  34. ATLAS SHRUGGED >>> DAUGHTERS and GALS

    My titanic indifference comment at the end of last week's blog was a reference to Atlas being a Titan and a shrug as a sign of indifference.

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  35. DAUGHTERS + GALSATLAS SHRUGGED, by Ayn Rand.

    “Objectively speaking” = OBJECTIVISM. This comment was, apparently, TMI for the blog administrator.

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  36. ATLAS SHRUGGED >>> GALS, DAUGHTERS

    “Coda” = Colorado Daughters of the American Revolution

    “Two separate and distinct words (not a phrase) for two groups of females”>>> GALS, DAUGHTERS

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  37. Daughters + Gals = Atlas Shrugged

    I suspect many females would prefer being referred to in different words. Can't call them GALS any more.

    the Society To Reject Anagram Puzzles must object. Somehow Blaine didn't object to my reference of Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy.

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  38. DAUGHTERS, GALS -> ATLAS SHRUGGED

    > I got this with pretty good speed.

    Refers to "Godspeed John Glenn", spoken at the first manned ATLAS launch.

    > An alternative title for Solzhenitsyn? Embrace your feet! Don't get left behind!
    > Musical clue: "Everyone knows it's Windy"

    Other anagrams: "HARDEST GULAGS", "TARSALS HUGGED", "LAGGARD TUSHES", "DRAUGHTS GALES".

    > This time of year reminds me of when my son used to play in the annual Tubachristmas concert at Rockefeller Center in high school.

    Besides the statue of Prometheus by the skating rink, Rockefeller Center also has a statue of Atlas.

    > C1 CNXI

    The first cervical vertebra, C1, is known as the Atlas. The 11th Cranial Nerve is tested by asking patients to shrug their shoulders.

    > 0.14 DM

    Deutsche Marks are still convertible, though no longer used. In South Africa, 0.14 DM = ein Rand.

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    1. jan,
      Had I been smart enough to understand C1 CNXI and 0.14 DM, I would have loved them as hints, especially 0.14 DM.

      LegoWhoIsTooStupidForTheRoom

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  39. My clues :


    Do these females wear a certain piece of attire? Was referring to a shrug.

    By the way, AT LASt look, the intern hadn’t posted the answer yet.

    And connection referred to RAND McNally’s ATLAS

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  40. Last Sunday, Rob asked me to provide insight into how I composed this puzzle.
    Sometime last summer I was reading something online about Ayn Rand's girlhood friendship with Olga Nabokov, Vladimir's sister. (I admire Nabokov's novels immensely). There was a mention of Rand's novels, "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" in the text. I stopped to ponder the letters of the former title, which I noticed contained the letters in GULAG, which has a Soviet connection, of course. Then I noticed RED was also in the mix. Great! Also TASS! But I had an H left over. Darn!
    Then, glancing again at SHRUGGED and, with the AT in ATLAS in the periphery on my mind, DAUGHTER jumped out at me. What was left? Well, LAS in Atlas and the S and a G in Shrugged. GLASS? GLASS DAUGHTER? No, that makes no sense... And yet, there must be a "Glass daughter" somewhere in the works of J.D. Salinger, right?
    But wait... GALSS, GALSS DAUGHTER... Of course! Why not just use plurals and make GALS & DAUGHTERS!? Success!

    Great question, Rob. Thanks to all Blainesvillians who said nice things about and gave clever hints to my puzzle this week. All hints were good, but I especially enjoyed skydiveboy's ANY DARN = AYN RAND. (Of couse, I had to turn him into a "skydivebot" first.) Snipper's "AT LASt look..." was pretty subtle also.
    Here in the answer to my Bonus Puzzle that ran two weeks ago on Puzzleria!
    Place the first name of a young sitcom character in front of the one-word name of a male literary character.
    Remove an “o” and divide the result into two equal parts to name a female literary character, in two words.
    Who are these three characters?
    Hint #1: The first name of the young sitcom character is gender-neutral.
    Hint #2: The female literary character is also the title character of a novel.
    Answer:
    1. Jan (Brady, of "The Brady Bunch")
    2. Eeyore (of "Winnie the Pooh")
    3. Jane Eyre (the title character of a novel on Blaine's bookshelf!... nice graphic, Blaine)
    (Jan + Eeyore) - o = JanEeyre = Jane Eyre


    LegoWhoStillRegretsThatThe"GulagRedTass"PuzzleDidNotMaterialize!

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    1. I am _really_ glad to hear how this came about. Thank you!

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    2. Great puz LEGO. And thanks for the behind the scenes look at its creation (and for catching my subtle hint)!

      SnipperWhoAppreciatesGreatness (SWAG)

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  41. ATLAS SHRUGGED(by Ayn Rand), DAUGHTERS, GALS
    My comment alluded to "indifference", in which one would SHRUG, and ATLAS, who had the "huge responsibility" of holding the whole world upon his shoulders.

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  42. It seems the time has come for a slight re-wright of some of the lyrics to Handel's Messiah with our new messiah, Trump, kept in mind.

    Tenor
    Ev'ry folly shall be exalted, and ev'ry counsel and shill made glow; the crooked great and the rough places strain.

    Sorry, but I don't have time to finish, perhaps you do.

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  43. This week's challenge: It's a straightforward puzzle. Think of a place you can find coins, in two words. Put the second word first, and you'll get a compound word describing most holiday cards. What words are these?

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  44. No bones to pick with this week’s puzzle.

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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.