Bonus puzzle: Take out the vowel that is repeated in the name of the farm animal, rearrange the remaining letters and you have a word relating to Wales.Q: Think of a world capital. Change the third letter to get the informal name of a farm animal. What capital (and animal) is it?
Edit: The remaining letters when rearranged spell CWM, a rounded, glaciated valley, especially in the mountains of Wales.
A: MOSCOW --> MOOCOW
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.
Two answers so far. One is definitely more "informal" than the other.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Pretty sure Will is looking for the more informal of the two. The other one isn’t an informal name at all (if we have the same answers).
DeleteI read this as 'third world capital'.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Mort Canard, I have thus far found but one answer. And it seems my answer differs from the one jutchnbev hinted at (at the end of last week's thread).
ReplyDeleteHere is a hint for the answer I got:
What are the traits of a cute little cornish henny?
A lepolambkinAlasIsNotAWorldCapital
I’m not hurrying to submit this week while I mull over the possibilities. Instead I will elect for a Tuesday submission to start off the new year.
ReplyDeleteChange the second letter in the capital and you have another farm animal...
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that you have the intended answer.
DeleteI have 2 answers. For one of them my above assertion is correct.
DeleteRon,
DeleteYou have the more formal of my two answers.
I just love it!
ReplyDelete"It" being Blaine's Bonus Puzzle.
DeleteI don't know if Mr. Dragon played on Pet Sounds, but I'm thinking maybe his hat appears in this video.
I also appreciated jan's "low" hint Sunday morning.
Musical clue: Steely Dan
ReplyDeleteTV clue: Michael J. Fox
Sit, Ubu, sit...
DeleteAnother TV clue: The Daily Show
DeleteOur President might be able to solve this one.
ReplyDeleteYour president.
DeleteThere is a famous work of literature that has this name for the animal within its first page.
ReplyDeleteExactly! "Trees" would be a somewhat roundabout reference to this.
DeleteDarn, I was going to give a different clue with that work of literature in mind, but now I think it would be too much of a clue. Oh, I can say it this way:
Delete"It doesn't take _________________ to solve this one."
If catfish farms are a thing, we may have a third answer.
ReplyDeleteThat's actually the first answer I came up with.
DeleteCatfish farming is definitely a thing.
DeleteI am guessing that you are referring to to Muscat, the capital city of Oman. Muscat goes to mudcat when you change the third letter. Mudcat is slang for a flathead catfish. (Pylodictis olivaris)
Exactly.
DeleteI'm glad others here are showing Muscat love. (RIP, Captain.)
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ReplyDeleteI have a different answer than Blaine. I think my answer is correct!
ReplyDeleteYeah, neither of my answers works with Blaine's bonus puzzle. Curiouser and curiouser!
DeleteWill be interesting to see how many different answers there are on Thursday.
Blaine's Bonus puzzle:
Delete"Take out the vowel that is repeated in the name of the farm animal, rearrange the remaining letters and you have a word relating to Wales..."
is excellent, but I might have worded it a bit differently. Suffice it to say that I am confident Blaine has Will's intended "less formal" answer... and that his "word relating to Wales" may be shorter than you think.
LegoWhoRealizesThatBlaine'sSomewhatCrypticBonusPuzzleWordingIsIntentionOnHisPart
Despite the anagram Blaine's clue makes the grade.
DeleteI think some of you are overly proud of your vowel movements. I am trying to steer you toward a better landscape and I hope I will be herd before I bring the Stockholm.
DeleteWho let the clown in?
DeleteNot sure how you got here, but we can show you the door.
DeleteThe informal names of the first two steers I bought for my little ranch 45 year ago were Sir Loin and Chuck so I read the clue a somewhat broadly.
ReplyDeleteBlaine's clue is an excellent test of what Will probably wants.
Don't get your knickers in a twist over this one.
ReplyDeleteIf you change the second letter of the capital you can get a more informal 2-word name of the animal?
ReplyDeleteUnused clues from this week's On-air challenge: This is my annual "New Names in the News Quiz." I'll name some people and things you probably never heard of until 2018, but who sprang to prominence during the past 12 months. You tell me who and what they are. My list was compiled with the help of Kathie Baker, who played one of my year-end quizzes in the past.
ReplyDelete2. Stacey Abrams
4. Mark Judge, Donny and Squee
8. The Most Rev. Michael Curry
9. Naomi Osaka
10. Justify
IV
ReplyDeleteWe're not intimidated by Blaine's attempt to steal the weekly Bonus Puzzles, though we greatly laud his effort. Each of the following starts with the name of a world capital:
ReplyDelete1. Replace the second letter to get an informal title of an animal that might occasionally be seen on a farm (two words).
2. Replace the second letter to get something else you might see on a farm.
3. Replace the first letter for something you might enjoy while doing the puzzle.
4. Replace the fourth letter for where you might enjoy #3.
5. Replace the fourth letter to get the name someone who many hope visited earlier this year (fussy common folk will complain this isn't punctual, but they're missing nothing).
6. Replace the third letter to get the name of someone who visited that capital earlier this year.
7. Replace the second letter to get another visitor to a world capital, arriving several times, but never hoped for.
8. Split the name into two parts to get something regrettably done by baseball teams three times, yet sadly will never be done again.
9. Remove the last letter to get a word famously applied to Trump in 2017. Remove the last letter of another capital to get something many hope Trump will do in 2019.
10. Replace the second letter to get a word that might describe this week's puzzle, as well as the Bonus Puzzles (again, some will want to go and complain).
Hi, newcomer here. Will there be answers to this or am I destined to go crazy because of the ones I can't get? Please and thank you.
DeleteHaris H.:
DeleteWelcome. I think if you will look above and read Blaine's Standard Reminder you will have your answer. See you tomorrow at noon my time.
Welcome, HH. Yes, eco will usually post his answers shortly after 3 p.m. ET tomorrow. Check back in.
DeleteBonus Answers
Delete1. Amman (Jordan) --> Ag Man
2. Bern (Switzerland) --> Barn
3. Castries (Saint Lucia) --> Pastries (who knew Castries is the capital of Saint Lucia?)
4. Paris (France) --> Parks
5. Sana'a (Yemen) --> Santa (I've never been punctual)
6. Doha (Qatar) --> Dora (the Explorer) read about it here.
7. Prague (Czech Republic) --> Plague - in the late 14th Century, 1681 and 1713. About an hour away you can visit Sedlec, a great place to "bone up" on the history)
8. Canberra (Australia) --> Can (Yogi) Berra, fired by the NY Yankees in 1964 and 1985, and the NY Mets in 1975. Yogi died in 2015.
9. Moroni (Comoros) --> Moron; Quito (Ecuador) --> Quit
10. Lomé (Togo) --> Lame
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ReplyDeleteCARTOONS OF THE WEEK.
ReplyDeleteI believe the informal name is more like toddler jargoning that's been adopted into informal language.
ReplyDeleteIf you have the time, you might try the following link regarding a nice episode of NOVA, from other night, showing the 1968 Apollo 8 lunar mission. It was the one that took place on Christmas Eve as the astronauts circled the moon sending back a view of an earth rise as seen from the moon. It's a pretty good documentary about a very memorable mission.
ReplyDelete68: I also liked it. For once, something took me out of this world in a good way.
DeleteI have two answers. One which I believe correct (although it doesn't fit Blaine's clue) and a second, less likely to be correct. If you change the vowels in my second capital, you get something a animal can be.
ReplyDeleteWhat a circus!
ReplyDeleteIf it were mine, would it be a SuperZoo?
DeleteThis is how the instructions are online and they differ from Blaine's post.: "This week's challenge: What world capital becomes the informal name for a farm animal if you change its third letter?" Does not ask for animal.
ReplyDeleteDid WS ask for name of animal on air?
ReplyDeleteI just listened to the puzzle and WS asks the question the same way it appears on the NPR Sunday Puzzle website. Does that mean you can win if you just name the world capital?
ReplyDeleteLlanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the answer. What's the question?
ReplyDeleteGood question. Easily searchable. Interesting though.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe New Horizons spacecraft sent back a photo of a mystery object from deepest, darkest space today.
ReplyDeletePlease don't tell me that is the face of God!!! PLEASE
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not!!
Delete"THIS IS YOUR NAZI BLIMP CAPTAIN TWEETING, JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE!"
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHow can I help?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI don't like to post my email publically in case it gets acquired for spamming purposes. Can you give me a hint of what this is about?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteIn case anyone is wondering, Greg would like me to review and post about ToppleMag.com. Feel free to evaluate it for yourselves.
DeleteI would caution those who might be curious that this site requires you to pay to download their "puzzles" before you even see them. And I mean pay individually for each puzzle.
DeleteDid you actually pay for an issue?
DeleteThe FAQ says "We'll actually include the Duopoly once we hit the 20 puzzles per issue range." Each past issue is $1, but no indication how many puzzles per issue. The free sample has 6 puzzles.
But they word things rather ambiguously, a good reason for suspicion. Their subscribe page on Patreon says $1 per creation - what does that even mean?
I see no harm in Blaine adding them to his Puzzle Links (perhaps with a note that it's a pay site), let the buyers beware. Unlike Lego and Blaine, who give their all for free as an avocation, they are trying to make a vocation out of this - rather hard. I wish them luck, but I fear ToppleMag may live up to its name.
I was only there no more than 30 seconds. I see this as SPAM. I hope Blaine doe not include a link.
DeleteHey guys. Yeah I think I don't come across well a lot of the time. Also I think people don't want to be sold to when they come to places like this. I'd like to apologize on both fronts. It's kind of funny; if you want to create puzzles professionally you kind of can't go where puzzle people congregate. Or if you do, you have to do it very carefully. The resistance and suspicion are understandable.
DeleteI'd like to clarify some things. The $1 you pay is per issue, not per puzzle. The first two issues have 7 puzzles, and the newest one has 18 puzzles. The ones in-between represent the march towards the current number of 18: 10 by the 3rd, 12 by the 6th, 16 by the 7th. We improve as we go along, and as such I basically recommend people just grab the newest issue.
As for Patreon, per creation is each issue. I'm not sure that's actually terminology on my end but rather a setting on Patreon itself. Actually I see another page on Patreon says per issue but I don't know how they did that.
In any case, I'm sorry to have come in here like this and bothered you all.
I don't have a problem with your trying to sell the publication - and I don't think of it as spam. I was just bothered by some of the ambiguous wording, apparently you didn't control all of that. $1 for 10 - 18 puzzles is a perfectly reasonable price, people can choose to buy or not.
DeleteSome people on the links do it for free, some offer parts for free, parts for $, and some ask for support. That's the marketplace. It's Blaine's call to include a link, everyone's decision to pay or not. Does Blaine get a kickback? He's probably independently wealthy already from this blog, but can always take more.
In any event I wish you luck, my skepticism about success is only from other folks I know who've tried to make a living doing publications, both on-line and in real physical form. It's a brutal world out there.
Thanks for the reply and kind words. To be honest I was hoping to just check with him privately but it ended up being fairly public. But maybe that's good.
DeleteAs for Blaine getting a kickback, that sort of thought doesn't enter my head. In fact my assumption going in is the person will be offended if I say "Hey talk about me and I'll give you something to make it worth your while." I guess there are other ways to see it but that seems like the ideal starting position for any given interaction.
And yeah it's absolutely his call. But he can't make a call one way or the other if I don't come to him with something to make a call on. All I care about is reaching out to people in the puzzle community in the first place. Where they take it is up to them and I am beyond fine with whatever they decide.
We can only surmise about Blaine and kickbacks, but what little evidence we have is he did not pay the laborers who did demolition work on his vast estate, instead brainwashing them into demonic joy at the destruction.
DeleteExpect to see him in DC soon.
We saw "Mary Poppins Returns" today and were not impressed. A so-so plot and songs made it an average movie. In fact, as we walked out of the theater, I found myself not being able to remember any catchy tunes from it. This movie just did not compare to the original.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you have to let the 'classic movies' go and not to remake or improve on them.
I never saw Mary Poppins, nor will I see Mary Poppins Returns. Which one should I be most pleased about not watching?
DeleteThe original was a good movie and worth a watch, not on broadcast TV though.
DeleteBe very glad you didn't pay for the current one!
I no longer go to the cinema and do not miss it. I much prefer to watch movies on my wide screen TV. Also I am not a fan of Hollywood. I prefer realistic films, usually ones made in foreign countries. The only merry pop ins I like are those who unexpectedly arrive on my doorstep with good wine or scotch.
DeleteSDB, I used to go to movies quite a bit but in the last 3-4 years it's been mostly super hero movies, so I avoid those. Once in a while a good movie comes out and I will go see it. I was hoping Mary Poppins might break that mold, oh well.
DeleteI was disappointed though, in a just released movie that was 'suddenly' pulled. It only lasted about two weeks, and was called "They Shall Not Grow Old". I missed it because of the holiday schedules. It was a WW1 movie that was made using WW1 newsreels that have been retouched and colorized. They also had expert lip readers examine the soldier's movements to help recreate actual dialogs. I really wanted to see that one!
WW1 seems more relevant to me because of all the history that came of it. Plus, here in the Kansas City area we have the WW1 Museum & The Liberty Memorial that make it even more interesting.
Anyway, I am disappointed I missed it.
If you want to see a good movie that is based on true to life events and is probably still out there, see "The Green Book"! It's a good one.
I had not heard of this movie, but just watched the trailer which I found disappointing. The acting and direction was classic Hollywood TV quality. Then I saw there is a brother of the main character who dissed everything about the film. I only skimmed the article. That was enough. This is why I don't enjoy Hollywood movies. They do not tell the truth of the person, or the story. They are over the top in their depictions. I was in the Deep South in 1963 and 1964 and it did not feel anything like what I saw in the trailer.
DeleteI will look for the WWI documentary and see if I can get it on DVD. It sounds like something I would enjoy. There is no US DVD release date yet. It has been released on other formats, but, although I can watch them all with my equipment, I have to find one first.
They Shall Not Grow Old was released for two days only in the US in 2018, 12/17 and 12/27. It is planned for general release later this year.
Deletejan, Didn't we just all go through a year of general release?
DeleteOf three suggested answers: Belly flops shouldn't pass, but the other entries should be judged clean.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteMoscow > Moocow
ReplyDeleteI wrote, “There is a famous work of literature that has this name for the animal within its first page.” I could have said in its first sentence, but I thought that might be searchable. It is _The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man_ by James Joyce. That first sentence is: “Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo....”
ReplyDeleteAnd I (who had the same thought as Rob) replied that "Trees" was a somewhat roundabout reference to this. "Trees" ("I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree / ...") is by JOYCE Kilmer.
DeleteActually, I introduced my reply with "Exactly!" I should have said "Yes!" (famously the last word in James Joyce's Ulysses).
1. MOSCOW (Russia) → An “informal name of a farm animal,” MOO-COW.
ReplyDeleteMy hint/clue: “HOLY COW!" Apparently too much of a giveaway! I like the cartoon! Did my hint/clue lead anyone out there to the answer?
Remove the second letter of the World Capital and you have MS. COW!
Blaine's clue: Remove the 3 O's of Moo-Cow to yield CWM, a Welsh landform.
2. MALÉ (Maldives) → “Infomal name” of a female horse: MARE.
Change the second letter of this World Capital, A, to a U and you have a MULE (Also changing the A to an O yields MOLE, clearly a farm animal!).
(Russia) >>> MOSCOW >>> MOOCOW
ReplyDeleteor
(Maldives) >>> MALE >>> MARE
“What a circus!” refers to Blaine’s CWMS clue referring to CIRQUES >>> CIRCUS
“IV” refers to MALDIVES >>> MALE >>> MARE; MARES eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat IVY
Moscow --> Moo Cow
ReplyDeleteDespite the anagram Blaine's clue makes the grade. The remaining letters can be anagrammed to cwm, a Welsh term for a glaciated bowl. Glaciers have graded the terrain throughout the northern latitudes.
though we greatly laud his effort. The word cwm is pronounced like coom, or the latin magna cum laude.
Who let the clown in? Another term for cwm is cirque, same root as circus.
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ReplyDeleteMy hint, "What are the traits of a cute little cornish henny?" was a tortured allusion to James Joyces "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," which begins:
ReplyDelete"Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo...."
The word TRAITS in my hint anagrams to ARTIST (and, of course, TRAITS echoes PORTRAIT).
"Cornish henny" alludes to late comedian Henny Youngman, who was characterized in this 1978 Washington Post profile as "...corny, square, old fashioned ... King of the One-Liners, (who) is very much in fashion right now."
"Cornish" in my hint echoes "corny" a (and even seems to be a synonymous). So, Mr. Youngman was a "cornish henny."
And so, my clue alludes to ARTIST and YOUNG MAN.
LegoWhoWasAFanOfTheNewYorkMetsMoocowWilson
MOSCOW -> MOO-COW
ReplyDelete> Is it better to hit a new LOW on the last puzzle of the year?
> Don't get your KNICKERS in a twist over this one.
That’s some cow! (Would I steer you wrong?)
Jan, your “LOW” set up the phrase “the cattle are lowing” from a Christmas song (Away in the Manger?), cattle led to COW, to MOSCOW, to MOO COW. Thus my Thanks, Jan comment.
DeleteIt was only after I wrote my comment criticizing the puzzle that I noticed the pun. "Witzelsucht" showed up on HQ Trivia this week. Maybe I need my frontal lobe scanned?
DeleteMOSCOW, MOOCOW
ReplyDeleteSteely Dan had a song called "Black COW" on their "Aja" album(1977).
Michael J. Fox's production company, Lottery Hill, features him saying "MOO"(after a short guitar riff) while an adequately drawn farm scene is shown.
The Daily Show had a production company, Mad Cow Productions, from 1996-2003. Its logo consisted of an animated COW lip-synching the See'n'Say bit "The COW says...MOO!" The MOO was later replaced by a kid saying "MOO", and then giggling.
Our President's connection to MOSCOW, well...that's for him to deny.
OK, good. I got the right answer but I didn't get the answer to Blaine's clue of CWM. Now that I see it, I should have gotten it bc of Mt. Everest - there is an area called the Western Cwm that climbers need to cross as part of their journey. Not that I aspire to climb Everest....I've just read and seen so much about it.
ReplyDeleteRe Mad COW Productions: Actually, the COW never said the MOO part, she just looked as though someone else was saying it.
ReplyDeleteI solved this, but did not think that 'moo cow' could be correct, so I did not enter. Last week, same thing: I got 'wishing well' but I have never heard of 'well-wishing'; 'well-wishes' yes, but not 'well-wishing'.
ReplyDeleteWe are serving up 15 piping fresh puzzles this week on Joseph Young's Puzzleria! All will be available for consumption in a couple of hours, at midnight Pacific Standard Time.
ReplyDeleteOne of our 15 offerings this week is cooked up by our friend "skydiveboy." His puzzles are always more fun than jumping out of an aeroplane and free-fallin' a while like Tom Petty 'til you pull your ripcord.
Open the "Joseph Young's Puzzleria!" link in Blaine's PUZZLE LINKS.
LegoiWhoOnceClimbedOverABarbedWireFenceAndRippedHisCords
MOSCOW...MOOCOW.
ReplyDeleteIf we include aquaculture as farming, there is also MUSCAT (Oman)...MUDCAT slang for catfish.
My post concerning this alternate answer noted that if you change the vowels in the capital, you get something an animal can be, a Mascot.
SuperZee,
DeleteThere may be a possibility that Will will mention your fine alternative answer on-air on Sunday... fish farming (pisciculture) is a thing! I'll wager somebody submitted it.
Along those same (fishing) lines, you would have no problem at all solving one of my ten Riffing-Off-Shortz puzzles on this week's Puzzleria! We are great minds who think alike!
LegoNotesThatSuperZeeHas"SuperZeeded"AllExpectations!
Your fishing line hooked me.
DeleteGreat. That's what I was angling for.
DeleteLegoJustAnotherFlyOnTheTrawl
I’m reel glad to sea that it wasn’t a fluke.
DeleteP'm curious to see if Malé -> Maré turns out to be an acceptable answer. My opinion was that the Maldives clue didn't cut it on spelling and informality: "Belly flops (maldives) shouldn't pass"
ReplyDeleteBlaine,
ReplyDeleteCartalk has posted their first rerun puzzler of this year this morning, after forgetting to post one last week. Anyway this is a math puzzle I suspect will appeal to you, but is not for me.
It doesn't require much in the way of math knowledge.
DeleteI suspected that might be the case. I know very little about math, but I thought it might be similar to multiplying lots of numbers and ending with multiplying by zero to get zero.
DeleteIt's what happens when you lose your x.
DeleteCartalk!? I thought that's been gone for over a year!!
DeleteHow are you getting it!?
Some stations have been airing reruns since October, 2012. Makes solving the Puzzler much easier.
Deletehttps://www.cartalk.com/puzzler/browse
DeleteThis week's challenge: This challenge comes from Joel Fagliano, the digital puzzles editor of The New York Times. Name a major U.S. city in 10 letters. If you have the right one, you can rearrange its letters to get two 5-letter words that are synonyms. What are they?
ReplyDeleteI think I have the answer.
DeleteNow I think the answer I had isn't the intended one. At least, there's a better one. Some here might think they know why I didn't detect it first.
DeleteI was listening to Ask Me Another yesterday, and was shocked when they had a puzzle in which contestants were given an anagram of a world capital and the name of the country, and they still couldn't come up with Bogota or Budapest! (No hints here.)
ReplyDeleteI have an answer, but the city seems rather small. But, the puzzle didn’t specify major city. Think I’ll stick with it, and go back to sleep.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle specifies a major American city.
DeleteThanx Jan. I reread the puzzle, and found the intended answer.
DeleteI’ll blame my error on being far from home, and working the puzzle at 03:30 local time.
He actually said major city twice.
Delete