Unfortunately... I have a fold in fabric or paperQ: Think of a familiar three-word phrase with "and" in the middle ("___ and ___"). Move the first letter of the third word to the start of the first word, and you'll form two means of transportation. What are they?
Edit: Unfortunately referred to 13 years that have elapsed since a nearly identical version of this puzzle was aired. The second hint referred to "my crease" which hints at Mike Reiss (Producer for "The Simpsons") who independently came up with the puzzle back then.
A: ARTS and CRAFTS --> CARTS and RAFTS
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.
I never, never thought I'd write this, but: Blaine your comment is tmi, and should get blog administered.
DeleteBut thanks for helping me solve it!
Blog administration can be a lonely profession.
DeleteOkay, it's changed.
DeleteExplanation Thursday. Meanwhile, I can spend the week not understanding Blaine's enigmatic clue. The universe is back to normal.
DeleteAnd, for a brief moment in eternity, there was something about moisture on a microphone, but I fear that's lost forever.
DeleteI wasn't sure how Mike Reiss pronounced his name. Will Shortz even used two different pronunciations (one week as "Mike RICE" and the next week as "Mike REESE"). After checking several interviews, I discarded my clue for "mic rice" and switched it back to "my crease".
DeleteI don't know how he pronounces his name, but it it is German it is properly pronounced with a long I, like RICE in English.
DeleteIf you search "transportation" in this blog that puzzle is the first one listed, hence my admonition. And as usual I had no idea what Blaine's clue meant.
DeleteAccording to the NPR post back in May, 2006, it's Mike REESE.
DeleteWill Shortz has used several puzzles from Mike Reiss (comedy writer and producer for The Simpsons). The intern had it correct the first week and then misspelled it the second week. They've made the same mistake a few times, if you want to search for both spellings and "NPR Puzzle".
DeleteI was born in upstate New York and live (for a few more weeks) in Morris County, New Jersey. A company associated with the phrase has connections to both places, and, coincidentally, we have several of their products at home.
ReplyDeleteWow, Jan, I GREW UP in Morris County,NJ!! Having not yet solved Lego's puzzle, I'm going to have to think about your post, to try to get somewhere on it.
DeleteThanks Jan. I can only conclude since it is an East Coast thing it has something to do with bagles?
DeleteNice puzzle, Lego.
ReplyDeleteGreat to feel a bit smug, almost skydiveboy-like, with an early solve.
DeleteWell it's certainly not "rail and trail" although you could "go by rail" or you could "go by trail"
ReplyDeleteSee the Great American Rail to Trail, a great "rails and trails" route...
DeleteTake the first six letters of the three-word phrase. Insert a letter into the middle and you get someone who performs what the phrase describes.
ReplyDeleteClever!
DeleteARTISAN
DeleteAnd it's not "Ed and Singhy" although I was hoping it might take that form.
ReplyDeleteThanks LEGO for supplying this week’s puzzle to us.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Lego, you got another great puzzle used by the Puzzlemaster! Now I can go back to bed happy!
ReplyDeleteLego - Good job, again!
ReplyDeleteI have an answer but not 100% sure about it! (no clue intended here)
If you anagram the first word of the phrase and the second means of transportation, you get some things that most people don’t like being around (if you get my drift).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHaha - a different one!
DeleteTMI Paul. More is not less in this setting.
Delete"More is" is a reference to William Morris, the leader of the Arts and Crafts movement (to the extent it had a leader) of the 19th Century.
DeleteIf you anagram the second means of transportation you get some things that most people don't like being around. --Margaret G.
ReplyDeleteRipoffs, yes?
DeleteIf what I'm asking will give things away, I apologize in advance. Is "and" part of the 2 means of transportation, or does it stand as a connector between them?
ReplyDeleteOccam's Razor
DeleteI think that very ambiguity is the most puzzling part of the puzzle.
DeleteAnd I do know the term, but it doesn't help (even though I have worn a beard since I got out of the Army 52 years ago).
The principle of Occam's Razor states that one should not make more assumptions than the minimum needed. In other words, take the simpler interpretation that it's just (Blank) and (Blank) in both cases.
DeleteThat is how I got the upside down digital clock puzzle.
DeleteI did know what you were suggesting and it helped.
I also have a hunch that Lego gave it to Willy in a form that was not ambiguous.
Is there any truth to the rumor NPR is considering replacing Will Shortz with Bob Vila and changing he name from The Sunday Puzzle to This Old Puzzle?
ReplyDeleteI hope you were not in the vicinity of the crane crash yesterday in downtown Seattle. I think it is close to the Old Spaghetti factory if that is still there.
DeleteUnknown,
DeleteI had to look to see. Nope, thank god it closed Oct. 2016. It is down, close to the waterfront. Fairview is an avenue going N&S and crosses Mercer Street close to the I-5 freeway on and off ramp. It is one of the busiest intersections in Seattle. You never know when your time here may be up.
It just proves Google kills...
DeleteYes, but this was more like duck, duck, go!
DeleteTook the birds right out of my mouth!
DeleteWell try STARTPAGE.com for a new search experience.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteBlaine, are you sure you removed the right post?
DeleteOops! Sorry Clark.
DeleteClark wrote: WW my wife just got the answer after I read her your clue.
DeleteIt wasn’t me. . .
DeleteShe just became a blogger this month.
DeleteI noted last week we have two (Word/ Weird) Women here now. I will refer to Word Woman as WW I, and Weird Woman as WW II. It's a battle.
DeleteOr, I'm ok with Word.
DeleteDamn, second week in a row...I'll try to be more obtuse in the future
ReplyDeleteWould it be premature to suggest the author of this puzzle as a candidate for Secretary of Transportation in the Biden-Harris administration?
ReplyDeleteI can, in good conscience, state that my initial guess, oats and bran , while raising interesting possibilities, was all wet.
ReplyDeleteAn hour later, while en-route to my sister-in-law’s for Sunday brunch, and stuck in traffic, the answer popped into my mind. Had we been heading to my other sister-in-law’s, the solution might have come sooner.
It's been so long. I can't quite remember the route we drove to summer camp.
ReplyDeleteMy comment about "travel to Camp" was a shout out to ARTS & CRAFTS, obviously. Nice puzzle, Lego!
DeleteBlaine, you are no longer posting the previous week's puzzle answers?
ReplyDeleteWhoops! I forgot I hadn't updated last week's post. It's there now.
DeleteI am sure that some rucking enthusiast will eventually start an extreme sport monthly called Ruck and Trail, but probably not in time for it to become an alternate answer.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Lancek!
DeleteI had an answer earlier but was not real happy with it. I decided to keep at it and found one that definitely works! As soon as I saw it I knew this was probably the intended answer.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all you wonderful Blainsevillians for your many kind and generous comments about my puzzle on NPR today. I am proud of it. It has spawned a few clever riff-off puzzles already (by Rob and Snipper) as well as ron's nifty "Rails and Trails route" and Lancek's imaginative "Ruck and Trail" musings. SuperZee's "oats and bran" suggestion is actually borderline lapel-pin worthy! skydiveboy's Bob Vila post snd GB's nomination of me as Secretary of Transportation in a Biden/Harris cabinet each also gave me a good giggle.
ReplyDeleteYou have all buoyed my spirits.
I'll have more to say on Thursday.
LegoWhoHadBeenBlissfullyInTheDarkUntilSundayDawn'sEarlyLightAndThereafterNeededAGoodGiggle
Lego, so you don't have any advanced notice that your puzzle entry is about to be used?
DeleteCongrats again!
Thanks, 68Charger. Of the seven puzzles of mine that have been used on NPR, I have received an emailed heads-up any time from late Thursday to mid-Saturday.
DeleteThis time, I knew by Saturday that my puzzle would be used. I was blissful. Some light shed early Sunday diminished that bliss.
LegoWhoWondersPerhapsIfThereIsSomethingNewUnderTheClouds
And, looking backward at last Sunday's installment, let's raise a glass to Trudy Nixon and the civilizing effects of takeout Chinese food. I wonder if she has encountered dim sum and sushi since then.
DeleteLego, thanks for another great challenge, and the, “borderline lapel- pin worthy,” comment.
Delete"Dim sum" and "sushi" are references to carts and rafts, the vehicles used in some restaurants to deliver those dishes to customers.
DeleteRain and tears?Could ears be thought of as a transport system for sound? Thx.
ReplyDeleteZZ Occam?
DeleteAs an alt I came up with loud and clear / cloud and lear. Who can forget Mario puttering around in the cloud once he tosses Lakitu?
ReplyDeleteY'all,
ReplyDeleteI have been quietly reading the blog for a while now, but this week's puzzle really stumped me. Can I have another hint?
Normally for puzzles like these I prefer to work backwards, but this time I got ahead of myself.
ReplyDeleteIs this my hint?
DeleteDid you put the CART before the horse?
DeleteTHIS WEEK'S CARTOONS !
ReplyDeleteTake the two means of transportation, remove two letters, and anagram to reveal a very specific means of transportation.
ReplyDeleteSomeBODY once told me the answer to this puzzle
ReplyDeleteI ain't the sharpest tool in the shed
Welcome ewe trebuchet aficionado. Wool you join us again?
DeleteOf course, all that glitters is gold. Glitter is used in ARTS AND CRAFTS
DeleteThis morning someone here who is Unknown to us all asked if I was in the vicinity of the crane crash that killed four and has been on the news all day, as if there is nothing else happening in the world worth noting. I mean, come on, Donald Trump may have torn a fingernail, and how would we even know? Anyway one woman who walks downtown said on our NPR station that now she will walk with an eye on the cranes. That is a perfect example of human misunderstand of the world we live in. First off, she will only do this occasionally, and for a very short time, before she reverts back to her normal behavior. Secondly, this is a perfect example of how ignorant we all are as to our reality. Watch the video online and time the time it takes for the top part of the crane to hit the ground from the time it becomes clear it is falling. Just over 2 seconds. We are not taught how quickly things, such as tree limbs, or trees themselves, take to actually fall. So, my point is simply to show that if she suddenly sees that one of our many, many cranes is beginning to fall on top of where she is walking, how can she take all this information in and then make the decision to run (if she even can run) to get out of the way, and how far can she actually get in 2 seconds? Most people just do not want to look at things affecting their mortality logically and accept that we really do not have any control over when Sh*t may happen to us. I think we should though.
ReplyDeletes-kydiveboy-tream of consciousness.
DeleteLegoJamesJoyceWoolfProustScott...
Streaming now.
DeleteCoincidentally:
Deletehttps://www.npr.org/2019/04/29/718296681/this-week-nasa-is-pretending-an-asteroid-is-on-its-way-to-smack-the-earth
I watched it. Horrific and so fast. They did not have a chance.
DeleteYes, Unknown person, that is exactly my point. Most of us do not know and accept the fact that we are all just one second away from the possibility of our bodily death. We can't really live life to the fullest dwelling on this fact, but I think it is worth while for us to at least understand it as much as we can.
DeleteSince Sunday, trying to solve this puzzle, I have been infected with the 19th-century earworm:
ReplyDelete"Railroad, steamboat, river, and canal/
Yonder comes a sucker and he's got my gal..."
Can't get it out of my head.
Thanks a bunch, geofan!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGeofan,a movie starring Steve Martin and John Candy in 1987,"Trains, Planes and Automobiles". The way to get rid of an ear worm is to replce it with another...Just trying to be helpful!
ReplyDeleteClark - That movie was on yesterday and it had been a while since I'd seen it. The song you may be referring to is "Red River Rock" by "The Silicon Teens", although they did not do it originally.
DeleteSheldon Whitehouse for president.
ReplyDeleteLegoSeriously
He was superb. He looked as though it was taking quite an effort not to throw something at the person Colbert described as a "frog that swallowed John Goodman."
DeleteI really didn't like the ambiguous phasing of this challenge.
ReplyDeleteRemove this if you must, but I think it should have read:
"The answer will be a three word phase in the same form naming two means of transportation."
East is East and West is West...
ReplyDeleteTrying to be vague, I hinted at never the TWAIN shall meet. Twain mentioned rafts a time or two
DeleteMusical dementia clue: Larry Gross.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for misspelling the man's name. It's Larry Groce.
DeleteIf you want to really know the truth about Venezuela please watch this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23H-HNYmDnc
For more see THIS.
DeleteKANYE WESTTT
ReplyDeleteARTS AND CRAFTS, CARTS AND RAFTS
ReplyDelete“Great to feel a bit smug, almost skydiveboy-like with an early solve.” >>> refers to the smuggling scandal associated with the ARTS AND CRAFTS store, Hobby Lobby. >>>
“https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_Lobby_smuggling_scandal
Arts and Crafts--> Carts and Rafts
ReplyDeleteOne of my sisters-in-law is very artistic and is always working on craft projects. Had we been heading there on Sunday, I'd probably have solved this puzzle faster.
On a hunch, I tried typing "means of transportation" into the search box near the top of this page. It got me nowhere. I tried again with just "transportation" (it was a particularly strong hunch) and was immediately taken back almost 13 years to a simpler time, when Blaine's post received zero comments in reply.
ReplyDeleteI thought getting from "John Belushi" to the answer was impossible, but I guess I was wrong.
He got one comment that whole month!
DeleteARTS AND CRAFTS → CARTS AND RAFTS
ReplyDeleteMike Reese of Los Angeles authored this puzzle on May 7, 2006. See result HERE. Blaine posted the puzzle + answer HERE.
Remove T & R from CARTS/RAFTS to yield FAST CARS.
ARTS AND CRAFTS >>> CARTS AND RAFTS
ReplyDeleteARTS AND CRAFTS -> CARTS AND RAFTS
ReplyDelete> I was born in upstate New York and live (for a few more weeks) in Morris County, New Jersey. A company associated with the phrase has connections to both places, and, coincidentally, we have several of their products at home.
Gustav Stickley was important in the Arts and Crafts movement in the US. The Stickley factory is in Manlius, NY, and there's a museum in Morris County. I've got quite a few pieces in my bedroom and dining room.
How could i ever forget Gustav???
DeleteAt first I thought of "Loud And Clear" -> "Cloud" and "Lear". This would have been for the "Rolls Royce 'Silver Cloud'" and the "Lear" jet. It just didn't seem right so a little more research came up with the correct answer.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's the truth"!
DeleteLate blooming Bonus Puzzle:
ReplyDeleteThink of a familiar three-word phrase with "and" in the middle ("___ and ___"). Move the first letter of the first word to the start of the third word, and you'll form (phonetically for the 1st word) how a certain orange blob wants to be viewed my us mere mortals. What are the phrases?
Ron, give folks a little time with this one.
Eco - I've got a couple but did you want more time for responses?
DeleteSome "almost-fits" to Ecoarchitect's bonus:
Delete1. LAW and ORDER => AW(e) and LORD-ER
2. TRUTHLESS and RUE => RUTHLESS and TRUE
I was going for Law and Order; Truthless and Rue works in the switch, but can hardly be called a familiar phrase.
Delete68C, what did you have?
I also thought of (with all due respect to LegoLambda):
DeleteUST and LEGO => LUST and EGO
Unfortunately, UST is not a word.
btw, I am having problems to post in subordinated ("reply") levels and have to go through a circuitous process to do it. Finally I believe I have the procedure down now. geofan/Ken
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBonus Bonus Puzzle:
DeleteThink of a popular game in the form "__ and __", spoonerize the two words (swap the first consonant sounds), and you get what the orange blob's administration does with our treasury and democracy.
What do you mean it ain't a word? I've had ust about enough of that. Ust guys is always pulling that nonsense. UST = United States of Trump.
DeleteAlso UST = United States Treasury
DeleteChutes & Ladders → loots & shatters.
DeleteI knew Ron would come through. One more:
DeleteThink of another phrase in the form "__ and __", spoonerize those words to get something the orange blob does with alarming frequency.
Hint: the first phrase are things most people here have, and the first spoonerized word is something Dinky Jerk Toadstool did a lot in the past, and is doing more of recently.
I saw a bumper sticker today. It said:
DeleteTRUCK FUMP!
I was thinking of Trial and Error - Rile and Terror (Trump seems heck bent on disrupting everything and everybody that seems to already be working)
Deleteor: Down and Out - Own and Doubt
(Again, he wants to be "the" boss by sowing confusion)
Lego, I need your help here. What do you do when someone has a better answer to your puzzle than your intended? Do you acknowledge it or just stay quiet and hope no one notices?
Deleteeco,
DeleteThis happens to me all the time over on Puzzleria!
My three strategies:
1. Blog-administrate their superior answers into oblivion. If they try to re-post, simply re-blog-administrate.
2. Deep-six your inferior answer and pretend their superior answer was yours all along. (If they call your bluff and post an objection, simply apply the #1 strategy.)
3. Boldly ridicule the superior answer in Trumplike fashion.
LegoLumpda
One's first day working at The White House.
Delete68C: I considered your "Trial and Error" solution before dismissing it as totally ridiculous. No very stable genius would ever need to use that phrase, so it must only be for total losers!
DeleteOh, and Randy has a new song Barr!
Perhaps I have misjudged him and his buddies!
DeleteI posted On Wed May 01, at 03:17:00 PM PDT :
ReplyDeleteMusical dementia clue: Larry Groce.
(from "Junk Food Junkie", by Larry Groce; 3rd verse):
"My friends down at the commune
They think I'm pretty neat
Oh, I don't know nothing about arts and crafts
But I give 'em all something to eat"
Will Shortz emailed me on Saturday, telling me he would be using my ARTS/CRAFTS/CARTS/RAFTS puzzle on Sunday. I was in seventh heaven!
ReplyDeleteSunday morning, after listening to the NPR broadcast, I logged into Blainsville and fell into hell.
Blaine wrote, correctly:
"Unfortunately a very similar version of this puzzle aired in years past."
(I appreciated Blaine's empathetic use of the word "Unfortunately.")
Blaine was correct. I typed "arts and crafts" into Blaine's Blog's search engine and the following came up.
One of the worst days of my life.
LegoWhoIsBuoyedHoweverByTheSupportOfBlainesvillians
Obviously you came up with the puzzle independently. While I'm not surprised that Will didn't remember the puzzle, I wonder why they don't cross check against prior puzzles.
DeleteLego: Chin up!
DeleteI have a good memory for puzzles past and this one didn't give me a blip.
it's a good puzzle even with the ambiguity, which has a WS taste to it.
I didn't know of the repeat discussion or have the answer when I posted "Ripoffs, yes?" in reponsed to Margaret G.'s anagram post. It was an anagram of "iffy posers" which was in reference to the wording.
Even at that I didn't know that my anagram also fit the answer.
If this is a "worst day," then you are a lucky man.
It is a good puzzle Lego, so no need to feel the blues. In retrospect it's no surprise that someone else came up with the same puzzle - there's an Etsy Store and even a little book (or something) to that effect.
DeleteAnd for those debating the puzzle's originator, according to the NPR website his name is Mike Reese, no debate about pronunciation.
And I see the Reese/ Reiss controversy was covered above. Gives me a chance to say that in all of Googledumb the bonus puzzle has only appeared 4 times, and never as a puzzle.
DeleteIn the scheme of things in today's world, not such a tragedy, Lego. Just remember: Great minds think alike. Congrats!
DeleteThanks to all for all your encouragement. I am getting over my sting of unoriginality.
DeleteMike Reiss (the way his name is spelled on the cover of his book, "Springfield Confidential"), who came up with the puzzle 13 years ago, is a creative guy and I am honored to be mentioned in the same breath with him.
Ironically, I also had an opportunity to empathize with Steve Baggish whose puzzles Will has often featured on NPR. Steve's Heineken/Meineke puzzle that Blainesvillian and Puzzlerian! Paul had posted early in the Comments Section of Puzzleria! in August of 2017!
So, my mission now and pledge to puzzle-solvers is to create puzzles that no puzzle-maker has created in the history of humankind. I believe skydiveboy's French geography puzzle (that appears on today's Puzzleria!) may well be in that category. I can also pretty much guarantee that this week's Schpuzzle on Puzzleria! has never been written before now.
The word that comes closest to capturing this "Holy-Grail-type" of truly original puzzle is "elegance." An elegant puzzle is simple and concise, but has some ineffable "twist" that gives the solver a satisfying "Aha!" moment upon solving it.
LegoPlegges"SoThatIsMyQuest:EleganceInPuzzling"
Hey,
ReplyDeleteHow many of you have been sending in answers since post card days without getting called? Frustrating.
My reference to LEGO “supplying” the puzzle was a reference to arts and crafts supplies.
ReplyDeleteMy anagrams of two things most people don’t like were “rats” and “farts” (not John belushi’s frats!).
Very true, Snipper, but my farts are tolerable, it's just all those other people's waftings I deplore.
DeleteI guess you got my drift!
DeleteNo, Snipper, thankfully I didn't. :-)
DeleteHaving read Zeno's "more is" explanation, I'm not so sure I Delta spoiler after all.
DeleteActually Belushi (in the context of a place no one wants to be near) led me to "frats" and then to "rafts." But bonus points for connecting back to Snipper's original clue--you have a nose for anagrams, I guess.
DeleteARTS AND CRAFTS, CARTS AND RAFTS
ReplyDeleteCongratulations once again to Legolambda for getting a mention this week(even if Mike Reiss did originally submit the same idea earlier). Great puzzle!
I tried so hard to make 'tandem' work, and then looking at a list of 'blank and blank' it hit me. I am still getting over the cabaret singer that won/entered the first time. Really wish they would not announce that-puts me in a grumpy mood.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"... by Grabthar's hammer ..."
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLego has now uploaded his newest edition of Puzzleria! (see link Blaine provided at top right) and it includes an APPETIZER puzzle I created and Will Shortz declined to use, but I think it is my best puzzle yet, and way better than what he offers up. It is both a word and geographical puzzle.
ReplyDeletehttps://puzzleria.blogspot.com/2019/05/i-say-london-i-say-france-words-on.html?showComment=1556907382842#c4276708139145650799
If someone takes 2 weeks off from work and goes up to Alaska to hunt grizzly bear; is that a vacation or aberration?
ReplyDeleteIt will be my first time. Will I receive a warm welcome at the crematorium?
ReplyDeleteHey SDB, What's cookin'?
ReplyDeleteSanta comes down the chimney and the rest of us go up the chimney.
DeleteAt least you know you'll never get fired again.
Delete"Burn 'em and Urn 'em" would be an appropriate tag line for a crematorium.
"Smokey and the End Bit."
DeleteThe NPR webmasters seem to have changed their Sunday game plan. They post the Weekend Edition Sunday rundown pretty early, usually before 8:00 a.m., but without the puzzle, which doesn't get added until much later.
ReplyDelete600 correct entries last week
ReplyDeleteNext: Name a movie from 2018, add an 'R', then rearrange the results to get 3 different titles for people
ReplyDeleteI have an answer in which two of the titles are abbreviations and the other is spelled out. I hope there's a more elegant answer.
ReplyDeleteThere is.
Delete