Here's a follow-up puzzle that may require some research. Add a letter to the word that means "country" to name a neighboring capital.Q: Name a country. Remove its last letter. The remaining letters can be rearranged to spell a word that means "country" in that country's main language. What country is it?
A: SPAIN --> PAIS
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.
Puzzles this easy make my head hurt.
ReplyDeleteI send sincere paeans to anyone who got this without the research Will mentions. I was lucky; my first look into translations of “country” gave me the answer.
ReplyDeleteSame experience here.
DeleteTake Blaine's "neighboring capital". Add two letters and rearrange to get some people who might be able to tell you the letter you needed to add to the word meaning "country".
ReplyDeleteName a city that starts with the same letter as the "people" where a sports team with that name plays. Again, some research may be required.
DeleteWS said it would take a little research. I got it right away with very little research(except to check my answer). Thanks to my college library, I remember seeing the word for country there.
DeleteSometimes a puzzler's lot is a happy one.
DeleteIf you're still feeling "researchful", seek out the only walk-off inside-the-park grand slam in major league history.
Done with y’all.
ReplyDeleteTake a different country, drop the first three letters and you have the word for "country" in the language of that country (no rearranging necessary). What country is it and what is the word for "country" in its language?
ReplyDeleteTake the German word for country. Change it to the Norwegian word for country. Now change it to the Danish word for country. The degree of difficulty is similar to this week’s puzzle.
ReplyDeleteOutlandish
DeleteNo, Icelandish lol
Deleteandrew, do you like Swedish fish also?
DeleteAlso Afrikaans
DeleteIf you have solved this week's NPR puzzle and have a hankerin' for more, mosey on over to Joseph Young's Puzzleria! and give skydiveboy's geography puzzle a whirl.
ReplyDeleteAlso on this week's P! menu are puzzles about fossils, Shakespeare, adages, and nine movie/grocery riff-offs from last Sunday's NPR puzzle.
Here is an example of one of the nine riff-offs:
Name concessions you might see patrons carrying into the movies, in one word. Double the fifth letter and remove the first letter, and you’ll get noisy interruptions you might hear during dramatic scenes — interruptions perhaps perpetrated by patrons who may have shaken too much pepper on those concessions.
What are these concessions and noisy interruptions?
Thank you.
LegoWhoRenaultDaufineHasBothACountryHornAndACityHorn!Why?LehgoHasNoClue!
Calling this a “challenge” of a puzzle is a major catastrophe. I’ll await next week’s challenge.
ReplyDeleteCensus Day!
ReplyDeleteReally? I thought it might take more research. :)
ReplyDeleteBut, since it is a Shortz puzzle, it is not the name of the country in that country's language.
ReplyDeleteRemoval, deletion and whatever expected.
I have more of a complaint about the representation of the third letter.
DeleteA lost battle in Shortzville.
DeleteWhy focus on getting Shortz to respect an international language? It's less work and better outcomes if I focus on getting the Orthodox to vaccinate for Measles.
DeleteTo be fair, Ben, the great majority of Orthodox Jews in areas with measles outbreaks do vaccinate their kids. The problem is with small concentrations of them, and others, who don't. It's frustrating that anti-vaxxers cross all political, religious, and other spectra. I used to silently curse out a house I'd bike past with an anti-vax lawn sign, until last fall, when they also had a sign promoting a favorite progressive candidate. Just gotta keep educating!
DeleteThanks, Jan. I wasn't really harping on the Orthodox Jewry. It was a clue. Orthodox Jews are notable mainly for dressing like they are still living in 17th Century Poland. But they are also notable for the strands of long hair they keep in front of their ears, which are called PAIS, same and the word "nation" in SPANISH.
DeleteShabbat Shalom!
Okay smart people, here are some Bonus Puzzles - one easy, I hope the others not so easy:
ReplyDelete1) Remove 2 letters from within the 6-letter name of this capital & you get the name of a capital from a neighboring country
This was the Final Jeopardy question on Friday, they said which continent, but their contestants have only 30 seconds, no internet, are on TV and being watched by a room full of people, and have a lot of money on the line. So don't be too proud! Only 1 of the 3 got it.
2) Take a certain word that describes a person showing an abundance of a certain emotion. Another word that describes what that person might have done is a homophone for that first word, though the two words are etymologically unrelated. What are the two words?
3) The common name of what bird is made of two synonyms, in order? Hint: both words have homonyms that are related to a certain recreational activity.
4) Name something you might see in a church, move 2 of the letters 3 places further down in the alphabet, and the result will be something else you might see in a church. What are the two things?
Clues welcome, no answers please until Thursday.
Eco - I got the first one, and I don't know how those players on Jeopardy do it!!
DeleteI got the first one in 3 seconds. Haven't looked at the others.
DeleteYou should be able to read about this in the paper today.
ReplyDeleteI don’t expect to many paeans to the creativity of yet another anagram puzzle.
ReplyDeleteCredit when it's due. A puzzle that combines geography, language, and the dreaded gram de ana is a clever one.
ReplyDeleteLenin gave me the answer, even though he tried to throw a monkey wrench in the machinery.
ReplyDeleteI CAN'T TELL YOU HOW STUPID I FEEL WHEN SO MANY OF YOU SAY THAT A PUZZLE IS EASY AND CAN'T GET IT!
DeleteClark:
DeleteI don't think you are stupid. I suggest you head on over to Lego's Puzzleria! and take a look at my puzzle offering, the appetizer, and solve it quickly, as I believe you will, and then come back here and be tenacious in solving this puzzle. Here is the link:
http://puzzleria.blogspot.com/2019/04/munici-pals-country-cousins-lasting.html#comment-form
Clark, I've definitely been where you are. When in doubt, just consider it a bad puzzle and move on with your life. There's always next week.
DeleteCranberry,
DeleteThanks for that. There is a life outside of this blog. To quote Oscar Wilde, "Life is too important to be taken seriously."
This, for a welcome change, is however a good puzzle. It is even somewhat didactic.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteClark, You shouldn't feel stupid. We all have different backgrounds and life experiences which is why sometimes one of us has the answer before WS finishes reading the challenge and why we ALL get stumped sometimes.
DeleteMy comment hinted at John Lennon's book, "A Spaniard in the Works," which featured him on the cover in a Spanish costume of some sort, holding a spanner or wrench.
Deletewell that was an easy one. Guess I'll have time to do my taxes instead of working on the puzzle
ReplyDeleteI figured it out after a hot shave.
ReplyDeleteI’ve got it narrowed down to one of 3 countries...
ReplyDeleteThat makes no sense. Either you have it narrowed down to 3 countries, or you have it.
DeleteWhat an embarrassing error!
DeleteBut. . ,
ReplyDeleteCall me a heretic but I think this puzzle stinks!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the Monarch of Flatland.
ReplyDeleteTake an English-language word, write it backwards, and you'll get the plural form of the word but in a different language.
ReplyDeleteGreat challenge. I have the answer & will post Thursday.
DeleteTHIS WEEK'S CARTOONS
ReplyDeleteCRIMEA + A
ReplyDeleteCrimea river...
DeleteOoh! I made a pun! I'm skydiveboy!
Last chantz to try and solve my easy geographical puzzle over at Lego's Puzzleria. Blaine has provided a link above on the right side.
ReplyDeleteCan't even joke about your puzzle like we could in the good old days.
DeleteHuh?
DeleteOK, it took me a sec or 2, but I got it now.
Deleteskydiveboy's geographic puzzle on Puzzleria! is definitely worth checking out.
DeleteAlso, for you Jeopardy! fans, the current champion is a guy named James Holzhauer who is a professional sports gambler from Las Vegas who is very bright and who is not afraid to wager big. On Tuesday's show he won almost $111,000, a one-day record.
This fellow first came to my attention as I watched reruns of "The Chase" on the Game Show Network, where he was equally dominant.
He is very entertaining to watch on Jeopardy!.
LegoWhoFindsThatTelevisionQuizShowsProvideHimFodderForPuzzleCreation
Exciting and entertaining.
DeleteUnderstandably he has the betting down (and the brass ones to go with), but his range of knowledge so far is amazing. He may go a long way.
It sort of irks me that the outcome of his adventure was probably known two months ago, with last night's episode taped 2/11/19.
I don't know how they keep the audience quiet, but the contestants lose their winnings if they talk.
America - remove the last A - move the first A to the end and you get 'Merica - the name of our country in plain English.
ReplyDeleteToday's Google doodle (sorry duckduckgo) is not to be a-voided, it really sucks!
ReplyDeleteYes, and I wish someone would Trump that.
DeleteWhen are they going to release the whole picture, without the center redacted?
DeleteIt’s a red act, all right.
DeleteShifty!
Deletejan,
DeleteIt's been Barred.
Owl take it.
DeleteWho gives a hoot?
DeleteIt didn't take long.
DeleteI suppose it is where Jimmy Hoffa's body went.
DeleteSPAIN, PAIS
ReplyDelete> Reminds me of the Monarch of Flatland.
The reign in Spain stays mainly in the plane….
SPAIN - N = PAÍS
ReplyDeleteMy Hint:
"You should be able to read about this in the paper today."
El PAÍS is Spain's second largest national daily newspaper.
SPAIN, PAIS
ReplyDelete“But. . .” >>> in France, where Blaine’s referenced capital of Paris is located, it’s just one letter off from PAIS to MAIS, but en français.
I wrote, “I send sincere paeans to anyone who got this without the research Will mentions.” I don’t get to use “paeans” very often, but in this case it anagrams (almost) to “España.”
ReplyDeleteSPAIN (-N) → PAÍS (“country” in Spanish)
ReplyDeleteYou can add an R to PAÍS to yield PARIS, a neighboring capital.
Remove the first three letters of HOLLAND (or ICELAND) and you have the word for “country” in Dutch (or Icelandic): LAND. LAND is the word for “country” in 7 languages: Danish, Dutch, German, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish & Afrikaans. “This land is your land.” See: How to say “country” in different languages.
English word spelled backwards becomes its plural in a different language: STATE → ÉTATS ! [Les États Unis = The United States]
SPAIN – PAIS
ReplyDeletePuzzles this easy are a PAIN.
My clues -
ReplyDelete....major ca(tastrophe)...I’ll.... were references to the isle of Majorca.
SPAIN, PAIS
ReplyDeleteIn the Mervin H. Sterne Library at UAB(my alma mater), they carry a Spanish newspaper called "El Pais".
Cranberry: Where is UAB? Thanks.
DeleteThis week's challenge: Think of a word for a deceitful person. Move the middle letter to the end and you'll get another word for a deceitful person. What words are these?
ReplyDeleteWhat's a Trmpu?
DeleteBoo!
ReplyDeleteCheesewright. --Margaret G.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you call a greeting card that sings "How I Got to Memphis"?
ReplyDeleteChange one letter in the answer, move the middle letter to the end and get two words that sound alike.
ReplyDelete