Swap two letters and get another word. Or rearrange completely to get a third word.Edit: Swapping a couple letters we get MALIGNER. Or rearrange to get GERMINAL.Q: Take the names of two countries that share a border. Drop the second letter from the second country's name. The resulting string of letters, in order from left to right, will spell a regular, uncapitalized word. What is it?
A: MALI + NiGER --> MALINGER
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.
Let's see... Japan? Nope. Iceland? Nope? Australia? Nope. Fiji? Nope. Cuba? Nope. I'm hopeless at this. :)
DeleteYou need countries that border another country!
DeleteHaha, Blaine! Your Tongan chic is showing.
DeleteWe can also eliminate New Zealand.
DeleteOh! Borders another country! So like Haiti & Dominican Republic? Or Canada and United States? Or Portugal and Spain? Wait, is "lesothosuthafrica" a word?
DeleteWell, Blaine, now you've really opened a can of worms. Can Haiti and Dominican Republic be considered islands when neither is surrounded by water? My head hurts.
DeleteAnd, may we go back to the time of Pangaea?
DeleteAlthough I found what I believe to be the intended solution, I just don’t feel up to thinking of a clue now.
ReplyDeleteThe word describes an action of which a person known to us all has been credibly (in my view) accused.
ReplyDeleteRearrange the letters to get a phrase which that person might use to describe a certain opponent. But don't tell STRAP I posted this.
DeleteI think the word describes a person Democrats couldn't communicate with this week.
DeleteSDB, did you watch this PARADISE LOST video?
Deleteron,
DeleteNo, but now I have. I just posted the link to our neighborhood watch blog for everyone to hopefully watch because we have a huge problem here in this neighborhood too. As soon as I heard the voice at the beginning I thought it was the same guy who narrated Seattle Is Dying, and it is. Thanks for letting me know.
As I just now posted on last week's blog,..
ReplyDeleteOne thing that might make this puzzle easy is that if you're using a normal map (North on top), then the countries really will read left to right as the first country is west of the second country.
PJB, you got this yet?
ReplyDeleteÉmile Zola.
ReplyDeleteI see where you're going, there. --Margaret G.
DeleteDrop fourth letter from name 2 into name 1, stir, drop a line.
DeleteThe idea here was to add "e" (Niger's 4th letter) to Mali, and rearrange to "drop a line"... via "email."
DeleteThose countries? I haven't been there since late 2000, almost 19 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe next country over, after MALI and NIGER, is CHAD. So I was making a joke about the election of 2000. Which is NOT FUNNY.
DeleteA certain Tina Fey movie comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteSo does a certain song you sing.
DeleteHere I was referring to "Let it Linger," the breakout hit by the Cranberries.
DeleteI think I spained my ankle... Not able to peruzzle right now.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI sprained my ankle last Monday. Ice, ice, baby. Get better.
DeleteThe way I type, you'd think I sprained a wrist.
Take the names of two other countries that share a border. Remove a regular, uncapitalized word from the middle, and the resulting string of letters, in order from left to right, will spell another regular, uncapitalized word. (These countries are also in the "right" order, west to east.)
ReplyDeleteBetter wording than a not so distant past puzzle.
DeleteI have to say that his one didn't get solved while still in bed.
ReplyDeleteI'm not one to throw shade on my fellow puzzle bloggers, but Nyah nyah, solved it!!
ReplyDeleteNot only for XX of the species.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteC a p, that is over the border, sir!
DeleteThanks for the answer.
DeleteYeah, my subtle hint to remove it did not work. Maybe it will now.
DeleteThanks, Blaine!
DeleteI didn't think I was giving to much away. I'll try to be more obtuse last time. I must say that the clue that helped me was from Enya and Weird al fan.
DeleteI’ve been trying to come up with a good clue, but am afraid if I go too far, I’ll receive a dressing down.
ReplyDeleteThe border in question is a dangerous place.
ReplyDeleteWell done sir
DeleteTwo words in this headline. One needs to be capitalized.
ReplyDeleteLegoWhoWondersIfEmployeesOfAWaterClosetCompany"ToilAt"TheirJobsInLooOf"WorkingAt"Them
Dr. Abu-Bakir Al Madani
ReplyDeleteDr. in Dubai who solved a famous case that at first was though to involve malingering,but turned out to be Huntington's disease.
DeleteI bet Cranberry got this one!
ReplyDeleteBlaine's photo reminds me of one of my favorite athlete quotes. Mike Tyson after losing to Lennox Lewis: "I don't know, man, I guess I'm gonna fade into Bolivian."
ReplyDeleteWhy does everybody naturally assume I got this one? (I did, though.)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTnjTgCWdE
DeleteWell, you’re no fool!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCombine the capitals of the two countries. Rearrange to give a small city in the norrthwest USA and a verb that describes what one should do with this week's puzzle.
ReplyDeleteGet out of my mind!
DeleteUnlike Clayton Moore [or Old Shatterhand], I didn't require an INDIANPAL to help me get this one.
ReplyDeleteThat's okay, we'll play the Guillaume Tell Overture for you anyway.
DeleteMille mercis!
Deletede rien
DeleteHey, according to the NPR website, no one actually answered last week's puzzle correctly. NPR says the answer is "Lou Raw".
ReplyDeleteI think we all got a "Raw Deal"!
68C, well done, sir, well done.
DeleteThat's just Rawng.
Delete:)
Delete:)
Another NPR minion Lou'ser.
DeletePerhaps, 68Charger, the un(der?)paid minion was simply lollygagging on the NPR break-room lounge's lush Siouxfa.
DeleteLegoHollers"HoorahForSiouxFawSouthDakotaw!"
Hey wait a minute, 68Charger. If I recawl correctly, I did send in "Lou Raw" to NPR as my answer... but the on-air contestant must have done so also becawse she, not I, got "the caw"!
DeleteLegoWhoThinksHeHasTheRightToCrowAboutGettingItCawrect(OkayOkayEnoughOfTheseInsufferable"Caw"Puns!)
They're still pretty good though!! Now, back to awl my wood working projects.
DeleteAbout time you learned plane speaking.
DeleteI saw that coming, as usual your two bits were a little dull.
DeleteThat's it! I'll file you with the other Bastards.
DeleteThe other Bastards and I are going out to get hammered on screwdrivers.
DeleteI prefer Rusty Nails and then chisel the waitress out of her tip for rasping at me and not being a joiner. It's my way of coping as a rule.
DeleteI saw that one coming, but not to worry, I’m coping.
DeleteI would check with Sarah Sanders, but she's not on the level, and the shear sound of her voice causes wrenching pain.
DeletePerhaps a gimlet will make this boring.
Braze-N
DeleteWhat is the drill here?
DeletePress on.
DeleteI have no counter to that so feel a little sunk.
DeleteThen just bury your head.
DeleteAnd just what does that augᵫr?
DeleteRather poor proofreading and spellchecking.
DeleteWell, just keep trying. You'll get it right some day.
DeleteMy friend Brad, saw in some newspaper adze, a vise that he thought wood be perfect for holding the small Ash trays he likes to make.
DeleteI told him that it may knot.
Anchors aweigh!
ReplyDeleteThe US Women's World Cup soccer game today against Spain was a real grit and grime nail biter. I find it possible to watch them, but not the men. Could it be because they win?
ReplyDeleteI got this one immediately on Sunday morning, in part because the word spelled is one of my favorites, if words can be such. What do I do with the rest of my week?
ReplyDeleteStay in bed.
DeleteI was afraid this was too obvious a hint for "malinger," but no one called me on it.
DeleteJust getting to this week's puzzle (my parents were visiting the weekend and stuck around until today) but I'm happy to report I finally got one. Yay geography and its finite possibilities.
ReplyDeleteMy parents stuck around => my pa and MA LINGERed.
DeleteBingo!
ReplyDeleteBamako
DeleteB9 "benign"
Malign
Malinger
How could so many shoot themselves in the foot? Only Elizabeth Warren and Corey Booker stood out as offering real change, and not just beating Trump and then reverting to what got Trump elected in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThey're Democrats.
DeleteI like The Onion's takes:
Delete“I’m curious which candidates will vow to restore America’s promise and which will pledge to uphold our highest ideals.”
“I don’t know if two nights are enough to get a full and robust sense of everybody’s names.”
“Wow, this country must be pretty desperate if it’s willing to put itself through the democratic process again.”
As the great Will Rogers said, "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat."
DeleteHey SDB can you send me an Insley yard sign? I am sure my neighbors here in Atlanta will love it. Go Jay!!!
ReplyDeleteJay Insley blew it big time last night. He spoke the least and at the end, instead of saying climate change is our nation's biggest threat, he gave a political answer. He means well, but is not going to win with his strategy. He also mentioned Trump, as did Bill de Blasio, and others, even Booker. They don't seem to understand the fundamental truth that Trump is not the problem, but the symptom of the problem. The public wants to know what will be done for them. Clinton did not do this, Joe Biden can't figure this out, and most of the others can't either, but Warren has, and I am hoping Mayor Pete B. will do well tonight in this regard, but I am not holding my breath.
DeleteAll that being said, the yard sign is in the mail.
Just for the record, it's Inslee, not Insley. Maybe folks in Atlanta don't know that, but in Seattle? To quote that famous boy, "Rather poor proofreading and spellchecking." Keep working on it.
DeleteOh, u 2!
DeleteI typed Inslee, but in checking to make sure found it spelled Insley. I should have trusted my memory and checked further.
DeleteBoth Google and Duckduckgo have only Inslee, and if you type in Jay Insley they offer corrections and a dope slap.
DeleteHow are tonight's debates going? Somehow I seem to be missing them again. Oh drat!
When I type in INS, before I go any further the drop down lists linsey. I should have gone further, but you'll get over it eventually, maybe.
DeleteThankyou. Rush Limbaugh just now says he- Insley- is a Palooka- Whatever that is. I like Pete too.
ReplyDeleteMALI & NIGER - I = MALINGER
ReplyDeleteMALI, NIGER >>> MALINGER
ReplyDelete"Not only for the XX of the species." Pa lingers as well as Ma lingers.
I like this puzzle. In fact, I lingered on it.
MALI + NIGER (-I) → MALINGER
ReplyDeleteSwap 2 letters → maligner.
Émile Zola novel: GERMINAL, an anagram of MALINGER.
Jan's challenge: YEMEN + OMAN, remove “MEN” to yield YEOMAN.
Mali + 4th letter of Niger →
EMAIL = “drop a line”
Anagram the 2 country's capitals: BAMAKO + NIAMEY → YAKIMA (WA) + BEMOAN
Yup.
DeleteAnd you can anagram (excuse the obscenity) malinger to get mean girl, how the Dinky Toadstool might describe Nancy Pelosi.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing there will be many correct entries this week
ReplyDeleteMali+Niger-i >> malinger
ReplyDeleteMy comment about being afraid of going too far and receiving a dressing down was reference to Jamie Farr who played Klinger on M*A*S*H and who cross-dressed trying to earn a Section 8 discharge to be sent home from Korea.
Question: did the writers pick the name Klinger to rhyme with malinger?
MALI+NIGER-I=MALINGER
ReplyDeleteAdd an S and rearrange to get MEAN GIRLS, a Tina Fey movie.
(And now a musical, too!)
ReplyDeleteIn all my three quarters of a century I have never heard and read, in a single day, this much reporting on the "penis" of a US president as I have today. Trump must be very proud indeed.
ReplyDeleteThe penis mightier than the sword?
DeleteI had an inkling that might be coming.
DeleteI recall Trump saying, ....."some of them are rapists and murderers....." Now, I would also say the same can be said about US presidents.
DeleteI'm sure glad the PBS Newshour, Jeopardy and the Giants/Diamondbacks game are on TV during the "debate."
ReplyDeleteWho the heck will benefit from the 16 months more of this drivel to come?
Poorly handled as it is, I am still finding it informative and am looking forward to tonight.
DeleteI am curious to hear what you folks think of Wesleyan grads and Coloradans Hickenlooper and Bennet.
DeleteI think Bennet should stay in the Senate, and Hickenlooper should run for Cory Gardner's Senate seat, and neither should be a Presidential candidate this time around.
Deletejan, I agree with you. Please cc: Hick and Bennet.
DeleteI was a classmate of Hick, but didn't know him then. He appears from a distance to be a nice guy, okay mayor, so so governor and definitely not Presidential material. He still can run for the Senate, which sounds like the beginning of a limerick in response to your question.
DeleteZC, interesting. I have worked with John. He is a nice guy and would be a great Senator for Colorado.
DeleteMy “anchors aweigh” clue was referring to a Molly (Mali) screw anchor used in a wall (should one ever be built!).
ReplyDeleteSo far much more lively and informative than last night. Biden is out!!!
ReplyDeleteFar more dynamic than last night, with the exception of Elizabeth Warren. Pete Buttigieg stood out as the most thoughtful and creative thinker on the podia. Bernie Sanders came in strongest, but still I found Pete to be more convincing and progressive and potentially successful. Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand were also convincing and electable. The others were honorable but not presidential or convincing, some more than others. Joe Biden came across as a politician who has not progressed in his thinking and would be a clone of Hillary Clinton, which is exactly what gave us Trump. Wake up Democrat Party.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who like interesting and challenging puzzles dealing with U.S. geography and world music, there is a package of five gems by geofan (aka Ken Pratt in non-cyber life) just uploaded over on Puzzleria!
ReplyDeleteSimply select "Joseph Young's Puzzleria!" in Blaine's helpful PUZZLE LINKS in the top-right margin of his blog. Thank you.
LegeographyFan
eco, I ran across the word reboant for the first time today and thought of you.
ReplyDeleteI hope you mean ecoliform, otherwise I'm perplexed.
DeleteSpeaking of perplexed, I never saw the answer to your puzzle about seasons and newborn babies (I kept thinking afterbirth...) Jan apparently got it, but "i don't know nothin bout birthin babies".
Vernal equinox -> vernix
Deletejan is correct (not a perfect puzzle, but close).
DeleteA friend sent me a picture of their toddler covered in cream cheese and all she could think of was newborn vernix (great to rub that vernix into their skin, btw).
As to reboant >>> Echo, echo, echo. . .
Ick, I'm glad that never happened to me.
DeleteAs to reboant, that's a resounding word.
eco, are you sure it didn't? Vernix is wonderful stuff. We rubbed it into our kids' skin, though hospitals often wipe it right off the skin.
Delete>>> vernix
Resound away, away, away. . .
Wow, I didn't know all that about "vernix". I guess I am more interested in the "age old process" of making babies!
Delete68C, well that photo is a little cheesy, too.
DeleteI liked the show of hands questions during the two debates. Perhaps next time they can ask, by a show of hands, how many have had sex in a Manhattan department store dressing room?
ReplyDeleteBe careful with your phrasing.
DeleteHaving sex in a dressing room = good thing.
Getting raped in a dressing room = bad thing.
You're such a tease! We want the follow-up.
DeleteI expect when Trump is finally out of office he will write another book. This time it will probably be an exercise manual titled: Pumping Dion. Of course it too will be a lie.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping he writes a book about gaining wealth in his new location, titled "Gitmo Money!".
DeleteThis week's challenge: There is a standard two-letter abbreviation for an English word that has an unusual property: The first letter of the abbreviation is the second letter of the word. And the second letter of the abbreviation does not appear in the word at all. What's the word, and what's its abbreviation?
ReplyDeleteNot gonna say a word this week.
DeleteYeah, not too hard.
DeleteTwo answers come to mind.
DeleteDidn't think Blaine would let me get away with recusing myself.
DeleteThe first, wrong answer that came to mind was was pound, but neither L nor B appears in it.
ReplyDeleteMy first dead-end was LEAD, which is abbreviated pb from the latin word plumbum, since pipes were lead back then.
DeleteThe periodic table shows a number of elements whose symbols don't match their English language names. With Gold-Au, Silver-Ag, Tin-Sn, Tungsten-W, Sodium-Na and Potassium-K the better known examples.
DeleteE.H.
ReplyDelete