I'm back!Q: Take an 11-letter word with two D's in it. If you drop both D's, you'll get a world capital followed by a sign of the zodiac. What's the 11-letter word?
The big difference between Dromedaries and Bactrian camels is in the number of humps on their backs. I'm sorry for feeling that all the hints to hump (day) and lumps (of sugar) and (camel) cigarettes were too revealing.
A: DROMEDARIES --> ROME, ARIES
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.
Please no spoilers before Thursday, folks.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Blaine! You were missed.
Blaine, how was your summer vacation? Hope it was fun!
DeleteNot too bad a puzzle, easier than I thought it would be!
ReplyDeleteIs anyone else reminded of the old Chock Full o'Nuts restaurants?
ReplyDeletePeter O'Toole.
ReplyDeleteRob mentioned an actor. One of my personal favorites of his films is "The Night of the Generals" where the actor plays a WWII German General who moonlights as a Jack the Ripperesque serial killer. The young German Major investigating the murders is played by Omar Sharif.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYou can submit your answer using the first link above. It goes to this week's puzzle.
DeleteEasy puzzle this week, so I'll give you THIS WEEK'S CARTOONS!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this gives too much away.
DeleteHint: The sign of the zodiac is not the sign of the archer.
ReplyDeleteThe on-air player today did a great job with a tough category.
LegoSignOfTheToyBrick
You would say this, Lego.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this gives too much away.
DeleteWordsmythe, I felt your first clue just gave a little too much away and needed to be removed so people can have fun solving this on their own.You obviously have the answer. Now just let others figure it out on their own without ruining it.
DeleteThe cardinal rule here is if your clue is removed by Blaine, don't post the same clue again--two more times! Sheesh.
DeleteYeah, don't shove it down our throats! :) --Margaret G. (I didn't see your hint, by the way)
DeleteWordsmythe, I am curious about what you were thinking posting the answer three times, especially since I think you have been here at Blaine's before.
DeleteEdward R. Murrow.
ReplyDeleteMatthew 13:41-42
ReplyDeleteMusical clue:
DeleteBrian Eno
Don't have to wait until Thursday Afternoon.
DeleteShouldn't the puzzle deadline be Wednesday this week?
ReplyDeleteC'mon, Mike!
DeletePeople seem excited about one. Please don't post early. Even a day early would be unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteAs long as we are dropping "D's" how about we drop Kristen Gillibrand and Jay Inslee from the "D" debates. Gilli (see today's extensive WaPo magazine coverage) for her shrill overreaction to the Al Franken thing among other reasons, and Inslee for saying he would make Megan Rapino his SOS. And it is an easy puzzle this week. Just look at the zodiac and do a little math.
ReplyDeleteQ ...and has a capital value of $675 to $2560
ReplyDeleteI will hold onto my clue for a few days.
ReplyDeleteA good puzzle and not too hard this week. Last week's was a killer.
ReplyDeleteLast weeks was easily solved by computer after I quickly ran into initial difficulty. I'll think about springing it on grandkids also.
DeleteA key factor in how difficult you found last week's puzzle was the list of countries you used. I got lucky and used a list which ordered countries by population. Had I been working alphabetically, I'd probably have thrown in the towel...
DeleteHugh, I thought that this puzzle was easily solved by a computer as well (at least that is how I solved it)
DeleteGot lucky and found this answer right away. Reminds me of when I was trainspotting in England.
ReplyDeleteBlaine, I saw Jan's clue in last week's blog before you deleted it. I thought it was a fine clue. You realize its significance only after you solve the puzzle yourself. Could you explain why you felt it too revealing?
ReplyDeletePerhaps I've watched too many cartoons. And I remember a song. I was going to let it go until a later post made the connection too explicit.
DeletePlus, it's Bastille Day. Off with their heads!
DeleteMovie clue: Young Frankenstein.
Damn! I was just going to post my clue: Mel Brooks.
DeleteHe didn't look Korean to me. Maybe because his name was Korman.
DeleteFrancophiles all -- Happy Bastille Day! Vive la France!
ReplyDeleteLovely Sunday morning! First, the NPR puzzle. Then, Strange News from Around the World!.
ReplyDeleteLink to an article about "Drama Dairies" in England.
DeleteMy own zodiac sign, BTW.
ReplyDeleteSome of y'all need to put a filter on your giveaway comments. Don't spoil the fun.
ReplyDeleteI guess I was one of the few who didn’t get the Country Joe McDonald references last week. All of the “damn” clues actually left me chasing a Yankee red herring which obviously didn’t pan out. I just looked up the lyrics to “I feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag” though and wow! “You can be the first ones on your block/ to have your boy come home in a box.” Intense!
ReplyDeleteA synonym makes me also think of a major US city.
ReplyDeleteI always forget -- is it 1? or 2? or n? or 2n?
ReplyDeleteI got it, before seeing some of the clues here, some of which may be too transparent.
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday afternoon, I commented:
ReplyDelete"I also would like to hear objections to the answer "FX" to last week's challenge that Shortz chose to ignore."
I obviously hoped to generate some discussion about the fate here of alternatives solutions.
I have to hand it to Puzzlemaster for being the only one to respond.
Thanks, Will
The Wikipedia article on today's answer in general has lots things I never knew.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSorry... TMI
DeleteI thought so too, and almost commented, but did not want to draw further attention to it. Thanks, Blaine, and welcome back.
DeleteSeems like Blaine is always the Bogeyman.
Deleteeco,
DeleteSpeaking of persons of dubious credibility. Have you ever heard of the Russian, Boriska Kipriyanovich? I stumbled across him last night by chance and am somewhat captivated. (This is not a humorous post.)
Never heard of him. If he weren't an alien he could join the other stable genius in the White House. Also a great place for Bogeyman.
DeleteWell he is not an alien. He is a human now, as we are. However, he is stating that an enormous amount of time back he was living a life on Mars. He is saying he, along with many others, is being born here in an attempt to try and prevent us from destroying our planet from the ability to sustain humans. One of the moments on one video where he is being questioned is when he is asked what his opinion of humans is. He has to be prompted to give an answer, which is that he doesn't want to speak negatively about humans. He basically is saying he is here to help, and not to criticize, but to do something positive to keep us from destroying ourselves. If we dismiss him as bogus I believe we are making a huge mistake. I am not posting this to be humorous. It is to be taken seriously.
DeleteAuthoritive clue Robert A. Heinlein
Delete"Stranger in a Strange Land"
DeleteIt doesn't matter whether there is or isn't a Russian who claims to be born on Mars. I'm a retired shrink and
ReplyDeleteand so I'd be the first to say he's either deluded or a hoax. What is important is what we're doing to our planet. He could be bogus but his message isn't.
I would say I am in agreement with you in spirit, but I also must say that you seem to be misunderstanding it a bit. He is not saying he was born on Mars and is now living here. Obviously that would not be possible. He is saying he is reincarnated here now. He was once incarnated on Mars when that planet was supporting human life. You probably do not believe, or understand, how reincarnation works, but all he is saying is that there are many entities who once were living lives on Mars who have chosen to now reincarnate on Earth in order to help us not make the same disastrous mistakes that caused Mars to no longer sustain human type life. I would advise keeping an open mind on the possibility of reincarnation especially as there is a great deal of evidence pointing to it being a reality. There is not one shred of evidence that we only live one human life. If you can think of one, please let me know what it is.
DeleteBoriska Sr. was on the ship's crew that bugged the Sphinx about 4000 years ago. The Sphinx remains but no sign yet of the civilization that sent the crew.
DeleteEstimates of all human beings ever are about 100 billion. Do only about 10% get a current life?
I think the explanation is that one has been reincarnated more than once, so by that you are many of those 100 billion.
DeleteIf humans first appeared 50,000 years ago and assuming the average reincarnation time to be, say, 50 years (average lifespan until recently) we have had 1000 lives. Not including reconstruction time.
But it raises a question: if everyone is reincarnated then we can't have an expanding population unless some have either:
1) been "held back" or had their reincarnation delayed (equivalent of Christian limbo). By the recorded evidence this would be for quite a while because the total population between 50,000 BCE and 8000 BCE was about 1.1 billion.
2) new people are being added without reincarnation, which means some are older souls than others.
3) one can be reincarnated into more than one person at a time.
In some ways #2 and/ or #3 are the only plausible explanations, as the population of humans was, at one point, very low. Otherwise where can these new souls come from?
4) we can be reincarnated from (and ostensibly back into) other creatures, which means that the total population of all life must be reasonably static, unless there is a limbo. Otherwise how to account for apparent increases and decreases in populations? Of course reincarnation from another species is required if one believes in Evolution.
But I don't share SDB's enthusiasm for reincarnation and past lives. I think a common thread of all humanity is that our own non-existence is incomprehensible and/ or something to be feared. Every culture has come up with explanations for this, including reincarnation - 1.1 billion Hindus and many Buddhists are on board.
For extraordinary ideas I need extensive evidence, But other than personal claims I haven't seen evidence for reincarnation. Frankly the Catholic Church has a larger collection of miracles.
Godsville would be a good name for a website.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteP.S. I apologize for the difficulty I have with posting clues that are vague enough to get past Blaine.
ReplyDeleteThe key to coming up with good and acceptable hints, but not clues, is that you can explain them to us after the Thursday deadline and they prove that you really did solve the puzzle. We here all take your word for it anyway, but it can be fun to come up with a clever, but very obscure hint. Sometimes I don't even try, and frequently I think of several, but do not post them because I am afraid they may be giving away too much. Sometimes I botch the whole thing and post something Blaine removes, and that is okay. I think we all do it sometimes, but it is always best to be conservative in our hints. We all know you mean well.
DeleteClever but very obscure, you say?
DeleteRosebud.
Musical Clue: B52s
ReplyDeleteSecond musical clue: Peter Frampton.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThird musical clue: Patti Smith.
DeleteD.ROME.D.ARIES
DeleteRome (a homophone) was a recent big hit for the B-52's.
Frampton's Camel was his second release, drawing lots of attention before Frampton Comes Alive. (I searched but he never recorded Frampton's dromedaries.)
And Patti Smith was never a popstar, but one of her more successful records was Easter. And Easter is celebrated in Rome during April, under the sign of Aries.
Out in the open
ReplyDeleteEverything there is fresh and clean
Unlike the life I'm here living
All creatures great and small
Living together one and all
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNot being argumentative, but could you explain why this was removed? Did you feel the clue was too obvious?
DeleteYes. Another very similar clue was already removed earlier.
DeleteJD - I guess it was obvious to some that it was too obvious.
DeleteObviously.
Delete;-)
SDB: I heard of that Russian.
ReplyDeleteHe seems to be in hiding, or something now. I cannot locate a photo of how he appears now. Maybe you can find something.
DeleteBoriska all growed up!
Delete*III
ReplyDeleteHHH?
Deleteeco, maybe. But, not my first thought. My hint has to do with something current.
DeleteA few weeks ago I had an alternative answer along with the accepted correct answer. This week I feel pretty certain about the single answer I came up with.
ReplyDeleteTrès Bien
DeleteThe last couple of days I've been carrying around this old tune in my head, "Got a date with an angel". Anybody know who made it popular?
ReplyDeleteMy Dad used to sing it in regular rotation of his greatest hits when singing me to sleep. Made popular by a singer with the unlikely name of Skinnay Ennis.
DeleteGot A Date With an Angel
DeleteLegotADateWithAPitInIt!
I must be older than you all. How about it's being sung by a Brit by the name of Al Bowlly in 1931?
DeleteClark,
DeleteYour wish is my command.
LegoWho'sGotADateWithABelleAndIsOnHisWayToHell!
Musical Clue: Rolling Stones
ReplyDeleteBeast of Burden
DeleteR.I.P. John Paul Stevens.
ReplyDeleteIt's too hot to hike today, which is a shame.
ReplyDeleteDROMEDARIES
DeleteIf it weren't too hot, I might have brought a CamelPak.
DROMEDARIES - Ds = ROME, ARIES
ReplyDelete> Reminds me of a tea-time question. [deleted]
One hump or two?
> Don't wait too long: Thursday will be too late.
Wednesday is Hump Day.
> Movie clue: Young Frankenstein.
What hump?
BTW, Tuesday's NY Times Crossword, edited by You-Know-Who, included 28A: Oasis beast (5). Just sayin'.
DROMEDARIES - 2 D'S = ROME & ARIES
ReplyDeleteMy Hint: Mel Brooks "What hump?"
DROMEDARIES, ROME, ARIES
ReplyDelete"Lego, you would say that. " refers to Camel Joe and Lego Joe's real name.
"*III" refers to the website camelcamelcamel (x3) which I learned about in conjunction with Prime Day. (I thought *3 might be construed as a two-humped camel so I went with Roman numerals instead.) What was your HHH, eco?
I'm betting on Hubert Horatio HUMPhrey.
DeleteHubert Horatio Who?
DeletePaul, likely so I imagine.
Deletejan, thanks for the clip.
If there are lots of wild interactions going on near where cows congregate is that a drama dairy?
Sure, and this time of year, the animals there are considered summer stock.
DeleteBut wouldn't that increase their chances of breaking a leg?
DeleteYes, HHH was Hubert Humphrey (you youngsters won't remember!), see connection to Bogart below.
DeleteThe explosion in Londonderry earlier in the year might be described as a Derry drama.
DeleteWord Woman... not wild interactions, but
DeleteShakespeare!
DROMEDARIES-DD= ROME and ARIES
ReplyDeleteRe: my comments (dated, and Chock Full o’Nuts) :
Dromedary was a brand name of packaged dates, commonly used in Date-Nut Bread.
One of the staples on the menu of the long gone Chock Full o’Nuts restaurants was cream cheese on Date-Nut Bread.
I think there is still one of these in New Jersey, when I googled but did not look at the menu. Are most of your clues of the edible type? Thanks. I love date bread.
Delete1611 Avenue M, Brooklyn, NYC. Next visit.
DeleteCommenting on this blog can be like threading an n-dimensional needle!
ReplyDeleteDROMEDARIES - Rome * Aries
ReplyDeleteDromedaries are single hump camels but I always associate the word "camel" with the "The Road To Morroco" movie, with Hope & Crosby on a two hump camel!
DROMEDARIES (-D-D) → ROME + ARIES.
ReplyDeleteDromedaries in Jordan.
I always forget -- is it 1? or 2? or n? or 2n?
ReplyDeleteCan never remember with these camels - dromedary or Bactrian, which has 1 and which 2 humps? The n hints at the fact that the answer is plural (n camels).
The camel has a single hump;
DeleteThe dromedary, two;
Or else the other way around.
I'm never sure. Are you?
- Ogden Nash (America's greatest poet!)
Dromedaries have 1, Bactrian 2.
DeleteThe trick i learned as a kid is that a D on its side looks like 1 hump, while a B on its side looks like 2.
(D)rome(d)aries
ReplyDeleteShouldn't the puzzle deadline be Wednesday this week? Hump Wednesday; sorry if this was too obvious (I almost didn't post), even more so with Tommy Boy's "C'mon Mike."
From eighdreeuhn, Brian Eno's "Thursday Afternoon" was his 11th album, well after "Needles in the Camel's Eye", the first track of his first solo album "Here Come the Warm Jets".
Seems like Blaine is always the Bogeyman. Humphrey (Bogie) Bogart smoked Camel cigarettes in Casablanca ("in the White House"). Can extend to Humphrey the Whale, the Humphback who took a migratory side trip into the SF Bay in 1985 and 1990. In response to WW's *III, HHH is, of course, Hubert Horatio Humphrey.
Dromedaries - dd = Rome, Aries
ReplyDeleteMy post, though literally true, also referenced the single hump that a dromedary has.
My synonym that makes me think of a major us city referred to Camel and Winston-Salem (cigarette brands).
ReplyDeleteLike many of you, I got this one almost immediately. Also like many, if not all, of us, I was not called this week (assuming the call, in fact, happens pretty quickly after the deadline)!
ReplyDeletehttps://deadhomersociety.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sideshowbobroberts8.png
ReplyDeleteDROMEDARIES, ROME, ARIES
ReplyDeleteBeing born on April 15 makes me an ARIES.
A wonderful Sunday comic strip, usually just one panel, is called "Rhymes with Orange". A couple of years it was a picture of an extraordinary critter with a long neck and a little head on each end, and three humps in the middle, The caption was "Palindromedary".
ReplyDeleteThat's a a very timely, coincidental and serendipitous comment, Dowager Empress. It just so happents that the "Schpuzzle of the Week" on tomorrow's Puzzleria! requires the solver to recreate a 66-word, 273-letter palindromic paragraph that summarizes an 11-verse poem about the misadventures of a old sea captain whose business is salvaging sunken vessels.
DeleteThe letters in a palindrome, of course, read the same forward and backward. ("A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!" is the best.) DROME is a Greek root meaning "running." A palinDROME "runs back again." a DROMEdary camel is just a good runner.
LegoWhoKeeps"Droming"OnAndOnAndOnAndOnAndOnAndOnAndOn...He'sLikeTheBoringVersionOfTheEnergizerCamel!
"Able was I ere I saw Elba":Napoleon.
DeleteIn the Book of Lists, I think it is, is a very long list of names,beginning with Dennis and ending with Sinned. Sounds like quite an orgy..
xxxooo DE
I quit.
ReplyDeleteI worried that my talk about dates(as in dromedary) would get deleted.
ReplyDeleteDromedaries don't have dates. They tend to do it like Trump in a dressing room. They just hump and go.
DeleteOh SDB, shame on you!!!!
ReplyDeleteDo I get a scarlet letter?
DeleteNah, you're too ready to.
DeleteAnd proud to too.
DeleteClark,
DeletePeter Ustinov said it so well, "Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious."
SBD,
DeleteAnd Oscar Wilde said, "Life is too important to be taken seriously
When I posted "Some of y'all need to put a filter on your giveaway comments" the reference was to Camel unfiltered cigarettes. But ya'll knew that, right?
ReplyDeleteAnd "y'all" obviously points South as a reminder of Joe South's big hit, Walk A Mile In My Shoes.
DeleteThe new puzzle page is up, but it doesn't yet include the new puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Will told the intern to wait until it is read on the air.
DeleteI noticed that the winner is a repeat. He was on in 2015.
Don't normally get too BOASTY, at least in this capable crowd. But the new puzzle took my precisely 16 seconds to solve. It was a bit annoying, actually.
DeleteTwo word phrase in 9 letters meaning "Easy to make money." Anagrams to "Hard to make Money."
ReplyDeleteI think this is the gist of it.
Paraphrasing what I heard on the radio, the new puzzle is, “Think of a two word phrase, nine letters, for something that makes it easy to get money. Rearrange the letters to make a two word phrase for something that makes it hard to get money.”
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben. It took longer to type the question than to come up with the answer. I think we can bank on there being thousands of correct answers sent in this week.
ReplyDeleteI should have known my first guess wouldn't work, as it contains a redundancy.
ReplyDeleteBACKGROUNDS and LUMBERJACKS each have 11 letters and no "equidistant pairs."
ReplyDelete