Sunday, August 25, 2019

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 25, 2019): You Have Two Weeks to Escape

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 25, 2019): You Have Two Weeks to Escape:
Q: This is a two-week challenge. It may sound impossible, but it's not. You wake up trapped in a round room with six doors. A voice over a loudspeaker tells you that five of the doors are booby-trapped and will bring instant death if you try to open them. Only one door provides an opening that will get you out safely. The doors are evenly spaced around the room. They look exactly alike. Your only clue is that on the wall between each pair of doors is a large letter of the alphabet. Going clockwise, the letters are H, I, J, K, L and M. Which is the correct door that will get you out ... and why?
Read carefully. Don't choose a booby trapped door or you can kiss your *** goodbye!

Sunday, August 18, 2019

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 18, 2019): New Math?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 18, 2019): New Math?:
Q: If five = four, six = nine, and seven = five, what does twelve equal?
I haven't heard this air yet, and I already have the answer.

Edit: My hint is it's easier to see this puzzle written down than to listen to it. Also, a very similar version of this puzzle aired about ten years ago. The clock was a little bit of a misdirect although you do see clocks with Roman Numerals.
A: Roman Numerals within the spelling of the first number equal the second number.
fIVe = 4
sIX = 9
seVen = 5
tweLVe = 55

Sunday, August 11, 2019

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 11, 2019): Insert an E

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 11, 2019): Insert an E:
Q: Think of a common 5-letter word. If you insert an E after the second letter, you'll get a common 6-letter word. If instead you insert an E after the fourth letter, you'll get another 6-letter word. And if instead you insert an E at the end, you'll get still another 6-letter word. What words are these?
You can anagram the 6-letter words into two other 6-letter words, starting with the same letter. One has to do with words and the other with a certain sport.

Edit: The anagrams were PARSES and PASSER
A: SPARS --> SPEARS, SPARES, SPARSE

Sunday, August 04, 2019

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 4, 2019): Synonyms and Antonyms

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 4, 2019): Synonyms and Antonyms:
Q: Think of a two-letter and a five-letter word that are synonyms. The two-letter word and the last syllable of the five-letter word sound like new words that are antonyms. What words are these?
If today is Day 1, I'll definitely give you the answer before Day 6.

Edit: The South Korean boy band Day6 has a song named Hi Hello on their 2017 Moonrise album. Also in the picture, the big bee is higher and the small bee is lower.
A: HI, HELLO --> HIGH, LOW