When studying the state capitals, I'd often get confused by this. Also, don't think that you can just say New York, New York — that's a little larger than Mobile, Alabama.Q: The city of Mobile, Alabama, has the interesting property that the name of the city has exactly the same consonants as its state (M, B, and L), albeit in a different order. What is the next-largest U.S. city for which this is true?
Update: I used to confuse Charleston, WV (capital) with Charleston, SC (not a capital).
A: CHaRLeSToN --> SouTH CaRoLiNa
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.
Blaine, same here. (Maybe even today ;-)).
Deletethis is wack
DeleteWell, it's not NEW YORK, NEW YORK...
ReplyDeleteNor is it YALTA, ITALY.
DeleteCrimea River, but that's not where Yalta is.
DeleteA monetary clue: Five bills that equal a c-note.
ReplyDeleteCajunississikki?
DeleteLegoDoubleSawbuck
30 + 26 + 7 + 7
ReplyDeleteTHE CARTOONS OF THE WEEK, Republican impeachment rants included...
ReplyDeleteIt finally struck me who Gordon Sondland reminded me of (with apologies to Spy Magazine).
DeleteWill The Donald put the squeeze on him?
Blaine doesn't look that old in his videos, but they do add 5 years...
ReplyDeleteThis might be a good puzzle for a first timer.
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ReplyDeleteTMI
Delete/:-)
DeleteThis place brought flags to mind.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteTMI
Delete/:-)
DeleteTMI(Thanks much indeed.)
DeleteBonus Puzzle: (wasn't this the first thing you thought this morning?)
ReplyDeleteTake the name of an animal, move the second letter 4 places later in the alphabet (e.g. B → F), and the result will be an activity often associated with this animal. What is the animal and what is the activity?
Too easy to give the word length - maybe later in the week if folks request. As always, clever hints welcome, hold off on answers until Thursday 3 pm.
Does an ant often produce art?
DeleteDoes a chick often click?
DeleteBonus Puzzle Addendum: There is a second potential answer, related to the first but a bit of a stretch.
DeleteBonus Puzzle #2:
Think of another animal, double the 5th letter and the result will be a 3 word phrase that can often be used to describe a certain famous person who, some say, resembles the animal.
Great Bonus Puzzles, eco. I solved #1, but not the Addendum... yet. I shall also work on your BP#2.
DeleteOn Thursday I'll link to past Puzzleria! Schpuzzle artwork (or should that be antwork?) that is pertinent to your BP#1 answer.
LegoWhoBelievesHeEpitomizesThePursuitOf"Ecologitectural"PuzzzleSolvation
Believe I got both BP #1 and its Addendum. The Addendum involves a subset of the BP #1 answer.
Delete"It Ain't Necessarily So..."
ReplyDeleteNo, it's not Harrisburg.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the geographical setting of Porgy and Bess until I looked it up this week, and then, in my mind, I went to Pennsylvania.
DeleteOn a slightly different note, I think I always kind of surmised that gardenias were named for some Garden, but I had no idea where Dr. Alexander lived.
Prior to 68Charger's early posting of the puzzle, I hinted "out of control", i.e., Runnin' Wild.
"Wintertime when the livin' is freezy..."
ReplyDeleteIt's not Savannah, Georgia, though that was a good episode of Spontaneanation.
ReplyDeleteEven though people talk about New York City, its real name is just "New York", of course. If you leave the redundant "City" off, Kansas, KS, works as an answer.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the n?
DeleteI meant Kansas, Kansas.
DeleteExcept Kansas city is in Missouri. Kansas city, Kansas is in Kansas. And it does not call itself Kansas, Kansas
DeleteLike Iowa City, Iowa.
DeleteJust thought I would check: We are looking for a city with a greater population, right?
ReplyDeleteSmaller population than Mobile
DeleteSmaller than Mobile but much bigger than Green, OR.
DeleteMendo Jim,
DeleteYou make an interesting point regarding population vs. area. But the precedent for NPR puzzles seems to be that "city size" refers to population unless otherwise stated.
And, as Blaine's comment in this week's heading suggests, if we were looking for a city with a greater population, then New York, New York would be a correct answer. We are looking for a city with a lesser population.
Lego(PilingOnWithThePunnery)MobileHomeAlabama
I thought he meant largest as in area. My city is about 50 square miles smaller than Mobile.
ReplyDeletecorrection...my city is about 50 square miles larger than Mobile.
ReplyDeleteThe intended answer is smaller in area than Mobile. I don't see how anything that large could be considered mobile, though. Of course, wheeling West Virginia is quite a feat, too.
DeleteAh, good to see a pun, jan. And speaking of Mobile, it seems the puns have been at Bay for awhile now.
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ReplyDeleteThe area vs.population dilemma led to this discovery:
ReplyDelete"With a consolidated land area of 2,870.3 square miles (7,434 square kilometers) and total area (including water) of 4,811.4 square miles (12,461 square kilometres), Sitka, Alaska, is the largest city-borough in the U.S."
So all is not lost this week, despite the numerous TMIs.
A great surgical feat would be Lansing, Michigan. But that is not a word that is relevant this week.
ReplyDeleteHow about flushing New York?
DeleteOr a certain city in Wales and Maine?
DeleteBanning CA? [Not really, CA friends]
DeleteBanning CA? [Not really, CA friends]
DeleteDid you forget about WA, eco?
DeleteSDB. Coolest city is George, Washington. Population.? Small. They sell a ton of cherry pie on President's day. I drove through it once, but they were out of pie.
DeleteThe population was 501 at the 2010 census.
DeleteDo you find that statistic riveting?
DeleteWe live in Renton area about three miles from the 727 plant on the Cedar river. That is a riveting place.
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Delete501's got it.
DeleteSDB: Afraid the one in WA is not a city, nor is the one is CA (15 miles west of a real Challenge). Also one in PA, and that one has traffic lights!
DeleteI always found it interesting that there is an East and West coast Bangor submarine base. Neither are to be confused with British bangers.
DeleteI am sure I once flew into our Bangor Base in order to give a lecture one evening to those who were interested in skydiving. It was a success.
One of the young military students I taught from that lecture and continued with skydiving was from Bangor, Maine. When he was about to be transferred back there, and to be married, he wanted to purchase a used rig from me, but the season had ended along with the weather. I told him I would not sell him the rig unless I could teach him how to pack the main parachute first, but the weather was not cooperating at all. We were closed and there was no place I could find the room in order to teach him and he only had a couple of days. If it had been dry outside that would have worked fine, but it was steady rain for days. I had an idea. There was the nearby Sand Point Naval Air Station on the shores of Lake Washington but you had to have access, which I knew he had, and that they had an NCO and an officer's club on base. I hoped they might have some space there that might work. They did, and it worked. I spent a full day with him, having him pack it over and over and over and over and over again as I drilled him on exactly what he was doing. It was not fun for me, and probably not for him either, but it worked and when he got back to Bangor, Maine and a few weeks later was able to jump with the rig I sold him he wrote back to me that he was able to remember everything I taught him. We kept in touch for some time thereafter.
Does it bug you when your lectures or your students fall flat?
DeleteNone of my lectures has ever fallen flat, and all of my students who continued beyond just the first jump did fall flat, as they were supposed to. And, no, I never had to deal with bugs in my lectures or my skydives.
DeleteYou could send that idea to the White House, jan. It would probably get traction.
ReplyDeleteIn 1976 DJT was able to buffalo New York to get them to largely pay for the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
DeleteFor the past 3 years this has been his MO for the rest of the country, though he will leave us with the Bills.
Boring, Oregon is also a challenge.
DeleteMy question had nothing to do with area.
ReplyDeleteI got the answer after thinking of all the times Wee Willy's ambiguity has led me astray.
Thanks, Lego.
Thank yoy, Mendo Jim. Sorry about my confusion. I do see how "next largest" could be somewhat ambiguous.
DeleteLegoThe"NextMostConfused"
The city has the same name as a major city in another state.
ReplyDeleteCharleston is also the capital of West Virginia.
DeleteNot only does New York, New York not work. But Yonkers, the city between New York City and my home, also fails because you have to swap the S for a W. And STRAP would have none of that.
ReplyDeleteSo you live in Stamford? My kids go there a lot.
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DeleteStamford is NE of NYC and ENE of Yonkers. Ben would live in a place in Westchester N of Yonkers (likely along the Hudson). Stamford would thus be E of where Ben lives.
DeleteIs that place a Holy city?
DeleteCharleston,S.C. is nicknamed the Holy City as there are over 400 churches in the city and steeples about from any high view. Founded in 1670 on religious freedom prcepts.And also home of Mother Emmaunel AME church, infamous for shooting at a Bible study of 8 members including senator and pastor Clementa Pinckney, by a crazy person trying to start a race war. God bless Mother Emmanuel. Original title was Charles Town.
DeleteI am 916 miles south of Yonkers.
DeleteBen is in Dobbs Ferry?
Delete916 miles south of Yonkers is in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.
DeleteWow. No wonder i feel dizzy. I meant south-west.
DeleteAnagram the last name of a Big actor, insert it in the middle of the name of the city in question, and you’ll get the full name of another big actor.
ReplyDeleteWith NO anagramming needed, insert a certain emotional reaction somewhere within the city in question (NOT necessarily the exact middle), break it in two and you get another actor, this one a very famous actor from the past.
DeleteAh yes, his name does ring a bell.
DeleteI see what you both did there.
DeleteYou two should have saved those. Would've been better puzzles than many of the recents!
Delete"Bess, you is my woman now..."
ReplyDeleteGardenias smell so nice.
ReplyDeleteSheesh this was easy
ReplyDeleteThe seal of Mobile Alabama posted above has been changed this year. Only the American flag is left of the six flags."Mobile abandons six flags on city seal; leaves American flag, emblem".
ReplyDelete"Mobile abandons six flags..." Too bad, the rides are so much fun. And the season pass saves so much money.
ReplyDeleteEven if you considered "New York" as an official name of NYC, it still would NOT answer this week's challenge, as its consonants are in the SAME order as the state's consonants, and the puzzle specifically is for the consonants in a DIFFERENT order. If this is not clear from the written question, listen to Will read it. As I heard it, his wording does not allow the consonants to be in the same order. The city must have the exact same consonants as its state, using all of them (including duplicates), and must be in a different order. No specification about the letter Y as a vowel vs consonant.
ReplyDeleteI am a tad certain it is NOT a City in Delaware
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I joined Paddle Boston this summer, and we had a ton of fun canoeing and kayaking.
ReplyDeleteI've been watching some of the impeachment hearings and surprisingly find myself sometimes agreeing with Republican attack dog Devin Nunes, who, every time he gets to speak, begins by calling the Democratic hearings a huge circus. Well, Mr. Numbnuts, and sorry if I misspelled your name, a circus is a proper and fitting place for us all to discover just who are the clowns among us. Welcome to the circus, Bozo.
ReplyDeleteFor me, these hearings just reinforce what a snake in the grass Pompeo is.
Deletewhen will Giuliani become the fall guy?
DeleteHaving been here in Seattle, you must know buses don't always run on time.
DeleteCHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.
ReplyDeleteCharleston, South Carolina Population 2019: 136,208.
Charleston is the second-largest and oldest city in South Carolina. Located in Charleston County on Charleston Harbor, Charleston has a population of 120,000, although an official 2017 estimate places the population at 136,208. Charleston is the 200th largest city in the United States.
Mobile, Alabama Population 2019: 189,572.
Mobile is a city located in the state of Alabama. It is located in Mobile County, where it serves as the county seat and is also the most populous city. When compared to the rest of the state, Mobile is the third most populous in Alabama. The current estimated population is 189,572.
Eco's Bonus Puzzle: SHEEP → SLEEP. Counting sheep to fall asleep...
My inspiration was from Kate Bush's remarkable album, The Hounds of Love. The B Side is titled "The Ninth Wave" and the first song is "And Dream of Sheep." Highly recommended, parts are disturbing to the point of being scary, read reviews which tell the complicated story. Side A is more popular.
DeleteI wrote, “A monetary clue: Five bills that equal a c-note.” Those are twenties, and in the twenties the Charleston was a dance fad. (Obscure enough?)
ReplyDeleteA very fine non-giveaway hint, Rob. Sufficiently obscure, for sure, and quite immune to "blog-administration."
DeleteI also believe this puzzle by Janet McDonald of Baton Rouge was very fine. The puzzle's example contained just three common consonants: MoBiLe, aLaBaMa. Janet's answer, CHaRLSToN. SouTH CaRoLiNa, contained seven! That was nice.
LeGoLaMBDaGaMBoLLeD
Charleston, South Carolina
ReplyDeleteHalf way through "Doomsday Machine" . Pretty terrifying- overall. "Slaughter House 5 " has been a long time favorite of mine. I have four days left on the Kindle copy I got from KCLS.
DeleteKeep going, it keeps getting more scary. You can probably renew, or use SPL. There is always inter library loan to consider.
DeleteAnd of course we did not realize at the time the fire bombing of Tokyo was and is a terrorist act. A direct attack on civilians rather than war makers. I suppose the film "Raids on Tokyo',which I have never seen glamorizes this atrocity.
DeleteCharleston, South Carolina
ReplyDeleteFrom last week's thread: "Really hard to come up with a clue. Maybe after a quick shower and teeth brushing." Or a short clean and a process to remove the oral stench. STRAP is shocked, shocked.
Blaine doesn't look that old in his videos, but they do add 5 years... I assume Blaine's capital comment was related to Charleston, WV. In the 18th Century Charlestown was the capital of SC; its name was changed to Charleston in 1783, and 5 years later the capital moved to Columbia.
This might be a good puzzle for a first timer. The consonants in first timer can be similarly rearranged to spell Fort Sumter, a notable landmark in the harbor.
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ReplyDeleteAn extra L, D, & R in Fort Lauderdale and there's no T in Florida.
DeleteTrue, but if a city had extra letters, would it have qualified? Nothing said about that in the puzzle.
DeleteNo...
DeleteThe city of Mobile, Alabama, has the interesting property that the name of the city has exactly the same consonants as its state (M, B, and L), albeit in a different order. What is the next-largest U.S. city for which this is true?
WW: They could be exactly the same but differ in number.
DeleteNatasha, even if that were the case there's still the T. The puzzle said "the name of the city has exactly the same consonants as its state" not that the city contains all of the consonants in the stage.
DeleteBy your rules Indianapolis could toss the extraneous P, L, and S. Or New Orleans could toss the W, R, and extra N. Not much of a puzzle.
And I meant "consonants in the state," not stage. Time to rearrange the keyboard.
DeleteBonus Answer 1
ReplyDeleteSheep → Sleep and Ram → REM (rapid eye movement stage of sleep).
Bonus Answer 2
Manatee → Man at tee Guess who? Though manatees are gentle creatures, and I've never seen an orange one.
Anybody get all 3?
As I posted on Sunday, I solved #1, (SHEEP/SLEEP) but that was all. Here is the link to past Puzzleria! Schpuzzle artwork that is pertinent to sheep and sleep.
DeleteI have boldfaced the hints I put in my sign-off, below:
LegoWhoBelievesHeEpitomizesThePursuitOf"Ecologitectural"PuzzzleSolvation
Charleston, South Carolina
ReplyDeleteMy dad was from Charleston, WV, so he would like this puzzle.
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
ReplyDelete> Of course, wheeling West Virginia is quite a feat, too.
The capital of West Virginia is also CHARLESTON.
> My wife and I joined Paddle Boston this summer, and we had a ton of fun canoeing and kayaking.
Boating on the Charles River was a CHARLES TON of fun.
My clue (cluing Charleston Chew):
ReplyDelete- “something to think about“ was a less obvious reference to “chew on” (than another blogger’s post)
- “not Chula Vista, CA” was another reference to “chew”.
Here is sneak peek of a timely puzzle I created, titled "Arnold and Keith show up," that will appear on Friday's Joseph Young's Puzzleria! MENU (see Blaine's PUZZLE LINKS). I will upload Puzzleria! at midnight Pacific Standard Time, about ten hours from now.
ReplyDeleteIf you solve it, feel free to give hints, but please do not reveal your answer before 3PM Eastern Standard Time next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.
Name In The News Slice:
Arnold and Keith show up
Take the name of a person lately in the news, first and last names. Remove the first and last letters from the first name. Rearrange the remaining letters to form a description of this person in two words: a possessive proper noun and a common noun.
What is the name of this person?
Hint: Were it not for this person in the news, Keith, Arnold and others may have been no-shows at an event chaired by Barrack.
LegoWelcomingAllThePuzzleria!
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
ReplyDelete"30 + 26 + 7 + 7" = 70 which is the difference in population rank between Mobile, Alabama (#131) and Charleston, South Carolina (#201)
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
ReplyDeleteTwo giveaway clues gave it to me.
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to the news this morning I now see my post regarding Devin Nunes was rather more prescient and relevant than I had thought at the time I first posted it Thursday morning. Is there any evil deed these vile Republican traitors will not stoop to in order to destroy this country?
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge comes from listener Jon Siegel of Chevy Chase, Md. The words WON and SUN rhyme, even though their vowels are different. Can you name four common, uncapitalized 4-letter words, each of which has exactly one vowel, and all of which rhyme, even though all four vowels are different?
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Jon Siegel of Chevy Chase, Md. The words WON and SUN rhyme, even though their vowels are different. Can you name four common, uncapitalized 4-letter words, each of which has exactly one vowel, and all of which rhyme, even though all four vowels are different?
ReplyDeleteAs a native New Yorker (Nu Yawkah), now living in the South, I’m never comfortable with pronunciation based puzzles. But I seem to have been ready for this one.
ReplyDeleteThere are quite a few good answers to this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteGvj, qnqhr a ciexe hn dbsdqszlbbwrs.
DeleteOver 1200 correct responses last week.
ReplyDelete