Sunday, February 09, 2020

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 9, 2020): World Traveler

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 9, 2020): World Traveler:
Q: My friend Penelope, who is from La Jolla, went on a world vacation. She stopped in Santa Rosa, Toronto and Casablanca. What European capital did she also visit?
This puzzle shouldn't require much more than a list or an atlas.

Edit: The word "REquiRE" also starts and ends with the same two letters.
A: AMsterdAM follows the same pattern as PEneloPE, LA jolLA, SAnta roSA, TOronTO and CAsablanCA.

167 comments:

  1. 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.

    You 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.

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    1. Funny thing, from last week, after I posted my IL-LI clue I thought your "I guess I'll just be content..." was a similar cryptic clue, the b-e contents.

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    2. I thought that the relative that Blaine had to ask for help about Billie Eilish was Grammy.

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    1. I think I got it from this clue, but I don’t know why it is the right answer.

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    2. Here's a hint: almost an emordnilap.

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    3. Now I figured it out. Overthinking once again.

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    4. Got it from your clue. No idea how it connects to the prompt tho.

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    5. I am sorry about this. I knew that my anagram hint would not give it away, but I stupidly did not expect that the limited number of capitals could each be tested. Apologies.

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    6. No need to test the capitals, but the other thing you referenced. It was the second one I tried, and probably the first for some people.

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  3. Blaine is usually scrupulous about not giving away additional information, but this week he had no choice. Will this one be more challenging on Oscar day?

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  4. As I enjoy my onion bagel with a schmear, my sense is there will be lots of correct entries this week.

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  5. To be candid: Not too difficult, so, yes, many answers this week. Also the setting for one of the world's great books.

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    1. Actually, if it's the one I'm thinking of, I think the country in general was the setting but a different town. Take the A train, then take the A out.

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  6. Back in the "old days", I used to like listening to this country's shortwave broadcasts.

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  7. I posted on Sun Feb 09, 06:52:00 AM PST on last week's thread,

    Besides that ONE European capital, I counted 4 other world capitals that Penelope might also visit.

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  8. Did anyone else come up with two in Europe?

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    3. Naaah. Just one. Being consistent with logical pattern in the puzzle, just one.

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    4. As a David Bowie fan, yes I did.

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  9. Got it. Next.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Billie Eilish won 5 (five!) Grammys this year (not 4 as Will stated in the puzzle segment this morning.) Her brother, Finneas won an additional 5 Grammys for production work on her songs/albums:

    https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/5-grammy-billie-eilish-bad-guy.html/

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    1. Her brother's birth name is actually Finneas Saelish.

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  10. Replies
    1. Three European capitals? I don't think so. Not even two.

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    4. Ron, that definitely deserves a BA! Please delete.

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    6. I have two different answers and two different analyses to arrive at those two answers. I did not realize I was giving away one of those answers.

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    7. I'll be curious to see your analyses, but I'm pretty sure what you gave away was the intended answer. It is a simple solution.

      In that interpretation I find 2 other world capitals, neither in Europe. In a broader reading I find 7 additional capitals, 1 in Europe.

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    8. You are so right Jan. People should think before they publish.

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    9. At then end of last week's blog, I named the two non-European countries whose capitals might also be on the list, but Blaine deleted those posts. I guess five names are OK, but two more are too many.

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    10. If I answer this puzzle in English, I get one answer. But if I answer it in the respective country's language, I find two equally valid answers to this puzzle.

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  11. Did James Bond lead someone on a wild goose chase in this capital?

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  12. Now, I have a Muppet Show ear worm.

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  13. Let me just say that the fact that Lisa Bonet ate no basil provides no help whatsoever.

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  14. Will we have a near all-time low in answers this week?

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    1. Eco: I think this is the easiest puzzle in years and will have lots of correct submissions.

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    2. No, eco, I believe that Will will be flooded with answers.

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  15. She should of stopped in Florida too.

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    1. "How sweet it is!" in the words of the late, great Jackie Gleason.

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    2. Yes and after that on to the coast of England might be a good stop.

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  16. Penelope couldn't find the US Embassy there.

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  17. Would George be her travel buddy?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, but this post might not last long.

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  18. At first I thought there were way too many answers, then my wife pointed out I had missed the word EUROPEAN.
    I then found three. But the one I'm sending in lead to this clue: 2 old time actresses, Irene Dunne and Peggy Wood.

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    2. Humm...Peggy Wood and Irene Dunne. The only thing I got was "The Clinging Vine," from the 20's and I Remember Mama. What do I do now?

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    3. You have the right association, but if I say more, I'll probably be deleted.

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  19. It could be argued by some that the intended answer is, in fact, incorrect. In that case, either there is no answer, or my above post gives the alternate (and correct) answer.

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  20. I solved it, but my reason for why is really dumb. Am I overthinking it?

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  21. Penelope's last name is Press, and she went to see her favorite author in this city.

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    1. Penelope Press is also known as Penny Press, the name of a crossword magazine company. I went to Penny Press in Connecticut to see Peter Kanter, the author of the Penny Press books. Soon after that, I watched the movie "The Fault in Our Stars". In the movie, Hazel Grace and Augustus went to Amsterdam to see their favorite author. His name was Peter. It reminded me of going to Penny Press to see Peter Kanter. When Penelope "Penny" Press went to Amsterdam, she saw her favorite author, Peter.

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    2. That deserves a NewCranberry Medal for "a random string of events that no one but you would have come up with because they were completely unrelated." (with credit to Buck Bard)

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  22. Did I detect a reference to a French-language song writer in one of the posts above?

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  23. Sorry, but I couldn't help but think of Mr. Interlocutor Don La'Mahn recently laughing hysterically with his end men. Guess he foresaw an Elite Puzzle with geography, maps, spellin', readin', and all that.

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  24. I hear she only stopped in this city briefly on her way to join the Syrian resistance.

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  25. You mean the Commander-in-Tweet?

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  26. My former boss named his baby Penelope. My office mate and I reveled in asking how Penn-A-Lope was doing.

    I will tell you another Texas anecdote so mi ti me. . .

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    1. Nothing brings me joy like discussing the Classics and Ancient Greeks with intellectuals and pronouncing them all with appropriate flourish:

      sew-CRATES
      THUCK-a-dides
      a-WRIST-o-fanes

      and on and on....

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    2. My mother tells me that, back when she was a neonatal nurse, a patient called her daughter "fem-a-lee" because that's the name she saw on her bassinet in the nursery.

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    3. My late father used to pronounce "envelope"(on-vuh-lope or en-vah-lope)as "envelop"(en-veh-lup, stress on the "en"). Drove my mother crazy.

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    4. I meant "vuh" with a U for both correct pronunciations. Disregard the "vah".

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  28. Far be it for me to sermonise, but I believe any educated person should be able to solve this one easily.

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  29. The last two weeks have been a little disappointing here at Blainesville.
    The old advice remains the best: If you want to
    solve it on your own, wait until you do before you come here. Then it is fun.
    If you want help, come first and don't worry about it.

    I just listened to last weeks answer's "best song of the year" and wonder vaguely about the competition..

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  31. We all have splinters in the windmills of our minds.

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  32. Some of us tilt at those windmills.

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  33. In case no one else here was watching the Oscars tonight, last week's answer sang during the "In Memoriam" segment. BTW Congrats Sir Elton and Bernie!

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  34. Lovely city! I suggest she go to a museum while she’s there.

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    1. If Penelope is so inclined, she could visit an historic synagogue or botanical garden, too

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  35. You know me as WW, but, this week MM will do.

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  36. I wonder how recently John Travolta has been to this city...

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  37. The city has something that sounds like part of a TV show; one of the actors has a strong association with that city. There was also early influence from the Ottomans. I can say no more.

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    1. ... and the first part of the first name of another actor -- a spice girl? -- is not something particularly associated with the city.

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    2. If it's the one I'm thinking of, there is another semi-regular actor on the same TV program associated with another European capital.

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  38. Today we went to see the movie "Parasite" and thought it was very good! The movie was well written using a nice mix of drama, humor, and suspense. At times it reminded me of some of Hitchcock's movies.
    My only complaint was that it was done in Korean with English subtitles, a minor inconvenience, though.

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    1. @68Charger...As a former grad with a degree in Film, I found myself watching this movie without missing a beat. I forgot I was watching the subtitles. It is by far, one of the best films I've ever seen. Glad that you enjoyed it! Kudos to the Director Bong Joon-Ho!!!

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    2. As I watched it I kept thinking "no wonder this won big at the Academy Awards"!!

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  39. Start to finish, I solved this puzzle fast.

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  40. Wordsmythe here, I am having the ubpleasant experience of transporting my bicycle on Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, that is) regional rail. Hold it, the neanderthal conductor has to validate my transit pass. See, they don't like it you bring a bicycle onboard, so they get a little edgy. Even though I am a regular Septa rider and am at least generally grounded in regional rail etiquette. Okay, neanderthal is too strong, so I'll just say edgy conductor. In a certain European capital, bicycles are not a problem. They pull many out of the river every year.

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  41. Buddy, this was one easy puzzle!

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  42. Replies
    1. That is clever and to-the-point. Any idea who wrote and/or sings it?

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    2. The brownshirts at the White House also want to know.

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    3. Great clip, jan! These sentiments were expressed 100 years earlier (1920) HERE.

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  43. Just an early plug for tomorrow's Puzzleria! (see Blaine's PUZZLE LINKS):
    We're featuring another amazing Valentine's Day Cryptic Crossword Puzzle created by cranberry. Fun cluing, great fill, lots of letters that cross. Check it out very early on Feb. 14.

    LegoWhoAlsoChallengesAnyBlainesvillianToSolveAReasonablyToughToSolve"SchpuzzleOfTheWeek"OnTomorrow'sPuzzleria!

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  44. AMSTERDAM

    Each name begins and ends with the same two letters.

    > She could also have visited the capital of Bahrain. [Deleted]

    Manama

    > ... or Burkina Faso. [Deleted]

    Ouagadougou

    Blaine, could you explain why pointing to Manama and Ouagadougou (which fit the same pattern but aren't valid puzzle answers) was too revealing, but Unknown asking, "Would George be her travel buddy?" wasn't?

    > ... and the first part of the first name of another actor -- a spice girl? -- is not something particularly associated with the city.

    I was under the mistaken impression that Rose Marie was one word. Anyway, AMSTERDAM is known for tulips, not roses.

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  45. AMSTERDAM

    My clues—“To be candid” and ”the setting for one of the world’s great books”: ”candid”—>”frank”; Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl was set in Amsterdam.

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  46. 1. AMSTERDAM (SMART DAME), Netherlands. The first two letters are the same as the last two letters in the same order in each of the cities and the name: Penelope, La Jolla, Santa Rosa, Toronto, Casablanca.
    Two world capitals: Manama, Bahrain, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Warsaw (doesn't work, letters reversed), Poland.

    2. OSLO, Norway. OSLO uses only letters from the cities visited: SANTROCBL(J) and no other European capital fulfills this condition.

    My first thought had been that the European capital city had to have a vowel as the second letter and had to end with the same vowel; this gave me Valletta, Monaco & Belgrade. I assumed that those of you who had found 3 answers had found these 3 answers.
    This accounts for my deleted posts.

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  47. This was one of those weeks when I thought I had the answer – but many of the comments here didn’t seem to match. Even more confusing, I had three potential solutions.

    I observed that Penelope, Santa Rosa, Toronto, and Casablanca all have three repeats of a single vowel. European capitals sharing this feature are TBILISI and BRATISLAVA.

    Similarly, La Jolla has three “L”s. Using triple consonants as the criteria, adds BRUSSELS to my list of potential solutions.

    Unable to decide between them, I made a single submittal, with all three.

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    1. From the other posts, I see why I didn't get a phone call. Well done to those of you who came up with the corect solution!

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    2. Also feeling nostalgic this week.

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  48. I think eco's clue was for the Dick Van Dyke show, which features DVD as well as Maury AMSTERDAM, and don't forget Jerry Paris who acted and directed and lives on as bearing the name of a well-known European capital but not as useful to us as Maury AMSTERDAM. AMSTERDAM phone!

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  49. Amsterdam

    Will we have a near all-time low in answers this week? 2 meters below sea level, Baku is the only world capital at a lower elevation. I suspect we will have many correct entries.

    The city has something that sounds like part of a TV show; one of the actors has a strong association with that city. There was also early influence from the Ottomans. I can say no more. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" starred Morey Amsterdam. Rob Petrie tripping over or stepping aside the small ottoman was a feature in the show's introduction. Sadly with her passing, we can say no Mary Tyler Moore.

    World capitals that start and end with same letters.
    Manama
    Ouagadougou

    I thought others might have a broader definition of capitals that repeat the first 2 letters. European capitals with starting letters repeated.
    Ljubljana

    World capitals with starting letters repeated.
    Caracas
    San Salvador
    Abu Dhabi
    Funafuti
    Dodoma
    Antananarivo

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    1. Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia. The l and the j are repeated. What'd I miss?

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    2. Oh, it was listed. Well I got your Dick Van Dyke clue!

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  50. I suggested that she *go* to a museum. The Van Gogh would be an excellent choice!

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  51. Amsterdam

    All of the cities Penelope went to have the same first 2 letters and last 2 letters.

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  52. Realizing the answer was "Amsterdam", reminded me of "the old days" (1960's thru early 2000's for me), of listening to Radio Nederland on shortwave radio. It was very easy to pick up "Radio Nederlands", in English, on SW radio. This was because they had a relay station in the Caribbean that made reception as easy as picking up a local AM radio station. In fact, quite a few European stations had strong signals. Half the fun of listening to them was actually the search in finding them. For better or worse, though, the internet has almost made SW Radio a thing of the past.

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  53. Having seen and enjoyed "Parasite" as others have, I can say I am comfortable with a bit of foreign language now and then. So I am a bit surprised that no one seems to have put forth Warszawa as an alternate answer to this week's puzzle:

    Warszawa (disambiguation)
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Warszawa or Warsaw is the capital of Poland.

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  54. AMsterdAM because the first 2 letters are the same as the last 2 letters and in the same order.

    My Hint: Far be it for me to sermonise, but I believe any educated person should be able to solve this one easily."
    Sermonise and educated both have the same quality as the puzzle demands.

    I just got back home from a dental appointment, which is why I am posting late this week.

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  55. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5gluwb (10:00 - 10:40)

    Did Penelope get an athletic scholarship to a prestigious university in our nation's capital?

    Bohemia is neither a capital nor a country.

    Same goes for Holland.

    Holland Taylor played matriarch to 2.5 men.

    James Bond always seems to be leading someone on a wild goose chase somewhere:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y79O2Q0eO5k
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVDByyjG7cY

    Timothy Dalton once took Anthony Edwards on a field trip:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL6IFeBek7Q&t=2724s

    Anyone can see; nothing really matters to me.

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  56. I noted that, as a David Bowie fan, I had found a second European capital city that met the criteria: Warszawa, the Polish name for Warsaw and also the title of an instrumental track on Bowie's album "Low."

    In another post, I suggested that Penelope was only stopping in Amsterdam briefly on her way to joining the Syrian resistance, which is headquartered in the city of Azaz.

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  58. At first, I had thought that the distinction was that the place-words contained no e's, whereas the name (of a person) 'Penelope' has three e's and e's are reserved for pEoplE. So -- considering the city and the political subdivision of which it is a capital (Santa Rosa, Sonoma County [county seat]; Toronto, Ontario [provincial capital]; Casablanca, Morocco) the capitals and the political subdivisions of what they are capitals of each contain no 'e'. With this model, Bratislava, Slovakia; Moscow, Russia; and Madrid, Spain comply (but not Amsterdam, NEthErlands, nor ValEtta, Malta). Furthermore, this pattern follows Blaine's hint: "a list or an atlas".

    Then a deleted hint here gave away what is a simpler answer, and probably the intended one: first two letters = last two letters [of the city]. Occam's razor wins. So:
    AMsterdAM (for the English names)
    or also WArszaWA (for the native-language name of city).
    However, with Amsterdam there is the problem that although the "constitutional capital of the Netherlands" is Amsterdam, all the branches of Dutch government (hence also foreign embassies to NL) are in The Hague [s'Gravenhage/den Haag]. So from this standpoint then there is either no answer, or WARSZAWA as in Polish is the single answer.

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    1. I think it is important for us to remember that Holland is simply the word these simple tulip growers use to say haul earth. Hauling earth, a.k.a. land, is what they had to do in order to keep the ocean at bay. Otherwise we may never have had what has become known as a Dutch Treat. Now a Dutch Treat, you must understand, is where both the land and the sea pay an equal share in their collective bargaining as to how they are going to get along. Now do you sea how simple this is?

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  59. Amsterdam

    Last Sunday I said, “This one’s so easy it needs no clue. Nevertheless, it reminds me of when I used to get mad at my pet.” But my post got busted by our favorite Blog Administrator in Chief. A thousand pardons. And there was such a great tag line waiting for today: “Dam hamster” :)

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  60. My clues -

    As I enjoy my onion bagel with a schmear, my sense is there will be lots of correct entries this week.

    Onion and sense share the same property. Similar to how sky dive boy clued.

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    1. Snipper, are you trying to schmear me?

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    2. No - Schnipper just thinks “great minds think alike”.....and so do ours!

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    3. I came up with Amsterdam as being the answer immediately, or more accurately, it was the first city I thought of. I awoke to have a brief chat with Mother Nature, read the puzzle, did not write it down, but returned back to bed. So, I had no idea what the puzzle was really about, which is what do these words have in common. I happened to think of Amsterdam first only because it happens to be a hub city for some airlines. I doubted that was going to work and then thought it might have something to do with the cities ending in a vowel. I fell back to sleep and when I eventually got up I got the answer fairly quickly.

      Now, as to Amsterdam. What a horrible city! Can you imagine the cacophony that goes on in a major city with almost a million residents all wearing heavy wooden shoes? Don't even think of going there. You won't even be able to find a store that sells shoelaces.

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  61. AMSTERDAM(The first two letters in order are the same as the last two letters.)
    I, too, used a reference to Morey AMSTERDAM. The late actor/comedian starred as Buddy Sorrell on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" in the 1960s. Had I not quickly noticed autocorrect meddling in that last sentence, it would've come out "Duck Can Duke"! LOL

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  62. William Barr's admonition to Donald Trump to stop tweeting was either:

    1) An honest statement to remind 45 that the Department of Justice will act independently and based solely on the established law of the land.
    2) Yet another deflection to distract the mass of people from that fact that 4 career DOJ prosecutors have quit, and hide the fact that the Attorney General and DOJ are once again abiding with Trump's commands - peremptorily reducing convicted criminal Roger Stone's sentence, who doubtless has a lot to say. All the while giving 45 a little wink to not worry, though they probably coordinated this "bold" rebuke in advance to give cover.

    If you believe #1 I've got a great bridge for you.

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    1. Regarding William Barr, not that I have any pity for him, but I think the wear and tear of working with Trump is apparent in the pictures of him taken on his first day with Trump versus yesterday!

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  63. AMSTERDAM.

    My musical clue was Billy Ocean, due to his song "Red Light Spells Danger" and Amsterdam's famous Red Light district.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW66keO8Iew

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  64. For those Blainevillians who long for challenging puzzles, there are three especially challenging puzzles on Joseph Young's Puzzleria! that was uploaded abou an hour ago (see Blaine's PUZZLE LINKS).
    The three puzzles are:
    1. Patrick J. Berry's (cranberry's) Valentine's Day cryptic crossword puzzle.
    2. A "Schpuzzle of the Week," that is a "combo platter" of Kepler and Galileo.
    3. A Riffing-Off-Shortz puzzle (Entree#1) that involves a seven-stop world tour by a 1970's supergroup.
    If you hanker to chew on some tough but satisfying "mystery meat," visit our Puzzleria!
    Anyone who can solve even one of the three puzzles listed above deserves a lapel pin!

    LegoLamentsALackAlasOfPinsOrTieTacksOutToPass

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  65. I commented that Blaine was USusally scrupuloUS about not giving extra information, but that he had no choice this week (as he had to spell out La Jolla). It was a fitting puzzle for Oscar day, as the fame of fighter Oscar De La Hoya probably exceeds the fame of the California city, leading many NPR listeners astray.

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  66. Oops. Sorry about the unususal spelling in that post.

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  67. I too came up with Amsterdam, but at first I had thought it was Warsaw. It took a moment to realize that the last two letters were reversed at the end of "Warsaw" vs the beginning.

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  68. For those who were wondering why I had counted 4 other national capitals, I had unfortunately turned to Wikipedia's List of national capitals, which included two cities which are not exactly the capitals of any actual country. Besides (and in fact, before) the listings of Manama of Bahrain and of Ouagadougou of Burkina Faso, it lists in the same box with El Aioun (declared), Tifariti (de facto) of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Azaz(listed after Jamestown) of the Syrian opposition.

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  69. This week's challenge: What familiar 10-letter word contains a silent B, E, and O — not necessarily in that order. And those three letters don't have to be consecutive in the word.

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  70. I'm glad I don't have to endure this! --Margaret G.

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  71. Over 800 correct responses this week.

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  72. The answer seems to be calling to me.

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  73. The "o" in "thumbdrive" is so silent, you can't even see it there.

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  74. Is there any word in which B is silent other than:
    (a) immediately following an M as in lamb and climb, or
    (b) being followed immediately by T as in debt and doubt?

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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.