NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 28, 2020): Five-letter animals

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 28, 2020): Five-letter animals

Q: Think of a five-letter animal. Remove the middle letter, and two opposites remain. What animal is it?

I have two answers. One would be familiar to crossword solvers, the other (intended) answer is probably simple enough for an elementary school student.

Edit: Crosswords have made me familiar with quite a few 5-letter african animals (OKAPI, ELAND, NYALA...) and it was the last one that results in two cities (New York and Los Angeles) on opposite coasts. Not the intended answer, but I liked it nonetheless.

A: SWINE --> SW (southwest) and NE (northeast)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 21, 2020): Lake and City in Europe

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 21, 2020): Lake and City in Europe:

Q: Think of a famous person whose name consists of three names. The first and last letters of the first name plus the first and last letters of the second name plus the first and last letters of the third name, in order, name a city and lake in Europe. Who is it?

Edit: I didn't have it initially (kept trying to make Geneva or Zurich work). I decided to stay neutral and not say anything...

A: Lulu Garcia-Navarro --> Lake Lugano and Lugano (Switzerland)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 14, 2020): Five Letter Words

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 14, 2020): Five Letter Words:

Q: Think of a five-letter word. Change the first letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a new word that doesn't share any sounds with the first one. Then change its first letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a third word that doesn't share any sounds with either of the first two. What words are these?

I'm reminded of something from 2006. That won't help anyone, but I'll explain on Thursday.

Edit: For our family Christmas "Close But No Rhyme" Puzzle from 2006, the first clue was "A Christmas tree limb that is not smooth to the touch." The answer is a pair of words that might appear to rhyme (same ending letters) but don't. The answer was ROUGH BOUGH.

A: BOUGH, COUGH, DOUGH

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 7, 2020): Open for Curbside Pickup

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 7, 2020): Open for Curbside Pickup:

Q: Name a well-known restaurant chain. Rearrange its letters to name a large area in the United States. This area has a two-word name. What is it?

This was extremely easy.

Edit: In other words, it was a cinch (like a belt). Also, if anyone did a reverse image search on the picture, you'd see I had to crop out a Taco Restaurant logo.

A: TACO BELL → COAL BELT