Sunday, June 07, 2020

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

210 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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I won’t be submitting an answer this week – I wrote the puzzle. I’ve enjoyed the work of many people, at Blainesville and elsewhere, for a long time – since the postcard days. Now I hope you enjoy mine.

    I got my lapel pin 15 years ago so the use of this puzzle on NPR kind of closes the circle for me. I’ve submitted a handful of puzzles to Will before, but this is the first one he’s selected for use on the show. You might think it’s too hard, too easy, or just about right. In any case, I hope you have fun solving it.

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    Replies
    1. Congratulations on getting your puzzle on the air!

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    2. Thanks, Chuck. 'Twas an easy and enjoyable puzzle.

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    3. Congratulations Chuck. I've submitted about 10 puzzles to Will, none have been used. He is a tough cookie, that one.

      Also, happy birthday to Plantsmith!

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    4. Good job, Chuck. Now you deserve a pin for each lapel.

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    5. Ooooh dirty.... I kid. Good job!

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    6. Congrats to Chuck. I have not solved his NPR puzzle yet but I am having fun trying. For me, anyway, it is not an easy puzzle. I am working on riff-off puzzles for this Friday's Puzzleria! (I always reprint Sunday's NPR puzzle on P!, along with a handful of riff-offs)
      But there will also be a second puzzle on this Friday's P! that was composed by Chuck. You'll find it in his recurring "Conundrumbstruck by Chuck!" feature. It is, IMHO, also an NPR-caliber puzzle.

      LegoOnBoardTheChuckBandWagon

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    7. My birth year boasts the first drive through bank. from -where else-Sweden. I hope Ben your birthday dinner was better than mine. Me at Culvers.

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    8. I did well. Kids did take out sushi which we ate at a picnic table on a cool June night. It was nice.

      I wish you another great (and puzzle-filled) lap around the Sun, Plantsmith.

      Delete
  3. I think I've got it. No clue, not yet, anyway.

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  4. First: Thank you, Chuck, for the puzzle. Yes, it was fun. Second: Thanks to Jan's comment at the end of last week's thread, I'm reasonably certain I do have the correct answer. Third, a clue: Angels.

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  5. Remove the first and fifth letters from the restaurant. Rearrange. You get one word for another place.

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    Replies
    1. Remove the first, second and fifth letters from the restaurant. Rearrange. You get an instrument.

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    2. I have it as both the above clues fit my solution...

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    3. An afterthought: if you omit the first and fifth letters as Rob indicated, it can be anagrammed twice more to a type of insect as well as a brand name of medication.

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  6. I think the hard part for Blaine was finding his graphic.

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  7. Both parts of the two-word name are associated with Santa Claus.

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  8. Does this place serve phở?

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    Replies
    1. But I think you can get a Coke.

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    2. Then, I’ll have to go with one of the alternates.

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    3. I don't know if you can find phở in a chophouse. A chophouse is not a karate studio, but I suppose somebody could be wearing a black belt there, anyway.

      Delete
  9. Musical clue: Ohio Players, FIRE! -on both accounts...

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  10. I don't have the answer yet, but as I was looking I found 2 current political answers:

    Olive Garden anagrams to either ORANGE DEVIL or GENERAL VOID

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    Replies
    1. I thought he preferred Burger King.

      Delete
    2. I know the DC Elders renamed 16th St. to be BLACK LIVES MATTER Plaza. Which, with the bold yellow paint, was a fun joke.

      But wouldn't it be better to rename the 1400-1500 block of New York Avenue NW as "I'm With Stupid" -- because it's shaped kind of like an arrow, no?

      Delete
    3. No, Plantsmith. He prefers Bunker King.

      Delete
  11. I don't need this. I've got my niece's birthday to attend today.

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  12. In the fair's fair category: Four years ago, a radio network produced and aired an in depth profile of a county in the subject area. The county was said to be the deepest of its political color of any county in the U.S. The profile was reasoned and instructive, and it included several on-location interviews. The network leans to the opposite end of the political spectrum. Sort of a know your opponent analysis to a degree which is rare. A clue? Well, the county has the same number of letters as the restaurant. I remembered that program when I arrived at a solution to this Puzzle. Political oil on the water instead of petrol on the flames. Quaint.

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  13. If you change the 5th letter of the restaurant to N, then you can rearrange the letters into the name of a famous person in literature.

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  14. Word Woman, are you still having your meeting next week?

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    Replies
    1. Unsure as yet. I will know Wednesday if we will make the trek.

      But, certainly, I hope some folks from Blainesville may gather.

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    2. I emailed you about the meeting.

      Delete
  15. Partially connected to a recent puzzle.

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  16. Railfans might know of a tie between the two.

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  17. I have never heard the term for the place before. Something about it reminds me of the pandemic.

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  18. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. How about Cat Ballou for a musical clue?

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. I explained it below. Nat KING COLE sang the title song as he appeared numerous times during the movie.

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    4. I just saw that, sorry.

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  19. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Blaine and everyone else, I am so sorry. I was in the process of sending my submission to NPR and when I hit send I saw it came up here. I have no idea what happened, but I really am sorry. Blaine, much to his credit caught it before I could finish my own deletion. How do you do it, Blaine?

      Delete
    2. I was wondering if the pandemic just had you losing track of the day of the week. :)

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    3. LOL. I am getting older, but I don't believe I've lost my marbles yet.
      I truly am confused as to what just happened. Since I am a firm believer in the theory that there are no accidents, I must take full responsibility and blame for what happened.
      I also have been wondering how you solved this one so quickly. I was going to give up as I never eat in chain establishments, and don't even know the names of many of them and don't care to know. But you know how it is with us puzzlers. We are a hopeless lot.

      Delete
    4. SDB - While you are atoning for one error, you may want to think about the way you attacked one of our long term regulars, ecoarchitect. He was so hurt by your behavior that he hasn’t logged on here in a month.

      Delete
    5. SZ - I think you have it backwards. He has been attacking me for some time now, and I had had enough, especially with the Joseph Mengele comparison. You also do not know about what was said in private emails. I would also add that he intentionally hurt me several times with some of his posts and my "behavior" had nothing to do with his slinking off in shame when I called him out on it.

      Delete
    6. I can only comment on what I saw...and add that the person who reaches out first with an olive branch, will always be remembered for the act of kindness.

      Delete
    7. Yow. I think I missed this fight. How could I log on here weekly and miss a spat acerbic enough to lead to someone comparing another to Joseph Mengele? Wh'appen?

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    8. And I can only tell you that I kept trying to do that, mostly by ignoring his insults and hinting that I could respond in kind, but he kept upping the derision. He made several accusations about me that I did not respond to although they were all false, but I knew there would be no point.

      Delete
    9. If i had been up at 1:30 am i might have seen it. Alas.
      Reese Witherspoon has a new book out.

      Delete
  20. Okay, I was able to put away another puzzle, with thanks to Chuck for the fun Wordplay.

    Which gives me six days left to open up my chain of ANGRY YIDDISH fast food breakfast joints, called RAGE LATKES.

    Grand opening this Sunday in the GREAT LAKES region.

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    Replies
    1. I thought your chain would be The REGAL STEAK.

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. i think they have those Latkes- at Katz's Deli. Also called Latkes Diablo served with a habanero infusion.

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  21. Well, this cat is so far gone we can't even find the bag.

    But anyway: Same "restaurant," different jumble with the phonetic result that Abu Abbas never had time to consider.

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  22. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who's having difficulty with this one. Usually by this time of the week are complaining about the puzzle being too easy. At which point I start calling myself stupid.

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  23. Such was the brilliant subtlety of Blaine's non-TMI comment of last week that I am loath to take this week's comment at face value. If it does have hidden relevance, I have yet to figure it out. Also, I'm not sure "extremely easy" is literally applicable! The answer is at least halfway obscure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Easy...cinch...belt...okay. At least I was right about assuming it had some relevance! TLI.🙂

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  24. Does the restaurant have an apostrophe? Is that too much to ask?

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    Replies
    1. You would probably have to ask for one; and then there would be a surcharge.

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    2. Asking is always okay. Providing useful answers is frowned upon.

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    3. I'm too cheap for that. Just got the answer. I got so excited I almost hacked up a lung.

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    4. Well done, DSB77! I'm afraid that you can ask anything you want around this crowd, but in return, instead of actual answers, all you get is encrypted snark (also known as "ranks".... )

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    5. Or I guess the Cryptic Crossword crew would call it "broken ranks" or something?

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    6. Still can't get it. Not doing any better on Puzzleria! either.

      Delete
    7. If you can't figure out Puzzleria!, I can find you an intro to the owner.

      Delete
  25. The restaurant also anagrams into a restriction imposed on on-line casinos.

    Regards.

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  26. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  27. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  28. I should have gotten this sooner, except I have never eaten at this food chain, so it completely fell off my radar.

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  29. There is one particular "large area" of the United States that you could anagram until the cows come home and still leave many restaurant-worthy names undiscovered. I wandered aimlessly there for too long before looking at the hints.

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  30. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    Replies
    1. Got it now! Honest mistake, I swear. Never heard that term for the area and thought I was being silly. Had no idea I was actually on the right track after all!

      Delete
  31. Musical Clue: "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"

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

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  32. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  33. "Qualified Immunity" sanctions Police Brutality. The Press never mentions this...

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  34. Man,I keep missing the clues that Blaine deletes before I can see them!

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    Replies
    1. To see all comments, as posted, check the, “Notify Me,” box, but you may then see some spoilers....

      Delete
  35. I'm 0 for 2 with my postings. Sorry, Blaine. I'm bordering on getting a cold shoulder. At least.

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  37. Blaine, you move too fast for me. Seems a dishonest man can't get a break!

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  38. Missed the show this week. Late to the party. Need to crack this fast.

    Surprised to see only 200 answers last week.

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  39. Musical clue: "Gentle On My Mind".

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  40. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Three Mile Island, me thinks.

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    2. I didn't think it was that obvious but deleted it anyway.

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  41. You definitely got the answer!

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  42. Sad to say, no trek east for us this June.

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    Replies
    1. WW , if you had made that trek would birding had been a part of it?

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    2. Quite possibly. Are you a birder?

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  43. Things here in Seattle with the protesters became totally peaceful after the mayor had all the police disappear. Why didn't they understand before that it is the police that cause the rioting? Anyway this does not seem to please our Criminal in Chief in Washington D.C.:

    https://nypost.com/2020/06/11/trump-demands-seattle-officials-take-back-cop-free-protest-zone/

    ReplyDelete
  44. How far are you from CHAZ- Capitol hill Autonomous Zone? Trump is on his way to save you from radical leftist Insley.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 7.7 Miles. I have told you before where I live and that it is less than 2 miles due East from Carkeek Park and Puget Sound.

      Delete
  45. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  46. Up the Rebels. And. . . . how many electoral votes does CHAZ get?

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  47. Hello, good citizens of Blainesville.

    Yes, it's Thursday, but it's time to don our Sunday best, because I've unearthed another missive from Pope Guglielmo.

    Hear ye hear ye.

    It seems our MendoJim may have unsettled our dear PuzzleMaster last week, who can solve and craft alike, but seems to have his chalenges penetrating Blogspot.

    (Don't we all...)

    So a missive was sent by the Pope, Saturday night, yet I did not unearth it until just now. It seems He has been lurking in these parts, so please sit up straight and mind your manners.

    It reads:

    Hi Ben,

    Thanks for posting my note on Blaine's blog yesterday.

    I've tried to add a post myself this evening (in response to Mendo Jim), but it keeps getting rejected. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

    Hate to see this go to waste, tho. Can you post it for me?

    --Will


    And then, after a few choice words I shant repeat about our beloved MendoJim, he continues:

    Just to explain: Entries for my weekly challenges go to NPR in Washington. I live in New York. I have no way to see them.

    The "Weekend Edition" staff member who oversees the puzzle segment constantly changes. I must have worked with 50+ NPR editors over the years. Often these seem to be newbies. As the lowest people on the staff, they get assigned to handle the lowly puzzle. (That's my impression anyway.) Sometimes they're assiduous in poring through the entries looking for alternate solutions. Other times not.

    Last week someone told me about Tate's and Senefed, which I thought were legitimate, so I mentioned them on the air. This week no one said anything about "two on one."

    That doesn't matter, because (as I said) I wouldn't have accepted this anyway. I might have mentioned it as an "almost" answer, if there'd been time.

    Hope this clears things up.

    --Guglielmo (my name if I were ever pope)


    So now we have a partial explanation. Still no verdict on the time of day we should submit, but we have begun to move closer to The Truth.

    Yours in puzzling,

    Ben

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How about the May 10th puzzle (The TOYOTA COROLLA puzzle) where I submitted TEN alternate answers? Will mentioned none of them and he probably wasn't even informed of them.

      Delete
    2. "And then, after a few choice words I shant repeat about our beloved MendoJim, he continues:"
      Unless he asked you not to, you should.

      Delete
    3. Ben: If you won't, he should.
      More needs to be said on the subject, especially in light of Shortz's recent claims.

      Delete
    4. Thanks for sharing, Ben. Puzzling fellow, this Will.

      @ron, The puzzle submission page asks you to restrict to one submission. Perhaps they rejected your other 9.

      Delete
  48. Any last minute hints on this week's puzzle would be very much appreciated :).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll be happy to offer a "dead end," so as to not waste your time.

      I spent a bit of time thinking about the THOUSAND LAKES area and its relationship to any STEAKHOUSE, but my meat search was not fruitful.

      Delete
  49. TACO BELL >>> COAL BELT

    My Hints:

    “I have never heard the term for the place before. Something about it reminds me of the pandemic.” If they serve beer Corona would be one choice.

    “How about Cat Ballou for a musical clue?” Nat KING COLE sang the title song while he appeared at times during the movie.

    I decided not to use COAT, which is an anagram TACO, as a hint.

    It tool me way too long to solve this than it should have because I was looking for a “restaurant chain,” not a drive in joint.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a Jane Fonda film clue two weeks in a row (after The China Syndrome last week).

      Delete
  50. TACO BELL—>COAL BELT

    About my “angels” clue: An allusion to the “Honky Tonk Angels”—Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, and Loretta Lynn, the “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” If I had identified it as a musical clue, I was pretty sure it would have been removed by a blog administrator as TMI (an abbreviation necessarily absent from last week’s puzzle clues).

    P. S.: Following up on one of Rob’s posts: If you remove letters 1 and 5 from the restaurant’s name and anagram, you get in addition to “locale“ the following two words: “ocella,” which is a kind of butterfly, and “Ocella,” which is a generic brand of oral contraceptive.

    ReplyDelete
  51. TACO BELL -> COAL BELT

    > Both are associated with health hazards. [Deleted]

    E. coli and black lung, e.g.

    I protest this deletion. Chain restaurants in the news for health problems include McDonalds (1982), Jack-In-The-Box (1993), Burger King (1997), KFC (1999), Sizzler (2000), Wendy's (2006), Taco Bell (multiple), Jimmy John's (multiple), Frederico's Mexican Food (2013), Chipotle (multiple), Subway (2020), Olive Garden (2005), Country Cottage (2008), Habaneros (2003), China Buffet (2001), Chi-Chi's (2003), etc., etc.

    > Both parts of the two-word name are associated with Santa Claus.

    (Don't think I deserve coal in my stocking for my first comment.)

    >> But I think you can get a Coke.
    > Nở.

    Taco Bell was bought by PepsiCo, whose fast food restaurant division became Yum! Brands, which still has a lifetime contract with Pepsi. No Coke.

    > Railfans might know of a tie between the two.

    Taco Bell founder Glen Bell (yes, it's named for him) was a railway enthusiast who, in the 1970s, opened the West Side and Cherry Valley Railroad, a narrow-gauge tourist line in Tuolumne, CA. His steam locomotives ran on coal.

    (I'm surprised that skydiveboy didn't pick up on "tie" as a railroad pun. He must've gotten sidetracked.)

    > Musical clue: "Gentle On My Mind".

    By Glen Campbell. The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour was a 1968 summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, which was pretty campy. If you remove "camp" from "Glen Campbell", you get "Glen Bell".

    (Is it ironic that the guy who was famous for "Gentle On My Mind" went soft in the head?)

    ReplyDelete
  52. TACO BELL, COAL BELT

    "The clincher." pointed to clinker, a mass of incombustible matter fused together, as in the burning of coal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Until I read "How to Boot a Steam Locomotive" 30 years ago, I thought clinkers were only the result of burning coal.

      Delete
    2. Ah, yes. A friend wrote a Master's thesis on clinker so I learned A LOT about coal clinker. I want to spell it with a K, though.

      Delete
    3. My grandfather used to talk about working as a breaker boy for pennies a day.

      Delete
    4. Paul, very interesting. Thanks for the link.

      I wanted to turn BREAD BASKET into BASKIN ROBBINS, but couldn't quite make the anagram work.

      Delete
    5. Yes WW , getting back to your birder question.
      I am a novice birder.

      Delete
    6. Such an interesting pursuit. I am a novice, as well.

      Delete
  53. TACO BELL → The Appalachian COAL BELT.

    Rob's “word for another place” → LOCALE.

    Charles' “instrument” → CELLO.

    Bobby's “person in literature” → LANCELOT.

    Dr. K's “insect” → OCELLA (butterfly).

    ReplyDelete
  54. Taco Bell>>>Coal Belt.

    Although Taco Bell is no longer owned by Pepsi (it’s now owned by Yum Brands) you can only get Pepsi brand drinks there, which made my reference to getting Coke there more enigmatic than intended. My reference was actually to coke, the refined coal product used in steel making.

    When Jan pointed out that you can’t get Coke at Taco Bell, I referred to an getting an alternate, without using the word cola, which as an anagram of coal I was afraid would earn me a, “…this comment has been removed…,” for my efforts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, SuperZee, I thought your little toss-off reply, "But I think you can get a Coke" was the best snark of the week. It's easy to ignore as irrelevant if you don't know the answer, and it's easy to miss even if you do, despite the immediate connection to coal. It was something of an homage that Blaine left it up and nobody cried TMI.

      Delete
    2. Lance,
      Thanks so much for the comment. You made my day.

      Delete
  55. I submitted TACO BELL, COAL BELT.

    My musical and film clue was The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"

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

    The lyrics tell the story of Virgil Caine, who lived in Tennessee, but is serving on the Danville Train in the Civil War. Tennessee and Virginia are the two ends of the Appalachian Coal Belt.

    I included the video, because the song is sung by The Band's drummer, Levon Helm. Levon had a minor film career, as he was asked to play Sissy Spacek's father in Coal Miner's Daughter.

    Ben

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great bio of him- "I'm not in this for my health."
      Great drummer. Anyone who can sing and play drums is drop dead genius.

      Delete
    2. Bruce Springsteen described The Band as having "two of the best white soul singers to have ever lived," referring to Rick Danko and Levon Helm.

      Delete
    3. This is a great moment with Levon Helm in a great movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMSGB98sJEs

      Delete
  56. The title of Puzzleria's "Riffing Off Shortz And Graham" puzzles early tomorrow in the really wee hours is "Run for the border, loosen your belt."
    And don't forget to check out Chuck's second puzzle on tomorrow's Puzzleria! It is a really nifty puzzle titled: "Mamas & Papas, Marimba? & Grammys."

    LegoWhoAddsThatYouAlsoDoNotWantToMissPuzzleria!s"SchpuzzleOfTheWeek"Titled"FourOnAMatch"(It'sAboutTennis)

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  57. I spent way too much time playing with GREAT PLAINS, which might be the ideal 11-tile Scrabble rack. There are more than 400 two-word anagrams, including such promising restaurants as PEASANT GIRL, LEAPING TSAR, GRAIN PLATES, and TRIANGLE SPA, not to mention such one-word ristorantes as PANGLITERA'S. Alas, no chains.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really thought, briefly, that Blaine's "extremely easy" comment was hinting at GREAT PLAINS.

      Delete
    2. BTW,
      Q. Do you know where the Great Plains are!??

      A. They are at the Great Airports!

      Delete
    3. That's funny. When I just now read the question I did not read the answer, but immediately thought that they are parked at the Boeing Renton Plant, South of Seattle. Then I saw your answer and laughed.

      Delete
  58. Taco Bell--Coal Belt.
    The above mention of Reese Witherspoon, who starred in "Walk the line." As June Carter Cash- the coal miner's daughter.
    Never heard this term before.

    ReplyDelete
  59. I don't mind telling you that these puzzles are very easy. I wouldn't complain at something a trifle more difficult. If you've ever heard the BBC's "My Word" program from decades ago when we still had the vestige of a holistic tradition, you'd know what I mean.

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  60. That is scholastic tradition. Even the default spell checker is stupid.

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  61. Just got the call from Weekend Edition that I was the puzzle winner this week.

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    Replies
    1. Congratulations! Will you tell them who you are?

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    4. This is Matt M. from Bethpage, NY. Any suggestions what I should ask Will, if they offer me the opportunity?

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    5. Congratulations, Matt from Bethpage! Glad to see the Guyland REPRESENTING!

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    6. Congratulations! And good luck.

      You won't be unknown any more.

      Delete
    7. A bunch of us here have played before, Matt. So you'll get good advice here -- that you likely don't need. You will do well, I'm sure. The only thing that helped me -- listen to two or three previous segments and pay attention to what they ask and how the contestant sounds when they answer. When it comes to the puzzle part, take a breath and make certain you pace it well. If you answer too quickly, you may sound cocky. And if you take too long, well, they may edit those out anyway. So don't sweat it. Have fun!

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    8. Congrats, Matt from Bethpage, Unknown no more! Before I was jan from Cambridge and jan from NJ, I was jan from Massapequa.

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    9. I kind of miss the Massapequa Jan.

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    10. How so? (I haven't lived there for 50 years.)

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    11. Just saw this, Matt M. Congratulations! I look forward to hearing you Sunday.

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    12. Thanks for all the advice and good wishes! - Matt

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    13. Matt from Bethpage, Mazel Tov! I got the call about six years ago and here is one piece of advice that helped me that I have not seen yet. Have a paper and pencil at the ready, I was able to quickly write down the phrase I had to look for a solution in and it helped immensely. Best of luck, and yes, love to see the Guyland represented as well!

      Delete
    14. Matt here. Just finished recording the segment with Lulu and Will. The suggestion of having a pen and paper hand was crucial. It was a fun experience. I needed a couple of hints, but I got all the answers. And I did not resort to the cliche of saying I was "relieved" when it was over. Now I have a head start in figuring out this week's puzzle. Thanks guys!

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    15. Well, I figured out the answer to next Sunday's puzzle. I won't spoil it for anyone. - Matt

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    16. Glad for you that the taping went well, Matt. If you've solved next week's puzzle, who knows, maybe you'll play on-air twice in two weeks.

      LegoAirApparent

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  63. I got TACO BELL, COAL BELT maybe late Monday night after giving it about 20 minutes, or so. As I have with every puzzle answer for the last few years. With 3 wrong answers in about 2 years. I have to admit that I do feel a slight satisfaction at arriving at the correct answer. It kind of hits you in a way that you know it's right. But have I really, truly expanded my knowledge or even increased my brain power in any way? Does it matter? If you are content with solving puzzles that only need a database to solve and perhaps a touch of Asberger's syndrome, then you're in hog heaven. Whew-wee I can get the name Alice Munro out of almost the same letters as the name Len Cariou! Same vowels, anyway. Here's the point: we are living in a very unsteady and mutable time. That is the things that we know and are comfortable with are going to change. Some definitely need to. How many African-Americans are on this forum? How many ever play the Sunday puzzle? Folks, this is a miniature Klan rally.

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    1. I wouldn't be welcome at a Klan rally because of my race.

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    2. I wouldn't be welcome at a Klan rally either. Then again, I've never been.

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    3. Klan rally? Nope, not for most of us here, I believe.

      What an odd observation.

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    4. We Blainsvilians (Blainiacs?) may be clannish, and stick together as puzzle and wordplay lovers, but we are definitely not Klannish.

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    5. I'd be much happier with the Klan if they would (a) ditch the hoods and robes (b) stop the obsession with blacks and Jews and (c) spend the bulk of their time together solving puzzles and word play.

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  64. Have you tried Prevagen? It is supposed to help.

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  65. Klan Rally anagrams to RANKLY ALL. How fitting

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  66. Sorry , but if you google “coal belt” and it doesn’t directly come up, then it doesn’t really exist.

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    1. Appalachian Coal Belt – US of Energy 2.0
      usofenergy.com › region › appalachian-coal-belt
      The Central Appalachian Coal Belt, which contains parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, is the middle of the three basins that comprise the ...

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    2. If you click on my COAL BELT above, it comes to that.

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    3. My parents purchased their house November 1942 before it was finished. It is in the NW part of the city in a 5 square block planned neighborhood called Wedgwood. It cost $6,000. They wanted to buy a house in an even better neighborhood, Laurelhurst, that was asking $7,000. There was no way they could afford it. Their mortgage payments were $25.

      It was, and still is, a dream neighborhood where everyone knows all his neighbors and people do not tend to move on. It was a significant and rare, attraction, as I grew up, if a police car drove up the street. All N. Seattle neighborhoods had, and they are still on the books, covenants restricting Negro, Asian, Jewish and perhaps other people from purchasing homes therein. That part was not at all idyllic, at least as I look back on it now. Otherwise it was, although boring at the same time. And BTW my best friend back then was a boy whose father, but not his mother, was Jewish. I wonder how they got in. Maybe because he was a prominent Democrat who had connections and I recall meeting our governor at their house one time during an election.

      Anyway each house had an attached garage with a small wooden removable panel that faced into the basement and it was used to transfer the coal that was delivered by truck to the garage into the basement. I do not remember if we had to do that task or if it was done by the delivery man.
      I was still very young when my parents had the coal furnace converted to oil and only have vague memories of the coal period. It seems so long ago and not really of this lifetime.

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    4. Wikipedia has an interesting "List of belt regions of the United States"

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    5. Mendo Jim, check out Wikipedia's LIST OF BELTS.

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    6. I wonder why they don't include the Leather Belt?

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    7. Hey Mendo Jim and Ron -
      Did you notice that when you follow that link and click “Coal Belt” from the list, it takes you to a page not titled “Coal Belt “ but instead “Coal Region” (and not sure that page even has a Coal Belt reference. It’s actually the only Belt on the list that this happens for.

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    8. Forget it, Snipper, it's Shortztown.

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  67. Thanks skydiveboy and Ron. My point is that the answer itself doesn’t come up at the top of the google search, and when it does, it’s referred to as the Appalachian Coal Belt or Central Appalachian Coal Belt - - not “Coal Belt”. Which is also why several other bloggers haven’t heard of it. (In contrast to Rust Belt).

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    1. Well, as I said yesterday in my noon post, I never heard the term either. I had to google it to make certain it might work, and while it did not come up at the top, it did appear further down. Maybe this Sunday's offering will be about suspenders.

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  68. I am somewhat surprised no one mentioned Kohl's department store.

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  69. The term Coal Belt is a contrivance, I think. The boys up at Black Diamond or Lonesome Pine are likely to use the term Coal Fields. As your token Deplorable, even I had never heard the term Coal Belt, same as our favorite Seattleite. The term Coal Belt is probably used by the same people who think the region is pronounced App-uh-lay-sha. In that vein, my reference to the county in my post earlier is Buchanan County, Virginia. Buchanan likewise is generally mispronounced.

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    1. I guess I could go with "Coal Fields," but I really prefer Sally Field.

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  70. Coal belt? What is that? I'm a coal cracker. I was born in Scranton and grew up in Hazleton and that is the Pennsylvania Anthracite coal REGION. Not called the coal belt.

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  71. About 30 years ago I was with a bunch of old hippies who mooned the klan on Juneteenth. All the police in their riot gear on big black horses just died laughing.
    It was great fun.

    d.e.

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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.