Hint: Mapplethorpe's momQ: Think of an eight-letter word for something we all crave now. It consists of three consecutive men's nicknames. What are they?
In a recent film on Robert Mapplethorpe, the role of his mother, Joan, was played by actress Carolyn McCormick. "Carolyn M." is an anagram of the answer.
A: NORMALCY = NORM + AL + CY
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, I notice that, ever since the Lulu Garcia Navarro / Lugano puzzle, you have not been including a link to the NPR puzzle page, as you used to. The answer word wasn't used during the puzzle segment this week, so that can't be the reason....
DeleteSorry, Blogger has changed its editor and I seem to have lost it during a copy/paste. I'll remedy that shortly. Thanks for pointing that out. It wasn't intentional.
DeleteHyperlinks have been restored... A little late for the prior weeks, but better late than never.
DeleteAre you saying you didn't intentionally omit the link the week it pointed back to the answer/host?
DeleteNope. I wish I could claim it was an intentional hint.
DeleteThat's new.
ReplyDeleteWhat I now crave is a non-trivial puzzle.
ReplyDeleteNow that really would be welcome.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy wife got it within 10 seconds. Now to enjoy the heat on this Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThink of a biblical superhero you might have seen.
ReplyDeleteOh! I have now gotten what must be the intended answer; the above clue is for an alternate.
DeletePATRONAL
ReplyDeletePatronal change.
DeleteI can't figure it out myself. Is my nickname actually in it?
DeleteIt depends on how you look at it.
DeleteYou kind of miss the good old days even if they weren’t all that good.
ReplyDeleteI have an unfair advantage in solving this one.
ReplyDeleteLegoAdmits:"AndBeliveMe,WithoutAnUnfairAdvantageIAmOftenFlummoxedOnSundayMornings!"
High school, lego?
DeleteBeing a Sunday, I need to say my prayers in order to get the answer. --Margaret G.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the record is for correct entries, but if the country's going to break another record this week, let's hope it's that one.
ReplyDeleteThe most I have seen is 2400 which was 3 weeks ago
DeleteOver 900 correct answers last week, and Will accepted NYALA and SKUNK.
ReplyDeleteI was convinced that NYALA and SKUNK were wrong so I didn't comment here to save myself the embarrassment. Now that they were accepted I think my third geographic guess of GATOR should also count.
DeleteAgreed, Haris H.!
DeleteLegoWhoThinksWeAreLivingInAnAlternativePuzzleUniverse!
Will deserves an award for this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI'll have what one of these guys is having.
ReplyDeleteI posted on Sun Jul 05, at 06:07:00 AM PDT on last week’s thread:
ReplyDeleteThe on-air puzzle included 3 items not included on the website!
6.5: Tract of land with low growing shrubs.
9.3: If you can't stand this, get out of the kitchen.
9.6: An inhabitant of ancient Syria.
My new house number is 29. I know it'll be lucky because not only is it a prime number but it's also my son's birthday.
ReplyDeleteA quick tricky puzzle:
DeleteHow many prime-number dates are there in the month of July?
Hint: The answer is a prime number.
LegoPrimoNumero
Do the math.
ReplyDeleteCheck old dictionary.
DeleteGood point, Charles.
DeleteLegoSaysThatThisIsWhatHappensWhenMathAndSemanticClash(ItAin'tPretty!)
11?
ReplyDeleteDr. K,
ReplyDelete11 is the answer I get too.
LegoWhoIsFlatteredByTheComplimentsHeGetsWhenHeServesElevenedBreadThatHeBaked
legolambda,
DeleteSince my son's birthday is this month, I'll have to apprise him of the fact that his upcoming birthday is the 10th of 11 primes in July. Thanks.
Hip hip hooray - what's the weather gonna be like? Let's throw a party!!
ReplyDeleteThe first word that came to mind!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of southwest and northeast, North West's dad announced he's running for President, presumably to siphon off votes from the Democrats and bring us four more years of his pal.
ReplyDeleteMy two grandfathers, Elmer and Leroy, went by nicknames that didn't relate to their given names, one of which appears in this week's puzzle. One went by Buster, and I won't tell you what name the other grandfather went by.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather Elmer went by Al, which isn’t normally a nickname associated with Elmer
DeleteWhen I was a kid, Thursday and Sunday were both must-see TV nights.
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: Aerosmith
ReplyDeleteMusical clues: Gary, Paul, Gene
ReplyDeleteGary Portnoy helped Judy Hart Angelo write a song about the place where everybody knew NORM's name.
DeletePaul Simon wanted to be called AL for some reason I've never been able to figure out.
Gene Frenkle was instrumental in promoting CYrus McCormick's invention.
I have an alternate answer that is just as valid as the intended answer.
ReplyDeleteI have 2 answers also.
DeleteAnother easy if somewhat flawed offering.
ReplyDeleteIt does include some delicious historical irony.
And augury?
Are North and South Dakota opposites?
How does Will know what I , or anyone else, craves?
ReplyDeleteI thought we were all craving "change"...
DeleteI am reasonably certain the intended answer is not: urinated.
ReplyDeleteHey SDB, craving your word is a function of age!
DeleteI trust that “urinated” is not your “just as valid” alternate answer?
DeleteTrust, but verify.
DeleteWell, I'll be damned, part of the 8 lettered name is the nickname for my middle name!
ReplyDeleteWhen I checked my mail, I had a genius idea to solve this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThe mail is like Norman Mailer "Norm". A famous genius is Albert Einstein "Al".
DeleteI found this puzzle hard, ingenuity was necessary.
ReplyDeleteThe person to whom this word is attributed, though not really, I always thought had a close resemblance to actor Lorne Green.
ReplyDeleteSome cronies got into trouble for a bonanza they made out west....
DeleteAs I recall, every morning Hop Sing would wake all the men to begin their day with Ranch Dressing.
DeleteEscherichia coli
ReplyDeleteThat took guts, WW.
DeleteHmmmm, could be a different road less traveled after all. . .
DeleteDavid Crosby, Miles Davis, Neil Young
ReplyDeleteBlaine? ⤴️
DeleteI'd say it's clever without being a giveaway.
DeleteI had to actually think to get that one.
DeleteThank you Blaine.
DeleteSaved from the gallows. Thank you, Blaine! Got away with it once, so why not be a repeat offender? Scott Peterson, Ted Bundy, Wayne Williams
DeleteTo the PA Puzzler:
DeleteIf it's any consolation, I'm certain I have Will's intended answer, and I still don't understand the Siz clues. So I wouldn't go Three Mile Island on him/her.
Fhzok ejc nbjiec pgpyemmpu ma hyq cwwcq gldnlocf.
Deletey = -x
ReplyDeleteExcellent, jan!
DeleteFrom wearing a mask for three months I crave FRESHAIR.
ReplyDeleteThat's Gross.
DeleteJust move along, jan, and don't Terry.
DeleteWHYY do you say that?
DeleteIt will be revealed after the break.
DeleteWHYY not Terry cloth mask?
DeleteRight, we are in a mascara.
DeletePersonally, I'm obsessed with Molly Seavy-Nesper. No clue here.
DeleteSDB, We are in a mascara. They go well with coughy.
DeleteYeah, Un ballo in maschera.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteArrrrrn't they sofistikated!
DeleteWhy did the pirate drink his grog way up on the mainmast?
Because he didn’t want to be mizzen anything.
DeleteGood answer, but actually it was because he wanted a rum with a view.
DeleteWhen he finished his grog he wanted more. So what did he do?
Did he turn his 3 sheets to the wind? He must have been hooked by then.
DeleteWhat he did then was to call down for rum service.
DeleteIt actually worked and another tin of grog was brought up for him. So why didn't he offer a gratuity?
He wanted to keep his Pirate bounty.
DeleteThe ship was tipping.
DeleteNow that he was feeling no pain he began to think things might Pan out, if the captain could just get a grip on things.
DeleteLast night while trying to sleep and at the same time keep up with this pirate trilogy, I added a forth pirate joke and then thought I should try and come up with another pirate joke that would answer the question, why do pirate ships fly the Jolly Roger? I failed at that attempt, but then came up with a rather lame puzzle asking what the flag on a pirate ship and some lifeboats have in common. The answer is that pirate ships fly the Jolly Roger and some lifeboats are Jolly Boats. I did not like it either, but it did remind me of the book I read a few years back that informed me of a Jolly Boat. It is perhaps the most exciting and riveting of the many true sea survival stories I have read, and that is saying a lot.
DeleteThe book is: All Brave Sailors: The Sinking of the Anglo-Saxon, August 21, 1940
Book by J. Revell Carr. Originally published: 2001.
It begins with the story of the German Raider Widder, captained by Helmuth von Ruckteschell. So it becomes two stories in one book. It is filled with excellent photos too.
I cannot say enough about this book, but you will not be able to put it down if you begin reading it. It may be hard to find a copy now, but I promise you will be glad you did.
I crave Harry and Meghan, but, as royalty, they don't quite measure up.
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge comes from listener Harry Hillson of Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ, which is between Newark and Atlantic City. How appropriate!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Jan.
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone crave being MOLESTED?
ReplyDeleteGood one! I thought you were craving some eggs BENEDICT (ok, “ict” is not a name).
DeleteYoung Frankenstein comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteSo does the actress who played Ethel on "I Love Lucy"
ReplyDeleteWhen I hear this week's answer spoken, I only hear one man's name I know.
ReplyDeleteIs it only to be written, not spoken? Spelled, not pronounced?
At least "y=-x" does not hit me as TMI.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI was considering posting the same thing, but figured it might get censored. Probably a close call.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteUh oh, just received an ad in the mail from Charlie Daniels, for hearing aids...
ReplyDeleteI didn't know this bigot was HIV+. Too bad he took it up the ear.
DeleteAll just kind of ironic because I had just seen the news on TV about his death, followed by his television ads for those hearing aids. Then, a few hours later, receiving an ad, with him, in the mail! What odd timing...
Deletefc z'y pcgrgm tqrecga hymt ejc nbjiec kq aciyawew. oik u dzp'r hbuqrdvyar yaw xqqg cw fhp ejhsj gp sgpr fvxaeg rb bfdmlnal. qrz szocbbv ooyhgea ktid clfkvd?
ReplyDeletelcl mrp emefvot, mgl. fcdq oq vfr vzztd cpr, oj gsfcj, n apetptw gc dq, bfv qbav deqgp gc nmrcgl uoipiyi yar yus nckcozsn dnmtoe. xez'u arbjarpf fvbk deqgpesu fo xkbqzv (zocoyy?) q. dk ebwygwfz sagavtzqd l ngas earxcj, v.s., gqraglqwtgllt rb, zret hgcx'g cunp hpba ji tz pc.
DeleteN qcge T iyis fz llur jsvw's ejprou iad "K zrzzqvp vfr kfdd hcq pczzeo czbik 100 keltq nuf. Ut hcq npfgt l jsariqd jgyeg rso, t.g. rus pqac qp bii Xocf lvbvfepp-rjsefy, (T hcnf Sxatpc jclxd lzc gvze pzur vt Z sagg rus pqac pszsiuclnjl), hymt scpqwes's nckcozsn mgenb.
DeleteI won't breathe a word of that to anyone. Well, anyone else!
ReplyDeleteI have an answer. One of the nicknames in my answer is not common.
ReplyDeleteIf you drop the 4th and 6th letters of the word and rearrange, you get something colorful.
And Oh, I do crave it. I really, really do.
ReplyDeleteMary Kay Letourneau, the teacher who married the student she was convicted of raping, died Tuesday of cancer, according to CBS News. She was 58.
ReplyDeleteAnd she was gorgeous, according to Blainesville.
DeleteWhy did the neutrino astronomer climb a mountain?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that elementary?
DeleteNo matter.
DeleteBecause he’d missed Mass?
DeleteI'm not positive.
DeleteMaybe he wanted to be dancing with the stars.
DeleteBecause it was there.
DeleteAnd Yeti wasn't sure.
DeleteBecause there was no charge.
DeleteI know! To be closer to the stars!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNot bad, yeah?
ReplyDeleteThe last 4 letters of the intended answer can be anagrammed to form a name that can be changed to a 3-letter name. Use that name and two men's nicknames to get a 9-letter answer to the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteALCY anagrams to CLAY, which can be changed (and famously was) to ALI. NORM + ALI + TY is the 9-letter answer.
DeleteWarren G. Harding. Return to normalcy.
ReplyDeleteNORMALCY
ReplyDeleteMy ham-fisted reference to “29”—despite the truth of our new house's number and son’s birthday—was an allusion to the 29th President, Warren G. Harding, whose 1920 campaign slogan was “return to normalcy.”
NORMALCY; NORM, AL, CY
ReplyDelete"Escherichia coli" was an oblique reference to the French "école normale," or normal school.
NORMALCY >>> Norm, Al, Cy
ReplyDeleteAlternate answer:
HILARITY >>> Hil, Ari, Ty (Hil is the nickname for the Arabic boy name Hilal)
Honorable Mention:
CONSOLED = CON SOL ED
SALARIED = SAL ARI ED
BOHEMIAN = BO HEM IAN
PALPATED = PAL PAT ED
CALABASH = CAL AB ASH
MALARIAL = MAL ARI AL (not that anyone would crave it)
1. NORMALCY → NORM + AL + CY.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that “normalcy” is “something we all crave now.” Everyone has his own idea of normalcy (as it was before covid-19 or before Trump, etc.), but what we are all craving is some kind of change to normalcy...
2. VALIANCY (see also: VALIANT) → VAL (Kilmer) + IAN + CY. (VAL, shortened form of Valentino/Valentine and others).
I wrote, “Think of a biblical superhero you might have seen.” The hero is Samson, and you might have seen him played in the movie _Samson and Delilah_ by Victor Mature. This was a hint to my first solution MATURITY, where the names are short for Matthew, Uriel, and Tyrone. It’s not the solution Will expected, but I think it works.
ReplyDeleteNORMALCY → NORM + AL + CY.
ReplyDeleteNo clues offered by me. But I'm still proud to have come up with MOLESTED → MO + LES + TED.
Normalcy - Norm, Al, Cy
ReplyDeleteChastity - Chas, Ti (short for James T. Kirk’s middle name, Tiberius), and Ty (short for Tyrone)
Yes, Ben, that was indeed clever.
ReplyDeleteLess cleverly, I posted Sunday morning:
"I have an unfair advantage in solving this one."
"I" being LegoLambda who – as anyone who has been subjected to my ceaseless shameless shilling of Joseph Young's Puzzleria! here in Blainesville knows – is also known to my "close personal friends" as Joseph Young.
And Denton True "Cy" Young is the most famous "Cy" I know.
LegoSeekingToCreateaPuzzleBlog"LegoCy"
Normalcy...but when?
ReplyDeleteNORMALCY (NORM, AL, CY)
ReplyDelete> Not hard.
... Harding. He popularized the word in his campaign slogan, "A Return To Normalcy".
> The answer word wasn't used during the puzzle segment this week
But it was used later in the show.
>> I have an unfair advantage in solving this one.
> High school, lego?
Legolambda lives near the Twin Cities; I took a guess that he went to Harding High, the largest school in St. Paul.
> Some cronies got into trouble for a bonanza they made out west....
The Teapot Dome scandal.
> y = -x
Last week, I clued "y = x", defining a line that runs SW to NE. This is a line that's normal to that one, intersecting at a 90-degree angle.
> This week's challenge comes from listener Harry Hillson of Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ, which is between Newark and Atlantic City. How appropriate!
An NPR station in Newark is WQXR, 105.9 FM. In Atlantic City, it's WRTQ, 91.3 FM. What's halfway between 105.9 and 91.3? 98.6! Normal, see?
> Why did the neutrino astronomer climb a mountain?
To return to normalcy.
> Not bad, yeah?
¿No mal, si? (I rolled my "r" right out of there.)
jan,
DeleteYou of all people here must be aware that 98.6 is no longer considered normal human body temperature. Mine has always been about 3 degrees below that.
When I used to make my annual pilgrimage to see my doctor a nurse would first check my weight, blood pressure and temperature. I would refuse the weight and temp checks, as I know if my temp is at all raised, and know what it normally is and I have a doctor's scale and check my weight each morning. It is far more accurate than how I may be dressed in the office. One nurse got upset and said, "Do you think we are going to take your word for it?" I controlled myself and replied, "Yes" instead of what I wanted to answer. They discontinued the temp check after that.
While there certainly is a range of temperatures considered normal, most medical references cite the average of these to be 98.6 F, or 37.0 C.
DeleteThey did, but not now. One example:
DeleteSo Long, 98.6: Average Human Body Temperature Is Dropping
www.usnews.com › News › Health News
Jan 8, 2020 - "What everybody grew up learning, which is that our normal temperature is 98.6, is wrong." That standard was established in 1851, but a number ...
SDB, did you every wonder why your doctor insisted on taking your temperature rectally?
DeleteMy doctor never insisted on that or anything else and he died a month ago.
Deletey = -x was my favorite clue.
DeleteMy favorite also. The serendipity of being able to use "y=x" as a subtle, yet perfect, clue one week and then "y =-x" as an equally subtle, yet equally perfect, clue the following week -- for two such different puzzles -- is miraculous. Kudos to jan for seizing the opportunity!
DeleteWhy the Mapplethorpe’s Mom hint?
ReplyDeleteI've added my explanation above.
DeleteHoly Smokes, Blaine, minutes to solve, hours to clue.
DeleteBlaine, I think you mean Robert, not Roger M.
DeleteCan I blame the intern? :)
DeleteInter-nyet?
DeleteOf course; it's the only way to succeed in life these days.
DeleteRegardless of what you may think of the late Robert Mapplethorpe, I don't think anyone would say he was not whip smart.
DeleteDiversion: How to respond to a telemarketer à la Seinfeld.
ReplyDeleteIn the official Mendo Jim dictionary, the pronunciation of "normalcy" (the one-minute-to-find answer this week) is
ReplyDeleteNORM uhl see.
There have been some interesting Norm's, from Bates to Schwartzkopf, but i have not been able to find any "Uhl's" or "See's".
As I said on Sunday, I'm sure Will would have specified spelling if that is what he wanted.
SDB should, of course, seek medical attention with a temperature of 98.6F, the equivalent of nearly 102 for person with normalcy. (Mine is 97.3)
My answer was also NORMALCY; Norm, Al, Cy
ReplyDeleteIf you drop the 4th and 6th letters of the word and rearrange, you get something colorful - Drop M&L and rearrange to get CRAYON.
normalcy --> Norm, Al, Cy
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “You kind of miss the good old days even if they weren’t all that good.” No pandemic, unemployment under 5%, statues on pedastals instead of on the ground, politicians that didn’t make it a habit to lie several times each day. Still lots of problems, but not like today.
Here's a puzzle for the wait until Sunday. What follows is a string of digits, in code. What's the meaning?
ReplyDelete864511320
Deep-six 45 on Election Day.
DeleteNice!
Delete1/20/21, End of an Error.
Saw this on the Twitter yesterday.
DeleteMy clue - Will deserves an award for this puzzle.- was referring to the CY Young award.
ReplyDeleteNORMALCY(NORM, AL, and CY)
ReplyDeleteNormalcy (Norm, Al, Cy)
ReplyDeleteNormalcy: I got tipped off by Unknown's oblique reference to Harding's use of "normalcy" which fueled a century-plus quibble about whether it's a legit word. (Looks like Harding won the argument.) Admittedly Cy is an uncommon nickname but Cy Vance is back in the headlines this week.
ReplyDeleteI actually have a friend, from growing up, named Cyrus who goes by Cy.
DeleteSigh!
DeleteAn enjoyable story about attempts at breaking the code within a sculpture at the CIA:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/07/07/great-big-story-sculpture-secret-message-gbs.great-big-story
My reference to enjoying the heat on Sunday, although based in truth, was also a reference to "throwing heat," which accomplished pitchers like CY Young often do.
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Neville Fogarty, of Newport News, Va. Think of a two-word direction or command. Take the first letter of the first word plus the entire second word, in order, and you'll get a common name for one receiving that direction or command. What is it?
ReplyDeleteGot it!
DeleteI’m afraid the musical clue I’d like to post wouldn’t survive, so
ReplyDeleteI’ll make a literary reference, Shel Silverstein.