Do they have open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension?Q: Think of a famous living American whose first and last names have a total of eight letters — all different. Five of these letters are consecutive in the alphabet. The remaining three can be rearranged to spell a woman's nickname. What famous American is this?
GANFORT is a medicine that can be used to treat the stated conditions. It anagrams to GRAFTON, as in author SUE GRAFTON which was a hint to the woman's name.
A: ELON MUSK --> KLMNO + SUE
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.
The five letters that are "consecutive in the alphabet" are NOT consecutive in the name.
ReplyDeleteRon, I wish I would have read your comment TWO HOURS AGO! I assumed (yeah, I know) from the way it was worded that the consecutive alphabetical letters were in order in the answer. It was the first name I thought of. My hint: The "nickname" was also a popular boy's name in the seventies.
DeleteOops! Late sixties/early seventies.
DeleteThank you!! It was one of the first people I tried, but I dismissed them because the letters weren't in order...
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWow! I am so sorry; justification Thursday.
DeleteHow do you do.
ReplyDeleteThat should read:
Delete“How do you do?”
Either way, it's a fine how do you do.
DeleteWell, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
DeleteFrom a worn-out picture that my mother'd had
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye
He was big and bent and gray and old
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!?
Now you gonna die!"
Yeah that's what I told 'em
ReplyDeleteWasn’t this also the answer to another WS puzzle a while back? Musical clue: Dion.
Yup!
DeleteWithin the past decade.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteThis person was also an answer to a previous on-air WS puzzle.
DeleteWhew Rob! Already
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of eight letters, what's a two-word phrase for birth control among pets?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOops -- not quite eight letters.
DeleteBirth control among pets comes from practicing "spay sex," a homophone for an Elon Musk company. My original correction was "OK -- not quite eight letters." I later realized that O and K were the bookends on the alphabetical sequence, and I had accidentally given away the farm.
DeleteVj awd uys hizzpij ububk bcvgavrg eg b tskaezo kfztu'a fuqxghzi acw svr alvijbxf, B tiq toix ab wepc svjxukv.
ReplyDeleteMy progress on your cipher so far:
DeleteIf, for your key you use "New job this month", then you get:
If enp tfl zqnlcpc hxysw ajoyijdt lz o pwbmdgh cnnfh'h yhmbxtyp tue ghe heiensje, I may have to sigo rccpcyh.
(Note the four words after the comma.)
Well, Paul, best of luck on your new job this month. It would be a real hard month for me if I thought that I might have to sigo rccpcyh! ;-)
I'm impressed with your progress, E&WAf, and I agree, sigoing rccpcyh can be a miserable task.
DeleteKEYPHRASE:
DeleteNeal's brother, born this month?
Several hints strongly indicated that S and U were involved, and I got confused, thinking T had to be in there, too. And there was also a FREIGHTS puzzle over at Puzzleria! adding to my confusion, but August Hefti did not work, of course (besides not being an actual person.
Skydiveboy rescued me with his "tunnel vision" clue, which I managed to catch before Blaine removed it.
The bad link was supposed to go to a video of Johnny Cash performing "A Boy Named Sue" at Folsom Prison.
DeleteAnd I interpreted sdb's clue as pertaining to "The Boring Company".
2500 responses last week. This weeks will probably be much lower.
ReplyDelete14:48
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations are due to Alan Hochbaum of Duluth, Georgia, creator of this week's fine NPR puzzle. He is also the author of the "Little Caesars = eclairs, lattes" anagram puzzle (April 2018) and the "Mexico = ox mice anagram puzzle (March 2017). Those were two really nifty anagrams.
ReplyDeleteWhile I like his current puzzle, I would have liked it a bit more:
1. The five alphabetical-order letters appeared in alphabetical order in the name, or
2. If there were some connection between the living American's name and women's nickname. (Actually, there is just such a connection, albeit a bit tenuous.)
Serendipity is a wonderful thing. This past week I began preparing August 7th's Puzzleria! Amazingly, an answer to one of the puzzles I had "pencilled in" just happens to be the answer to Alan Hochbaum's offering this week!
LegoWhoEspeciallyEnjoyed(AndIsGreenlyEnviousOf)Alan'sOxMiceMexicoPuzzle
Don't leave out the author: JIM KEOGH (ghijk) + a girl's nickname: MOE.
Deleteron,
DeleteYou are truly the "King of Alternative Answers!" You have an uncanny ability to dig these gems up, polish them off and present them to us on a platter.
Jim Keogh (in your post above) and Jan Malik (in your post below) are both legit alternatives IMHO.
LegoWhoNotesThatMoeTucker(VelvetUnderground)AndAnaGasteyer(SNL)WereBothAssociatedWithNewYorkCity
Not to pick nits, but Jan Malik suffers from a repeated letter. Nonetheless, ron is certainly the KOAA!
DeleteShortz’s shorts leave you out of sorts?
ReplyDeleteBuck Bard,
ReplyDeleteAs a puzzle-maker, I find your comment interesting. Can you explain further what you mean by "short short puzzles." Do you mean the word count, or the time it takes to solve, or what exactly? Will Shortz, of course, prefers "less wordy" puzzles because they are more conducive to the NPR radio format.
LegoWhoIsSincereInWritingThisCommentAndApologizesToBuckIfHeJustIsMissingAHintEmbeddedInHisPost
Had I seen SuperZee's clever ShortzShortsSorts comment before I posed my comment I would have complimented SuperZee on his comment.
ReplyDeleteLegoWhoNowIndeedHasComplimentedSuperZeeOnHisCleverComment
Now, I’m blushing.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteEvil Knievel?
DeleteHo hum.
DeleteThis eight letter person, with several others, founded a company whose name consists of two consecutive letters in the alphabet. Though not consecutive in the name.
ReplyDeleteThis took exactly 12 minutes to solve.
ReplyDelete"Exactly 12" sounds like "X A A-12", the name of Elon Musk's son. Also, all of the letters of "Elon Musk" are in the above sentence.
DeleteGreat puzzle! Not sure about glaucoma though.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteReally, Blaine? Of all the things this person is famous for, something shared with over half of all American adults is going to give it away?
DeleteFinally solved - at least I likely won’t be the last to solve among this group.
ReplyDeletehi
ReplyDeleteMusical clue- Austin,Texas
ReplyDeleteHorace Greeley.
ReplyDeleteAmerican Politician: JAN MALIK (ijklm), a girl's nickname: ANA.
Delete3
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWho built them?
ReplyDeleteTortuous, but still just an anagram, with hints and removals saving my having to work on it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Willy's first ever risky puzzle, but I'm very glad he got away with it.
I think I smell a rat...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSecond name that came to me.
ReplyDeleteIs this eight letter person even an American? Not by birth, I don't think.
ReplyDeleteThree Mile Island?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest gripe with this week's puzzle is that when the answer finally does occur to you, you're really upset with yourself for it having taken you so long!
ReplyDeleteOne musical clue: The very last song performed in that old classic movie, "The Wizard of Oz".
tau
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: Captain America.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of similar clues. Thanks for posting
DeleteTV Clue: Austin Powers
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYour comment gave it away.
ReplyDeletelol, thanks. My comment was the honest truth, though I admit my wording was intentional! Glad to see Blaine removed it before it could cause too many people to see TMI!
DeleteThis person has two titles, one corporate, the other societal. Put them together, re-arrange, and you have The Last Supper.
ReplyDeleteBACK TO SCHOOL...
ReplyDeleteDamn, those are brutal and to the point(s).
DeleteThanks, ron
I'd hate to think that it is my worldview that makes the pro GOP cartoons seem so whiny and unfunny.
... and one more.
DeleteOrder: Artiodactyla
Deletejan,
DeleteWere these SARS-deans being Koi?
Has anyone seen my recipe for apple pandemic?
ReplyDeleteI found it. Dinah had it.
DeleteShe was from long, long ago, but I don't think it's fair to call her a dinashaur.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteA related old puzzler. A former world leader in nine letters. One letter is used twice. Change one of those to the preceding letter of the alphabet. The nine letters are then consecutive in the alphabet. Relationship to this puzzle? The consecutive letters overlap.
ReplyDeleteRandall Munroe on dry heat, hydration, humidity, etc. One week late.
ReplyDeleteRetired, eh?
DeleteMunroe says "Sweating works best in dry air."
By replacing one letter in the woman's nickname and rearranging, you get 3 letters that are consecutive in the alphabet. And also a man's nickname.
ReplyDeleteI believe I am the only person in my small neighborhood who listens to, let alone solves, the Sunday NPR puzzles. The people here are not at all intellectual nor smart. In fact they are so stupid they even have a large street sign informing us that their children are slow.
ReplyDeleteI did get the answer last Sunday, but even with the answer, I can't work out Blaine's clue.
ReplyDeleteThat truly is a shame, Clark. You will go down in history as being the first person here to not get one of Blaine's hints.
DeleteI've even heard Will Shortz talk of how even though he's presented the puzzle, he usually can't understand the clues. So I guess I'm in good company.
DeleteI'm not all that good at getting the clues here either. So much trivia I don't know about, and many current celebs I have not heard of.
DeleteI thought I'd better save this comment until the end of the week, but you can pick this answer out of a directory, garnish it with a letter in the middle, and it's ready to serve up in Puzzleria.
ReplyDeleteIt is too bad Eco not participating anymore.
ReplyDeleteELON MUSK and SUE
ReplyDelete"tau" refers to Tau Day, June 28, which is Musk's birthday.
ELON MUSK >>> KLMNO & SUE
ReplyDeleteMy Hint that was deleted:
"Someone with tunnel vision." This was referring to Musk's offering his "help" in rescuing the Thai boys in the cave/tunnel. I thought it was obscure, but maybe Blaine thought it could be referring to something else I am not making a connection with.
Hyperloop, too?
DeleteI was thinking of this tunneling endeavors with the Boring Company, so yes.
DeleteI suspected you might have made a different connection than I was referring to, but I am not a true follower of our South African egotist and had forgotten anything I had previously heard of his boring company. Perhaps because it was just a bit too boring for my tastes.
DeleteELON MUSK —> K, L, M, N, O + SUE
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: Dion —> “Runaround Sue”
ELON MUSK
ReplyDelete> Timely puzzle.
> 14:48 [EDT]
MUSK's SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavor splashed down at that time on Sunday.
> Blaine's just taking pot shots at the subject. [Deleted]
He was (I think) referring to the use of cannabis to treat those eye conditions. MUSK made news by smoking pot on a video.
> Ho hum.
Skydiveboy's deleted "tunnel vision" comment referred to MUSK's Boring Company.
> Horace Greeley.
Didn't he also say, "Go West!"?
> Musical clue: Captain America.
Both America and Captain & Tennille had hits with "MUSKrat Love". (And one of the title rodents was Susie.) (Sorry, Word Woman!)
I should stop trying to guess what others are hinting at. Wrong on both Blaine and skydiveboy!
DeleteAnd, you did manage to plant the Muskrat Love earworm once more!
DeleteA haunting tune.
DeleteELON MUSK (consecutive letters of the alphabet: KLMNO) Remaining letters, a woman's nickname: SUE.
ReplyDeleteI wrote, “Makes me recall a fruit.” My hint recalled the puzzle of 8 June 2014, when Elon Musk was part of the answer: “Take the name of a well-known American businessman — first and last names. Put the last name first. Insert an M between the two names. The result names a food item. What is it?”
ReplyDeleteBlaine removed my hint, and while I have no objection to the removal at all, I will say I took care not to mention that this was from a previous puzzle or to use a word that was in that puzzle.
I don't think the "fruit" hint was to much on it's own but I thought it could be used together with other hints. I was also worried about the M(ELON) link.
DeleteThanks, Blaine. Sorry to have given you any concern. And many, many thanks for Blainesville week after week.
DeleteIt's more the totality of the various clues. I do my best to let people's hints stand as much as possible but sometimes I feel that two or three don't give it away on their own, but after you consider several other hints it seems to point too much to the answer.
DeleteAnd yes, the references to pot had to go for a similar reason.
Since I was the author of "Wasn’t this also the answer," let me apologize for having contributed in my naiveté to the contretemps. Being somewhat digitally challenged, I failed to realize that one could scroll through the blog to retrieve the answer from June 2014. Mea culpa.
DeleteElon Musk
ReplyDeleteI was tempted to post, “Neither the subject of his week's puzzle, nor another famous American with whose name is associated with him/her, would be eligible to be President,” but I was afraid that would be TMI, so I posted something else, which was, “Deleted by Administrator.” Oops!
I wonder if my initial idea would have been allowed?
ELON MUSK, (K,L,M,N,O and SUE)
ReplyDeleteMy clue: The last song performed in the old classic movie, "The Wizard of Oz".
That song is "If I were king of the forrest". As that song is winding down, the lion is asking questions, the answer to ALL of which is "courage!" One of the last of those being, "What makes the muskrat GUARD HIS MUSK!?!?
I submitted ELON MUSK, (K,L,M,N,O and SUE)
ReplyDeleteInspired by Blainseville, I've been using the clue of e for the last weeks. But e felt too much of a giveaway for Elon, so I went with 3 in honor of the Tesla Model 3, his best-seller.
TME.
DeleteGood one.
ReplyDeleteElon Musk
ReplyDeleteMy clue Austin Texas home of Willis Ramsay who wrote the beautiful and haunting tune--"Muskrat Love" sung by the unforgettable duo of Captain and Tenille. # 4 on the hit parade of 1973. And the female counterpart in this Muskrat love affair was Suzie. Muskrat Suzie and Muskrat Sam do the jitterbug in Muskrat land." This song was a fave of Elon's folks -Mae and Steve?
My clue -
ReplyDeleteFinally solved - at least I likely won’t be the last to solve among this group.
“Least” anagrams to Tesla. “Last” anagrams to Tesla’s stock symbol TSLA.
Nice clue.
DeleteMy clue - I think I smell a rat... - referred to the smell of musk, and the muskrat.
ReplyDeleteElon Musk
ReplyDeleteRemove K, L, M, N, O to get Sue.
I posted that there is a "tenuous connection between the living American's name and women's nickname (Sue)."
ReplyDeleteLike many successful business people, Elon Musk is a person who people tend to sue.
There may (or may not) be a Musk related puzzle on tomorrow's Puzzleria!, which features four peachy puzzles by Mathew Huffman, in his recurring "Conundrum Set" feature.
Also on our menus are:
“A Tale of Two Titles” Schpuzzle of the Week;
A mysterious and “Curious case of the flip-flopped font”;
A combination "CollectionPlate/FashionPlate Dessert"
And, finally, a fine mess of Eight Musky Riff-offs!
Please join us!
LegoWhoBelievesThatPeopleWhoPossessElanNeedNotDouseThenselveWithMuskToEnhanceTheirAttractiveness
I got the right answer, but Blaine, your clue is as obtuse as it gets.
ReplyDeleteAgreed... definitely more than 90° :)
DeleteYou MUSK know more than me!
DeleteELON MUSK(KLMNO, SUE)
ReplyDeleteThe first name I thought of was TOM HANKS, but that didn't work, obviously.
Not every shower head is Peerless, but some is.
ReplyDeleteI solved this from the Johnny Cash clues, thanks. I thought of The Cars, Drive, sung by Ben Orr, but knew better than to post.
ReplyDeleteELON MUSK; KLMNO + SUE
ReplyDeleteMy clue replace the E in SUE with T and rearrange to get STU which is a man's nickname and 3 consecutive letters.
Buck Bard,
ReplyDeleteNever be shocked when I fail to pick up on a clever hint, such as the one you gave in your Sunday post:
"Not a fan of these short short puzzles. Not a lot of thought involved."
I was just not sufficiently savvy to realize you were not actually complaining about the NPR puzzle but were rather providing a fine hint that alluded to Elon Musk "selling his 'short shorts.'"
Sorry to shock you, but that's just who I am.
LegoWhoTendsToTakeLifeTooLiterally...AndDeathTooFiguratively
THE STORY OF SPACE-X
ReplyDeleteI had the Space-X Dragon in mind when posted Sunday that the puzzle might have been the first risky one Shortz had offered.
ReplyDeleteHe recorded it just about the time the two astronauts were getting on board for their return to Earth and it aired during the three hour period over the time zones when the mission was at its greatest exposure.
I wonder if that ever occurred to him.
Posting just after splashdown, I said I was very glad he got away with it.
This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Barbara Weinstein, of Lincoln, Mass. Think of a famous living person in the entertainment field whose first name is a bird. The person's last name is a quality of this bird — something its feathers have. Who's the famous person, and what's the bird?
ReplyDeleteWay too easy
DeleteBjork?
ReplyDeleteNearly 800 correct responses.
ReplyDelete