Too soon?Q: Think of an 8-letter word with three syllables that contains the letter "I" in each syllable — but, strangely, doesn't contain a single "I" sound, either long or short. The answer is not a plural. What word is it?
Edit: I posted my hint not long after waking which most would consider too soon to start drinking.
A: DAIQUIRI ('da-kə-rē)
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.
I think of a scene in a famous movie where its very pronunciation is discussed between two main characters.
ReplyDeleteTomato tomato potato potato?
DeleteMy favorite movie quote is from that movie, and involves the same characters.
DeleteCuba or Q-ba?
Delete...time out!
Delete
DeleteMy favorite movie quote, involving the same characters, is "I know it was you Fredo, you broke my heart. You broke my heart!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHXTG-FZiR0
I’m reminded of a T. S. Elliot character....and some unrelated wordplay.
ReplyDeleteI contend this is a two-syllable word.
ReplyDeleteI have it and the answer does not end in -tion as in ignition.
ReplyDeleteTo make it clear, the answer has no long “I” sound (ī) as in “pie,” nor short “I” sound (ĭ) as in “pit.”
Nihilist inciting divisive idiocies vilified.
ReplyDeleteIf I have the expected answer, there is another surprise about the three syllable sounds that awaits the solver. On the other hand, there might well be multiple answers this week.
ReplyDeleteI’m from a place where one can drive right up to it.
ReplyDeleteNice, can't do that in Hackney
DeleteMy hometown, Lafayette, LA, is where drive-thru daiquiri shops originated:
Deletehttps://1079ishot.com/history-drive-thru-daiquiri-lafayette/
As I mentioned in last week’s thread, I believe I have the answer, but to be safe I decided to look the word up in Wiktionary. Folks, doing that might scare you off. 4 pronunciations are given, ALL of which include a lowercase i in the third syllable; and 2 of which also show an uppercase I in the second syllable.
ReplyDeleteyeah, I saw the same...
DeleteThat confirms the answer I found
DeleteThere's some debate about the spelling.
ReplyDeleteYes. I had thought about liaision, but then realized I had an extra i, so I went with liaising, but that had a short i (-ing) syllable.
DeleteAttempts at anagrams are falling way short this week.
ReplyDeleteI did come up with one, but it's exceedingly strange.
DeleteChange one letter in the anagram and it goes from strange....to scary.
DeleteIf I've got the right letter, it's something I'd like to wish for someone right now....
DeletePrairie home companion
ReplyDeleteThere's a good 9-letter answer that is also good for you.
ReplyDeleteI believe your 9-letter answer is the same answer to one of my NPR-puzzle riff-offs on Puzzleria! this Friday.
DeleteLegoWhoBelievesLancekCouldProduceAnExcellentPuzzleBlog!
Lego, is there an email where one might reach you in the civilian world?
DeleteThanks for the compliment, Lego! I almost took my comment down in light of Lorenzo's post below, since his alternative answer is probably better than the intended answer (albeit less familiar). It should surely merit a mention from the Puzzlemaster.
DeleteWas everyone else tickles by Bruce's "toilet pan" story?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I was too focused on hearing my own name...
DeleteMaybe he had too much Lipton's.
DeleteAm I gonna need a mirror to solve this?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThere is an alternative answer that could easily be used in the same sentence as the intended answer.
ReplyDeleteCool, Lorenzo! I learned a new word. In this case, I think the alternative answer is better than the intended one.
DeleteWe've had fewer of them here lately for some reason.
ReplyDeleteAn old Woody Allen movie is somewhat related.
ReplyDeleteThere’s an Italian pasta answer to the puzzle but it has 4 syllables...
ReplyDeleteThere are about ten Italian pasta answers to this puzzle, but they are all Al Dente.
Deleteon yeah-linguini with white clam sauce?
DeleteIt is LINGUINE.
DeleteI say linguini you say linwinie.
DeleteIt is literally little tongues and is spelled linguine and pronounced leenguinay.
DeleteThe letter I can make many different sounds in another language.
ReplyDeleteThe word "language" sounds like "linguini". Also, "linguini" is an Italian word.
DeleteThe word is spelled LINGUINE. I suggest you look it up.
DeleteMy answer is just a starter.
ReplyDeleteIt rhymes with the name of a famous author.
ReplyDeleteAnd with the given name of an American historical figure.
DeleteMy answer also rhymes with an American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter
DeleteAndrew Jackson
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteThe pronunciation of PIER (pîr) is neither a short nor a long "I"
ReplyDeleteWhy is it claimed that the "i" in "business" is the only silent one in English?
ReplyDeleteI know, and I'll make it brief.
DeleteI am taking the German approach this week. I have a list 0f 3456 8 letter words and am making my through. Now on page two. I know it is in there somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThat way worked for me. There actually is a web page that over 70 pages of eight-letter three-syllable words. And variations thereof.
DeleteThanks Worsdsmythe. it is a little tedious. Not the speediest.
DeleteI used a website that lets one specify that the word contains three i's. That cuts it to 207.
DeleteYou won't have to look too too far.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteTwo weeks in a row?
DeleteThese long lists of words are making my eyes blurry! I think it’s time to let this one go.
DeleteHey Blaine, I don't think it's too soon now.
ReplyDeleteHaha.
DeleteHm.
ReplyDeleteI have three answers but I'm not thrilled with any of them.
For one of them, the most common word of my three, my own pronunciation does include a short 'i' (IPA ɪ) although there are pronunciations that don't.
For a second, I need an alternative spelling to meet the criteria. And for the third, I think *most* people who pronounce this word in English they would use the ɪ sound.
All three of my words entered English fairly recently -- the oldest has The Great Gatsby as its first OED citation!
I'm pretty sure none of mine is the intended answer (the clues here suggest there's one I haven't thought of) but my motivation is drying up after finding three valid answers.
Oh wait, now I do think some people are hinting at one of my solutions (the only one that's really any good). Okay whew I can stop searching.
DeleteIf I'm thinking of the same I you are, I pronounce it more like a schwa.
DeleteI have tried Hawaiian words to no avail.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a joke about a tour guide helping a tourist with Hawaiian pronunciation. He states that the vowels are always pronounced one way (A=ah, E=ay, I=ee, O=oh, U=oo). As they drive around the island, the tourist is getting better and better at pronouncing the place names on signs. Finally the bus comes around the corner and the tourist proudly exclaims "Pee-pay-lee-nay"! The your guide shakes his head and says, "Nope, that says PIPELINE".
DeleteOr the first time tourist to Hawaii gets off the plane. When he spots someone wearing a lei, he goes over and says "I've always wondered, do you say Hawaii or Havaii". The lei wearer responds "Havaii". The tourist says "Thank you" . The lei wearer responds, "You're velcome!"
DeleteMaybe Italian, maybe not. I think I've stopped trying.
ReplyDeleteThai? No.
DeleteIdiotish?
ReplyDeleteI have two answers, and they go good together.
ReplyDeleteYou can eat linguini while drinking a daiquiri.
DeleteWell, I have an answer if I'm pronouncing the word correctly.
ReplyDeleteIt'sa leengueenee.
ReplyDeleteNo it is not!
DeleteNow that's italian!Capice?
ReplyDeleteAnd I am willing to wager that you do not know how to properly pronounce capice. Of course in the Auntarctic (sic) it is pronounced cap ice, but it should be pronounced capeecheh. It is not capeesh.
DeleteIf it's the second person singular, it's pronounced capeeshe, spelled capisce.
ReplyDeletemille gratzi -Wordsmythe.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is the formal tense?
ReplyDeletePlantsmith, "capisce" is indeed the formal second-person (not a tense, but the "tu" and "Lei" forms do inflect differently). But the Italian source of the American slang must be the informal second-person singular, "capisci", surely.
DeleteA lot of American slang that was introduced by Italians has a southern Italian influence, especially in pronunciation -- Napolitani tend to elide final vowels altogether, which is why you often hear "fah-gi-OL" for "fagioli". My bet is that's what happened to "capisci", (which is in fact pronounced in Italian with a "sh" sound, not a "ch" sound), explaining why one so often hears "ca-PEESH".
My dad's family is from Piemonte region outside of Turin. Piemontese. " The foothills."
DeleteThanks.
Took a stab at this one. No Italian food consumed in my answer/process.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is worth about a buck. And worth the same in England, FWIW.
Ben i am working hard on your puzzle riffs on Puzzleria. Somehow your name also figures into one of the puzzles. Are you related to the Six Million dollar man. I thought so.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI don't think I've ever been published on Puzzleria. But here is an ALTERNATE puzzle that was not accepted for Sunday Airing by Will Shortz, but I liked it. Perhaps it might detain you for a few hours?
DeleteName a famous actor.
The letters in the actor's first name appear, in order, in the actor's last name. If you remove those letters, the letters left over appear, in order, in the words that remain.
Who is the actor?
Eight variations of your Sydney puzzle and a puzzle based on you. Live. Today is the due date for Puzzleria.
DeleteThanks, Plantsmith, for letting Ben Know about his puzzle and 8 riff-offs of it appearing on the present Puzzleria!
DeleteTo Ben and other Blainesvillians:
Every Friday, I copy the previous Sunday's NPR puzzle, then write riffs of it. I have lately adopted a tradition of creating Riff #1 as a puzzle in which the name of the puzzle-maker is the actual answer. That is what Plantsmith is referring to: "Ben Austin" is the answer to the first riff-off puzzle.
And, again, kudos to Ben!
LegoNotesThatecoarchitectContributedThreeOfTheEightRiffsToYourPuzzleOnTheCurrentPuzzleria!
Ben -you mean in alphabetical order the letters that remain in the last name? Like Pat Patterson?
DeleteI wasn't sure of my answer but many of the clues here fit my answer.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of pronunciation puzzles.
I watched the vice-presidential debate tonight and I have to say I thought Pence represented the administration he is a major member of admirably. Not by what he said, but by his appearance. He kept reminding me of all the times his administration has pulled out of agreements. When I looked at his pink face covered by his white hair it could not help but remind me of a premature pullout of a more intimate kind.
ReplyDeleteHowever I think perhaps what I most enjoyed about the debate this evening was the black fly that spent so much time perched on the white pate of our vice president. It kept reminding me of all the flies that I used to see in my younger years lounging on the little white gifts dogs would leave us on our front lawns back in the days when dogs ran free and ate leftover bones which left their turds to turn white. Flies know what they like, and they like sh*t.
All I can say is that PENCE FLY $%IT anagrams to:
ReplyDeleteSLY INEPT CHEF
THY P@#IS CLEF
FLESH TYPE INC
Guess what his birthdate is?
ReplyDeleteThe day he was born.
DeleteJune 7, 1959.
DeleteNo way that a FLY could live more than sixty years. I don't believe it.
ReplyDeleteHe is your birthday brother.
DeleteThat flies knows his s***. Can't wait for SNL.
DeleteDAIQUIRI and alternate answer LIAISING
ReplyDeleteMy Hint:
“We've had fewer of them here lately for some reason.” The bars have been closed due to the pandemic.
"liaising" has a Short I in -ing. See above.
Deleteron, You may pronounce it with a short i, but I do not know of anyone else who does. Most of pronounce ...ing: eeeng. Or maybe ...eeen'.
DeleteSee MINING (mī′nĭng)
DeleteNonsense.
DeleteMost people pronounce -ing with a short I. Check out SINGING:(sĭngĭng)
DeleteNo they don't.
DeleteHm, well, the OED is on Ron's side. It gives the pronunciation of -ing words as /ɪŋ/, and that ɪ is indeed what Will means by "short 'i'".
Delete(I used to be very confident that I knew how I pronounce things, but then I listened to recordings of myself and I was often very badly wrong!)
How do you pronounce PING? Like if your car's engine is pinging. It does not have the pin sound.
DeletePING, short I sound (pĭng). All these are pronounced with a short I, by the majority of people: bling, cling, ding, fling, king, Ming, ping, ring, sing, thing, wing, zing, et al. It's OK if you, yourself, use a different vowel sound...
DeleteThank you so much for allowing me to properly pronounce these words with the long E sound. I will allow you to continue mispronouncing them any way you wish.
DeleteAre you jokeeng?
DeleteIf you cannot hear the difference between the VOWEL SOUNDS in KING (kĭng) and KEEN (kēn) or in PEEN (pēn) and PING (pĭng), then you confirm what everyone know on this site that you have been suffering for many years from a PUNDEMIC!
DeleteOr perhaps a pedantic.
DeleteYes, ron is being his usual pedantic self again with his refusal to recognize that this is a large country with many different accents and diverse pronunciations.
DeleteNot ron.
Deleteron, BTW, where are our cartoons?
Last week's debate cartoons.
DeleteExtra clip: Apple's Repair & Replace Scams. Be sure to watch the full 18 minutes....
DeleteThanks for the 'toons.
DeleteThey are brutal, funny (at times) and very necessary.
DAIQUIRI
ReplyDeleteTo avoid the dreaded “This comment has been removed by a blog administrator,” I posted this near the end of the previous week’s thread: “Got it, but too early for a clue. Maybe later.”
That is, “too early” for a drink, although of late I’ve increasingly heard—not surprisingly, given our current socio-political climate—“It must be 5 o’clock somewhere.”
And the “American historical figure” whose given name rhymes with the puzzle answer is of course Zachary Taylor.
DAIQUIRI.
ReplyDeleteJan and I appear to know different versions of shaggy dog story involving daiquiri’s.
My version concerns a Professor with a taste for rum based cocktails. Bored with his usual Mai Tai, he challenges his bartender to come up with something new. A week later, the bartender comes up with a cocktail containing a blend of ground nuts.
When the professor can’t figure out what he is drinking, the bartender exclaims, “It’s a hickory daiquiri, Doc!”
That's the joke I had in mind with my Andrew Jackson hint. Andrew Jackson was known as "Old Hickory."
DeleteAn alternative version of the joke, with the same punchline: A physician liked to have a daiquiri on his way home, always at the same place. In fact the bartender would know when he was coming and have it ready for him. The physician liked to have a pecan in his daiquiri. One day, the bartender found he did not have any pecans, so he used a hickory nut instead. It tasted funny to the physician, so he asked the bartender, "Is this a pecan daiquiri?" The bartender replies, "No, that’s a hickory daiquiri doc."
DAIQUIRI → dăk′ə-rē or dahy-kuh-ree. No long I as in “pie” nor short I as in “pit.”
ReplyDeleteThe bikinied sunbather sipped a daiquiri by the side of the pool.
ReplyDeleteThe first I in "bikini" is a short I: (bĭ-kē′nē)
DeleteSome pronounce it, buhkeenee.
DeleteDAIQUIRI
ReplyDelete> What did Hemingway and JFK have in common?
Apparently, they both loved daiquiris. Though, I liked skydiveboy's "Problems with Cuba".
> A physician friend made one from wood.
He was a hickory daiquiri doc.
> Thai? No.
"DAIQUIRI" comes from the Taino language.
I wrote, “I think of a scene in a famous movie where its very pronunciation is discussed between two main characters.” That’s _Godfather II_, where in a bar’s patio in Havana, Fredo Corleone says, “How do you say banana daiquiri?” and Michael deadpans, “Banana daiquiri.”
ReplyDeleteI submitted DAIQUIRI.
ReplyDeleteI wrote My guess is worth about a buck. And worth the same in England, FWIW
About a buck -> ABUC -> CUBA, source of the DAIQUIRI
The same in England -> QUID, which is DAIQUIRI spelled sideways, innit?
My 9-letter answer, also good for you, was KIWIFRUIT. It has plenty of oxidants for your auntie.
ReplyDeleteWhy “too soon” according to Blaine?
ReplyDeleteCocktail hour begins at 5pm (1700 hours).
DeleteSeems to me that ``daishiki'' is an alternate answer. ``Daishiki'' is listed in Merriam-Webster Collegiate 11th ed as an alternative spelling of ``dashiki.' Thus would seem to meet Shortz's criterion for a word being common.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I had that one too. I also wondered about "biriyani", whose first vowel *could* be the 'ee' sound (although I think more commonly it's a short 'i').
DeleteFrom Wikipedia:
ReplyDeletedaiquiri
.
.
.
Pronunciation
(UK) IPA(key): /ˈdæ.kə.ɹi/, /ˈdæ.kɪ.ɹi/, /ˈdaɪ.kə.ɹi/, /ˈdaɪ.kɪ.ɹi/
As I said in a post above, 4 pronunciations are given, ALL of which include a lowercase i in the third syllable; and 2 of which also show an uppercase I in the second syllable.
The IPA symbol in the third syllable is the one for the sound "ee." The symbol that looks like an upper case I is the one for the sound in "kid." Nevertheless, the schwa in the first pronunciation is how most of us hear it.
DeleteI have never agreed with the answer to a pronunciation-based NPR Sunday Puzzle, and it seems I never well.
DeleteYou know what they say. Where there's a well; there's a bucket.
DeleteI am surprised the consensus here.
ReplyDeleteIn my world and to my ear, the second "i" (in "qui") is clearly short; "ki" as in "kid."
I didn't come up with or seen an alternative, so this may be slightly insoluble.
I mentioned the very common claim that the "i" in "business" is the only silent one in the language.
I'm sure we all encountered aim, maid, brief, and vein, etc. in working on the puzzle. Is there some reason those "i's" are not considered silent?
Look up business. The i is really not silent. People just do not pronounce it.
DeleteI diagnosed the consensus early on.
DeleteThink of a term in five letters for a vowel sound. Rot13 the second letter. rearrange, and add an exclamation point to get my reaction to pronunciation puzzles.
linguini or daiquiri
ReplyDeleteI was not sure my answer was correct. Seemed too easy.
ReplyDeleteMy clue - Attempts at anagrams are falling way short this week - apparently given the unusual letters, the longest you can get is a five letter word.
ReplyDeleteThe anagram I found was Iraqui IUD, change one letter, and get the very scary, Iraqui IED.
DeleteMy posted clue went down in flames again." Time for a drink after looking through several lists of names."
ReplyDeletedaiquiri- and linguni as an alternate. Or should i say leengueenee.
You really should look it up. There is no such word: linguni or linguini. It is linguine.
DeleteCheck out "All recipes"
DeleteTalk to Bobby.
DeleteThere was also a word on my list Maithili- which is some kind of obscure language.
ReplyDeleteI said the word lists were making my eyes blurry and it was time to let this one go.
ReplyDeleteToo many daiquiris also make my vision blurry
“Let it Go”-Frozen-daiquiris are frozen drinks
> prairie home companion...
ReplyDeleteIs this a hazelnut daiquiri Dick?
No , it's a Hickory daiquiri Doc.
Tomorrow's Puzzleria! features 8 "Econfusions" puzzles created by ecoarchitect. His suite of puzzles is titled "Changing the tone of leadership."
ReplyDeleteThere are 19 total puzzles on tomorrow's menu!
Blaine generously provides a convenient link to Puzzleria! on his PUZZLE LINKS.
Our welcome mat is out.
LegoYour"ToneOfLeadership"Leader
Pence flies with United
ReplyDeleteor
Flies united with Pence
Nobody has yet mentioned what I thought was Lorenzo's alternative answer: FRUITINI. I had never heard of it, but I looked it up, and it's a real thing. It's in the same family as DAIQUIRI, but the pronunciation is not as controversial. Most notably, it avoids the dreaded schwa.
ReplyDeleteLancek, I too reaaly like Lorenzo's "fruitini" alternative answer. From his post, I knew he was hinting at some kind of cocktail, and I knew I had heard of it... but I just could not pull it outta my gray matter! (I recalled it only after you revealed "fruitini" in your post above.) After your and Lancek's earlier posts, I tried to jog my memory by browsing this rather exhaustive cocktail site, but it wasn't there!
DeleteWill Shortz, alas, will likely not mention it as an alternative because it lurks only on the fringes of "real-wordom" (although "fruitini" does appear in the Urban Dictionary).
LegoWhoSays"WhySettleForAMereThreeSyllablesWhenYouCanHaveFive!
Daiquiri; didn't get it this week. Guess I quit drinking too long ago. Good puzzle though.
ReplyDeleteHere is a short YouTube video on the 3 ways to pronounce .ing.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAc9qb76qEQ
The puzzles this week has got me thinking of how I pronounce some words, and that is because of ron's post about -ing. The guy in the video link above says that there are 3 ways of pronouncing -ing, but there are actually 4 ways. I, and most hear where I grew up, do not pronounce the g at all in most words ending in ing. We do however pronounce it in BING, but I doubt even ron would pronounce that word with a short i sound. No, we tend to pronounce it beeng. Bing cherry and Bing Crosby. Now this got me to thinking about BEEN. I am sure some pronounce it bean, but most of us, I think, pronounce it BIN. Kinda like I've bin there.
DeleteAnother troublesome word is ROOF. Some pronounce it rewf, like poof, but many of us pronounce it like you would imitate a dog sound. I don't know how to describe it better than that, sorry.
We ain't gonna change how we learned these dialects either, so get over it. But it is quite a different matter when someone insists LINGUINE is spelled LINGUINI. Any idiot can look it up in a reputable source such as Merriam/Webster's, and not some online recipe site.
Umm. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, has an entry on page 724, column 2:
Deletelin·gui·ne or lin·gui·ni [...] narrow flat pasta.
I too pronounce roof like foot and not like loot. MW gives the loot sound as first pronunciation for roof and foot sound as second pronunciation.
Yes, they do, but it is incorrect and only reflecting the rampant misspelling and mispronunciation of LINGUINE. In fact if you go to their online website, they themselves mispronounce it with the long E ending. Anyone who knows anything about Italian knows that they pronounce E with the A sound and I with an E sound, same as with Spanish.
DeleteAnother thing about Italian is that they pronounce each and every letter in their words. Dr. Anthony Fauci is always pronounced incorrectly on the news here. They fail to include the U in the pronunciation. I have not heard his name pronounced even once correctly. It is properly pronounced Fa-ew-chi, but it is kinda run together in the way Italians speak their language.
it is the great linguini controversy.
DeleteNot true. My last name is Italian and contains a silent letter. That was my son's nick name in college. Silent G.
DeleteOK. The fly is supposed to be on E.T. tonight.
ReplyDeleteI also like the French pronounciation linguinay.
ReplyDeleteYeah, exactly the same as the Italian pronunciation. Duh!
Deletei had gone with "Linguini" I guess we'll have to wait and see.
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Tyler Lipscomb, of Augusta, Ga. Name certain fruits — in the plural. Change the second letter to an L and read the result backward. You'll name two things to drink. What are they?
ReplyDelete... Or one thing to drink?
DeleteHie ps aetvj.
DeleteI have a very geeky tee shirt concerning this fruit.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet you have a large number of them...
DeleteI do, and I wear them periodically.
DeleteToday's on-air challenge is essentially the same as on April 16, 2006.
ReplyDeleteTyler Lipscomb was from Athens, GA, on July 2, 2017, and from Hamden, CT, on August 18, 2019.
More than 500 correct responses this week.
ReplyDeleteJust got an email from Will Shortz. They will be using my puzzle this Sunday. Be kind gang...please!
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Clark! Great news!
ReplyDeleteCongrats, C a p! Do you think it's easy or hard?
Delete