NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 31, 2021): Driving Across the USA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 31, 2021): Driving Across the USA

Q: Starting in Montana, you can drive into South Dakota and then into Iowa. Those three states have the postal abbreviations MT, SD, and IA — whose letters can be rearranged to spell AMIDST. The challenge is to do this with four connected states to make an eight-letter word. That is, start in a certain state, drive to another, then another, and then another. Take the postal abbreviations of the four states you visit, mix the letters up, and use them to spell a common eight-letter word. Can you do this?

I'm using a list of states directly connected by physical roads/bridges. This leaves out states that might legally touch on a map (e.g. UT-NM, AZ-CO, MI-MN, NY-RI, etc.). But even still, I'm not convinced there is only one answer. I guess it comes down to your definition of "common".

Edit: Unless there is some further restriction, I have at least 6 words that I consider common, 3 more if you allow an added S.

A: Common words:

animator (IA-MO-AR-TN)

condemns (SD-NE-CO-NM)

diamonds (ND-SD-IA-MO)

diocesan (SD-IA-NE-CO)

dioramas (SD-IA-MO-AR)

flagrant (AR-TN-GA-FL)

nominate (NE-IA-MO-TN)

ornament (AR-TN-MO-NE)

ransomed (SD-NE-MO-AR)

Less common words:

contused (UT-CO-NE-SD)

diaphone (IN-OH-PA-DE)

eduction (ID-UT-CO-NE)

galavant (GA-AL-TN-VA)

magneton (NE-MO-TN-GA)

mediants (MT-SD-NE-IA)

moleskin (NE-KS-MO-IL)

moralism (IL-MO-AR-MS)

nomadism (SD-MN-IA-MO)

nonmetal (NE-MO-TN-AL)

saintdom (SD-IA-MO-TN)

tangrams (MS-AR-TN-GA)

Uncommon words:

coenamor (CO-NE-MO-AR)

domaines (SD-NE-IA-MO)

makimono (NM-OK-MO-IA)

martagon (MO-AR-TN-GA)

matronal (MO-AR-TN-AL)

monecian (CO-NE-IA-MN)

takingly (IL-KY-TN-GA)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 24, 2021): Spoken Letters Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 24, 2021): Spoken Letters Puzzle

Q: This week's challenge is a spinoff of Will's on-air puzzle, and it's a little tricky. Think of a hyphenated word you might use to describe a young child that sounds like three letters spoken one after the other.

I've seen this on a license plate, but just not with those 3 letters.

Edit: I've not seen Greek letters on a license plate in the U.S. so I've seen the last sound spelled out, such as in URAQTPI

A: CUTIE-PIE = QTπ

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 17, 2021): National Landmark Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 17, 2021): National Landmark Puzzle

Q: Name a national landmark (6,3). Add the name of a chemical element. Rearrange all the letters to name two states. What are they?

Bonus Puzzle: Take the name of the state you might visit to see the landmark and the chemical symbol of the element. Rearrange to name two types of passenger vehicle.

Edit: NEVADA + SN = VAN, SEDAN

A: HOOVER DAM + TIN = VERMONT, IDAHO

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 10, 2021): A Decade of World News

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 10, 2021): A Decade of World News

Q: Name a person in 2011 world news in eight letters. Remove the third, fourth and fifth letters. The remaining letters, in order, will name a person in 2021 world news. What names are these?

Really? We've only had about 10 days of news in 2021 and you can easily Google newsworthy names of 2011. I guess Will is starting the year with a "gimme".

A: BIN LADEN --> BIDEN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 3, 2021): New Year, New Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 3, 2021): New Year, New Puzzle

Q: Think of a seven-letter hyphenated word for a kind of cooking. Change the middle letter to get a new word describing a kind of music. What words are these?

There are many variations of this type of cooking.

Barbecue, Bar-B-Que, BBQ, etc. This "new" puzzle is a variation of Monte's puzzle that aired 12/4/2011.

A: BAR-B-QUE --> BAROQUE