Sunday, January 31, 2021

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)
  • Sunday, January 24, 2021

    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

    Sunday, January 17, 2021

    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

    Sunday, January 10, 2021

    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

    Sunday, January 03, 2021

    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