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

216 comments:

  1. 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.

    You 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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hear a connection to a previous puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always try solving these puzzles backwards. :)

      Delete
    2. There are also "many variations" in this type of music...

      Delete
    3. That kind of gave it away for me...

      Delete
  3. This puzzle was used several years ago. It was submitted by my friend Monte, who was a participant on this blog in the past.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  4. Tasty, even if recycled.

    For a follow-on, take a six letter hyphenated word for a kind of cooking, change one letter and get something every kitchen needs.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oops. Just saw that I kind of duplicated Blaine’s clue. This puzzle shouldn’t be tough to handle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Baby, here I am, I'm the man on the scene
      I can give you what you want but you got to come home with me

      Delete
    2. Let me light your candle

      Delete
  7. There’s a generally perceived difference in time and space between the two answers. Whether the difference is accurate or not is another story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Typo above. Substitute "place" for "space."

      Delete
  8. This was a nice puzzle the first time around. I guess a new generation deserves a chance to enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This year's "New Names in the News Quiz" was quite easy. Anyone have suggestions for other names Will could have used?

    ReplyDelete
  10. New year, new puzzle? More like deja vu all over again. The style of music may resonate with our lame (duck) president.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Replies
    1. Good one!

      I thought of X Æ A-Xii.

      Delete
    2. How about Mackenzie Scott?

      Delete
    3. I was glad that none in Trump’s cadre of wingnuts made the list.

      Sadly, the list should include George, Rayshard, Breanna, Ahmaud and countless others. “Say their names!”

      Delete
    4. Yes. So glad Ms. Scott is doing such good things with her billions.

      Delete
    5. He would never use those names because he will not use anything he considers to be a downer. I know this because of a puzzle I sent him once that he liked, but rejected for that reason.

      Delete
    6. We should also mention new names to Blaine’s Blog in 2020, including (I think) Sheep Launcher, Lancek and Italo Svevo.

      Delete
    7. Lorenzo, I also agree, but I also thought exactly what skydiveboy did: that because the puzzle is primarily for entertainment, not for edification or political preaching, Will tends to shy away from controversial topics. Here's a small, if nonpolitical, example: When I was on last year, two of the four-letter rhyming anagrams that I solved at the taping but didn't make the final edit were "weld" and "dune." When I solved them, I recall from Will's response that he seemed surprised by the answer (almost as if he himself had been unaware of it) and said something like, "Oh, those belong together." As I said, that was omnitted from the broadcast.

      Delete
    8. Here is my puzzle that I knew Will would not use, but sent him anyway:


      Hi Will,

      I have no idea what you will think of this one, but I can't resist sending it on anyway.

      Say the name of a well known movie of the past and phonetically it will describe what was done, at the end of his life, to the president who followed JFK into office. What was this movie?










      Answer: Barry Lyndon

      Ooh, that's too dark for me to use on the air!
      But thanks for asking.
      --Will

      Delete
    9. Dr. K, is there something edifying or political about dune and weld?

      Delete
    10. They anagram to nude and lewd.

      Delete
    11. WW, no, good point. There isn't. However, I did mention "controversial" as well and, loosely anyway, the rhyming anagrams for those two words might have led Will or Lulu into an embarrassing moment on air. But I thought it was funny when it happened at the taping, and I suspect both Will and Lulu, unseen, had a smile on their faces.

      Delete
    12. (Following up on SDB's rejected puzzle) 25 year old joke: Did you hear that Ben and Jerry has a new flavor to honor the Grateful Dead? Bury Jerry.

      (Told to me by the most unlikely deadhead ever, an ERISA lawyer who looks and talks like Ned Flanders.)

      Delete
    13. Yes, WayWordy, another good name for the list. Sad to say she is a fellow Smithie.

      Delete
    14. Speaking of Smith, RoRo, are you lurking about round here?

      Delete
    15. Thanks WW! Your comment made me think of a couple more
      Amy Cooper and Christian Cooper (Amy is an alum of my grad school) :-(

      Delete
    16. Elliot Page
      Cori Bush

      ...I really like this game.

      Delete
    17. I forgot about the Cooper names in Central Park.

      Delete
  12. So, I'm running through styles of music in my head, and I come across one and think, "Wow, using the same instructions, that would make a good future puzzle" Then I realized it is this week's solution... Kids, always remember: Caffeine first, then puzzle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Coffee can, in fact, be found in both the kind of music and in some version of the kind of cooking.

      Delete
  13. Thumbs up on Blaine's cooking/music photo selection.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I remember making the same mistake on a similar (or perhaps the same) puzzle a while ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just looked up the previous incarnation of this puzzle. I could not have made the same mistake back then.

      Delete
    2. This wasn't the first time I was slow to consider the possibility of more than one hyphen in a word, but the last time wasn't December 4, 2011, because that puzzle made no mention of hyphenation.

      Delete
  15. Got it but it took a while. After 3 long days of unpacking and shelving books (more to come), my brain must be fried.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An afterthought: If the answer were "refried" (unhyphenated, admittedly, and maybe not even "a kind of cooking"), then the 2nd answer--a neologism for "a kind of music" that doesn't actually exist--could mean "an umpire's song."

      With apologies to Buffalo Springfield:

      Paronomasia strikes deep
      Into your mind it will creep
      It starts with words always at play
      Pull out a line, the pun come, and take you away.

      Delete
    2. Hey, Doc, I think I know the answer to your umpire puzzle. I think it involves another word for "song" and a shortened version of "umpire" in a sort connotative sense. I wish I had the brain cells to supply funny lyrics to the chorus of your punny song.

      Delete
    3. You got it, Wordsmythe. I think I may have way too much time on my hands, though I must admit after 40-50 years of higher ed teaching, etc., retirement is good. On the other hand...there are all those books still unpacked and unshelved. Fortunately, in the words of Genesis (KJV, not the band), I am fortunate to have "an help meet." After my three days of unpacking and shelving, she's unpacking and shelving as I write this. God bless her. My big thrill of the day: For the first time in almost three years, I got to look something up in my OED.( I know: I don't get out much.) Best wishes for the new year.

      Delete
    4. Thanks, Doc. Just by hearing from you I think the pain in my shoulder has subsided. Maybe I should make appointment just to be on the safe side. ;-)

      Delete
  16. There is an ingredient used extensively in Asian cooking that I am tempted to name, but I don't want to spend my Sunday in puzzle prison.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  19. I've never heard of the type of cooking I found, but it easily works to get a type of music. Sooo, I guess I'll send it in. I'm not sure its right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unless you are going for an enigmatic clue of some sort, your reply is giving me a direct hint that you may not have the intended answer. If you've never heard of it, you definitely have the wrong answer.

      Delete
  20. I remember this exact puzzle from years ago. Deja vu.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I solved this hours ago in seconds. It is the first word that came to mind for several reasons, some of which would be a giveaway.

    If you remove the middle letter and do not replace it you have a means of transportation that has nothing to do with dogs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. skydiveboySun Dec 04, 12:18:00 AM PST
      Who is the jerk who came up with this turkey? This is worse than leftovers in the school cafeteria.

      Some things never change.

      Delete
    2. That was a hint if you recall.

      Delete
    3. You beat me to it. I was going to post here that when i drop the changed letter I hear some carnivores; also, it floats.

      Delete
  22. I hoped that the "Puzzlemaster" would admit that he posed a palindrome puzzle without a palindrome.
    Instead he inexplicably emphasized his mistake.
    What to think?

    Today's challenge was just as easy as the last time he used it. And just as weak.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Monte Montgomery here, I sent in the original in 2011. What's your beef? I thought it was a good 'un then and I still think it's a good 'un.

      Delete
    2. Will thought your first name ended with an I, Monti!

      Delete
    3. Ron Sun, I suppose Will has created so many crossword clues in his life that he accepts all sorts of oddball spellings. I forgive him.

      Delete
    4. "What's your beef" -- or pork, or sometimes chicken ...

      Delete
  23. Due to the pandemic there is no way I would attend a Ted Talk. That being said I would recommend Republican senators assail on a Ted Cruz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SBD, is that you doing the foot hang in the jpeg?

      Delete
    2. Yes, it is I.

      I used to do it occasionally after dropping a load of advanced students. When you try to swing your legs up you reach a point where they seem stuck and you must struggle to get past that place. Then you hook your feet and let go with your hands and you are now hanging.

      I have never seen anyone else who could do it and stay up. Most could not get there at all, and those who could fell off the instant they let go with their hands. That photo was taken over Issaquah. One time I was hanging like that and figured it was about time to go when the pilot shut the door. I couldn't resist staying a little longer and giving him the finger. When in that upside down position you cannot tell where you are in relation to the ground, so you just have to guess at how long to hang before letting go and still being able to make it back to the DZ. The exit, after letting go, is remarkably stable.

      Delete
    3. I'm impressed. I was wondering, when you gave the pilot the bird from that position, did you rotate your wrist so that your finger was pointing in the correct direction?

      Delete
    4. Yes. And we were both laughing.

      Delete
  24. The last 4 letters of the last name of a famous musician of this type of music spell the name of a store that I just went to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice hint, Bobby. But...

      ...LegoAdds"Don'tForgetTheTwoBits!"

      Delete
    2. I went to Aldi, the last 4 letters of Vivaldi, a baroque musician.

      Delete
  25. Remember when people would go to brick-and-mortar stores before Christmas and line up for hours for the latest fashion doll?

    ReplyDelete
  26. O.k. o.k. I just now got it. Yes it took me long enough, especially since my training is in music.
    Here's a hint: Leo Kottke.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Back during the Writers Guild strike in 1988 some wags in the Guild created what they called their "Pitch Tent." If you entered one door you were escorted into a room where a seven-year-old sitting behind a desk insulted you and then had you kicked out. If you chose the other door the exec behind the desk not only greenlighted your proposal, but gave you more money than you asked for. The only catch was that you could go into this room only once in your entire life.

    What does this have to do with cooking and music? Maybe nothing but quidquid latine dictum, altum videtur.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I that must be on Reginald Foster's tombstone. Anyway, add him to Word Woman's New Names in the News wish list.

      Delete
    2. Ain't that sit altum videtur?

      Delete
    3. Lovely addition--I had never heard of him, but wish I had. He had the second best gig in the Vatican, after Father Guido Sarducci.

      Delete
    4. Yes, Reginald Foster would be a good addition to the 2020 list. From the NYT obit: "He looked like a stevedore, dressed like a janitor and swore like a sailor." and "He was LXXXI." I'd like to know more about swearing in Latin.

      Delete
    5. I had to look up Reginald Foster. A good choice, Jan. I was reminded of a female grad school mate, who, in her own words, "swore like it was 1968."

      Delete
    6. Starting with "if it ain't baroque don't fix it" takes us to the Latin word "fixit," often translated as "pitch" (as in "ibique Israhel fixit tentoria" or "there Israel pitched its tents"). Don't know whether anyone barbecued anything under those tents.

      Delete
  28. Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Was it the Kermit associated with Sonny Tufts?

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    4. Even saying I can't say more about the Kermit in question was Three Mile Island!

      Delete
    5. Rhymes with kinds of birds or pastries?

      Delete
    6. I have a story I'll tell late Thursday.

      Delete
    7. Early in the pandemic, whenever people had "socially distanced" birthday parties, Mr. Kermit Ruffins, whose band is the Barbecue Swingers, would turn up and play "Happy Birthday" (solo, on his horn) out in front of their house. Some neighbors had such a party, and we heard Kermit playing, so went outside. His truck was parked near our house and he greeted my husband and me in such a way that our neighbors thought he was a friend of ours. (We are friends with some local musicians, but not Mr. Ruffins)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1gVOmRW4Bk

      https://www.hearthandhome.com/magazine/2020-02-20/kermit_ruffins_the_barbecue_swingers.html

      Delete
    8. > Rhymes with kinds of birds or pastries?

      Puffins, muffins.

      Delete
  29. If you don't understand Blaine's clue, check out Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go".

    ReplyDelete
  30. For those of you have have submitted puzzle *ideas* to NPR, do you include the answer in your submission? This week's puzzle gave me a beauty of an idea.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Was up drafting all night so it took a while to get my mind off of architecture and focus on the puzzle.
    My musical clue - 'Tiny Dancer'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BAROQUE architecture and ’BAROQUE pop’ – yes, it’s a thing. Who knew?

      Delete
  32. Drop the middle letter to get a kind of ship.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you not see my 9:43am post?

      Delete
    2. Missed it, but looks like we're on the same wavelength.

      Delete
    3. Yes, but don't you think it makes my post too revealing?

      Delete
    4. And also a particular kind of 6/8 musical form.

      Delete
    5. My great-great-grandfather sailed one around Cape Horn in 1848. Which is how my Baltimore ancestors became Californians.

      Delete
    6. Italo Svevo,

      Have you read Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.? If not you absolutely must.

      Delete
    7. Here's a book someone may like i started. "Always looking up" Confessions of an eternal optomist" Michael J.Fox

      Delete
    8. SDB--Thanks. That book was on my father's bookshelf for years but I never took it down to read it. I will go hunt down a copy.

      Delete
    9. If I remember correctly there are some editions that do not include the follow up Dana wrote. You will enjoy those parts too, which include his return to California years later.

      Another warning: Hollywood made a so called film version in 1946. It is not what it presents itself as being. It is a fictional story with Dana's title that has nothing to do with the book.

      Delete
    10. When Warner Bros. gave Al Jolson a private screening of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" he reportedly said, "Nice movie. Who's it about?"

      Delete
    11. I love it!

      IN 2009 NPR kept promoting the Hollywood movie, John Rabe, about the unsung hero of the infamous Rape of Nanking.

      I couldn't wait to see it, which I did in the theater with a friend who is from China. He knew all about John Rabe, but all I knew was what the producers were telling NPR in their interviews about his story and how they had thoroughly researched it before making the film in order to get his amazing story accurately presented.

      I really enjoyed the movie. It was very well done in all respects and it made me want to read John Rabe's extensive diary in order to learn more about it. I obtained a copy from the library and found it far more interesting than the movie, and that the movie was a complete fabrication of the actual events. They just made up everything and ignored the actual things that happened.

      Delete
    12. On that topic, my father eventually refused to go to any movie made from a work of literature if he had already read the book. It may have been the film version of "Ulysses" that pushed him over the edge.

      Delete
    13. I generally avoid Hollywood movies because they are mostly dishonest and unrealistic. Occasionally there are surprises. One of these is Serpico.

      I mostly watch foreign movies from all over the world. The better ones tend to have better stories, acting, direction and do not depend on special effects, which do nothing for me.

      I saw part of an interesting film last night. It was live coverage of the Georgia senate race results coming in at the Republikan venue. Lots of people, mostly in dark suits and very long in the tooth. Rarely did I see someone wearing a mask, and a few of those had them pulled down below their mouth. I thought it was very realistic.

      Delete
    14. This [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/shaun-of-the-dead-protesters/] was funny, sort of, a month ago. Today, not so much.

      Delete
  33. I thought it was interesting that the person who submitted this week's challenge(or merely repeated an earlier one, as I too believe)has the surname Flood and is from Texas. I had to check this myself, but it is true that "Texas Flood" was the debut album by the late Stevie Ray Vaughan and his group Double Trouble, in 1983.
    As for this week's challenge, I do believe as I said earlier, like many others here so far, that it has been used before. Pretty much explains why I got it in mere seconds.
    pjbAlsoThinksDejaVuWasAGreatCrosbyStillsNashAndYoungAlbumTheYearIWasBorn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right, it was.
      I won't give more info because it's google-able, but: here at Blaine's, you (Cranberry) didn't post a comment the first time, and the puzzle's author did.

      Delete
    2. I really don't understand? This puzzle is a repeat" So all those who are bragging about solving it in a wink of an eye have already done it before? So every ten years the puzzle starts over and begins to repeat itself? Huh?

      Delete
    3. I'm a little confused now. Cranberry, you suspected this is a repeat. It is. I gave a tiny bit of (what I hope is) useless information about what happened the first time WS used it. I don't understand what you're saying about Tufts and Curry.
      Plantsmith, WS often repeats a puzzle, typically when someone sends it to him and (apparently) he's forgotten it, and nobody checks to see whether it's already been used.

      Delete
    4. The other "Kermit" Iris hinted at I assumed to be Kermit Schafer, a well-known collector of classic radio bloopers, such as the one involving actor Sonny Tufts. Schafer actually restaged or recreated many of the bloopers he "collected" from the early days of radio, as many of the original bloopers turned out to be mere urban legends and, going out live(if at all), could not therefore be easily transcribed for use on Schafer's many compilations. To hear Schafer's side of it, actor Joseph Cotten appeared one week on Lux Radio Theater, and at the episode's end, he supposedly announced the next week's broadcast with a big buildup of Tufts, only to sound very surprised at having to read Tufts's name at the end. As it turned out, though both actors had appeared on the program at different times, Cotten was not even on the show prior to Tufts, and the actor who did announce Sonny Tufts simply said his name with no noticeable show of emotion whatsoever. Nevertheless, the name Sonny Tufts ended up becoming sort of a punchline, particularly on TV shows such as "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "My Mother the Car"(starring Dick's brother Jerry), and "Rocky and Bullwinkle"(the reference I actually remember having seen). As for the "Lemon Curry" reference, any Monty Python fan knows one episode of their TV show featured various cast members interrupting certain sketches by incredulously asking "Lemon curry?", and I think that show actually ended with a BBC newscaster doing the line as well. I finally took both phrases, seeing as how they were both pronounced in such an unusual manner, and put them together in one post, hoping someone else would reply whether they got the references or not. And of course, I couldn't resist repeating "Sonny Tufts" and "Lemon Curry" and trying to sound as though I didn't even understand it either(with only a "?" and a "!" to express any sort of emotion while commenting on a blog, as that's the only way one can here). Call it a joke that just fell flat.
      As for the first time WS had used this challenge, I can't even remember what I might have said back then(and I don't intend to do the detective work to find out, either). All I can really say is I recall it being used before, and if you think about it, it's definitely one of Will's easier challenges anyway, especially if I can solve it that fast.
      pjbWhoDidGrowUpWithASonnyCurryWhoNowSellsLemonTufts

      Delete
    5. Rather than try to explain my explanation, I'll just say
      BAR-B-QUE, BAROQUE
      and leave it at that.
      pjbDoesNotChewHisCabbageTwiceBecauseHePrefersLettuce

      Delete
  34. Pro Wrestling Clue for the Week - Boomer Sooner

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Pro wrestlers I know are from another era:ie. Antonino (Argentina) Rocca, Gorgeous George, Andrea the Giant.

      Delete
    2. Andrea the Giant? She must have been huge!

      Delete
  35. Name another kind of cooking, consisting of two four-letter words. You can change one letter in each word and get two kinds of music.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure how that would work, but no.

      Delete
    2. It has to be really hot out and it helps to live close to the equator.

      Delete
    3. Second word is an anagram (change 3rd letter) and first is in order?

      Delete
    4. First term that entered my mind when solving the original puzzle, too many letters I know, but then again I was relaxing in the bath.

      Delete
    5. Plantsmith, I think you're still cold, but Howie appears to be appropriately hot.

      Delete
    6. i thought i had same answer as Howie. I think these are French terms?

      Delete
    7. The official Lancek answer to this follow-up puzzle is SOUS VIDE --> SOUL, VIBE. I looked up "vibe music," and it's apparently a thing. (I was originally thinking of music played on a vibraphone.)

      Delete
    8. Ok. And i had soul and Jive-with B to a V and scramble. FUn

      Delete
    9. Vibe music - right up there with baroque pop!

      Delete
    10. I think they are kind of doing this on "Bridgerton."

      Delete
  36. My son cooked a Turducken on Thanksgiving. First time i had had this. It was from the Cajun meat company in Marietta, Ga.The cooking term- is engastration and i suppose that may also be the way they make Haggis?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting. For the first time ever, I saw one these contraptions that are made for frying an entire turkey! They had them at this Wal-Mart I go to. They look like big coffee urns. I guess you just load 'em with oil.

      Delete
  37. To e, or not to e, that is the question--William Shakespare

    ReplyDelete
  38. Those who grew up on a certain nautical cartoon may remember a gag featuring a particularly pointed letter.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Are there any reports indicating how Trump's golf game is going now?

    ReplyDelete
  40. SDB,

    I can't even laugh about what the Orange one has incited today. Where is the 25th amendment when it's truly needed?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The 25th Amendment can only be invoked by the Vice President or a majority of the Cabinet, his sycophants and enablers. Don't count on it.

      Delete
    2. Where is the 25th amendment? It is hiding behind those who are in power to invoke it, but are too cowardly and depraved to even acknowledge its existence. Why would anyone expect integrity now after 4 years of unfairness, sleight, underhandedness, meanness, chicanery, duplicity, fraud, roguery and rascality?

      Delete
    3. What we saw yesterday were the actions of a 'basketful of deplorables'. It really is the appropriate term.

      Delete
    4. Actually it is far more than that. It is the latest escalation of what will be the total downfall of any real democracy this country has if Trump is not removed now. But I see the carpet is raised and the broom is moving.

      Delete

  41. BAR-B-QUE >>> BAROQUE

    "Musk" as in Elon Musk, a business czar or biz czar, which sounds like bizarre, the meaning of BAROQUE.

    "Kansas State University" is a personal reflection. When I met the geology chair of the department at KSU, I connected his name, Ken, to a Ken doll, as he was quite good-looking, as a way to remember his name. I burst out laughing that evening when he introduced me to his wife, Barbie. I believe jan was also pointing to a Barbie-Queue (a reprise of his clue a decade ago.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny. Upon seeing your post, I immediately thought of Kansas style BBQ

      Delete
    2. Never had Kansas style BBQ. I had my first calamari in Manhattan, KS, though on my KSU visit as a visiting geologist. It was delicious. I’ve not had any to compare to that Kansas delicacy.

      Delete
  42. Bar-B-Que —> Baroque

    As a number have pointed out, an oldie but goodie.

    ReplyDelete
  43. In response to Ben's post ``e,'' I posted, ``To e, or not to e, that is the question--William Shakespare.''

    This is obviously a play on William Shakespeare's, ``To be, or not to be, that is the question.''

    This alludes to two spellings of the puzzle answer: barbeque and bar-b-que, where the latter drops an ``e'' relative to the former. I also dropped an ``e'' from Shakespeare, making it end in ``spare,'' as ``not abundant or plentiful,'' or ``meager,'' another allusion to the lack of one ``e'' in the answer. After posting, I noticed that my post might have been a giveaway if ``spare'' led to ``spare ribs,'' which are commonly barbecued.

    ReplyDelete
  44. BAR-B-QUE -> BAROQUE

    > Remember when people would go to brick-and-mortar stores before Christmas and line up for hours for the latest fashion doll?

    A Barbie queue.

    > If you don't understand Blaine's clue, check out Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go".

    This little guy is hidden in a different place on every page. That's the Gold Bug variations.

    (If you're gonna pun, go for baroque.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (I remember once discussing Bach's Goldberg Variations with someone, who said, "I'm not familiar with Goldberg's work.")

      Delete
    2. Bach in the day when I was in the army I witnessed numerous goldbrick variations.

      Delete
  45. Bar-B-Que, Baroque

    Last Sunday I said, “There’s a generally perceived difference in time and place between the two answers. Whether the difference is accurate or not is another story.” A dual affection for Bar-B-Cue and Baroque music would not generally be assumed.

    ReplyDelete
  46. BAR-B-QUE>>>BAROQUE

    The solution to my riff on this puzzle (take a six letter hyphenated word for a kind of cooking, change one letter and get something every kitchen needs) is PAN-FRY>>>PANTRY.

    ReplyDelete
  47. I wrote, “I hear a connection to a previous puzzle.” That’s phonetically the QUE in “bar-b-que" and last week’s “queue up.”

    ReplyDelete
  48. BAR-B-QUE -> BAROQUE

    I forgot about today's deadline due to all the news.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did too! But I had also come up with Bar-b-que and Baroque.

      Delete
  49. My hint:

    "I solved this hours ago in seconds. It is the first word that came to mind for several reasons, some of which would be a giveaway.

    If you remove the middle letter and do not replace it you have a means of transportation that has nothing to do with dogs."

    If you remove the middle letter you get BARQUE, which is a large sailing ship, but has nothing to do with barking dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  50. What are two smart times to wear a mask?
    1. When you are part of a large crowd, especially when there is a lot of shouting.
    2. When that large crowd breaks into the US Capitol, a place very rich in surveillance and press photography.

    ReplyDelete
  51. BAR-B-QUE -> BAROQUE

    My clue was "e" in homage to previous posts on this board, and because the letter "e" is silent in both BAR-B-QUE and BAROQUE.

    ReplyDelete
  52. My clue

    New year, new puzzle? More like deja vu all over again. The style of music may resonate with our lame (duck) president.

    The first part referred to the 2011 edition of this puzzle and the “que” from last week’s challenge. The Trump part referred to him going “baroque “ (broke).

    ReplyDelete
  53. There is an alternative answer. There is a form of cooking known as RAG-LIME. Look it up. RAG-LIME becomes RAGTIME.

    ReplyDelete
  54. On tonight's Puzzleria! (which will be uploaded this night at midnight PST) we will feature five fantastic puzzles created by our friend geofan in his recurring "Worldplay by Ken Pratt" puzzle package.
    The first of geofan's five puzzles is a timely challenge which asks the solver to create the shortest possible word ladder from TRUMP to BIDEN.
    Also on the Puzzleria! menu this week are:
    * a Happy Talk TV-news-team Schpuzzle of the Week,
    * a “ 'Pray' is just a four-letter word” puzzle,
    * a "Stalking a shifty city critter" dessert, and
    * Nine Riffing-Off-Shortz-And-Flood(-And-Monte!) Bar-b-que puzzles.
    Speaking of which...
    Here is a hint that jan posted back in 2011 when Lorenzo's friend Monte first came up with this week's NPR BAR-B-QUE => BAROQUE puzzle:
    janSun Dec 04, 04:23:00 PM PST
    What do you call the long line of Christmas shoppers waiting to buy a popular fashion doll?

    I suspect that, had jan posted that hint this past week Blaine might have blog-administered it... especially so because "que(ue)" was so fresh in our brains after last week's QUEUE UP puzzle!

    LegoGoingForBaroque

    ReplyDelete
  55. I think this marks the first time, upon seeing a Puzzleria! preview here, that I already know one of the puzzles will be way too hard before I even see the website itself. Shortest word ladder from TRUMP to BIDEN? It ain't gonna be really short!
    pjbGotTramp,Thump,OrGrumpToStartWith,ButThen...?!

    ReplyDelete
  56. It is deeply disappointing that Pence has refused to perform his duty and invoke the 25th Amendment in order to protect out country. I dared to hope it would happen today, but now I see it will not happen. This only means we are now in for an escalation of our complacency created situation. It will only get worse because of our refusal to act responsibly to what happened yesterday and before. Please do not tell me about your hope for our future. Your reliance on hope and little or nothing more is what has got us here in the first place. Hope is just fine AFTER we act. Have you acted today and even so much as sent an email demanding he be removed? Or did you simply hope?

    ReplyDelete
  57. I am asking myself how it is I can now be found on the right side of history and the left side as well.

    ReplyDelete

For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.