Sunday, August 01, 2021

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 1, 2021): Topsy-Turvy

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 1, 2021): Topsy-Turvy
Q: Think of a common Britishism — a word that the British use that's not common in the U.S. Write it in all capital letters. Turn it upside-down (that is, rotate it 180 degrees). The result is a famous hero of books and movies. Who is it?
I fell for the initial trap.

Edit: I assumed the answer had to only involve the invertible letters HIMNOSWXZ but was able to escape that trap. James Bond was often narrowly escaping the villain's traps.
A: LOO --> 007 (James Bond)

201 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.

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  2. Will has selected one of my puzzles for this week’s solve-at-home. I feel privileged to be among those here who have also had their puzzles chosen. Whether you find this puzzle hard or easy, I hope you have fun solving it. I had fun creating it.

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    1. Good job Chuck. A little tricky but very clever.

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    2. Excellent, Chuck. Your puzzles are always fun... but always very smart also. I learn something from every one of your puzzles that I solve (I haven't solved this one... yet).
      For example, I learned about a certain musical instrument (that I had heard, but never hear of) back in 2016 when Chuck generously sent me the "Handel Bars (Puzzle) Slice for this edition of Puzzleria!
      Congratulations to a great guy with great talents.

      LegoWhoSaysChuck'sPuzzlesAlwaysGiveHimGoodVibrations

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    3. Thank you, Chuck! I'm glad I'm not going to be caught short with this week's puzzler, when I felt like such a twit for not figuring out last week's in time. --Margaret G.

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  3. Nothing compared to Hawaii 5.0😉

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  4. At first I got confused about in which axis is the 180 degree rotation. Then laughed when I thought of the answer. Ta Ta blokes, now to get some more Sunday kip.

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  5. A name associated with the hero is a Britishism of an Americanism of the Britishism.

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  6. I have an answer, but it is missing another hero.

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  7. Take another name for the hero and rearrange to get a musical instrument and something you might swallow.

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    1. If the player of the instrument is not very good, you might want the something to swallow.

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    2. Rearrange once more to name the feelings of someone who might prefer to hear bad live music over good canned music.

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  8. Replies
    1. LOO: 007.
      To tell the truth I've never heard "Waterloo" by ABBA. The British term "loo" might derive from "Waterloo"; there was, some people say, a brand of cistern used in the UK that prominently displayed the brand name.

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    2. LOO: 007.
      To tell the truth I've never heard "Waterloo" by ABBA. The British term "loo" might derive from "Waterloo"; there was, some people say, a brand of cistern used in the UK that prominently displayed the brand name.

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  9. Usually, after I solve the puzzle, I end up feeling a bit cross because I still don't understand Blaine's hint...but this week I think I've seen the light!

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    1. "The initial trap" might hint at a common dilemma when solving crossword puzzles: if you're looking for a three-letter Britishism for "bathroom" that starts with "L," is the answer "loo" or "lav"?

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  10. This answer bares repeating.

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  14. I think I have the answer. If it is in fact the answer, after struggling the last few weeks, you might say I found this one lighter fare.

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  15. We have now had 100 consecutive 1-week challenges.

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    1. The number 100 looks like the word "loo". A week has 007 days. The puzzle after the last 2-week challenge was the DR. OZ, DR. NO puzzle on September 8, 2019. That puzzle also involved rotating letters, and James Bond was in the Dr. No movie.

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  16. I doubt POTUS 41 would have enjoyed this puzzle.

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  17. My answer has me a bit unnerved, but I'm not very motivated to seek a better one.

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  18. Productive morning. Two hours in the gym, laundry drying, and puzzle solved. Next up, sanding the book shelves I’m building to smooth out the wood filler prior to staining and finishing.

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  19. Does a capital U become a lowercase n in this puzzle?

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

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  21. Alternate puzzle...

    Take the name of a particular unit of measurement in all caps and rotate it 180 degrees to name a fictional doctor.

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    1. I noticed this while fumbling around before finding the intended answer. I like it.

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  22. When WS uses the terms "upside-down" and "rotate," I tend to tune out.
    I don't think he really understands axes.
    Anyway this challenge is OK in sort of a goofy way.

    Two weeks in a row. the on-air players have been brilliant and the Puzzlemaster has ignored several submitted answers as good as the ones he wanted.

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    1. Thanks! I was the on-air player 2 weeks ago. Been lurking here for months.

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  23. Could be many music clues but sometimes records can skip.

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  25. This was a fun and clever puzzle!

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  26. Rob,
    I am a bit surprised. I have been waiting all day for you to post that when all repeating letters are removed the answer remains the same.

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

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    2. Well, not anymore, you can't... but for the life of me, other than referring to (not quoting) a post that gave a possible alternative answer away, I can't see that I gave anything away. If I did, I do apologize.

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    3. Rob:
      I can answer that for you come Thursday, but not before.

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  27. I was away for the weekend, but now that I'm home, I had a chance to listen to the puzzle. I got lucky, and the answer popped in my head right away. It may have helped that I heard the Britishism on an NPR program last month.

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    1. On Wait Wait Don't Tell Me a few weeks ago, when they had a question about kids watching so much Peppa Pig during lockdown that they were picking up British accents, they jokingly imitated a child saying, "Mommy, may I go to the loo?" Of course, when you invert LOO, you get 007, aka James Bond.

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    2. I'm surprised Blaine let you post at all this week, given that Jaws was a Bond villain.

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  28. This puzzle has a relationship to a medical puzzle from not quite two years ago.

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  30. I solved this awhile ago, but because I was having trouble coming to terms with my reaction to it, I hesitated.

    Until now.

    When I did solve it, I thought of MacLeish, who wrote, among other things, “A poem should not mean but be,” and of Kipling, who had he been a puzzle aficionado, might have added a stanza to his famous poem, “If,” beginning with “If Will’s directions had only been clear…”

    It seems to me that the directions to this puzzle are fundamentally ambiguous.

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    1. I thought of that Kipling poem too! I wonder whether we thought of it for the same reason.

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    2. It’s possible, but adding anything further would almost certainly be TMI. We’ll have to wait until Thursday to see.

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    3. Won't someone please ask "Do you like Kipling?"

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    4. No, I've never Kippled.
      pjbFinallySolvedIt,SoHe'sInTheMoodToProvideABadPun(NoClueHere)

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    5. My darling, let's skip it.
      pjbTestingThePost-RemovingWatersAtLeastOnce

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    7. LOO, 007
      pjbTriedAndGotAwayWithThe"SkipToMyLou(LOO)MyDarling"Comment

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  32. We need a super here named Dageht Dnim, one who saves people from falling onto tracks.

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  35. Actually, both parts of this week's puzzle contain Britishisms. Just made a telephone order and realized that I've adopted one of them. Must be the influence of the London Bridge just down the road.

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    1. 007, the last 3 digits of my zip code. The second Britishism is saying "double" when digits repeat, especially when giving addresses. Brits would say 8 double 4 West Main, not 8-4-4 West Main.

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  36. This comment has been posted by the author.

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  37. I can't think of a clue that won't get deleted, so in the end, I'm defeated.

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    1. More importantly, why is there an A in defeated, but not in deleted?

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    2. A is for the Agony of defeat?

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    3. Cap,
      Here's a hint for you that should survive Blaine's nimble finger of death (NFD).

      Some days you just feel like all you do is trudge up the hill and down the hill.

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    4. Gobsmacked again?? Did i say that right?

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  38. Turning the word upside-down on an alternate axis gives another famous character of books and movies, perhaps not as heroic, but more endearing.

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  39. I really wish Blaine allowed spoilers, because I have absolutely surrendered on this one, but it's still driving me insane and I just want the answer.

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    1. Don’t force it. Just relax and sit with it for a bit. It will likely work itself out.

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    2. Drinking a glass of water and going for a walk can help.

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    3. And if you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him. (I have this on good authority: https://www.learnreligions.com/kill-the-buddha-449940.)

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    4. My comment has a veiled reference to James Bond's "license to kill."

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    1. "Did you ever know you are my hero?" Bette "Miss Divine" Divine Miss M?

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    2. “yours is the wind beneath my wings". The power of one little letter.

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    3. "Heart" from Damn Yankees was never intended to be a clue even though there was a zero in the "hint". Irony sharpens irony.('burgh pun) This post did not get pulled, but when I used the pun noughty knotty naughty problem, it did get pulled. again pun intended, no hint intended. I had a short visit to blains puzzle blog. so chill.

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  41. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Hmm, if they were removed once, how is reposting them a good idea?

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  42. I'm trying to figure out a way to make Ted Lasso the answer. Ello, guv

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  43. Replies
    1. jan, thanks, I enjoyed this article linking golf and shot put. It's a positive place for all (shot) put downs.

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    2. I don't read the WAPO enough to pay them for web content.

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    3. Me neither. Fortunately, my wife does.

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  44. My answer works but isn't very satisfying so I have to decide how long to hold out for a better one before giving up and submitting what I have. It may be nip and tuck till Thursday.

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  45. To all you TMI tattle tales, every time you tattle, it's a tell. Blaine's in charge, right?

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  46. An actor with the name of the Britishism played an antagonist of the hero.

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    1. I just looked at a list and didn't see the name.

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    3. Thanks, Lego. I had the wrong answer but your note directed me to what I am comfortable is the intended. Quite a relief with just one day to go!

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    4. Is TMI ever really "serious?"
      Does it diminish as such as the solving period wears on?

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  47. A famous Northwest garage band song may be TMI. I am pretty sure it is.

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  48. SDB, This is a secret clue known only to you and me...I put your movie recommendation on my Netflix cue (queue?).

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  49. LOO >>> 007

    My Hints:

    1. “Definitely an AM puzzle.” No, not a morning puzzle, but a puzzle you might want to solve while driving your Aston Martin.

    2. “I doubt POTUS 41 would have enjoyed this puzzle.” That would be George H. W. Bush who hated broccoli. Albert R. Broccoli produces all the James Bond films.

    3. “Rob,
    I am a bit surprised. I have been waiting all day for you to post that when all repeating letters are removed the answer remains the same.” If you remove the 2 O’s from the answer you still have 7 and can happily kill as you please.

    4. “Yes, I can see that! :-)” This was in answer to Rob’s post that Blaine removed because it included “LOL! You have my number.” Blaine removed all posts referring to NUMBER.

    5. “Some days you just feel like all you do is trudge up the hill and down the hill.” The Hill, 1965 and directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Sean Connery and Harry Andrews, was Sean Connery’s favorite movie. It is outstanding!!!

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    1. '4. “Yes, I can see that! :-)” This was in answer to Rob’s post that Blaine removed because it included “LOL! You have my number.” Blaine removed all posts referring to NUMBER."

      That's so funny! I had no idea.

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    3. I also removed the LOL post because it was very close to LOO. But saying "number" was the main reason. Incidentally, I thought the AM puzzle hint was about the time you frequently use the loo.

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  50. LOO -> 007

    > My "Clueless" entry a couple of weeks ago involved Roman numerals. This week's puzzle doesn't. [Deleted]

    Just Arabic ones.

    > One more river....

    007 + one more river = Ocho Rios, served (as Blaine knows) by Ian Fleming International Airport.

    >> I doubt POTUS 41 would have enjoyed this puzzle.
    > You're related to #23 yourself.

    The 23rd Bond film was Skyfall, skydiveboy.

    > An actor with the name of the Britishism played an antagonist of the hero.

    Richard Loo played Hai Fat in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974).

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  51. LOO (toilet in the UK) → OO7 (James Bond, a hero?)

    I know, an upside down L is not exactly a 7: LOO → OO⅂


    OO7 rotated ㄥOO

    Richard LOO portrayed the Bond antagonist Hai Fat in The Man with the Golden Gun.

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  52. 007 (<—LOO)

    My hints:”[A]mong [the] other things” written by Archibald MacLeish was a play entitled J. B., the initials of Agent 007, James Bond. (I also quoted the famous climactic lines from MacLeish’s poem “Ars Poetica”: “A poem should not mean / But be,” hinting faintly at “B” for “Bond.”) And the hint/title of Kipling’s poem “If” also contains initials, in this case of the Bond books’ author, Ian Fleming.

    Good puzzle, Chuck. Well done.

    But am I the only one who thinks Will’s directions were missing something, that they should have included also rotating 180 degrees left to right, i.e., horizontally, in addition to upside-down, i.e., vertically? Doesn’t the sole provided direction to rotate “LOO” just one way, 180 degrees upside-down, yield only a backward “7” followed by “00”?

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    1. If you rotate the word LOO clockwise (or counter-clockwise), using the middle O as the center of rotation, you get 007. Were you flipping it through the third dimension (flip the paper over), instead of a two-dimensional rotation (spin the paper upside down)?

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    2. I see how it does work. If you wrote “LOO” on a sheet of paper, the only way to rotate it and still see the letters would be to turn the sheet 180 degrees either clockwise or counterclockwise so that the side of the sheet with the letters, now “007,” is still facing you. I kept imagining transparency—my mistake—so that turning the sheet top-to-bottom (“upside-down”) was possible, but the letters were now a backwards “7” followed by “00.” I knew intuitively that “LOO” and “007” were the answers early on and sent them in (no call here, though), but I just didn’t follow through sufficiently to see that Will meant rotating in a different way from a strict top-to-bottom upside-down rotation. Lesson learned.

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  53. I wrote, “I have an answer, but it is missing another hero.” That’s POOH / (Robin) HOOd. It seems like I am not the only one who thought of this alternative; I wonder if Will will mention it.

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    1. Pooh is not a Britishism. Pooh just refers to that one character.

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    2. I don't think it is so restricted. "Pooh" is a British exclamation of disdain or disgust.

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    3. I initially thought of POOH/HOOd too and left a clue that I was not wholly satisfied with my answer and it was going to be "nip and tuck" (as in "Friar Tuck") till Thursday to see if I could come up with a more satisfactory one. Later I thought of LOO/007. I wrote that I was "comfortable" (as in "comfort station") that my new answer was the intended one and it was a "relief" to have figured it out.

      I do think POOH/HOOd is a valid answer. Admittedly "pooh" (or at least "pooh-pooh") is commonly used in the US but so is "loo", though maybe less so. At any rate, I submitted POOH/HOOd as a proposed alternate answer though I don't think it will be mentioned.

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  54. Thanks to our friend GB, aficionados of "juicy geograpical jeux de mots are in for a treat beginning tomorrow on Puzzleria!
    GB has concocted a tricky trio of stumpers for his recurring "GB's Bafflers" feature... the answers thid week are "all over the map!"
    So, pack an atlas and drop by. We upload Puzzleria very early every Friday at around Midnight Pacific Daylight Time.
    Also on this week's menus:
    * a “Eye owe you a vowel puzzle” Schpuzzle of the Week,
    * a Puzzle Slice about a west-of-the-Mississippi city that involves pedal-pushing, perhaps by Bourbon Street pedalers or peddlers (that's if Bourbon Street is even west of the Mississippi... it's not that easy to ascertain!),
    * a Desert-Heat Dessert that may be too hot to handle (but perhaps not too hot to “footle),”
    * and a package of nine riff-offs of this week's NPR puzzle titled "007: a license to... use the loo!"
    We at Puzzleria! strive to ensure each Friday that excellent puzzles are ushered with love onto your tablets, iPhones, laptops, et cetera.

    Lambda,LegoLambda

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  55. The reason I thought of Kipling's poem, "If...", is that "IF" is Ian Fleming's monogram. (This was my only clue this week, piggy-backing on Dr. K's.)

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  56. Just a painful reminder that my family name is a combination of the place and what you do there.

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  57. The unhyphenated USA shot-putter Ryan Crouser won gold...

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    1. NPR also has him unhyphenated: Today Shot Putter Ryan Crouser Wins Olympic Gold Again And Sets The Olympic Record : Live Updates: The Tokyo Olympics Crouser broke the Olympic record on three of his six throws

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    2. Wikipedia also has Shot-putter, Ryan Crouser, unhyphenated!

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  58. How about Mick which is a Britishism for Michael. Read Mick on the reverse side of a piece of paper and get Wick, as in John Wick. MICK WICK. A solid answer we thought.

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  59. My clue: able was I
    Before I saw Elba. Idris Elba has been rumored to be playing James Bond.

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    1. Heck, I thought that was a really roundabout Waterloo reference.

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  60. LOO, 007

    "Mr" stands for Mary Richards from the Mary Tyler Moore show. One of her co-stars played the character LOU (LOO) Grant.

    Delighted to see LOOp this week since 3/4 of the answer is his screen name.

    "You can watch this hero on several video streaming services." as in what, ahem, goes on in a LOO. (I removed it because once it's pointed out, it's too highlighted. For the good of the blog and all...).

    "It's a positive place for all (shot) put downs." as in put down the seat!

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  61. Like I said, 007 has nothing on Hawaii 5.0.

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  62. Hey , Chuck , cool puzzle.
    Since WS gave away your location I'm going to ask. Are you a N.E. philly guy too?

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    1. Upper Roxborough. Not from here though - a recent transplant.

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    2. Hey, Chuck, not a bad puzzle, almost. I live right next door in Mt. Airy! I love riding my bike through Roxborough and Manayunk and along the Schuykill. Beautiful little part of town!

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  63. Ahhh nice , I used to go horseback riding in that area.

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  64. A name associated with the hero is a Britishism of an Americanism of the Britishism. To wit, an Americanism of LOO is JOHN, and a British (UK) variation of JOHN is SEAN, as in Connery. Nice puzzle, Chuck!

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    1. I thought the British version of JOHN that you were referring to was IAN (an Anglicization of the Scottish "Iain"), as in Fleming.

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    2. Unlike Will on occasion, I cheerfully acknowledge alternate answers. In fact, jan, yours might be even better, since it completely avoids "the troubles."

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    3. It would be better if the American version of LOO were Jim, rather than John. I'd much prefer being able to tell people I went to the Jim this morning.

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  65. I had to make it through all the post-deadline foo-fah here to realize I must be the only one to find a true alternative.
    Even with all the Pooh references.
    Write LOO on glass or a thin piece of paper, rotate it away from you 180 degrees and you get roo.
    There were no caveats about upper case in the answer. (Obviously, since the intended 007 has none.)
    Roo was Christopher Robin's stuffed Joey, offspring of Kanga.
    He was in many books and movies as required. \
    As I said Monday, I find him a more endearing character then Bond.

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  66. LOO>>>007

    My comment about needing to sand the filler on my bookcase was a hint to a well known brand of filler - Bondo.

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  67. My hint was "This answer bares repeating." refers to the way Bond would introduce himself.

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    1. Which may BEAR repeating but probably doesn't BARE repeating.

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    2. I'm lead to bludgeon myself to death with a led pipe.

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  68. Same here, LOO/007. POOH and HOOd is an ok alternative, but seemed incomplete. It seems like 007 has been an answer to a different puzzle before.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. I don't think it was the answer to that puzzle, but had more to do with Blaine's hint.

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    3. SDB: Thanks for correction. One can read the comment on that site, though.

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    4. I removed my inaccurate post. Site is: NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 14, 2021). Jan had already referred to it, I forgot about that.

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    5. Also see this site on Blaine's blog: NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 8, 2019): Looking Sideways

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  69. Shitty puzzle. 007 was James Bond’s designation, not the name of the character.

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    1. Bad day?

      I enjoyed solving this puzzle. 007 and James Bond are interchangeable in most people's minds.

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    2. I thought the puzzle was way too easy. I solved it right away by working it backwards. How many famous heroes of books and movies are there anyway? James Bond immediately came to mind and I then saw that 007 could be rotated to make LOO. And I did all this while still in bed. So for me it was not a good puzzle. I prefer something more intellectually challenging. Not likely I will find it here very often. This is no reflection on Chuck as Will only uses my least challenging puzzle creations, and even then he dumbs them down.

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  70. Hm, but the statement of the puzzle doesn't say the result is the *name* of the character, so I don't understand the complaint. (But I'm assuming 'shitty' was a 'loo' joke!)

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  71. No need to hold your applause for my alternative answer.
    I have to admit Roo's heroic chops may be little little weak, but at least "LOO" is only turned upside-down, per the clue, not upside-down and backward.

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    1. MJ, see my post and thread yesterday, 12:01 p.m.

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    2. Dr. K: And mine on Sunday at 4:31.
      It has been a problem for years.

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    3. Since we live in three (spatial) dimensions, there are two ways to turn something upside-down, one for each axis that isn't the up-and-down one. Will didn't specify which axis was the one the answer worked for, so I think LOO/rOO is legit on that score. But getting 007 only requires one 180 degree rotation! (And you don't have to *also* turn it backwards, anymore than you have to *also* turn it backwards to get rOO -- to see rOO you have to be looking at the backside of the letters!)

      This reminds me of a question I heard discussed at length some 35 years ago: why do mirrors reverse left and right, but not top and bottom?

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    4. It's even more confusing. If you are facing north and looking into a big mirror, when you point east, your reflection points east. When you point up, your reflection points up. But if you point north, into the mirror, your reflection points south. Seen this way, the mirror reverses only front-to-back.

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    5. Actually mirrors do not reverse left and right. What they do is show back exactly what they see. The mirror does not act differently if you rotate it 90 degrees, nor if you turn your head so that one ear is toward the floor and the other ear is toward the ceiling. Try this and then try and answer your question.

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    6. Rob,
      I do think that's the main step to take in untangling the question, yes -- the mirror reverses front and back, and the rest kinda follows. My image lifts his Left hand when I lift my Right... except not if I think of him as facing away from me but flipped front-to-back!

      (Rob, I also agree with you about 'pooh' being a Britishism -- and apparently the bear got his name from a swan, whose naming was somehow related to that Britishism:

      “Christopher Robin, who feeds this swan in the mornings, has given him the name of ‘Pooh.’ This is a very fine name for a swan, because, if you call him and he doesn’t come (which is a thing swans are good at), then you can pretend that you were just saying ‘Pooh!’ to show him how little you wanted him.”
      [From Milne's introduction to When We Were Very Young])

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  72. Spoonerize something you would likely see at a circus to get something you are likely to see on a classic car. What are they?

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    1. Tight wires and white (wall) tires almost works.

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    2. Tight wire & white tire works.

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  73. I want to recommend a book that was published this year. It is very short and can be easily read in one sitting. The book is by Thom Hartmann and titled: The Hidden History of American Oligarchy. Reclaiming our Democracy from The Ruling Class. Each of its 157 short pages is filled with well thought out information and insights into what is happening to our country and why and how it has come to this and what we can do to correct it. This is an amazing read. You owe it to yourself and our country to read it. Your library should carry it.

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  74. I read the list of cast, crew and other contributors to the just released motion picture "Nine Days."
    I didn't find any names I recognized.

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  75. This week's challenge: It comes from listener Ed Pegg Jr. Think of something that gets people moving vertically. Remove the middle two letters, and you get something that moves people horizontally. What two things are these?

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  76. I think one is more fun than the other. --Margaret G.

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