Sunday, April 10, 2022

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 10, 2022): Silent L Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 10, 2022): Silent L Puzzle
Q: Think of a 5-letter word with an "L" that is pronounced. Add a letter at the start to get a 6-letter word in which the "L" is silent. Then add a new letter in the fifth position to get a 7-letter word in which the "L" is pronounced again. What words are these?
Are we back to the ARSON --> ASH puzzle?

Edit: Johnny Carson was older than Johnny Cash. Also, if you want to get to the prior puzzle on the desktop version of this blog, you click on "Older Post"
A: OLDER --> SOLDER --> SOLDIER

157 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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    Replies
    1. Blaine, once I solved this puzzle, your clue reminded me of the time in sixth grade when we were lined up waiting to enter the school building, and I caught a whiff of a campfire on the clothing of the kid next to me and asked him about it. He said he'd accidentally burned his house down the night before, using an implement related to one of the answers.

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    2. This was my only attempt at a clue this week: "Well done!" phonetically contains "weld".

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  2. Has this puzzle been used elsewhere? Somehow it sounds familiar. Anyway, I put it together pretty quickly. Could be an easy win.

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  3. Remove the first and last letter from the seven-letter word. You get a term for something that has the characteristic of the first word.

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  4. What do wood, rose, and field have in common?

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    Replies
    1. Do they come from a much longer list that could include ham, wash, and bomb?

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  5. Alternatively, you can add that same new letter in the *fourth* position to get a different 7-letter word in which the "L" is pronounced.

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    Replies
    1. And you can add a T into your 7-letter word ... without changing the meaning too much.

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    2. And both your seven letter words have a common root--something I would never have suspected until your comment drove me to the on-line etymology pages.

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    3. (Enjoying this discussion of soldier / solider / stolider.)

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  6. This is a nice puzzle for Palm Sunday. I would also note that you can get a similar string of three words by just appending letters to PAL (first one, then four).

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  7. Got it. I remember completely mispronouncing the 6-letter word as a youth, and when my dad corrected me, I was sure he was kidding around.

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    Replies
    1. Also, there are pronunciations of the 6-letter word that do pronounce the L, especially in Great Britain.

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    2. Same here about the six-letter word, it takes me back to Junior High. I have never used that word since nor have I had a reason to. Although I have used many ice scrapers. As far as the pronunciation, Webster's 11th will confirm that there is a British variant.

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  8. After this clever one, I think I'll pipe down about criticizing WS's puzzles.

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  9. This may not work for Brits. --Margaret G.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, the clue should say that the L is silent for Americans.

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  10. Music Clues: The Doors and George Michael.

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  11. Isn't this a Christmas puzzle? No 'L'!

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  12. The 7-letter word relates to a 7-letter word with a silent L.

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  13. This puzzle reminds me of a lot of people.

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  14. Regarding Blaine's post, in view of the silent L word, perhaps we are even further back, to the table of the elements.

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  15. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  16. I have three words that work, but the third one is in Spanish. Will never said "English words, but I don't think he'd accept my answer.

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  17. Not to draw too much attention to myself, but I solved this several hours ago from my hospital bed. I suppose the first word is directly pertinent, and the third is part of a pertinent 2-word phrase.

    Cheers.

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    Replies
    1. Dr. K: Hope you get well soon! I hope the nurse charted that you solved the puzzle. (From another nurse.lol)

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    2. Thank you, Natasha. The nurses here have been simply wonderful.

      I think I'll go offline for a while now.

      Thanks again.

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    3. NPR puzzles Will entertain
      All manner of puzzlers who gather chez Blaine.
      This balmy Palm Sunday we all want to say:
      Speedy recovery, Dr. K!

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    4. Dr K, hope you are O K and that you recover smoothly.

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    5. Dr.K, Please stop this malingering. Beds must be saved for the sick, and you must not be taking one of them. We want you back on line here right now. And stop bothering the nurses. In other words, get well now. How's that for bedside manner 101?

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    6. Thank you, skydiveboy. In a way, I was lucky. Had this happened in December, when the facility was overwhelmed by Covid, they would have had to put me in the parking lot. All kidding aside, as I said to Natasha, the nurses have been wonderful, and I am on the road to recovery. I do appreciate all the good wishes.

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    7. Ditto for Dr. K. Speedy recovery.They say Dr.s make the worst patients.

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    8. I believe our Dr. K is a PhD, not an MD.

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    9. Hi all, this is Dr. K's wife. Thank you for all the kindness and support--it's really helped distract and comfort him on this roller coaster. And skydiveboy, are you single? Because I've just about had it with this one. ;-). (Whoever said that doctors make the worst patients--Ph.D. and otherwise--nailed it)

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    10. Thanks also to SuperZee and Plantsmith. And about my better half's post above, I plead guilty, with an explanation.

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    11. Well the better half seems to agree. It's all doctor's i believe-anyone who knows too much. PHD's DDM's.
      Anyone watching Valhalla miniseries? Too bloody for me- but i knew nothing about Brite's day(sp) slaughter of the Vikings by their English keepers. No clue here.

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    12. Well Dr. Special K, I can relate to what you are going through. Way back in 1949 I was in the hospital waiting for a suitable donor for my lifesaving tonsil transplant operation. I remember the fear my parents went through worrying that I might live. Anyway it all seemed to work out okay and the insurance company survived. It also helped me overcome my terrible fear of ice cream. Praise the ammunition and pass the lard!

      Note to Mrs K: Yes, and I am encourageable. (Did I spell that rite?)

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    13. One of my law school professors school also told us that doctors make the worst investors, circulating a WSJ article in which the wife of a doctor (this was 45 years ago) was quoted as saying "They shouldn't be let out of the house with more than their lunch money." Don't know if that applies to doctors of philosophy as well; perhaps Frau Doktor K can weigh in on that as well.

      And get well soon--your wife will get more trade-in value for you when you've recovered.

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    14. This is all very good advice, and perhaps you should have a little talk with our retired shrink, Clark a pseudonym, and get him to tell you why you decided to go through all this simply in order to garner all this suffocating attention. But of course if you really want attention, you can always find a way to squeeze a little Mexican red hot sauce into a bedside urinal. You have no idea just how much fun this can be until you try it. Well, enough of my bullsh*t, just get well and back before the deadline. And remember, with friends like us, who needs enemas?

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    15. When i worked at the Univ. of Washington medical center I worked for a wonderful M.D. Dr. Eugene Strandness who practically invented-medical ultrasound along with ATL in Seattle.A vascular surgeon He always had this bantering with the nurses back and forth- bossing them around -or so it seemed- but some of the older ones would give back in kind. Maybe it is a generational thing or toxic masculinity? I am sure things have changed now. He was amazing with the patients and those who worked for him- like me- but get him around a nurse and things changed. He died of idiopathic- pulmonary-fibrosis in 2005. Terrible disease. When i visited him in the hospital-at Harborview- he was very hopeful. GRHS. I was there-Uwash- till 2008.

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    16. Hey, Dr. K. There little words:
      Get well soon!

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    17. First, for all those who were kind enough to provide encouragement: Thank you. I am back home, healing and on the road to recovery. My doctor keeps telling me that—otherwise—I’m the healthiest person he knows. Specifically: To Italo Svevo—Thank you, and I learned that lesson years ago. I am more than happy to let my better half handle our investments, although, just to be safe, I probably shouldn't let her see the “trade-in value” comment. To skydiveboy—Thanks again, and I’m sure that Clark is enjoying his retirement. No reason to ruin it for him to find out why an aging and retired academic places such value on solving an NPR puzzle while he’s hospitalized. To MusingLink—Thank you for the kind words. And if I missed anyone, please accept my apologies. Finally, I think that at least in this one instance I can speak for my better half when I say we both are certainly looking forward to things getting back to normal.

      Best wishes to all.

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    18. Glad you're feeling better, Dr. K! Hospital stays are no fun at the best of times.

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  18. If someone would just tell me the six letter English words with silent L's, I think I can figure this out.
    Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. It did not appear on the silent L lists we found.

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    2. Perhaps it has an unlisted number.

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    3. I found a very long list that had it!

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    4. Keep at it. Eventually you will make the connection, hopefully before deadline.

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    5. There must be a connection to a previous puzzle.

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  19. The second and third words share something in common.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, they do, but my third word is in Spanish

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    2. That's interesting because my third word is a plain, everyday English word.

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  20. I wrote down about fifty words with a silent L before I finally got the right one.

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    Replies
    1. I'm impressed if you found 50 6 letter words with a silent "L"

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    2. 50 is the atomic number for tin.
      Tin solder or tin soldier

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  21. You name it, someone has posted an online list of it.

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  22. Got the answer after tinkering with it for a while

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    Replies
    1. Referencing the movie “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

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  23. The yolk's on me. I this might be one of Will's holiday themed puzzles.

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  24. I pray that all the thirds get the first.

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  25. I have used the silent L word in two applications, but the two applications are rarely mixed.

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  26. In case you woke up this morning to find your New York Times Spelling Bee partially completed already, no, you aren't losing your mind and your account hasn't been hacked. For some reason, they re-ran an old puzzle (allegedly from July 12, 2020). No word of explanation or apology from management yet (are you listening, Will?).

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  27. Replies
    1. Now you have me thinking of a classic rock cover band.

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    2. Zeppelin tribute band, Get The LED Out (1986 - the year lead was prohibited in piping solder).

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    3. Thanks Howie! My 1986 post was only about the Safe Water Drinking Act, but I learned something new from your comment about the cover band.

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  28. The things we hate about ourselves aren't more real than things we like about ourselves. - Ellen Goodman (b. April 11, 1941)

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  29. When I finally thought of the word it seemed to resonate and I checked to make sure my answer would hold up.

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  30. In Chicago, when the els are silent, it means that you missed your train.

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  31. The 6-letter word caused me to panic over something my daughter did when she was little. The 5-letter word eventually helped ease my panic, and although the 7-letter word was in the same area as the 6-letter word, it was not the direct cause of panic.

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  32. I went back to the future to solve this one.

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  33. Playing on Siz’s post above, I can also think of a place involving the third word that is very much known known to be described by the first word. And where you also might find an element of last weeks puzzle.

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  34. Replies
    1. He used to do his bits with his eyes closed. Too bad. It was myotonic distrophy type 2. 67. Too young.

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    2. I always thought there was something odd about his eyes. He really understood humor!

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    3. I was not familiar with this gentleman.
      How did you learn so much?

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  35. I think this is the best puzzle we have had in quite a while now.

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  36. I wonder how early one would need to mail an answer in the post card days. Maybe by Tuesday? I just connected with the answer today, and I probably would be too late for the mail

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    Replies
    1. Post card days was hinting at older days, and Tuesday hinted at Tuesday Weld, as welding is related to soldering

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  37. There are few one-liners more memorable than Jack Nicholson's “You can't handle the truth!” See if you can by watching this video:

    https://news.yahoo.com/noam-chomsky-93-issues-warning-204950540.html

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  38. Dr. A--Thank you for the kind words. It's good to be home and on the road to recovery. Soon I hope to be shooting baskets again. Next record to break: my consecutive free throw record of 60, set--eerily --last month on the Ides of March. I hope your semester is going well.

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  39. Sketchy internet in the high desert this week. Must be a tumbleweed connection.

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    Replies
    1. The 'Tumbleweed Connection' album has the track Talking to Old Soldiers.

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  40. Our good friend Jeff Zarkin (you may know him better by his screen name "SuperZee") has created a beautifully faithful riff-off of this week’s NPR “Weekend Edition Sunday” Puzzle. Jeff's mystifying masterpiece is featured on this week's Puzzleria! as an "Appetizer" on his “Jeff Zarkin Puzzle Riffs...” (uploaded early Friday, just after Midnight). Also on our menus:
    * a Schpuzzle of the Week titled "Y’all try to recall a prez and a pol,"
    * a Puzzle Slice that involves "Cuddling, contentment, containment,"
    * a Dessert about a Victoria's Secret Christmas gift that "ain’t outta the bag," and
    * six additional No(pronounced)el NPR puzzle riff-offs.
    Join Jeff Zarkin for some "joy to the wordplayful world!" on Puzzleria!
    And, Dr. K, prayers and best wishes for your healthy recovery!

    LegOComeAllYeFaithfulPuzzleAficionados...SoldierOn!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, lego. I am home and, slowly but surely, healing.

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  41. OLDER + S = SOLDER + I = SOLDIER

    My Hints:

    "When I finally thought of the word it seemed to resonate and I checked to make sure my answer would hold up."
    When selecting flux core solder, it is important to use rosin core solder for electrical applications, and after you finish you hope your repair will hold up.

    "What the magician did." He sawed her.

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  42. OLDER, SOLDER, SOLDIER

    This week, my hints (for obvious reasons) were purely personal: the “directly pertinent” first word is OLDER, and the pertinent two word-phrase that the third word is part of is SOLDIER ON.

    Thanks again, everyone.

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  43. OLDERSOLDER (sŏd′ər) → SOLDIER (sōl′jər)

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  44. OLDER, SOLDER, SOLDIER

    > What do wood, rose, and field have in common?

    Like SOLDER, Wood's metal, Rose's metal, and Field's metal are useful alloys with low meltimg points.

    The kid in my sixth grade class claimed he left a soldering iron going on an oil tank.

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  45. Older, solder, soldier. My reference to ice scrapers, I guess Sunday, was a reference to my 7th grade industrial arts class, where, in addition to makingice scrapers, we were taught to solder. I have NEVER soldered anything since.

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  46. I came up with older, solder, and soldier. My post this week said: "The 6-letter word caused me to panic over something my daughter did when she was little. The 5-letter word eventually helped ease my panic, and although the 7-letter word was in the same area as the 6-letter word, it was not the direct cause of panic."

    When my eldest daughter was 3, she tested high for lead levels after she'd been playing with a French horn Christmas tree ornament with lead solder on it. I was able to feel relief once she was older than 5 and we no longer needed to panic about the effects of lead on young children. And while we did have a Nutcracker soldier ornament in close proximity to the French horn, the soldier ornament was not the one that caused the panic!

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  47. "My mind is in a state of 3589 on this one."
    3=DEF; 5=JKL; 8=TUV; 9=WXYZ > 3589 = FLUX (something used in SOLDERing)

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  48. Blaine didn't have to use his delete finger this week. I am surprised because I was sure someone would have posted the famous General MacArthur quote, "Old soldiers never die..."

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  49. Older, Solder, Soldier

    When my dad showed me some solder as he was about to sweat in some copper plumbing in the house, I could read, and pronounced it with the L. He corrected me, but I was sure he was kidding me, because I had never encountered a silent L in that context.

    Later, I commented on Mendo Jim's post, "Keep at it. Eventually you will make the connection, hopefully before deadline." To keep at it is to soldier on. To make electrical or some plumbing connections, you use solder. Deadline was a reference to both the puzzle deadline, and a time when we all will be older.

    Finally, I have been watching a British YouTuber, (Look Mum No Computer), where the host frequently talks about soldering connections. That is reinforcing the pronunciation with the L, which made this less intuitive for me.

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  50. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  51. Older, Solder, Soldier

    My comment about there being two common uses of the silent L word - which are seldom mixed was based on solder being used to join electrical components and to join copper water pipes.

    Mixing the two applications, however, would likely be shocking ;-).

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    Replies
    1. Not at all. Copper water pipes are often used as ground connections in home electrical wiring.

      Delete
  52. OLDER — SOLDER — SOLDIER

    My clues:

    Has this puzzle been used elsewhere? Somehow it sounds familiar.
    Implying the puzzle might be "older." (Although I haven't actually seen it used anywhere before.)

    I put it together pretty quickly.
    Possibly by "solder"?

    Could be an easy win.
    As in: one won by a victorious "soldier." (I was going to say "Mission accomplished" at first, but that might have become the one and only post to be removed by Blaine.)

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  53. OLDER, SOLDER, SOLDIER. My hint suggested the silent-L word was reminiscent of the recent puzzle involving the periodic table of the elements. Soldering uses the melting of flux made of various metallic elements and alloys to join different types of metals together.

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  54. My back to the future hinted at Doc Browns "Flux" capacitor.

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  55. My post - - I can also think of a place involving the third word that is very much known known to be described by the first word. And where you might find an element of last weeks puzzle. - this was referring to Soldier Field, one of the older (actually oldest) NFL stadiums, and where the Chicago Fire soccer team plays (with Fire being a necessary element of arson and ash).

    Jan - your trio of words seem to go well with Soldier as well (based on google search) - Soldier Field, Soldier Rose and Wood Soldier.

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  56. TIL how to correctly pronounce solder. 😅

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  57. My reference to a previous post pointed to something older.

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  58. older, solder, soldier

    Last Sunday I said, “The second and third words share something in common.” They both use guns – a soldering gun on the one hand and a firearm on the other.

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  59. That Russian flagship, Moskva, sank because it was Nazi worthy.

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  60. After exhausting my meager vocabulary of six letter words with a silent L, I did the same thing all good Sunday Puzzlers do and went looking for an online list.
    That didn't increase my homegrown one.
    So I am going give somebody, Ori Ofsevit, Will and or whoever, huge credit for discovering that "solder" is nearly absent from such lists.
    This made the puzzle too tough for me and I failed to solve it fair and square.
    This is embarrassing since I am quite older, was once a soldier and frequently solder.

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  61. OLDER, SOLDER, SOLDIER
    pjbCelebratingHis52ndB'DayTomorrow!

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  62. I believe there is something very special when holidays observed by different peoples fall on the same date. It serves as a reminder that whatever our differences, our commonalities are greater.

    This year, Passover, Easter, and Ramadan coincide. My prayer, for all of us, regardless of which of these holidays you observe, or if you observe none of them, is that we all be granted peace, health, love, and understanding.

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  63. Replies
    1. Yeah! What about those of us who find most religions to be full of hate and violence toward others, rather than the love of our creator?

      Delete
  64. Please note that my wish is for ALL OF US to be granted peace, health, love, and understanding, specifically includes those who observe none of these holidays.

    Beliefs, should be treated like a trip to an ice cream shop. Some may prefer chocolate, some vanilla, some butter pecan, and others the non-dairy options. But whatever flavor(s) one chooses, there is no reason to denigrate those who choose a different flavor, or those who pass on frozen confections.

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  65. When I awoke this morning to NPR News, which is my wake up alarm, the first thing I heard was: 12 hours ago — Clashes broke out between Israeli police and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque early Friday, with claims Israeli police entered in force ...

    This is how I usually wake up. It is not at all unusual to hear news reports of religious violence around the world. I have yet to wake up to a report of violence at an ice cream parlor. Owners of ice cream stores do not attempt to control our lives. Ice cream businesses do not care if you are pro abortion or not. Ice cream joints do not attack each other. There is little difference between one ice cream stand and another. Religions are a means to control humans. Some are hands on, and even talk about the laying on of hands. Others, and the nations they run, may be hands off such as Saudi Arabia, where they also have a heads off policy too. I have no respect for religions because they have no respect for me and will not stop interfering into our lives. Ice cream palaces do not do this. Both religions and ice cream are man made creations. One is benign and the other is destructive. Thank God for ice cream.

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  66. Sadly, even ice cream parlors are not off-limits. A few years ago Sunni extremists bombed an ice cream shop in Baghdad, probably because the clientele was mostly Sh'ia. But they may have had a more particularized reason for choosing an ice cream parlor; while I can't vouch for the source, apparently some Sunni ultra-fundamentalists embarked on a campaign of shooting ice cream vendors in Iraq a few years ago because ice cream was unknown during the life of Mohammed, which meant that it was an innovation. And, as the Hadith says, "innovation leads to deviation, which leads to error, which leads to hellfire."

    But why single out religions? The QAnon lunatic who shot up that pizzeria in D.C. was not following the commandments of any religion. Dylann Roof did not shoot nine worshippers in the A.M.E. Church in Charleston over theological differences. Putin is not proposing to eliminate the Ukrainian nation because of religion; both Russia and Ukraine are predominantly Eastern Orthodox. Our species is capable of doing unthinkable things, but for many more reasons than just religion.

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    Replies
    1. Very interesting. What are Ben and Jerry doing about it? If someone were to carve the likeness of Mohammad on a scoop of ice cream atop a waffle cone, would he be murdered on the spot?

      I did hear of a religious connection to the Ukraine invasion, but forget what it may be about. Perhaps the links below will shed some divine light on the subject. In the mean time can someone advise me how to color my eggs in camouflage in case a misguided missal comes my way?


      The Role of Religion in Russia's War on Ukraine - United ...
      https://www.usip.org › publications › 2022/03 › role-re...
      Mar 17, 2022 — Ukraine as a Religious Battleground ... When Constantinople fell to Ottoman invaders in the 15th century, the Orthodox Church in Moscow asserted ...

      https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/03/role-religion-russias-war-ukraine

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. You scream; I scream; we all scream when being shot at while buying ice cream.

      Delete
  67. SDB: Did you read the Chomsky interview?
    https://news.yahoo.com/noam-chomsky-93-issues-warning-204950540.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

    Delete

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    Replies
    1. Natasha,
      Didn't I post a link to that somewhere up above? Yes I did.

      Delete
    2. Except you should not just read the synopsis, but listen to the entire video interview. Everyone should watch it and take what he said seriously.

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    3. Sdb: i watched his video too. Forgot to mention. I missed your previous post about Chomsky.

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    4. Sdb: the video is on the site i posted.

      Delete
  68. This was a balmy puzzle... British English would sound the L... how can you not sound the L? Have you become French? ;-)

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  69. This week's challenge comes from listener Joseph Young, who conducts the blog "Puzzleria!" Name a vehicle in two words — 4 letters in the first, 5 letters in the last. Move the second letter of the last word into the second position of the first word. The result phonetically will name a popular figure from legend. Who is it?

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  70. Well, that took about twelve seconds. Still not fully awake yet. Yawn.

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  71. To whom it may concern: Happy Passover and Happy Easter! Now, easy on those adult beverages! 😉

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  72. More than 800 correct responses this week.

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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.