Sunday, April 24, 2022

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 24, 2022): The Cat's Meow?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 24, 2022): The Cat's Meow?
Q: Name a sound made by a certain animal. Change one letter in it to the next letter in the alphabet and you'll get a color associated with that animal. What's the sound, and what's the color?
Don't get stuck on this puzzle -- I spent more time transcribing the puzzle than I did answering it.

Edit: Don't get stuck in the mud, like a pig.
A: OINK --> PINK

152 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. I predict a lot of correct answers this week

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  3. Replies
    1. Add three more letters somewhere in my previous post, and you'll get another sound this animal makes. Perhaps right now.

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  4. Take another noise made by the animal. Rearrange the letters. You get a term often signified by a symbol.

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    Replies
    1. I like that too! Now take yet another noise made by that animal, change one letter to the next letter in the alphabet, rearrange the result and you'll get something in this animal's diet.

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    2. The animal reminds me of something signified by a symbol.

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    3. With the same noise I alluded to above, change one letter, don't rearrange, and you'll get a feature of this animal.

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    4. Pig and pink start with pi, which is signified by the symbol π.

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    5. I was thinking of "snort". Roots and snout were my answers.

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  5. I got it before I finished writing it down. That means I can go on to breakfast, and catch the tail end (no clue intended!) of the Married…with Children marathon on TV.

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  6. Does Homer Simpson's dog say "doh?!"

    I know. I know. Easy peasy.

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  7. Yes, pretty easy again this week. Why do they call it “this week’s challenge”?

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

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  9. I sincerely hope a kid wins and gets to play next week.

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

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

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    2. This comment has been posted by the author.

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  11. Replies
    1. This could have been a better puzzle: : Name a sound made by a certain animal. Change one letter in it to 5 letters later in the alphabet and you'll get a color associated with that animal. What's the sound and what's the color?

      Delete
  12. I didn't know the animal was that color!

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  13. Not a great deal of sleuthing needed this week.

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    Replies
    1. Not only that but any dierct literary (or musical) hints would almost certainly be TMI.

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    2. ("sleuthing" was a little nod to Pinkerton!)

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  14. Name a sound made by a certain animal. Change one letter in the sound FIVE letters in the alphabet and you get a color associated with that animal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least yours is more challenging. (I won't give it away).

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  15. Don't see how anyone could miss this one.

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  16. Not the same puzzle, but what do you do when you're stung by a yellowjacket?

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  17. Got it. It would really sting if I didn't get this one.

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  18. Puzzle writers sometimes get sloppy --> Strictly speaking, there is no question to be answered in the puzzle as written.

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    Replies
    1. Blaine forgot the last part of the puzzle: "What is the sound and what is the color?"

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    2. I didn't catch the full question on my first transcription, but I went back and got the last part this time.

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  19. Take a color associated with a certain animal. Add to it the name of a tree to get, phonetically, a city in the southern U.S.

    Or, alternatively, take what you might do if you made a boat out of this tree.

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    Replies
    1. Take the name of the city, switch the vowels to a short "e" as in "bet", and phonetically you get the kind of people who live in the south.

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

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

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  21. I'm not finding where to submit the answer on the NPR page?

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

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  23. "Now you shouldn't even get into who I'm givin' skins to
    It's none of your business
    So don't try to change my mind, I'll tell you one more time
    It's none of your business"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a quote from "None of Your Business" by Salt n Pepa. I know the cartoon pig is named "Peppa", but it's pronounced the same.

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  24. In good conchience I cannot say a good word about this so called puzzle. It makes me want to ralph.

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  25. Blaine must be at Brunch somewhere.

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  26. This is as easy as last week's.
    It is hard to understand how the Puzzlemaster decides what to offer.
    I have a never thought that the answer is a good representation of the animal's sound.
    Googling it for other languages provides better ones.

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

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    1. This comment will likely be removed by a blog administrator.

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    2. Paul, touché. I thought I was okay when the removal did not come for quite a while. Perhaps this hint will fare better: What do George Harrison and a Nobel-winning novelist from the same country have in common?

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    3. Risky...See my comments above.

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    4. Your comments are sage, Dr. K, but in view of the easiness of the puzzle you have performed a public service by posing a harder challenge that I can't resist, i.e., creating a literary clue that isn't TMI. I'm hoping my latest attempt will be deemed sufficiently attenuated to survive.

      Delete
    5. Nodd, I agree that the puzzle is easy (my wife, who hates puzzles, got it immediately; more than 2000 correct responses wouldn’t surprise me), and the challenge of creating a hint that is not TMI is thereby increased. Your fate, however, does not rest with me but with Blaine, who’s having a busy week as a result. I am merely a guest. That said, your hint touches upon the two categories, indeed the two specific references, that I expressed concern about in my reply to Dr. Awkward. And if you scroll above and read my hint (Sunday, 6:19 a.m. PDT, unannounced as such and for good reason uncategorized), I think you will also see the connection to one of your two references….

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    6. Dr. K, I don't think I understand your hint so I'm not sure what the connection to one of my
      references would be. More generally, I submit that anyone who didn't already know the answer would have to expend more effort to decipher it from my hint than to merely look at a list of common animals (the only kind that would have an established noise associated with them), so this discussion seems a little academic, though entertaining. As you observe, only one person's opinion ultimately matters.

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    7. Nodd, perhaps I misunderstood your hint. I’ll explain mine on Thursday.

      Delete
  28. I don't usually complain about an easy puzzle, but this one was sloppy.

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  29. A fly says, "Buzz!" However, Z cannot be changed to the next letter of the alphabet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A fly is like the phrase "when pigs fly". Z can be changed to the next letter of the alphabet, when pigs fly.

      Delete
  30. I just now solved today's WORDLE in 2 guesses and then did one more on Wordle Unlimited and also solved it in 2 guesses.

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  31. Hi, Blaine gang.
    I confess I sent in the puzzle.
    Apologies to Blaine-world puzzlemavens irked at the simplicity. Your irritation is entirely justified.
    I dream of a child getting to play on-air next week.
    As for alternative answers, a pal offers this:
    >I think it’s Bellow, and Yellow, in a world where Y follows B, and where yellow-bellied sapsuckers bellow.<
    - Jeff B.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I liked the puzzle. Never noticed that connection before. Easy or hard does not matter to me.

      Delete
    2. Jeff, don't feel bad. I send Will puzzles all the time and he rejects the good ones and sometimes uses the easy ones, but only after altering them to make them even easier. Very frustrating!

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    3. Two for me, too, SDB. We mush be hot today.

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    4. Chuck, Is that comment in the wrong location?

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    5. Jeff, I liked your puzzle. You make a connection between sound and color that is clever and fun. Like Natasha, that connection was new to me also. Your pal who came up with the swell yellow/bellow alternative seems to be a clever fellow too, just like you.

      LegoWhoAddsThatItIsAReliefToFinallyBreakOurThreeConsecutiveWeekInfernalReignOfArsonAshSolderAndFriarTucks!

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    6. Lego, thanks very much for your friendly comment. I emailed Will S. last week to say that my life was completed by his having taken a puzzle of mine, but what really completes me is the supportive Lego post.
      As I acknowledged on Sunday, this puzzle was pretty easy, easier than most Blainiacs like. I myself prefer a harder puzzle. I’ve submitted harder ones. When Will took this one I steeled myself for playful mockery here, but didn’t anticipate harsh responses.
      For what it may be worth, I think the harsh comments miss a significant point. The NPR puzzle is geared to NPR listeners, a broad swath of the public, most of whom are not puzzlers—puzzlers being a special breed.
      Most of my pals, like most Blaine posters, got the answer quickly. But some were a bit baffled. That’s not because they’re dumb, as some here may be inclined to think. It’s because they don’t think much about puzzles.
      Though I may be wrong, I suspect most NPR listeners are in the Who Cares About Puzzles category. If a simpler puzzle sparks their occasional participation, I submit that’s a good thing overall, though simpler puzzles sometimes elicit irkitude here.

      Delete
  32. When Chico asked Harpo a question, Harpo answered by embracing him.

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  33. I got this after a bit of self reflection

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  34. To get away from this puzzle...Who said,"Wit is cultured insolence"? No, it wasn't Will Smith!!

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  35. This took me a minute longer than it should have.

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  36. Does this answer need to include a quote from one of the original Animals, or could it be based on something replacement keyboardist Dave Rowberry might have said? I believe "We Got to Get Out of This Place" was their finest single...

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  37. I'm surprised that no one last week mentioned the monastery in the English countryside that had fallen on hard times, and the monks decided to open a fish-and-chips restaurant. The establishment soon became very popular, attracting people from all over.

    One city fellow, thinking himself clever, asked one of the brothers standing nearby, "I suppose you're the 'fish friar?’"

    "No," answered the brother, straight-faced. "I'm the 'chip monk.'"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Excellent.
      What do you call a donkey with a man on it's back?

      A he- hawler.

      Delete
    2. Not sure i can share this with grand daughter.

      Delete
  38. Orrin Hatch. RIP. An American Original who formed a productive relationship on the Senate floor with Ted Kennedy. A poet and a writer who wrote a song with Jessie Jackson's daughter /Ashana. RIP -Orrin whose name should be in a puzzle someday?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For a more balanced point of view:

      https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/orrin-hatch-was-never-a-public-servant/

      Delete
    2. I check the "Notify me" box at the bottom of this blog page each week, so I noticed your earlier post time-stamped 9:47 AM this morning, (BTW, what happened to that? I see no post from you time-stamped 9:47 AM at all here, not even one with now the content "This comment has been removed by the author.")

      Anyway, when I saw it, I thought "Wait a minute, isn't this the same guy who posted...". So I went back to last week's thread and sure enough, it WAS YOU who posted "I am so sad <bold and italics mine> to report the death of Orin Hatch and that it took so F...ing long."

      So did you only just now notice that article in "The Nation" and think "Wow! I had that guy pegged all wrong!" ?

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    3. Enya:
      No, when I posted on last week's blog about his death I had not seen the article. I discovered the article this morning when I decided to see what others may have been thinking about him. I have always been furious with him.

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    4. Enya. Heading your way in a week or so. I used to love that bike ride out Chuckanut drive and back to campus, via Larabee state park. Beautiful views.

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Styx and stones may break my bones, but comment removal is met with a TM eye-roll.

      Delete
    2. Styx had a hit song called, "Babe", also the name of a talking pig.

      "You know it's you Babe
      Whenever I get weary and I've had enough
      Feel like giving up
      You know it's you Babe
      Giving me the courage and the strength I need
      Please believe that it's true
      Babe, I love you."

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

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  41. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  42. It appears that creating a proper clue this week is difficult. Lots of removals. I guess I’ll forgo hinting…

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  43. Solved it, won't attempt to provide a clue of any sort.
    pjbCouldSayTryToNoticeHowManyAnimalSoundsAndColorsShareSimilarities(IfAny),ButThisMayOrMayNotBeTMI(How'sThatForVague?)

    ReplyDelete
  44. This one was easy so I won’t push it and leave a hint. I’ll just sit back with the popcorn and read other peoples hints.

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  45. I just consulted with Ed, and he thinks there will be 1952 correct answers submitted this week. I'm sure lots more, a least 2006, will be submitted.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Does anyone do Wordle or Nerdle?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A few family members have gotten hooked on DuoTrigordle where you solve 32 wordles simultaneously. Anyone else?

      Delete
    2. I just did one. It was fun, but I think I prefer the Sedecordle, which is 16 instead of 32. Less plodding, same skill set.

      Daily Duotrigordle #55
      Guesses: 36/37
      2️⃣4️⃣ 2️⃣5️⃣ 2️⃣6️⃣ 2️⃣7️⃣
      0️⃣5️⃣ 2️⃣3️⃣ 0️⃣7️⃣ 0️⃣6️⃣
      2️⃣1️⃣ 2️⃣8️⃣ 2️⃣9️⃣ 2️⃣2️⃣
      2️⃣0️⃣ 1️⃣9️⃣ 0️⃣8️⃣ 0️⃣9️⃣
      1️⃣0️⃣ 1️⃣8️⃣ 3️⃣0️⃣ 3️⃣1️⃣
      1️⃣1️⃣ 3️⃣3️⃣ 3️⃣2️⃣ 3️⃣4️⃣
      1️⃣7️⃣ 1️⃣3️⃣ 1️⃣2️⃣ 3️⃣5️⃣
      1️⃣4️⃣ 1️⃣6️⃣ 3️⃣6️⃣ 1️⃣5️⃣
      https://duotrigordle.com/

      Delete
    3. I do the Wordle and Nerdle regularly. Wordle I do on hard mode, which has caused a few misses, when there were too many possible words remaining.

      Delete
  47. When a vampire bat says "BLUD," it makes me feel blue!

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  48. Did today's Wordle in 2.

    Wordle 312 2/6

    🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    When you're hot...

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  49. OINKPINK, a pink pig.

    My puzzle:

    Name a sound made by a certain animal. Change one letter in it to 5 letters later in the alphabet and you'll get a color associated with that animal. What's the sound and what's the color?

    BRAYGRAY, a gray donkey!

    ReplyDelete
  50. OINK & PINK PIG

    My Hints:

    "In good conchience I cannot say a good word about this so called puzzle. It makes me want to ralph."
    In the book, Lord Of The Flies, the stranded boys may only speak at council when they hold the conch shell which is also used to call them to council. Ralph and Piggy are two of the protagonists. So, I spelled conscience incorrectly on purpose.

    ReplyDelete
  51. OINK, PINK (FROM PIG)

    Hint: “A quiet putdown.”—>The “Quiet” Beatle, George Harrison, wrote “Piggies,” a satire—or “putdown”—of capitalism, capitalists, and avarice.

    The literary hints I considered TMI and rejected had to do with Orwell and Animal Farm, and the similar musical hints had to do with making the Beatles hint above too explicit. Even a superficial Google search of “Beatles and animals” quickly turns up “Piggies.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dr. K, you're right and it's a valid criticism of my hint. But I note that Googling "animal putdowns" also leads readily to a bunch of references to pigs, including one by PETA featuring a prominent photo of one. In deciding what's TMI it's often hard to determine what's enough info to "show you know" the answer (per the standard reminder) but not to give it away. I couldn't figure out that your hint like mine, referred to George because I forgot he was the "quiet one!" Luckily, we have the BA to tell us when we've gone too far. Have a great day.

      Delete
  52. OINK, PINK

    My clues:

    I got it before I finished writing it down. That means I can go on to breakfast, [hmm—including…BACON?] and catch the tail end (no clue intended!) of the Married…with Children marathon.

    The Married…with Children episode "Al Goes Deep" (S8 Ep25) has a scene with the Mattel vintage spinning animal toy in it, where the toy gives off its classic phrase "The pig says oink." Besides that, scattered throughout the show's seasons and episodes, there are countless references to Al Bundy as a pig (especially coming from Al's archnemesis, Marcy D'Arcy).

    And thank you, Buck Bard, for your "twisted" reply, hinting at a pig's tail.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Pig/Oink/Pink.

    As a city boy, who has never seen a live pig, I didn’t know pigs could be pink. However, images of Piglet, Babe, and Miss Piggy (the only pigs I could think of) confirmed my answer.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Holy Cow! This week's Appetizer on Puzzleria! is a Moo-vable "Beast Feast" that features a coinkidink or two!" "Our friend – and your "puzzle chef" – Ecoarchitect will grill you with this five-course banquet of curly-tailed epicurian Econfusions.
    We will begin serving up these "dumb(animal)founding" delights just after Midnight PDT early Friday morning.
    Also on Puzzleria!s menus are:
    * a Schpuzzle of the Week that involves "Dadswear and toddlerduds,"
    * a Puzzle Slice that puts you in the shoes of an 8th-Grade math teacher,
    * a Dessert Slice about a gal of the olden Golden West, and
    * seven riff-offs of this week's pinkly porcine NPR puzzle, including a gem by our friend Plantsmith, whose Puzzleria!s "Garden of Puzzley Delights" appears regularly on Puzzleria!
    Drop on in, why doncha? No reservations necessary.

    LegoWhoInTheWakeOfEcoarchitect'sCookingUpOfThisQuintetOfCrackerjackAnimalPuzzlesMayHereafterBeginReferringToHimAsEcoArkitect!

    ReplyDelete
  55. I wrote, “Take another noise made by the animal. Rearrange the letters. You get a term often signified by a symbol.” That’s SQUEAL./ EQUALS

    ReplyDelete
  56. OINK, PINK

    On Tuesday, I posted, "I just consulted with Ed, and he thinks there will be 1952 correct answers submitted this week. I'm sure lots more, a least 2006, will be submitted."

    I was going to say Mr. Ed, but was concerned that might lead to a TMI. Mr. Ed (the horse, of course) was known for saying "Wilbur!" Wilbur was also the name of the pig in Charlotte's Web, published in 1952, and for which a video game was released in 2006.

    So, I managed to get a literary reference in, making it obscure enough to not be TMI.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Believe me, JAWS, "Mr. Ed" would not have been TMI. Still, it was a very nice cryptic hint, either way, in any event.

      LegoWhoNotesThat"Wilbur"IsNotTheFirstWordThatComesToMindUponReading"Mr.Ed"AndThat"Pig"IsNotTheFirstWordThatComesToMindUponReading"Wilbur"

      Delete
    2. Pig is the first word I think of when hearing Wilbur...that was my very favorite childhood book.

      Delete
  57. OINK, PINK. My hint: “What do George Harrison and a Nobel-winning novelist from the same country have in common?” ANSWER: Harrison and William Golding both wrote about “piggies,” Harrison in the song of that name and Golding in Lord of the Flies, which had a character nicknamed Piggy and which featured the hunting of feral pigs as an illustration of the boys’ descent into savagery.)

    ReplyDelete
  58. oink, pink

    A pig says, "Oink!" It is pink.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Dybbuk schmybbuk! I said more ham!

    ReplyDelete
  60. ROAN+OAK > ROANOKE or ROW AN OAK
    If you don't pronounce the D in REDNECK, you just might be one.
    FOXWORTHY
    Christopher ROBIN / ROBINs have a RED breast / PIGlet is PINK, which is a lighter shade of RED

    I didn't intend to get Nodd's hint removed, but I didn't really expect my first comment to be removed, either. I was prepared for the removal of my second comment, which did not occur. Maybe I outfoxed myself.

    Has the comment form changed, or is it just me?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul, are you asking us to comment on the comment form?

      Delete
    2. Uh ... yes, I guess I am!

      Delete
    3. You guess? You mean you aren't sure? That defies comment!

      Delete
    4. Paul, no offense taken. You had a valid point.

      Delete
    5. Nodd: Thanks. I'm not sure how valid my point was, but inoffensiveness is one of my goals.
      SDB: I guess, therefore I be.

      Delete
    6. Paul, I hope you figured out I was attempting humor, not criticism?

      Delete
    7. I know you're always attempting humor, skydiveboy, and criticism need not be negative, so we're good here ... I guess.

      Delete
  61. OINK -> PINK

    > The thrill of victory....

    ... and the agony of de feet, with all those pink little piggies.

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  62. OINK >>> PINK

    "EUREKA!" refers to the PIG Trail which passes through Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I've driven part of the trek and it definitely resembles a PIG tail. Beautiful Thornecrown Chapel, Eureka Springs, and many spectacular caves are along the curly-cue way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love that drive. I've driven from Ozarks to Combs to Eureka Springs for a storytelling tour that ended at Soul Shine Montessori. I told a story in Mystic Caverns.

      Delete
  63. Oink, Pink, no clue from me.

    ReplyDelete
  64. OINK(sound of a pig), PINK(color of a pig)
    pjbDaresSay"Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-That'sAll,Folks!"

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  65. A pig says “Oink.” --> pink

    Last Sunday I said, “Sometimes puzzle writers sometimes get sloppy,” sloppy as in “time to slop the pigs.”

    ReplyDelete
  66. I can finally give the clue which I'm sure Blaine would have deleted: this puzzle wasn't Kosher from the start.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hootz! I loved this puzzle because I solved it in about 5 minutes.

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

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    Replies
    1. Please put comments about Movie Maker on the other blog.

      Delete
  68. This week's challenge: This week's challenge is more challenging than last week's. Write down the name of a number. Move each letter four spots later in the alphabet — so A would become E, B would become F, etc. The result will be a number that's 44 more than your first one. What numbers are these?

    ReplyDelete
  69. The intern screwed up the guest on air challenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least the intern didn't suggest "ERLI" as a four-letter word.

      Delete
  70. I think I've got the answer, but it involves a somewhat flexible interpretation of the puzzle's wording. I'll wait for Blaine....

    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.