Coincidentally, the names are in the order they were president.Q: Write down the last names of two U.S. presidents. Move a letter from the second name into the first one. You'll name a vehicle that's used for special occasions. What is it?
A: CARTER, BUSH --> CHARTER BUS
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.
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.
ReplyDeleteYou 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.
Take the letters in the even spaces of the vehicle word. Rearrange. You get something you find in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTMI, Blaine?
DeleteAnother embarrassment for a puzzle.
ReplyDeleteYes. Easy enough...
DeleteReverse the last two letters of the first word of the answer, then move those letters to the beginning of the second word, to name a possible location for a table and a kind of puzzle.
ReplyDelete"The names are in the order they were president," but not consecutive...
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised there were only 300+ correct answers to last week's puzzle. I expected more.
ReplyDeleteIt was a puzzle where you had to think....not just quickly turn to the internet.
DeleteAfter having last week's comment removed, I made sure there's no hidden meaning in this one.
ReplyDeleteI just recited the puzzle to my son and daughter-in-law, who are visiting. I got the answer a few minutes ago, and I fully expect they will soon solve it. She solved last week's puzzle, but I couldn't presuade her to submit an entry. Maybe this time...(No hint here.)
ReplyDeleteOops..."persuade"
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
DeleteI agree with Blaine. I was actually stumped until that now deleted clue of yours led me to the answer.
DeleteNot very hard, but a cute bit of wordplay that was just waiting to be discovered. Indeed, I'm surprised it isn't a rerun!
ReplyDeleter and r
ReplyDeleteMusical clue, eh?
DeleteCatchy one at that :-)
DeleteMusical clue: Sixpence.
ReplyDeleteChildren of the 1990s will recall a hit by Sixpence None the Richer called "Kiss Me." Children of the 1890s may recall that one synonym of "kiss" is "buss."
DeleteI know that our former and current somehow work out to Clownmobile. Just can't figure out how.
ReplyDeleteIf you change the first and last letters of the second president's name, you'll get the heart condition the first suffered from.
I believe a couple of his successors had that condition too.
DeletePredecessors as well. Sadly, though it can be managed, there is still no cure.
DeleteI feel the pain.
ReplyDeleteNot a clue; perhaps a red herring pointing at Clinton, but really a memory from my high school class trip to Washington D.C. decades ago on a CHARTER BUS. At one point, the driver announced that he was turning on the security system because we were going through a questionable neighborhood. He said that there would be a small electric current running through the windows, and if we didn't believe him, we could lightly touch a window with our fingertips, and we would feel the PANE.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRearrange the two names to get a fish, and something brown.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that I was reading and solving the puzzle on this blog before it aired on the radio. I'm on the east coast. I know it's been addressed before, but I'm still so confused. The only obvious explanation is Blaine is a time traveler.
ReplyDeleteOr that NPR posts the puzzle to the webpage before it airs. As I type this, it has a time stamp of 8:02 am ET, which is a little over a half hour before it aired on most east coast stations.
DeleteOh Wow! You're right! Thanks. I did not know that. Still pretty impressive though how quickly Blaine solves so many of these puzzles.
DeleteOther possibilities:
Delete- Blaine actually is Will Shortz.
- Blaine actually is not Will Shortz.
I'm virtually certain one of the two is true.
Another possibility: if you remove the B from Blaine and anagram the result you get Alien. Hmm, food for thought.
DeleteThe vehicle is one that might be used by members of both parties
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteOh, who has heard the great commotion, motion, motion
All the country through?
It is the vehicle rolling on
For Tippecanoe and Tyler too
And with them we'll get a cool Van
Ford Lincoln is a pretty nice vehicle! My clue is The Wizard of Oz.
ReplyDeleteCan you name 2 U.S. Presidents whose full names are spelled and pronounced differently, but are synonyms?
ReplyDeleteBy full names I mean first and last, but not middle names.
DeleteSome other types of transportation are involved.
ReplyDeleteCarter has "car" and "cart" in it.
DeleteHeard the puzzle this morning as I was driving home on Connecticut Rt 15, past last week's non-existent Fairfield Airfield. JFK doesn't rank among the answers this week.
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean you've earned a Merritt badge? :-)
DeleteHa. Oddly, a stop on last Sunday's drive related to this week's puzzle.
Deletejan's Sun Jul 10, 10:28:00 AM PDT comment above:
Delete"... (driving) past last week's non-existent Fairfield Airfield."
LOL! Best Blaine's Post thus far in 2022!
LegoWhoNotesThatjanAlwaysPostsWonderfulComments
Look! For $350,000 you can buy the Fairfield Airfield a bit further north.
DeleteWell, Will did say, "Place where planes land in Connecticut.
DeleteI dunno... a 1000-foot grass strip is kinda short. And I understand there are some trees in Maine,
I've got friends with a lake house in Maine; I keep trying to convince them what they need is a floatplane.
Got it. Squared away for the week.
ReplyDeleteWell, it’s not Eisenkhower.
ReplyDeleteWrite down the last names of two U.S. presidents. Move a letter from the first name into the second one. Join the resulting two words together to get a forbidden word.
ReplyDeleteClever.
DeleteNice, Rudolfo!
ReplyDeleteThe Weiner Mobile is occasionally used. Oh wait that was a congressman.
ReplyDeleteNo i guess it was Clinton that had the mobile weiner. Sorry.
DeleteI found an answer that seems good, but has none of the characteristics that follow any of the obtuse hints that have been posted.
ReplyDeleteHere’s a hint that might help: Anagram the middle name of the first president, and get a famous literary character.
DeleteThank you for the hint, Dr. K. I finally got the answer after trying all day.
DeleteI suspected that hint was TMI.
Deletesdb, on further reflection you may very well be right.
DeleteIt's amazing how many presidents actually had NO middle name.
DeleteGM Those are called ghost hints.
DeleteI can think of at least two things these presidents have in common.
ReplyDeleteAh! Thank you Dr. K. Drives me crazy when I don't have the answer by end of Sunday. I had to check every Presidential name that includes that letter. Got several very amusing answers. Happy puzzling everyone.
ReplyDeleteO.k., finally I got it. I didn't realize that the two altered presidential names together were the vehicle name. I thought it was only one name. O.k., finally. No "eureka' moment. More like a dud firecracker. Not a bad puzzle.
ReplyDeleteFunny no one here has mentioned the fact that the name HARRISON FORD is composed of two names of former Presidents(actually, three). The same might(or might not)apply here as well.
ReplyDeletepjbWhoAlsoMustAsk,"WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes?"
Happy 80th birthday, HARRISON FORD!
DeleteYea-Stay out of the pilot's seat.
DeleteHey, sure, he's had a couple of accidents, but he's also saved a couple of people while flying search and rescue missions in his helicopter. Plus, he's made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.
DeleteYea i guess Biden should run again too. Saved a couple of people.
DeleteFunny, today’s Patrick Stewart’s birthday too! Can’t help but wonder if they’ve ever met. If they do, they’ve got something to talk about!
DeleteOh, y'all are still here.
ReplyDeleteClinton and lincoln have same letters except for one.
ReplyDeleteWith only 45 different people having been President, and five sets of repeated names, this shouldn't have taken me as long as it did. But, a solve is a solve...
ReplyDelete300 correct answers last week? Did I hear that right? Anyway, you can take the two presidents' names and anagram them to result in something that isn't too nice and the name of an historic king.
ReplyDeleteIf it's a race between two Ford Lincolns, I want to watch it from my HooverTaft!
ReplyDeleteHartley something I can Grant.
DeleteRonald Wilson Reagan anagrams to Insane Anglo Warlord.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope you do not believe this to be nothing more than a coincidence.
DeleteOh, the pitfalls of the double negative! Does your above comment actually mean that you sincerely hope that Musinglink does believe the anagram he shared really IS more than a coincidence?
DeleteWhat follows verifies the accuracy of Musinglink's anagram. It might look like gobble-ty-gook, but if you select and copy it, then open a text editor and paste it to a text file using a fixed-pitch font, then it will use the two dimensions of your screen to easily verify that one really is an anagram of the other.
DeleteRonald Wilson Reagan
...... .i.... ...... I
..n... ...... ...... n
...... ...s.. ...... s
...a.. ...... ...... a
...... .....n ...... n
...... ...... .e.... e
...... ...... ..a... A
...... ...... .....n n
...... ...... ...g.. g
....l. ...... ...... l
.o.... ...... ...... o
...... W..... ...... W
...... ...... ....a. a
R..... ...... ...... r
...... ..l... ...... l
...... ....o. ...... o
...... ...... R..... r
.....d ...... ...... d
I guess I'm laughing out loud, because I only intended my comment to be...capricious. Yeah, that's it capricious. And no, I take it as nothing more chance, coincidence at most. Besides, Reagan was 40 years ago. Thanks for working it out Enya-WeirdAl fan.
DeleteI admit that, just to be sure, I went to Wiktionary.
DeleteAdjective
capricious (comparative more capricious, superlative most capricious)
Impulsive and unpredictable; determined by chance, impulse, or whim.
Synonyms: arbitrary, whimsical, fickle
Antonyms: conscientious, rigorous
I almost died in a capricious winter storm.
Stringent rulers are unlikely to act capriciously.
Anyway, thanks for the compliment, Musinglink, and please don't die in a like-minded storm. ;-)
Ronald Wilson Reagan anagrams to Insane Anglo Warlord
DeleteI learned that way back in college.
This place veers sooner every week.
ReplyDeleteNot withstanding the time confusion, my new term for solving in bed: B48
Nature? God? The fates? Karma?Kismet? Something is extracting its revenge. I'm sitting here stuck in a SEPTA Regional Rail line close to Wayne Junction. There are several train loads of others here, too. Maybe we've all been capricious?
ReplyDeleteJina la pili ni lipi?
ReplyDeleteSwahili? Not Cajun, cher?
DeleteAw, nuts! I can't believe I only just solved this.
ReplyDeleteI don't do much gardening.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle is (as often) incorrectly stated, but I'll have to wait until Thursday to explain.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, it's funny how all the brains ended up in that one letter.
Can anyone tell me how to submit an on-air puzzle idea to Will Shortz?
ReplyDeleteGo to help.npr.org, and click on The Sunday Puzzle. There’s a drop-down list with a “Submit a puzzle idea” link. Good luck.
DeleteOops. “Suggest a puzzle idea”
DeleteThanks Dr. K, I appreciate the help.
ReplyDeleteHow's this for a spinoff puzzle?
ReplyDeleteWrite down the last names of three U.S. presidents. Move a letter from the second name into the first one. You'll name a vehicle that's used for special occasions. What is it?
Happy Bastille Day!
ReplyDeleteAllons infants de la patria
DeleteLe jour de la goire et arrive.....
Please ignore any misspellings!
Vive la France!
DeleteCARTER, BUSH >>> CHARTER BUS
ReplyDelete"r and r" >>> The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round, as jan correctly surmised.
Funny, I thought you meant rest and relaxation, which makes sense on a charter bus. But I like round and round much better!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"What make of automobile would the colonists in the Continental Congress drive?"
DeleteThat is just a sneak preview – one of nine "Puzzling piecemeal political pre-meals" – of what Ecoarchitect (aka Greg Van Mechelen) has "brewed up" (or, should we say, "drafted") for this week's Puzzleria! He calls them his "Nine Supreme Injustices."
Puzzleria! uploads just after Midnight PDT in the wee hours of Friday morn.
Our menus this week also include:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week titled "Flippin’ efflorescence!"
* a "Duds, Dudes & Drupes Nordic" Puzzle Slice,
* a "somewhat puzzling Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" Dessert Puzzle, and
* 11 (eleven!) off-the-chart, "Erebusly-Devilish" riff-offs of this week's "Wheels-on-the-bus-go-off-the-bus-while-rolling-down-the-Highway-to-Hell" NPR Puzzle!
If your counting at home, that's 23 puzzles, a boiling, steaming caldronful!
So, join us, why-don't-you, for some "Flippin’ Supreme Injustices and Diabolical Fun!"
LegolgothaJustNowSlowlyAscendingFromAHelluvaThreeDayDescent!(AndPerhapsBorderingOnBlasphemy)
CHARTER BUS from CARTER & BUSH
ReplyDeleteCHARTER BUS ( <— CARTER, BUSH)
ReplyDeleteMy hint for M5 (perhaps—or even likely—TMI, as sdb suggested, but Blaine left it alone): “Anagram the middle name of the first president, and get a famous literary character.”
EARL —> LEAR
Thank you! As an English major nerd, Earl and Lear came to me immediately. But I must be in a minority who think that way.
DeleteAn Earl-y answer for sure. I want through the same thought process as a geology major.
Delete^^^ went
DeleteGreat minds...
DeleteCARTER + BUSH. Reposition the H in BUSH to yield → CHARTER BUS.
ReplyDeleteCHARTER BUS. My hint: Reverse the last two letters of the first word of the answer, then move those letters to the beginning of the second word, to name a possible location for a table and a kind of puzzle. (CHART, REBUS)
ReplyDeleteCarter-Bush/Charter Bus
ReplyDeleteThis week's NPR puzzle:
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge comes from listener Alan Hochbaum, of Duluth, Ga. Write down the last names of two U.S. presidents. Move a letter from the second name into the first one. You'll name a vehicle that's used for special occasions. What is it?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My answer: CARTER, BUSH ==> CHARTER BUS
Rudolfo's puzzle:
Write down the last names of two U.S. presidents. Move a letter from the first name into the second one. Join the resulting two words together to get a forbidden word.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My answer: FORD, BIDEN ==> FORBIDDEN
Enya_and_WeirdAl_fan,
DeleteI too came up with FORD/BIDEN/FORBIDDEN as the answer to Rudolfo's excellent riff-off of the NPR puzzle. (Rudolfo's gem, incidentally, is much better than any of the 11 riffs I could come up with for tomorrow's Puzzleria!)
Happily, Rudolfo generously shares his puzzle-making prowess on Puzzleria!, where his "Puzzles Rudolfo" feature appears regularly.
Dr. K called Rudolfo's riff "Clever," and Lancek posted that it was "Nice!"
I would agree, and add that it is NPR-worthy!
Lego
CARTER, BUSH — CHARTER BUS
ReplyDeleteCARTER, BUSH -> CHARTER BUS
ReplyDelete> Heard the puzzle this morning as I was driving home on Connecticut Rt 15
...which crosses the Connecticut River on the Charter Oak Bridge.
JFK doesn't rank among the answers this week.
When in command of PT-109, his was Lieutenant (jg), as in Jimmy and George (fellow Navy officers).
> Oddly, a stop on last Sunday's drive related to this week's puzzle.
On our way back from Mt. Desert Island, we visited Blowing Cave State Park in Kennebunkport, across the cove from the equally missable Bush Compound.
> I don't do much gardening.
My bush carter is a vehicle I only use on special occasions.
> The puzzle is (as often) incorrectly stated
BUSH is not the last name of a U.S. President. It's the name of two.
> Meanwhile, it's funny how all the brains ended up in that one letter.
George H. W. Bush - H -> George W. Bush.
> Oops
... He did it again: In Wednesday's New York Times crossword: 7D: Feature of some city streets. BUS LANE.
So, jan, what's your answer to the THREE U.S. Presidents puzzle? And don't say "Bush counts as two". -- The way you phrased that question, I was expecting the writing down of THREE different U.S. President's last names.
DeleteI never said that three last names were involved. Just the (two) last names of three U.S. Presidents. I think the puzzle would have been better had it been phrased my way originally.
DeleteI also got Charter Bus. Since there were two Bush's to choose from, my clue was that I got the puzzle "Squared away".
ReplyDeleteMy clue was The Wizard of Oz. The wizard was great and powerful. Omnipotent comes to mind, which leads my strange mind to omnibus.
ReplyDeleteCarter + h (from Bush) = Charter Bus
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “Well, it’s not Eisenkhower.” Sorry I couldn’t think of something more on point but it was Sunday morning after all.
Maybe some stronger coffee this Sunday? :)
DeleteCater and Bush, Charter Bus. My clue about the presidents having at least one thing in common references the fact that Bush Senior and Carter were both one-term presidents, as well as the fact that Carter and Bush Jr were both governors of southern states as part of their political career.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush were both born in 1924, and both were Navy lieutenants.
DeleteCarter, Bush, charter bus. Got it, thanks to King Lear.
ReplyDeleteMusinglink, did you like yesterday's Final Jeopardy Question?!
DeleteI didn't watch it. I presume it had something to do with "eureka" or Ronald Reagan or running through the streets naked...or...?
DeleteBeing stuck on a train? I can't remember what else I've rattled on about.
STATE MOTTOS
DeleteTHIS MOTTO IS THE NAME OF A CITY IN THAT STATE & IS A FAMOUS QUOTE BY AN ANCIENT GREEK FROM THE 3rd CENTURY B.C.
Charter Bus/Carter-Bush. My clue that was removed, yet again, was 50mph. A nod to the movie Speed.
ReplyDeleteCarter, Bush->charter bus
ReplyDeleteThe presidents are Jimmy Carter and George Bush.
CARTER, BUSH -> CHARTER BUS
ReplyDelete(Jimmy)CARTER, (George H. W. or George W., "Dubya")BUSH, CHARTER BUS
ReplyDeletepjb,Who'sFromAlabama,BelievesJimmyCarter,Who'sFromGeorgia,MayBeTheOnlyPresidentWe'llEverGetFromOurAreaOfTheCountry
LBJ was from the South. And we elected Al Gore, too.
Delete... and you had Jeff Davis.
DeleteYou don't think Marjorie Taylor greene will make it? Carter was a fave of mine.
ReplyDeleteWasn't Clinton from Arkansas?
ReplyDeleteMy hint: After having last week's comment removed, I made sure there's no hidden meaning in this one.
ReplyDeleteLast week my comment was that I could spell out the answer on Thursday, which was too direct a clue for Mickey Mouse. "Hidden" was the first movie by the Duffer Brothers, better known these days for "Stranger Things" whose current season makes heavy use of a song by Kate Bush.
The 45th and 47th presidents had the same mother and father, but they are not brothers. How is this possible?
ReplyDeleteYou really think Maryanne had a chance?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteShortly after noon today (Chicago time} I got the call from Will Shortz. The on-air puzzle is a little bit more difficult when you're in the hot seat.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy.
Congratulations! Looking forward to Sunday.
DeleteCongrats, Mister Re...! (Your real name will soon no longer be one.)
DeleteI will ALWAYS be Mister Re... Now you will learn what "..." means.
DeleteOMG, Mister Re...
DeleteI have deduced your real identity... You must be one of three people:
1. Mister Re... agan (Ronald), who got the NPR call (placed to an area code in heaven, or that other place) to play on-air with Will Shortz,
2. Mister Re... agan (Michael) , Ronald's older son, or
3.Mister Re... agan (Ron) , Ronald's younger son.
LegoWhoNotesThatOnJuly17thIt'll"BeMorningAgan(sic)InAmerica"AndWeShallHearWillShortzOnNationPublicRadioQuizzingMisterRe...WhomWeCongratulate!
I am apparently one of four people, and your guesses are wrong.
ReplyDeleteSoon, Mister Re...,your identity will no longer be a mystery.
DeleteThey say it's difficult to lose a parent. I know. I tried for years.
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge comes from Adam Cohen of Brooklyn. I'm going to see him next weekend at the annual convention of the National Puzzlers' League in Nashville, Tenn. Name a food item in seven letters. Move the first letter to the fifth position and you'll get two words that are synonyms. What are they?
ReplyDeleteI think I've got it, but having spoken too soon of late, I'm not willing to take a chance yet.
DeleteOne of my absolute favorite foods!
ReplyDeleteEasier to cook than to clue...
Can't say that this is my preferred food, or my preferred synonyms. Reminds me of a baseball game. --Margaret G.
ReplyDeleteThe synonyms can, alternatively, be viewed as a letter and a game.
ReplyDeleteThe new benchmark seems to be to have the puzzle solved before it even airs. I have an answer, but it almost seemed too easy. Should take a chance on finding another answer that works…before the puzzle airs?
ReplyDeleteA second helping could be tasty.
DeleteAt first, I was lost, but then I won.
ReplyDelete