Sunday, August 21, 2022

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 21, 2022): A Pair of Girls Names

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 21, 2022): A Pair of Girls Names
Q: Think of an eight-letter noun composed phonetically of two consecutive names traditionally given to girls. Remove the sixth letter and rearrange the result. You'll get an event where you might hear the thing named by the original noun. What words are these?
If you remove the first letter and rearrange, you get a place you probably wouldn't want to hear the original noun.

Edit: Removing the first letter and rearranging you get LATRINE.
A: CLARINET (CLAIRE, ANNETTE) --> RECITAL

159 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. Well, it wasn't that difficult. In fact my father once made his living with this noun. I sincerely hope that you folks won't spend too much time griping about this puzzle. The weekly complaining gets old.

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    1. Bootlegger? Too many letters.

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    2. Plantsmith,
      My father used the noun when bootlegging was occurring routinely. It was the roaring 20's

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    3. Lots of people in Seattle make their living with Maryjane.

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    4. "Clark a pseudonym" isn't even your real name, is it?

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    5. I have a friend, a journalist, named Sue Dominus. I always call her pseudonymous. If that's even her real name, anyway.

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    6. Well, Ben, along those lines:

      There are idioms and common phrases I have been trying to figure the meaning of for years with no success. An example is: "Farm a Sioux tickles."

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  3. Under the "Submit Your Answer" link, the NPR website mistakenly identifies the puzzle as a "two-week challenge," although it does correctly identify the deadline date and time.

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  4. Frankly, I'm glad it was an easy one this week.

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  5. Well I just had to read the puzzle a few times before it came to me. I’m already looking forward to the US Open next week.

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  6. I admit I needed help from my wife to figure this out. I've added a hint above.

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    Replies
    1. Makes me wonder if anyone's ever been evicted because of the original noun.

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  7. Remove the fifth and sixth letter of the first word and you get a liquid.

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  8. This puzzle is pretty good. Many will get it this week.

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  9. This is a very nice puzzle. Interestingly, one of the girl names has a connection to another noun that might be heard at the same event.

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  10. Good puzzle, Rawson, my man! And an honorable mention on last (two) week's puzzle to boot!
    Anyone else notice this other 'honorable mention' online?:
    "New Mexico: Native educational wisdom makes eradicating xenophobia its core obligation. — Tamar Stieber" -Huh???

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    1. As Paul mentioned at the end of last week's post, it's a clever answer to an entirely different challenge. Read the first letter of each word.

      "Native educational wisdom makes eradicating xenophobia its core obligation"

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    2. Yeah, I noticed that. Still wonder why Will would include it as an honorable mention contribution for a puzzle with entirely different rules.

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    3. On air, he said he liked it because it had an "x". I think some intern presented it to him and he took it, but I'm not sure either realized it didn't meet the challenge criteria.

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    4. Yeah, there were a few letters in it that cannot be found in NEW MEXICO. Maybe the fix is in. How well might our PuzzleMaster actually know "Tamar Stieber", hm?
      pjbFiguredOut"TamarStieber"CanBeAnagrammedToSpell"ATimesBarter"And"SmartieBeRat"(JustSayin')

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    5. You also get "Master Baiter"! LOL
      pjbHatesToAdmitDiscoveringThisAnagramGivesHimSomePleasure(IfAnyoneElseHasAMuchWorsePunToUseHereAsAResponse,That'sOnYou!)

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    6. I honestly never expected to find that in anagramming the name "Tamar Stieber", I swear! It only just occurred to me! Also, I got nothin' for this week's challenge either, so obviously there's no clues here.
      pjbSays"Smart?IBerate!'TisAMereBrat!"

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    7. Shades of he whose epitaph reads in part "Ubi sæva Indignatio / Ulterius / Cor lacerare nequit."

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    8. I have seen a "fishing" shirt of a guy baiting a hook with that -scandalous- word under it.

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    9. The more I think about it, the more I think it's either a joke at Will's expense or a joke by Will at ours. And we shoud all revisit Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, Part 1, Chapter 1, esp. the first 3 ¶s.

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    10. On the other hand, Tamar Stieber is the name of a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, so it's possible it was just an honest mistake all around: on her part, the NPR staffer's part, Will's part. But all in all, a strange moment, indeed.

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    11. The NPR Sunday Puzzle page has a correction to the two-week creative challenge, posted yesterday:

      The list of honorable mentions has been updated. Two honorable mentions previously posted did not meet the puzzle's criteria.

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    12. I see Tamar Stieber’s has been removed. What was the other?

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  11. This seems to be one of those puzzles that is easy, once you think of the right noun or names. Unfortunately, I haven't thought of the right ones yet.

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    1. I figured out the answer a few hours after I posted this. I just got around now to submitting my answer. I also completely understand the pronunciation issue discussed below with Crito and Mendo Jim.

      For me, I ended up finding the answer by working backwards from the event. When I got the answer, I immediately recognized the pronunciation issue.

      Full explanation on Thursday.

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    2. Working backwards helped me, too, thanks! I've had frequent experience with both noun and event, but unlike Marylka, I know a few people with the first name, and none with the second. --Margaret G.

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  12. My first thought was POLLYANNA, oops, one too many letters....

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    1. I do have the intended answer as verified by everyone's hints/clues

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    2. ron, my first thought was Anna Liza, but on further analyzing the situation I realized that one wouldn't work either.

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  13. Start with a different eight-letter noun, and get a related event.

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  14. Sorry Clark a p, but perhaps phrasing my complaint as a pronunciation question may be more palatable to you: Have you ever known a girl with the second name?

    Is there a place where WS might share his 1200 new possessions?

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    1. I have known *of* a girl with that name!

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    3. MJ, I had a cousin with one of the names. With that and my father's profession in the 20's. I had two good clues. As I type this, another one pops into my head, man!

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    4. I've only known one with the first name (plus some celebrities), but several, including my best friend from high school, with the second. I sure felt as if this or a variation was a puzzle several years ago.

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    5. Wait, now I see! There *is* a pronunciation issue. I believe WS pronounces the *first* of the two names differently from the way many of us do.

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  15. A person associated with the noun has a first name which phonetically only contains two letters.

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  16. Rearrange the original word to get two coins.

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

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    1. Grimes's real name is Claire Boucher. Squidward plays the clarinet in SpongeBob SquarePants. Which part of the "grimy squid" clue made it too obvious?

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  18. To my ear, the correct pronunciation of the noun that WS wants involves the use of a girl's name that is vanishingly rare, if it exists at all. The name he does want involves mispronouncing the noun.
    To test yours, try it with its common suffix.

    Nice going, Longo!

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  19. I must say…one of those "phonetically" composed names doesn't ring familiar at all. Thanks to Blaine's hint, I am still pretty sure I have the intended answer.

    Other than that…I, too, am baffled the New Mexico "honorable mention" was able to slip in. 🫤

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    1. Actually, in the meantime, I got it about that one name. (Others on this blog have commented on the pronunciation.)

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  20. And speaking of Blaine's hint: If you remove the first letter and rearrange, you also get a historical reference that might be disturbing to some with a background like mine. 😧

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  21. I think I have it, the first name is phonetically possible, the second is a little less so. The original word makes me think of piece of candy.

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  22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPEL5Ckc3RM

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    1. There was a girl named Claire (I think that's how she spelled it) in my high school class. I don't think I've ever met any other females with any version of the name, but I have met two men named Clair (no E), and am aware of a third who owned a business. Somewhat different ratio than Surf City. And I can think of two clarinet-playing Woodies whose surnames happen to be fairly common male first names.

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  23. The clue I'm thinking of would certainly involve Clark A Pseudomym's father, the borough of Manhattan, the roaring 20's, a prodigious young man and his lovely wife.

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  24. Anagram the event and you'll get...well...it'll definitely be something. (Also: this puzzle is clever, and I like it, but I must file a minor pronunciation quibble!)

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    1. (Ha, now I see that my quibble is old news.)

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    2. I was hinting at "definite article," with "article" as an anagram of "recital."

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

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    1. This should be deleted. You're giving away everything, maybe even the source of the puzzle.

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

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    3. I mostly posted it because it tends to confirm Will's pronunciation of the names.

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    4. Sorry, Blaine. Did you also want to delete my reply to Marylka?

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    5. LOL
      Now look at the mess you've gotten us into.
      That is a first for "confirming" a pronunciation.
      However, one of the several YouTube videos associated with this line of inquiry plainly pronounces the name as it should be for the puzzle to work.
      Otherwise the spelling that I think WS wants never comes up in searches with the necessary pronunciation.
      Etymology sources also uniformly show that the lazy way to say the noun is incorrect.

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    6. Etymology sources?
      It's hard to say anything very specific without giving away too much, but: I think it's clear that a completely standard Midwest pronunciation does validate the way Will is thinking of the phonetics. Part of this is quite well-known (the first vowel sound), and the rest is confirmed by the Oxford "Learner's Dictionaries" pronunciation of the second vowel sound. It's not open-and-shut, but it convinces me.
      (My pronunciation of the noun doesn't fit well, though, as I indicated above.)

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  26. One of the names, depending on spelling, is the middle name of one of my parents.

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  27. Moving the last letter of the first name to the front (using the most common spelling) yields a nice surprise, if you dye a critic.

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  28. Well i guess we know where Myrylka hangs out on Friday night in Providence.

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  29. As always, I am grateful to the Puzzle Master Will Shortz for all of his work and I'll never understand the large number of complaints on this blog. Another theme this week is that the names are rarely heard and that the phonetic pronunciation is awkward. Both claims surprise me. I am very lucky to have access to the puzzle and I'm thankful to the puzzle makers. Many, many thanks to Blaine, too!!!

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    1. Oh, please. Quit the placating, goody two shoes claptrap. When a puzzle answer is vague and based on poor enunciation, then we have a right to complain. About a year ago, EcoArchitect sent in a pathetic one where the answer was John Wayne, Juan Jane. Remember? That is an example. Think of it this way: We complain because we EXPECT better quality. Because we BELIEVE that Will and puzzlemeisters are capable of better things. These puzzles lately, stink. I'm tired of pretending otherwise. Remember OMG-emoji. Some dork had to consult his seven year old for that gem!

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    2. BRAVO!!! to you, Musinglink. Well stated.

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  30. Are people finding the pronunciation of the first girls name to be incorrect in the noun? I have no issue with that part of it. The second girls name is borderline, but I can see how it can sound close enough. I'm wondering if I perhaps have the wrong answer given how many people have commented on the pronunciation problem.

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    1. From the sound of it, I’m pretty certain you’ve got the right answer.

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    2. It is hard too since here in Seattle we pronounce things as they are meant to be pronounced. We have no accents or East coast sensibilities.

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    3. Courtney, I believe you have the correct solution, as well.
      I suspect the pronunciation issue(s) some are finding may have a bit to do with where those individuals live. Here in SoCal, it works. When I say the "noun", and the names come out just as I would say them on their own. If I say the noun, forcing the middle vowel as spelled, it sounds unnatural to me. Likewise, if I force the beginning vowel sound of the second "name", it too sounds unnatural to my lazy SoCal ear. Although I have to admit that saying the name as spelled, short, does sound more elegant. It would be interesting to know how Michiganders (puzzler's home) pronounce the noun.

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    4. Here in Arizona I think we talk the say way Siz. You've explained "forcing the middle vowel" perfectly & the same with the beginning vowel of the 2nd name. I've always pronounced the two names together exactly like the noun.

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    5. I have been a Michigander for most of my life and I pronounce it more like Claire-in-ette.

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    6. Thank heavens there wasn't a whole lot of Clarinet in Motown. (I like the Bassoon line in Tears of a Clown, but that's a DOUBLE reed.)

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  31. Courtney no worries. I'll bet you have the right solution. Our curmudgeonly co-posters are always looking for something to complain about.

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    1. And some of the other posters are always looking for something to gush about.

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    2. PA
      When Will Shortz asks us for creative submissions, he demands:
      "Originality, sense, naturalness of syntax, humor, and overall elegance."

      In his Sunday Puzzles, we curmudgeons appreciate the same things and complain when they are lacking.

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    3. Some of us just roll our eyes, shake our heads, and show up next Suday.

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  32. I am sure I have the answer, but when I look at Blaine's clue, I think, "Why wouldn't I want to hear it there?"

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    1. I agree with you. I say, if it sounds as good at the event mentioned in the clue, then I wouldn't mind hearing it at the place mentioned in Blaine's clue as well. Some might question the appropriateness, though.

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    2. Well you'd only be hearing it on the fly anyway, so to speak.

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    3. I would much rather hear the "noun" in Blaine's "place" than the sounds typically heard in the place, at the "event"!

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

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  34. I know that anaphylaxis is an event. But it's more than eight letters. And I've never met a woman named Phylaxis.

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    1. And with the 6th letter removed, the event would've had to be seven letters long.

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  35. CLARINET (klăr′ə-nĕt′) (Claire + Annette or Inette) → RECITAL

    The Schwa sound: ə = about, item, edible, gallop, circus.

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  36. CLAIRE + ANNETTE -> CLARINET -> RECITAL

    > Rearrange the original word to get two coins.

    Rial and cent.

    > Put the two girls' names together without changing them phonetically, and you get the handle of a drag queen in Providence who bills herself as the Queen of the 8-letter word. [Deleted]

    I found some evidence that a clarinet might be useful in a latrine.

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    1. Could someone please explain how this clue gave anything away?

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    2. I suspect Blaine found it to be a bit of a drag.

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    3. Oh I thought the coin was a lira! Never noticed that before.

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    4. The weird thing was I had Googled "Claire Annette" last Sunday and was directed to her website. I think I was therefore biased to think your clue was too revealing which in retrospect was probably not at all true. Sorry.

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    5. Thanks, Blaine. Now I'm just wondering what Marylka thought was too revealing about my post?

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    6. Probably too much cleavage, jan.

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    7. Sorry Jan. I did something similar. I googled Clarinet Drag Queen & immediately got the same web site. I guess we really needed to know the answer first:
      https://www.claireannette.com/

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  37. CLARINET -N = RECITAL & the names are: Claire Annette

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  38. I wrote, “Remove the fifth and sixth letter of the first word and you get a liquid.” Rather a bland hint, but I thought “... you get wine” or “... you get something good to drink” might lack obscurity.

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  40. Puzzleria! this week will feature a "Multifaceted Crossword Diamond" created by our creative friend Rudolfo. It is a diamond-shaped crossword grid containing 25 letters and no black squares.
    We upload Puzzleria! early Friday morning, just after Midnight PDT.'
    Our menus this week also contain:
    * a Schpuzzle of the Week in which you must sort out a few healthful and unhealthful foods
    * a Slice of Puzzle that involves a pair of critters,
    * a Dessert Puzzle that make you more self-aware, and
    * a mess of Riff-offs of this week's "Claire-Annette FuniCello" NPR puzzle.
    Join us, why don't you, for some puzzling Beach-Party-like Fun... icello!

    LegoWhoInsists"It'sMyBeackPartyAndI'llHi-FiIfIWantTo!"

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  41. CLARINET

    There’s actually a double pronunciation issue.
    Will’s accent (and apparently Arizona and Seattle accents too!) makes the first syllable match ‘Claire’ – the vowel is eː (In my accent it’s æ, the vowel sound in ‘cat’).

    And the middle vowel is in many accents pronounced ə, as many unstressed vowels are in most accents of English (it’s a schwa), so it does sound just liked the unstressed ‘a’ in ‘Annette’. That’s not at all specific to Will’s accent.

    My source is the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary online. You can easily google their pronunciations for the relevant words.

    (Here’s hoping my IPA characters show up correctly.)

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  42. CLAIRE, ANNETTE → CLARINET, RECITAL. My hint – “Moving the last letter of the first name to the front (using the most common spelling) yields a nice surprise, if you dye a critic.” (ÉCLAIR)

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  43. clarinet (Claire Annette)->recital

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  44. Clarinet/Claire (or Clare)/Annette/Recital

    My clue, that a person associated with the noun has a first name which phonetically contains only two letters was a reference to Big Band Era clarinetist, Artie (RT) Shaw.

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  45. My clue was:
    If you remove the first letter and rearrange, you also get a historical reference that might be disturbing to some with a background like mine.

    Remove the c from "clarinet," and LARINET anagrams to RAT LINE, an infamous overseas escape route for prominent Nazis. Now that might be disturbing (and not just to folks with a German background, I guess).

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  46. Claire and Annette Clarinet .....Recital. My father played the clarinet during the roaring 20's in a speakeasy in the lower east side of NYC.

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  47. I always thought it was one word, ratline. Anyway, the young prodigious New Yorker was George Gershwin, whose most famous piece, Rhapsody in Blue, starts off with a "dirty" clarinet playing that well-known lick. His "lovely wife" would have been brother Ira. I assumed Clark a Pseudonym's father played the licorice stick in the 20's. I wonder if ever played Rhapsody in Blue?

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    1. No, he played Klezemer music and Jazz. However, he would play that opening lick for me occasionally.

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    2. I play in a Klezmer/Jazz band, our musical director is a Clarinet player, and he will occasionally show me how to play that opening lick. It's amazing, actially.

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    3. Great responses, thank you. I love Klezmer.

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    4. I have played the glissando on the clarinet for that piece. It is so much fun. A tricky way to play the glissando by removing the fingers from the clarinet in a sliding motion. I used to study with the first chair of the chicago symphony when in high school.

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    5. Natasha,
      Welcome back!
      Clarification request:
      You posted above: "I used to study with the first chair of the chicago symphony when in high school." Is that correct, or did you mean:
      "I used to study with the first chair of the chicago symphony when high in school."? Just asking.

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    6. Hi skb: I could not write on here when in hospital because of the new set-up on this blog. Finally home from that snake pit. I reported them to the california department of public health and a person came to the site to investigate. They will be doing unannounced visits from now on. I may write an article to the newspaper about that awful place. It is in a 23 story building where millionaires live. I know there is a lot to investigate about skilled care places. Am searching for some nurses to start an investigation. More if you wish you know more details. I am glad I could get home but suffered a lot of torture. No I was not high in hs. I was going to be a musician but realized that women were discriminated against and got out.

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    7. Natasha,
      Yes, I would very much like to read your upcoming report. I do not think it will surprise me though. Glad you were able to survive and get out. (I will let you decide if I mean the hospital or the high school.)

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    8. Skb: I know nursing instructors not reporting skilled care places because if they did there would be no places to do clinicals. I am telling them that is not ethical. I want to expose this but not sure if anyone will have the honesty and ethics it takes.

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    9. Natasha,
      I learned many years ago that there are very few people who are ethical enough to stick their neck out. I still believe it is important for people to stand up for what is right. I have never personally benefited when I have done so, but I have no regrets and would not do things differently.

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    10. SDB: I think even the state was protective of this supposedly high class place. I can write to you privately about this as this is not proper site. I am not surprised that you have spoken up. I was shocked that my friend knew she was not acting appropriately to speak up. She applauded me for reporting the place. I did not care what I would suffer from reporting them. I was told patients were saying they could not breathe from the the high heat due to compressor break down. I was trying to save not only my life but the elderly in that place. Of course when they were interviewed by inspector that said all was fine! They probably could not remember. The CNA told me she could not wait until her shift was over as could not breathe either.
      I did not recall her name to tell the inspector. I do know that the administrator came to check on me every day after that. I had sent a letter to her at four in the morning and also cc'd to the Gavid Newson. Of course no response from him.

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    11. Natasha, You are welcome to email me. My full email address contains 3 Y's. You should be able to figure it out.

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    12. SDB: Not sure I am that clever. But others might be and they will start writing to you and you will get tons of emails from everyone except me. LOL.

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    13. Well I hope at least a few of them will be polite.

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    14. Welcome back, indeed! What a shame that your treatment made your injury worse rather than better.
      I have had such disappointment, too, at exorbitant physical, mental and financial pain.

      Now we need to hear from Word Woman.

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    15. Hi Mendo and SDB: SDB: I think I found your twitter site and sent you a reply to one of your tweets as Natasha. Let me know if you see it. I think I figured out your email along with a cast of thousands!
      Mendo: Thanks for the welcome mat. Not sure I would be welcome back after such a long absence. Has ww been missing too? The skill care gives patients a list of their rights but no one must read them except me. I teach them to my students and practically make them memorize them. I do not think the facility excepted a public health nurse to be a patient there. I made it a point to warn them about that. In fact one of my students works there and was the best one of the bunch. She told them I taught her everything she knew. She was a great nurse. I need to think about how to proceed to expose these places. Something very sinister going on in the health care system, that I am sure of. A puzzle more scary than NPR sunday puzzles that is for sure.

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    16. oh no! Sounded just like you on there. LOL

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    17. It might have been. I did open a Twitter acct. several years ago, but only used it one time. Also, I may have added a comment to a Twitter news comment. I really do not know much about Twitter.

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  48. I pointed out that the second name had a connection to another noun that might be seen at the same event. That would be my favorite Annette, Annette FuniCELLO.

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  49. I submitted Claire, Annette, Clarinet, Recital.
    And where I come from (New York City), "Claire" and "Clarinet" sound NOTHING like each other. Claire rhymes with "air" and Clarinet has the vowel sounds of CLAM-ih-NET.
    It took me two days before I submitted because I thought maybe it's Clara, Annette, Clarinet? Then "Clara" works for the vowel, but the "A" is strangely doubled.
    Anyway, a mediocre puzzle to my ear, but there's always another week.

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  50. CLARINET (as Clara, Annette, or Claire, Annette), and RECITAL. As I noted, I solved it backwards, by trying different events, and when I got to recital, I managed to quickly anagram it to Clarinet. However, that's when I spotted the pronunciation issue that was discussed at length this week. That led me to take a closer look at the phrasing of the puzzle itself. The noun is "composed phonetically of two consecutive names traditionally given to girls." It does not say that the names cannot share the middle syllable.
    Since both Clara and Annette share the schwa syllable, I interpreted it that Will Shortz is going for Clara as the first name, and not Claire. Every Claire I have ever known pronounces her name to rhyme with air or chair. I have never heard anyone pronounce the musical instrument as a Clair-in-et.

    I look forward to Sunday, when I can listen to how Will and the contestant (it could still be me!) pronounce it.

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  51. The use of phonetic puzzles SURE AIDS in ruffling some of our feathers. Get it, sure aids??!?

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  52. My clue - “….had to read the puzzle a few times” was referring to the “reed” on the clarinet. I was going to clue bout last week’s puzzle -“I wondered who would wind up winning….” For woodwind.

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  53. CLARINET, RECITAL (<—Claire + Annette)

    Greetings from Nashville. We drove to Music City today to see the kids, so I'm a bit late to the party.

    Hint: “Jenny.”

    “Jenny” was the name of the daughter of (Mr.) Acker Bilk, a British clarinetist, who in 1962 recorded the first British song ever to reach #1 on the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Stranger on the Shore.” Bilk wrote the piece for Jenny and originally named it after her.

    Because the puzzle answer involved a musical instrument, I thought it would have been TMI to identify “Jenny” as “a musical hint.”

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  54. Start with a different eight-letter noun, and get a related event:

    CONCRETE
    CONCRTE
    CONCERT

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  55. My internet connection just came on and I got all these posts in a bunch. Interesting.
    This was a quick solve for me after I realized Will wanted "sounds like." Then my misgivings kicked in.
    Claire (my grandmother) has only the one pronunciation IMHO,
    Then there are "Annette" and "Ahnette" both of which lead to the lazy ways of saying clarinet, which uses "in" as in "in." It is not claruhnet or claranet.
    If the puzzlemaster wanted "Innette," then phooey.
    I think the distinction is even clearer in how you say "clarinetist."
    Not a bad puzzle, but not a good one.
    FWIW, I went to high school with Ahnette Funicello until she found better things to do with her time.
    And I liked Jan's sidetrip.

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    Replies
    1. "...the lazy ways of saying clarinet, which uses "in" as in "in." It is not claruhnet or claranet."

      Gosh, if only there were some kind of book, or online tool we could use to see what the pronunciation is! Wait. Maybe there is!

      1. Oxford Learner's Dictionaries:
      /ˌklærəˈnet/

      2. Merriam-Webster:
      ˌkler-ə-ˈnet

      3. American Heritage:
      klăr′ə-nĕt

      Huh.
      Well, now we know.

      (All online, easily Googled.)

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    2. Yes. Clarinet rhymes with Clarabell the Clown. Howdy Doody was no dummy.

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    3. This discussion is becoming a bit of a bore. Perhaps someone will spice it up a bit with a diatribe on the proper pronunciation of LAWYER.

      Delete
  56. Is abortion in Texas still allowed as long as it is to save the political life of a politician?

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  57. Replies
    1. It's a substitution cipher where the alphabet is rotated 13 places so A=N, B=O, etc.

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  58. Easy puzzle for a clarinetist. I played many orchestras.

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  59. "You're a good man, Blaine" refers to Benny Goodman, clarinetist and King of Swing.

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  60. This blog is such a Fountain of information.

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  61. This week's challenge: The challenge comes from listener Paula Egan Wright. Name a well-known island. Move the last letter six spaces later in the alphabet. Read the result backward. You'll get where this island is located. What island is it?

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  62. Over 300 correct submissions last week.

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