Q: This is the start of a two-week creative challenge. The object is to write a sentence using only the letters of any particular U.S. state. You can pick the state and repeat letters as often as necessary. For example:
NEW YORK --> No one knew we were ornery. WASHINGTON --> Sighting a ghost tonight was astonishing.
Entries will be judged on originality, sense, naturalness of syntax, humor, and overall elegance. No more than three sentences per entry, please.
Sunday, August 07, 2022
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 7, 2022): Oh I, Oh!
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 7, 2022): Oh I, Oh!
86 comments:
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.
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This is a two-week challenge so don't give anything away before the deadline of Wednesday, Aug. 17 at 3pm ET. If you have created a sentence, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.
ReplyDeleteYou can openly discuss your answer after the Wednesday, Aug. 17 deadline. Thank you.
There seems to be no explicit stipulation that you must use all of the state's letters, but implicit in the criteria listed for judging entries, especially "originality," is that the more of the letters you use, the better.
ReplyDeleteOK! I don't do "creative challenges," preferring puzzles with answers. I am off the hook for two weeks.
ReplyDeleteI agree...Time to take a flight. In my case no plane necessary!
DeleteDown from the sky. I sent in a sentence for the hell of it.
DeleteDid anyone else notice (and I had to hear it twice to be sure) but Will Shortz gave the wrong answer to last week's puzzle!!!!
ReplyDeleteHe started with Norman Lear, but instead of Near Normal, he said, "Real Normal"!
I did notice that, but shouldn't he have said "really normal" anyway? 😉
DeleteSince it's not ready for prime-time radio, I'll submit it here: "I piss, I miss" is pissimism.
ReplyDeleteO.k., that takes care of Mississippi.
DeleteTo state it plainly, this one's not my jam, but I'll be curious to see what others come up with!
ReplyDeletePuzzles like this are not to my liking. You never know when you're done, for one thing. Two weeks off from the Sunday Puzzle for me.
ReplyDeleteClearly, Ohio is the state to use, for the submission of, "Oooooooooooh hi!" is the best entry ever! :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, hi -- I "ho-ho-ho"; hoo I?
ReplyDelete("You can't fool me; there ain't no sanity clause!"
I immediately thought of a similar sentence and state, but I'm going to save and perhaps submit it.
ReplyDeleteHey, Word Woman -- for a volcanologist who likes Tex-Mex food:
ReplyDeleteAll a lass asks: Alaska ʻaʻā à la salsa.
Aa rocks! I like it.
DeleteI am the volcano god. I have noticed that I can manipulate the commodities market by the judicious application of my outbursts. To put it simply: I ERUPT TO PRICE CROP.
DeletePuerto Rico isn't a state?
Never mind.
You are right, Paul, but it is in a rather precarious state at the moment.
DeleteMaybe she's taken up with Peter Sagal, who's still missing from "Wait, Wait" (allegedly with Covid).
ReplyDeleteAmarillo Star Journal: 'A Stat Tests State Seat's Set Tea Tax Axe' -say that three times, fast...
ReplyDeleteBetter...
DeleteAmarillo Star Journal: 'Asset Stat Tests State Seat's Set Tea Tax Axe' -say that three times, fast...
This is the easiest puzzle ever.
ReplyDeleteJust two letters, the answer is short, sweet and contained in at least 15 states.
I got it as soon as I heard "two week."
More comment later.
I have three good ones, move over you all...
ReplyDeleteTwo weeks without world capitals, famous actors, Roman numerals, synonyms, lists and anagrams How will I ever survive?
ReplyDeleteI would be interested if anyone can come up with a sentence from the 4, 5, or 6 letter state names.
ReplyDelete4. Iowa, Ohio, Utah
5. Maine, Texas, Idaho
6. Alaska, Kansas, Florida, Nevada, Oregon
I don't have one but am wondering if a natural sentence can be devised from any of those state names.
Last I checked, Florida had 7 letters, and all unique at that.
DeleteOoops!!! You are right.
DeleteIn terms of unique letters:
Delete3 (OHIO),
4 (ALABAMA, ALASKA, HAWAII, INDIANA, IOWA, KANSAS, MISSISSIPPI, TENNESSEE, UTAH)
5 (ARKANSAS, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, MAINE, MONTANA, NEVADA, OREGON, TEXAS)
6 (ARIZONA, COLORADO, DELAWARE, GEORGIA, MISSOURI, OKLAHOMA, VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN)
7 (CONNECTICUT, FLORIDA, KENTUCKY, LOUISIANA, MARYLAND, MICHIGAN, NEBRASKA, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, VERMONT, WYOMING)
8 (CALIFORNIA, MASSACHUSETTS, MINNESOTA, NEW MEXICO, NORTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA)
9 (NORTH CAROLINA, PENNSYLVANIA, WASHINGTON)
10 (NEW HAMPSHIRE, RHODE ISLAND, WEST VIRGINIA)
11 (SOUTH CAROLINA)
So if you want to give yourself a challenge, pick OHIO. If you want to wimp out, pick SOUTH CAROLINA.
Oh, I..
DeleteSanta has the Ohio sentence down pat. Too bad he's a fictional character.
DeleteLord, if I fail...
DeletepjbSaysDon'tEvenTryToDoItWithHisHomeState(UnlessYouCanSomehowDoSomethingWith"LaBamba"AsWell)
"Texas taxes sex!" (I'd send it in, but Sunday Puzzle being a family show it would never win, plus the mere submission might give Greg Abbott and the TX legislature some ideas ....)
DeleteSend it in with your other two, but this might be even better:
DeleteTexas axes, taxes sex. OR:
Texas axes, taxes sex text. OR:
Texas teases, axes sex text taxes.
Texas taxes sex teases?
DeleteSDB, I like your last one. Go ahead and submit it.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteFinally, Will Shortz did a 2-week challenge. I created a sentence with my home state.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to making a sentence or three with my current home state. So many possibilities! I could write "Massachusetts hates Utah", but I don't think Mitt Romney would approve.
Delete(That's former MA governor Mitt Romney.)
DeleteHaha! I live in MA. That's an awesome pun, well done!
DeletePun?
DeleteNow try writing a sentence for Utah!
DeleteAt that hat hut.
DeleteOr: A hat at that hat hut.
DeleteNeeds a VERB!
Delete"We don't need no stinkin' verbs!"
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThat hat hath a hut at that hat hut.
DeleteAt that, Uta hath that Hat Hut hat!
DeleteLegoWhoHathToGivethCreditToGeofanForComingUpWithThatStinkin'Verb"Hath!"
It is interesting that you mention Massachusetts and Utah. My sister used to live in Massachusetts, and now she lives in Utah.
DeleteI live in Virginia. Will Shortz and I both went to UVA.
DeleteDo you have a law degree, too? His undergrad degree is from Indiana.
DeleteHey, skydiveboy, what's with the P-51D Mustang that's been flying over Seattle for the past half hour?
ReplyDeleteAh, seems to be part of the Boeing Seafair Air Show. There's a T-2 Buckeye up now.
DeleteI have been outside, but unaware. Seattle is a large area city. My first guess was for Seafair.
DeleteAre you in town now?
No, I was on flightradar24.com.
DeleteWhen sending in your carefully wrought "creative" answer is a good time to read the legalities WS and NPR have all ready for you.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a first born?
My children are all on their own as legally consenting adults, but I do have a weekend edition lapel pin…next
ReplyDeleteWest Virginia works for me
ReplyDeleteAgainst giving in, we strive in rage!
DeletepjbONJRIP(She'sFinallyReachedXanadu)
Santa a fictional character? Watchu talkin’ bout, Ben?
ReplyDeleteOh, zeke, Mommy and I have been meaning to tell you, but it just made it so much easier this way to get you to clean up your room. We hope you will understand. Oh, and please clean your room.
DeleteDon’t forget my candy cane Grinchboy.
DeleteSo the FBI today raided Mar-a-Lago. I hope this time they got at least two scoops.
ReplyDeleteTwo words: Garland's Revenge. And on the same day the IRS more than doubles in size. Hang onto your hats, Sports Fans.
DeleteSeveral two-week challenges ago, I did some digging into some of Will's dozens of books and found more than a few places where he used material that he got from them.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly has a deep well to draw from considering how few of the thousands of submissions he has gotten we ever hear on NPR.
Of course, that is only one revenue source of unknown magnitude. The main one that should be public knowledge but that resists discovery is what we (i.e.. NPR) pay him for his weekly hour or so..
I would be happy to eat crow after finding out that he donates his time.
Next post: "Judge not, lest ye be judged."
Yes, Menudo Jim, I for one would like to know more about this enigmatic cruciverbalist.
DeleteI’m using the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOur good friend skydiveboy has created a quartet of "turning-your-world-upside-down" puzzles on this week's Puzzleria! They involve: a World War II province, a mythical superhero, a fruit, Sucre in Bolivia, two world capital cities... and a zoo animal! (no partridges, however, or pear trees)
DeleteYou can try solving skydiveboy's mind-bending bogglers beginning at Midnight PDT early Friday morning; that's when we always upload Puzzleria!
Blaine generously provides our Puzzleria! link in his PUZZLE LINKS.
Also on this week's menus are:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week — titled “Sacré bleu! Je’n ai marre!” — about some "uncomforting and agitating" non-English expressions,
* a “Let’s Play Pepper!” puzzle titled "Ailments, aliments & achoos!"
* a Dessert Puzzle that just so happens to be a recipe (well, kinda) for making a dessert, and
* about 15-or-so so-so riff-offs of Will Shortz's fortnightmarish creative challenge.
Why not just drop by for some flopsy-mopsy-tospy-turvy-nervy fun?!
LegoWhoObservesThatskydiveboy'sAppetizingPuzzlesSeemToBeFallingFromTheSky(NotLike"MysteryMeat"ButRather)Like"MysteryManna"
In correct French it's "J'en ai marre!" I'm fed up.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMerci beaucoup, ron. Nice French Correction.
DeleteLegoKingOfTheMisplacedApostrophe
Go, go, gone, ron, Oregon...
ReplyDeleteDarnit Lego, I read all three of those on email to make sure I hadn't missed some important variation.
DeleteWith these two week puzzles it sure has been quiet around here.
ReplyDeleteEspecially when there's no right answer to hint at.
DeleteI have a question: I can understand how most weeks, when there's only one right answer, the NPR crew can, right after the Thursday deadline, quickly pick a random winner. But with a 2-week creative challenge like this, do they really wait until after reading the last entry at 3:00 p.m. ET on Thursday before deciding which entry is best?
ReplyDeleteOn air, Will said the deadline is next Wednesday, to allow more time for judging.
DeleteThanks, Blaine!
DeleteA sentence for the late Anne Heche:
ReplyDeleteCan acne enhance each chance, ace?
Actually Alina (sp?) said it.
DeleteAh, judging.
Last week's puzzle wouldn't have gotten far using the standards Shortz sets for his creative ones.
In fact, based on twenty years of listening to him, I don't think the Puzzlemaster has shown much facility with any of them.
And it has always been pretty obvious he doesn't have much staff to help.
What a jump it must be to go from never seeing submissions (his claim) to having to judge a possible three entries each from some portion of his millions (his claim) of listeners.
Is the extra day for making sure late arrivals get fair attention or for him to be sure he has ranked the others correctly?
I often wonder how I missed being issued my pair of rose-colored glasses for Sunday Puzzle viewing.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMy comment was supposed to go with the previous post. Sorry.
DeleteJust to let everybody know, Next week's Blaine's Puzzle Blog is up now!
ReplyDelete