Sunday, September 11, 2022

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 11, 2022): It's Not Over...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 11, 2022): It's Not Over...
Q: Name something, in eight letters, that you might hear at an opera. Drop three of the letters, without changing the order of the remaining five. You'll name something you might see at an opera. What things are these?
If you remove a large quantity, you get something soft you can eat.

Edit: A large quantity is "A TON" which leaves (in order) "BRIE"
A: BARITONE --> BATON

188 comments:

  1. Anagram the 8-letter word, and get two body parts.

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  2. I have an answer, although the "something you might see" is not something I would typically associate with an opera. From Dr. K's comment, I don't think what I have is the intended answer.

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    1. Or from Blaine's clue, for that matter.

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    2. A lot of people don't care for it anyway, and some find it offensive.

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    3. My answer matches Blaine's but not Dr. K's.

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    4. I couldn't get Dr. K's to work either, at least so far. I will be interested to see what it is.

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    5. Dr. K and I have the same answer.

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    6. It took me a little longer to get Dr. K's clue, because there are multiple body parts within the word. I had spotted a body part that was not one of the two that Dr. K intended. After working on it for a few minutes, I got the clue to work, and confirm my answer.

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    8. My answer fits Dr K's clue, but I can't get Blaine's!

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    9. Blaine's is a little tricky . . .and legitimate.

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    11. I get Dr K's clue now -- good one!

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    12. Ok, Just figured out Dr. K's anagram. Yep, it works!

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    13. This reply thread to Wolfgang's post has gotten really long, but to respond to Wolfgang's initial post regarding the "something you might see" not being something he would typically associate with an opera, I suggest you look up the "something you might see" in Wiktionary. You're most likely expecting meaning #1. I believe you'll find meaning #2 makes more sense.

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    14. I posted that as I was considering "Alto Aria — Altar." You wouldn't typically associate an altar with opera, except in specific cases where one might be part of the set.

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  3. There is at least one alternative answer you can get by changing one of the three letters that are removed, though this answer would more likely apply if you attended an opera in a country other than the US.

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    1. Yeah, that's was the first one I thought of, but it seemed kind of lame. Then I realized...

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    2. My wife thought of that alternate one first, while I got what was almost certainly the intended answer.

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  4. I have an answer, but it's not very satisfying. Couldn't get TROMBONE to work

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    1. Do you find something funny about the word Tromboner?

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  5. Or remove four letters to get something else one might hear.

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  6. Got it. Remove two letters from the first word, and you get a word that may have appeared in the news recently.

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  7. Not too difficult. Blaine's clue works for me especially in French!

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  8. Drop three letters and rearrange the rest to get something else you might hear at an opera

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  9. Hidden within the first word, you'll find a musical term.

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    1. Took me a while to get that one.

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    2. That's fine—just keep your eye on the [second word]!

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    3. I guess I'm slowing down.

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    4. I believe we're both thinking of "rit"!

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

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    1. I had a hunch that maybe it was too much. Thanks!

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  11. These things are heard and seen in many other places, too.

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  12. Well, it's not castrato or falsetto. I do feel a little self-conscious about Blaine's clue, however. It's what I associate with elitist NPR listeners.

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

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. Remove two letters from the eight-letter word. You get a type of person we have seen on the news a lot recently.

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    1. Anagram the five-letter answer for a newsworthy person, as well.

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    2. Interesting, I had an alternate/unintended/incorrect answer for this, BARON. That's what I based my clue on for Victor ORBAN.

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  14. You can hear an operetta at the opera. And you can see an opera at the opera. Simple. Actually, I am on the same page as Dr. K, but didn't want to overlook the obvious.

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  15. Remove 3 letters from the 8-letter word and rearrange. You will get a 5-letter word that is similar to the original word.

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    1. Thank you, Bobby! I may be on the right track after all!

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

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    3. I was only slightly concerned that what I posted would be TMI, but I guess I misjudged. Sorry!

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    4. Baritone-bai=rtone, which is an anagram of "tenor".

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    5. In case anyone cares, what I had posted here that was judged to be TMI was that the five-letter word was indeed similar to the original word, but was also above it (or I may have written higher than it, which would indeed have been more likely to be viewed as TMI).

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  16. I hope Will Shortz calls me on the Sousa Phone

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  17. I didn't get a confirmation email.
    I solved quickly, before coming to this site. My clue to my friends involved rock 'n' roll.

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    1. I haven't yet, either, and I sent mine in at around 9:30.

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    2. I actually sent in my response twice, as I didn't hear back after the first try. Still no response.

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  18. The answer could become a common misspelling, reminiscent of a mill house.

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  19. Definition of A-list
    : a list or group of individuals of the highest level of society, excellence, or eminence

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  21. Geographic location of a certain Italian city from a Sicilian’s perspective.

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  22. Blaine's hint is one of my favorite foods, but it MUST be soft!

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  23. Replies
    1. I am not smart enough to know why I am so smart.

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    2. The food I think you're mentioning was one my father loved as well. But I could never get my head around the idea...Nor my gut either.

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    3. He never metacognition he didn't like.

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  24. I have the answer people are alluding to here, and a fairly closely related alternate that my wife says is better.

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    1. My 8-letter alternate has the same 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th letters as the popular favorite.

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    2. I have an alternate answer that fits, but I suspect only opera fans will understand why.

      BTW, I también have not received my NPR reply.

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    3. Your wife's alternate could have been posed asking for a 7 letter word then dropping 2 letters.

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

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  25. Geofan will enjoy this one I emailed to Will Thursday @ 4:30am. He said he did not consider it "excited" him enough to use on NPR.

    Think of the one word, 3 syllable, name of a large, well known island. Rearrange its letters to reveal why a superstitious person might consider it a difficult place to live.

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  26. I have a possible answer where, if I only remove two letters instead of three, in a way I am back where I started.

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  27. Not a clue, but opera related nonetheless: F,B,D#,G#. Can anyone identify that?

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    1. :)
      The Tristran chord.
      That is a very, very NPR question.

      Musinglink, do you listen to Performance Today?

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    2. Good! No, I don't listen to Performance Today. I used to listen to Carl Haas, years ago. I might start though, if you are recommending it.

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    3. Thanks for reminding me of Carl Haas. I had to stop listening to him when I discovered he was an avocado.

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    4. Oh, well, Performance Today has a puzzle! Starring Piano Puzzlemaster Bruce Adolphe.

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  28. Did anyone get an acknowledging email from NPR thanking you for your submission? I never did.

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

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

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    3. Of course. A standing donation.

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  29. SDB, I was asking a straight Question. Did an acknowledgment come or not?

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  30. I am tempted to send this puzzle to my friend who starred with the MET for many years. Amazing voice.

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    1. Natasha, you shameless tease! Now we all want to know the name of this famous person.

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    2. I thought of that after posted. Not sure she would want me to post her name. Guess.

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    3. I think she would want you to. Anyway, my first thought was Renée Lynn Fleming. I really don't know why her name first came to my mind.

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    4. Her initials are O. S. Lives in Berkeley.

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    5. Well it's not Oda Slobodskaya.

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    6. I assume she's related to Gregory Stapp, another SF Opera star. I wonder if there's any relation to the late John Paul Stapp, the Air Force flight surgeon and biophysicist who did a lot of work in the 40s and 50s on surviving the effects of deceleration. You've probably seen pictures of him on a rocket sled.

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    7. jan,
      That just makes no sense, at least not to me. When I stopped eating celery I suffered from no withdrawal effects at all. I also survived numerous parachute openings.

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    8. Also, jan,
      I know you must be aware of the float plane that crashed into Puget Sound in Mutiny Bat, off Whidbey Island. Our local NPR news just just reported the Coast Guard has located "a large section of the plane." Am I correct in assuming this would be a sea section?

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    9. It can be even worse than that, jan. On Mother's Day in 1987 I watched a skydiver I knew missile head first into the ground from ten grand. He had none of his chutes activated. I was the one who discovered his body. He was a retired Army Lt. Colonel who would have been 54 the next day. Most here will not want to hear the details, so I will say no more.

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    10. Shame. My only seaplane ride was in the same type, a turboprop DHC-3 Otter, from Victoria to Vancouver, BC. The pilot let me fly in the right seat. Fun.

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    11. It is good you weren't sitting in the wrong seat. Kenmore Air is the largest seaplane company in the world they say, whoever they are. Oh, and Joe was 55, not 53, and would have been 56 the next day.

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    12. It will be interesting to find out what caused the float-plane to crash. I suspect the pilot may have had a heart attack and slumped forward, causing the plane to dive from the low altitude they fly at. I suspect you or I could have corrected the situation had either of us been in the right seat. It would take someone who is able to react fast to an emergency and also know something about flying would help too.

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    13. I have an elderly friend whose ex-husband was a pilot who survived a mid-air collision with a submarine. The sub was running on the surface at the time.

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    14. And you're going to tell me depth charges were brought but later dropped?

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    15. Reading about Col. Stapp got me thinking. There are airbag vests and suits available to protect motorcyclists and skiers, e.g., from crashes. The Boeing Starliner capsule, which may actually carry astronauts next year, uses airbags (in addition to parachutes, which sometimes open) to cushion its landing. Assuming a skydiver could maintain a spread-eagle posture (and not "missile head first into the ground from ten grand" -- not that terminal velocity is any different from 1000 feet), could you design an airbag that would allow you to survive a chute failure? Or a partial failure (e.g, streamer)?

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    16. First off I have to point out that terminal velocity has little to do with exiting the plane from 1,000 feet. You do not reach terminal velocity from 1,000 feet. When I first read your post I thought you meant 10,000 feet. Objects do not fall at the same rate, so Joe did not land on his head at around 120 mph, which is typical TV for the normal frog body position, but closer to 180 mph. Back to your question. You would not want to fall spread eagle because it causes the body to "potato chip." You want to relax into "frog" position, which is more relaxed as long as you are not stiff. I really don't have the answer to the air bag question because it would probably require an enormous airbag and what materials would be used, and on and on with more questions. Maybe we could get Josh Hawley to test it out.

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    17. Are you saying that the 'frog" position actually has some survival advantage if chutes fail?

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    18. LOL No! I am saying you do not want to fall in a spread out position because it will not be efficacious. It makes no difference what your body position is if you do not have a parachute; you will die.

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    19. I say give him some wheels and a runway.

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    20. Maybe you could talk (if you speak French) the Michelin Man into giving it a try.

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    21. BTW I did skydive from a Cessna 182 at 1,000 feet in April 1987 on purpose. Coincidentally, I was looking just last week for the photos that Don Huber took from the plane . I don't know where they are hiding, but I have them somewhere.

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    22. Not much time to deploy your reserve if you had to.

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    23. Remember, I was not anywhere close to TM when I dumped. I dove out the door facing forward, stable, waived and then dumped. I had time to handle any malfunction, same as if I had dumped at TM at 2K, which most experienced skydivers do. Most jumpers do not look at the reality logically. I wasn't even nervous. I have watched experienced skydivers who always jumped at high altitudes freak out at having to jump at 2K.

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    24. Sorry, I meant TV (terminal velocity).

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    25. Jan, a mid-air collision with a sub running on the surface? That sounds like a heck of a story. Do you know if it is published anywhere?

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    26. I've searched, but haven't found any account online. Apocryphal? Maybe. I will ask my friend the next time I see her.

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    27. If you don't want to give Gary Connery some wheels and a runway, maybe give Michael Guerra a wingsuit?

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    28. I think it would slow him down.

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  31. Even talented professional singers and musicians may occasionally hit a flat note ... or a SHARP ONE. And if you go to the opera on the right night, Lord only knows what (or who) you might see.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1djDThK8e4

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  32. Jan and SDB: I do not think Olivia related to that opera singer Gregory Stapp. I will ask her though. Her husband's name is Henry Stapp. A physicist at UC Berkeley. Wrote the Tao of Physics. A great person. Have you seen The Dropout? Amanda Seyfried won for best actress in a limited series. My daughter-in-law was the Production Director for the SETS. Amanda was amazing. Big party at Disney-Hulu now. Supposed to be amazing. Great series.

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    1. Interesting. Henry Stapp's middle name is Pierce. He is related to President Pierce. Will ask about Wyatt. Earp.

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    2. Natasha,
      Will ask who, what about Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp? That is his name.

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    3. I will ask Henry Stapp if related to Wyatt Earp.

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  33. Assuming I have the intended answer, I finally figured out Dr. K's clue (what took me so long??), and I think I am onto Blaine's clue, although that would require a little anagramming.

    I do get foods of sorts out of the eight original letters even without anagramming, but none of those words point to anything "soft."

    The most prominent food item I see is something not found here in the U.S. By the way, there is an alternate meaning to it that ties back in with this puzzle. More on Thursday.

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  34. The royal beekeeper has informed the Queen's bees that the Queen has died.

    (I heard it on Swarming Edition, and All Stings Considered.)

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    Replies
    1. So that's the latest buzz? If so, it's a honey.

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    2. It combs with the territory.

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    3. We're likely to Apis off the others if we keep this up.

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    4. Much as I'd like to, I'll not wax wroth about this.

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    5. I'm afraid your post has pollen on deaf ears.

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  35. So, I just now read that the late Queen's coffin is lead lined. It was made 30 years ago. I guess someone couldn't wait. I wonder who that might have been. Anyway, apparently you can lead a lead coffin to the grave, but you can't make it sink.

    https://news.yahoo.com/queen-elizabeth-coffin-made-more-161940461.html

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  36. I submitted TWO answers this week, neither of which seem to relate to the posted clues here, but I could be moving too fast. Both answers have family ties for me. I assume we'll get the lowdown from the PuzzleMaster on Sunday.

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    Replies
    1. Is one of them blowhard? But who likes lard? But i guess it is better soft.

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    2. I submitted
      BASSOONS -> BASSO and also
      BASS VIOL -> BASSO

      I am a Bassist.
      My cousin on my mother's side just retired as a BASSOONIST and PRINCIPAL CONTRABASOONIST.
      And on my dad's side, I'm related to the Reines dynasty. Abraham Reines played principal BASSOON with the NBC Symphony under Arturo Toscanini. His kids all played BASSOON as well.

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  37. Has anyone else here read the best seller Vladimir Putin published this year, "How To Win Wars Quickly" published by Knopf?

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  38. I've submitted the answer at NPR's website, but I still have NOT YET received a reply. I'm considering submitting it again. Has anybody else submitted, but NOT gotten a reply?

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    Replies
    1. I submitted on Tuesday morning, and got no reply.

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    2. no reply and resubmitted so I wonder if I am disqualified : -(

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  39. I sure hope someone will inform President Biden what LITERAL means, but I doubt anyone will. Shameful.

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  40. Our featured puzzle-maker this week on Puzzleria! is our good friend geofan (aka Ken Pratt). He has created a sextet of excellent puzzles titled “Hyphenectomy,” “ 'Not me,' said the Bay State,” "Alimentary reflux," "Mysterious subtraction," "Vowel movement," and "My ABCs."
    You can access geofan's creativity beginning at Midnight Pacific Daylight Time early Friday morning. That is when we upload Puzzleria!
    Also on this week's menus are:
    * a Schpuzzle of the Week that involves a title of a novel and an ink-stained press operator,
    * a Nitty Gritty Dirt (Diva/Divo?) Roots Rock Puzzle Slice,
    * an Oxymoronic (but Not Moronic Oxen) Dessert Slice, and...
    * eight Riffing Off Shortz And Holliday Slices, titled "Blue Bayou’s 'Baritone Rouge'. ”
    Please come join us for a "geofantastic" puzzle-solving experience.

    LegoWhoEncouragesAllBlainesvilliansToVisitPuzzleriaByOpeningThe"JosephYoung'sPuzzleria!"LinkThatBlaineHasGenerouslyProvidedInHisPuzzleLinksNearTheTopOfHisBlogPage

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  41. BARITONE & BATON

    Alternate answer: Applause & Pause

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    Replies
    1. Alternate alternate: Applause & Apple
      It's a reference to Rossini's "William Tell."
      I'm a bit surprised that no one else mentioned it.

      I'm a bit embarrassed to have missed Baritone and Baton, since I actually sang baritone in an opera once in college.

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  42. BARITONE - BARON

    "Remove two letters from the first word, and you get a word that may have appeared in the news recently." BRITON

    For Dr K's clue, I had first spotted the body part BONE, which does not work for his clue!

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  43. Baritone/Baron, (especially if the opera is Richard Strauss’, The Gypsy Baron).

    If you remove four letters, you hear a tone.

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  44. BARITONE —> BATON

    Hint: Anagram the 8-letter word, and get two body parts.
    BARITONE —> BRAIN, TOE

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  45. You might hear a BARITONE perform at an opera → You might see the conductor's BATON.


    BARITONE = The middle male singing voice, higher than a Bass but lower than a Tenor.

    Second solution: You might hear BASSOONS at an opera and you might see a BASSO do his thing...


    Blaine's remove A TON leaving nothing but BRIE...

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  46. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  47. BARITONE -> BATON

    BASSOONS -> BASSO also works

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  48. BARITONE, BATON. My hint noted there is an alternative answer that might be more likely in Europe (BARON).

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    Replies
    1. I had BARON as my only answer. I never saw BATON!

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  49. BARITONE, BATON
    Not necessarily specific to opera (the baton definitely isn’t), but congruent with the terms of the puzzle.

    Other answers I considered included the following, which I then discarded as being too far-fetched: Alto aria — Altar; Choruses — Horse; Choruses — Ruses.

    I also thought of Overture — Vertu, but dismissed it quickly as sounding too pretentious.

    Finally, I wasn’t getting anywhere with words like belcanto, continuo, dialogue, ensemble, ostinato, and quartets, so I was back to baritone. Thanks to some of the blog posts, I eventually felt I could, and should, go with that.

    My (sort of) clues:
    “I do get foods of sorts out of the eight original letters even without anagramming, but none of those words point to anything ‘soft.’”
    The words I found were bar (as in candy) and bone (definitely not “soft”).

    “The most prominent food item I see is something not found here in the U.S.”
    That would be chocolate candy by the name of Bar One, manufactured by Nestlé and marketed only in South Africa and India.

    “If I only remove two letters instead of three, in a way I am back where I started.”
    Bar one can refer to the initial bar, or measure, in a musical score—meaning, to the very beginning of the piece, such as an opera.

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  50. My answer: BARITONE ==> BATON

    Blaine's clue: If you remove a large quantity, you get something soft you can eat.

    From BARITONE, remove "A TON" and the rest put together makes BRIE.

    Dr. K's clue: Anagram the 8-letter word, and get two body parts. ==> BRAIN & TOE
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Other possible answers:

    You might hear an OPERETTA and see an OPERA.

    You might hear a HORN SOLO, and see HORNS. (Especially if the particular opera has the stereotype "fat lady" wearing the Viking helmet.)

    You might hear a SYMPHONY, and see a PHONY.

    ...And getting it backwards:

    You might SEE CHOIRMEN, and HEAR a CHIME.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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  51. I submitted
    BASSOONS -> BASSO and also
    BASS VIOL -> BASSO
    But that's because I'm from a family of BASSISTS and BASSOONISTS and frankly Baritones are just WAY TOO high in pitch for me -- anything above 200 Hz is just dead to me.

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  52. My hint was: “Geographic location of a certain Italian city from a Sicilian’s perspective.”
    Explanation: Relative to Sicily, BARI is TO the NE.

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  53. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  54. I referenced a common misspelling (a ROBINET), similar to the misspelling "mill house." Those are common misspellings of the middle names of two Veeps who went on to become Presidents. Beyond that, not much else in common.

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  55. baritone, baton

    Last Sunday I said, “These things are heard and seen in many other places, too.” Baritones are heard in numerous choirs, popular music, on the radio, in the shower, etc. Batons are seen in symphony orchestra performances, in relay races, on police officers’ belts, etc.

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  56. BARITONE, BARON

    "Four squared" = 16 = the age of BAR(r)ON Trump.

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  57. I forgot to explain my alternate answer: Applause & Pause.

    If you are not a regular opera attendee you will probably not understand why you might see a PAUSE at an opera. Normally operas have one or two intermissions that last 20 or more minutes. During this time the curtain is drawn and the sets are changed. Occasionally, in some operas, there be a very short pause of about 5 minutes where the curtain is drawn and a minor change to the set is made while the audience remains seated. I know this is not the intended answer, but it is valid, but I doubt Will Shortz is an opera fan and knows this fact. Besides that, I doubt the intern will not pass it on to Will to consider.

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  58. Did anybody see the movie Spaceballs? I would have sworn that when Vespa was singing Nobody Knows that the comment made was "she's a baritone." I found the clip but the comment is "she's a bass!". Anyway my clue was "paves" which is an anagram of Vespa. My face is red!

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  59. I like it, but I'm a little weirded out, because not two hours ago, I finished a cryptic crossword containing the clue, "Met, say, a talk-show host crossing eastern river in England (5,5)".

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  61. I'm really surprised the NY Times decided to run this story on the Wagner Group recruiting Russians prisoners for service in Ukraine, given how unauthenticated and outrageous the story is.

    There are several different versions floating around, which, of course, could just mean different editing decisions, but could also mean people fooling around with translations, etc.

    Not surprised the Times cut some of the gory detail parts that appear in the YouTube video. But I think their readers would like to know about the restrictions on sexual relations with flora and fauna.

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    1. It's probably just a different version of Wagner's legendary Ring cycle.

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    2. I wonder if Yevgeny Prigozhin saw The Dirty Dozen as a kid? Or were Hollywood movies forbidden Western propaganda back in the USSR?

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    3. I don't know. Would a Prig go to such a movie?

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  62. I stopped thinking after CHORUSES/-CRS/HOUSE, as in the opera "house". I ought to have kept thinking.

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  63. I am so uh Pauled over the fuss the media are making over King Chuck's meltdown over a leaky pen. From my own personal experience I can fully relate to how distressing it can be when something such as this catastrophe happens to an important person. Yes, even I can be so afflicted. I shall never get over the time, many years ago, when I dropped my napkin at a Boy Scout picnic. I had to quit scouting and immediately go into hiding. Please take into consideration the stressful life of a titular monarch.

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  64. This week's challenge comes from listener Theodore Regan, of Scituate, Mass. If you squish the lowercase letters "r" and "n" together, they look like an "m." Think of a word that ends in the consecutive letters "r-n." Squish them together to get a homophone of a synonym of the first word. What words are these?

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    1. I think there are probably several valid answers. I've got one pair that I'm not sure Will would use.

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    2. I think we have the same solution, and I'm rather hopeful it's correct.

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    3. I have a solution I hope is incorrect.

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    4. I think that Jan's answer that he's "not sure Will would use" is probably it.

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