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
Anagram the 8-letter word, and get two body parts.
ReplyDeleteNice graphic, Blaine.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteOr from Blaine's clue, for that matter.
DeleteA lot of people don't care for it anyway, and some find it offensive.
DeleteMy answer matches Blaine's but not Dr. K's.
DeleteI couldn't get Dr. K's to work either, at least so far. I will be interested to see what it is.
DeleteDr. K and I have the same answer.
DeleteIt 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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DeleteMy answer fits Dr K's clue, but I can't get Blaine's!
DeleteBlaine's is a little tricky . . .and legitimate.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI get Dr K's clue now -- good one!
DeleteOk, Just figured out Dr. K's anagram. Yep, it works!
DeleteThis 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.
DeleteI 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.
DeleteThere 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.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's was the first one I thought of, but it seemed kind of lame. Then I realized...
DeleteDitto, Crito.
DeleteMy wife thought of that alternate one first, while I got what was almost certainly the intended answer.
DeleteLife without care
ReplyDeleteI have an answer, but it's not very satisfying. Couldn't get TROMBONE to work
ReplyDeleteDo you find something funny about the word Tromboner?
DeleteOr remove four letters to get something else one might hear.
ReplyDeleteGot it. Remove two letters from the first word, and you get a word that may have appeared in the news recently.
ReplyDeleteNot too difficult. Blaine's clue works for me especially in French!
ReplyDeleteD'accord!
DeleteDrop three letters and rearrange the rest to get something else you might hear at an opera
ReplyDeleteHidden within the first word, you'll find a musical term.
ReplyDeleteTook me a while to get that one.
DeleteThat's fine—just keep your eye on the [second word]!
DeleteI guess I'm slowing down.
DeleteI believe we're both thinking of "rit"!
DeleteFour squared
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI had a hunch that maybe it was too much. Thanks!
DeleteThese things are heard and seen in many other places, too.
ReplyDeleteWell, 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.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteRemove two letters from the eight-letter word. You get a type of person we have seen on the news a lot recently.
ReplyDeleteAnagram the five-letter answer for a newsworthy person, as well.
DeleteInteresting, I had an alternate/unintended/incorrect answer for this, BARON. That's what I based my clue on for Victor ORBAN.
DeleteYou 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.
ReplyDeleteRemove 3 letters from the 8-letter word and rearrange. You will get a 5-letter word that is similar to the original word.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bobby! I may be on the right track after all!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteI was only slightly concerned that what I posted would be TMI, but I guess I misjudged. Sorry!
DeleteBaritone-bai=rtone, which is an anagram of "tenor".
DeleteIn 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).
DeleteI hope Will Shortz calls me on the Sousa Phone
ReplyDeleteI didn't get a confirmation email.
ReplyDeleteI solved quickly, before coming to this site. My clue to my friends involved rock 'n' roll.
I haven't yet, either, and I sent mine in at around 9:30.
DeleteI actually sent in my response twice, as I didn't hear back after the first try. Still no response.
DeleteThe answer could become a common misspelling, reminiscent of a mill house.
ReplyDeleteDefinition of A-list
ReplyDelete: a list or group of individuals of the highest level of society, excellence, or eminence
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGeographic location of a certain Italian city from a Sicilian’s perspective.
ReplyDeleteBlaine's hint is one of my favorite foods, but it MUST be soft!
ReplyDeleteSDB, Is that why you're so smart?
ReplyDeleteI am not smart enough to know why I am so smart.
DeleteThe 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.
DeleteHe never metacognition he didn't like.
DeleteI have the answer people are alluding to here, and a fairly closely related alternate that my wife says is better.
ReplyDeleteMy 8-letter alternate has the same 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th letters as the popular favorite.
DeleteI have an alternate answer that fits, but I suspect only opera fans will understand why.
DeleteBTW, I también have not received my NPR reply.
Nor have I
DeleteYour wife's alternate could have been posed asking for a 7 letter word then dropping 2 letters.
DeleteYes.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteMe and my big mouth.
DeleteGeofan 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.
ReplyDeleteThink 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.
I have a possible answer where, if I only remove two letters instead of three, in a way I am back where I started.
ReplyDeletePaves
ReplyDeleteNot a clue, but opera related nonetheless: F,B,D#,G#. Can anyone identify that?
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteThe Tristran chord.
That is a very, very NPR question.
Musinglink, do you listen to Performance Today?
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.
DeleteThanks for reminding me of Carl Haas. I had to stop listening to him when I discovered he was an avocado.
DeleteOh, well, Performance Today has a puzzle! Starring Piano Puzzlemaster Bruce Adolphe.
DeleteCrosby, Stills, Nash & Young
ReplyDeleteIt took BALLS to post this picture. Or this one.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone get an acknowledging email from NPR thanking you for your submission? I never did.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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DeleteOf course. A standing donation.
DeleteSDB, I was asking a straight Question. Did an acknowledgment come or not?
ReplyDeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteI am tempted to send this puzzle to my friend who starred with the MET for many years. Amazing voice.
ReplyDeleteNatasha, you shameless tease! Now we all want to know the name of this famous person.
DeleteI thought of that after posted. Not sure she would want me to post her name. Guess.
DeleteI 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.
DeleteHer initials are O. S. Lives in Berkeley.
DeleteOlga Szyrowa?
DeleteNo.
DeleteWell it's not Oda Slobodskaya.
Deleteno
DeleteOlivia Stapp
DeleteCongratulations!
DeleteI 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.
Deletejan,
DeleteThat 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.
This is a little more like the kind of deceleration you get when your chute doesn't open.
DeleteAlso, jan,
DeleteI 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?
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.
DeleteShame. 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.
DeleteIt 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.
DeleteIt 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.
DeleteI 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.
DeleteAnd you're going to tell me depth charges were brought but later dropped?
DeleteReading 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)?
DeleteFirst 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.
DeleteAre you saying that the 'frog" position actually has some survival advantage if chutes fail?
DeleteLOL 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.
DeleteTell it to Gary Connery.
DeleteI say give him some wheels and a runway.
DeleteMaybe you could talk (if you speak French) the Michelin Man into giving it a try.
DeleteBTW 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.
DeleteNot much time to deploy your reserve if you had to.
DeleteRemember, 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.
DeleteSorry, I meant TV (terminal velocity).
DeleteJan, 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?
DeleteI've searched, but haven't found any account online. Apocryphal? Maybe. I will ask my friend the next time I see her.
DeleteIf you don't want to give Gary Connery some wheels and a runway, maybe give Michael Guerra a wingsuit?
DeleteI think it would slow him down.
DeleteI just saw her two weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteEven 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.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1djDThK8e4
Hilarious! Thanks.
DeleteJan 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.
ReplyDeleteWyatt Berry Stapp Earp
DeleteInteresting. Henry Stapp's middle name is Pierce. He is related to President Pierce. Will ask about Wyatt. Earp.
DeleteNatasha,
DeleteWill ask who, what about Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp? That is his name.
I will ask Henry Stapp if related to Wyatt Earp.
DeleteAssuming 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
The royal beekeeper has informed the Queen's bees that the Queen has died.
ReplyDelete(I heard it on Swarming Edition, and All Stings Considered.)
So that's the latest buzz? If so, it's a honey.
DeleteIt combs with the territory.
DeleteWe're likely to Apis off the others if we keep this up.
DeleteHive had just about enough.
DeleteMuch as I'd like to, I'll not wax wroth about this.
DeleteI'm afraid your post has pollen on deaf ears.
DeleteSo, 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.
ReplyDeletehttps://news.yahoo.com/queen-elizabeth-coffin-made-more-161940461.html
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.
ReplyDeleteIs one of them blowhard? But who likes lard? But i guess it is better soft.
DeleteI submitted
DeleteBASSOONS -> 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.
Has anyone else here read the best seller Vladimir Putin published this year, "How To Win Wars Quickly" published by Knopf?
ReplyDeleteLA's is red
ReplyDeleteI'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?
ReplyDeleteI submitted on Tuesday morning, and got no reply.
Deleteno reply and resubmitted so I wonder if I am disqualified : -(
DeleteI sure hope someone will inform President Biden what LITERAL means, but I doubt anyone will. Shameful.
ReplyDeleteOur 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."
ReplyDeleteYou 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
BARITONE & BATON
ReplyDeleteAlternate answer: Applause & Pause
Alternate alternate: Applause & Apple
DeleteIt'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.
BARITONE - BARON
ReplyDelete"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!
Baritone/Baron, (especially if the opera is Richard Strauss’, The Gypsy Baron).
ReplyDeleteIf you remove four letters, you hear a tone.
BARITONE —> BATON
ReplyDeleteHint: Anagram the 8-letter word, and get two body parts.
BARITONE —> BRAIN, TOE
You might hear a BARITONE perform at an opera → You might see the conductor's BATON.
ReplyDeleteBARITONE = 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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ReplyDeleteBARITONE -> BATON
ReplyDeleteBASSOONS -> BASSO also works
BARITONE, BATON. My hint noted there is an alternative answer that might be more likely in Europe (BARON).
ReplyDeleteI had BARON as my only answer. I never saw BATON!
DeleteBARITONE, BATON
ReplyDeleteNot 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.
My answer: BARITONE ==> BATON
ReplyDeleteBlaine'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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retina is another body part from Baritone.
DeleteBaritone-rie=baton
ReplyDeleteI submitted
ReplyDeleteBASSOONS -> 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.
My hint was: “Geographic location of a certain Italian city from a Sicilian’s perspective.”
ReplyDeleteExplanation: Relative to Sicily, BARI is TO the NE.
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ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeletebaritone, baton
ReplyDeleteLast 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.
BARITONE, BARON
ReplyDelete"Four squared" = 16 = the age of BAR(r)ON Trump.
I forgot to explain my alternate answer: Applause & Pause.
ReplyDeleteIf 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.
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!
ReplyDeleteI 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)".
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteThere 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.
It's probably just a different version of Wagner's legendary Ring cycle.
DeleteI wonder if Yevgeny Prigozhin saw The Dirty Dozen as a kid? Or were Hollywood movies forbidden Western propaganda back in the USSR?
DeleteI don't know. Would a Prig go to such a movie?
DeleteI stopped thinking after CHORUSES/-CRS/HOUSE, as in the opera "house". I ought to have kept thinking.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteThis 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?
ReplyDeleteI think there are probably several valid answers. I've got one pair that I'm not sure Will would use.
DeleteI think we have the same solution, and I'm rather hopeful it's correct.
DeleteSame here.
DeleteI have a solution I hope is incorrect.
DeleteAntonyms, too.
DeleteI think that Jan's answer that he's "not sure Will would use" is probably it.
Delete