NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 28, 2023): Author turned Pro Athlete

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 28, 2023): Author turned Pro Athlete

Q: Think of a well-known author whose first name is nine letters long, and last name six letters. Change the first letter of the last name and anagram those six letters to spell a word. Now read everything together — the author's first name plus the anagram with a letter changed of the last name — and you'll get a certain professional athlete. Who is it?

The new 6-letter part can also be rearranged to get the last name of an actor whose first name starts with the same 5 letters as the author or athlete.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 21, 2023): A Place in Europe

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 21, 2023): A Place in Europe

Q: Name a place in Europe in nine letters. Swap the third and fourth letters, then the eighth and ninth letters. The result is two words describing what this place famously does.

A: STROMBOLI (an active volcanic island off Italy), STORM and BOIL

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 14, 2023): Mother's Day Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 14, 2023): Mother's Day Puzzle

Q: Think of an animal in which the singular form of the female and the plural form of the male sound like synonyms. What animal is it?

Take the name of a different animal, drop the fourth letter and you get another synonym.

Edit: MONKEY - K = MONEY

A: DOE (dough) and BUCKS.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 7, 2023): Compound Body Parts

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 7, 2023): Compound Body Parts

Q: Think of part of the human body whose name is a compound word (like fingertip or toenail). Add an N and rearrange the result to get another part of the body whose name is also a compound word. What body parts are these?

From the final body part remove any repeated letters (leaving only one instance of the letter). Add "IC" and rearrange to describe the state of some other body parts.

Edit: The resulting anagram is MANICURED.

A: EARDRUM + N --> UNDERARM

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 30, 2023): Azure and Beige

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 30, 2023): Azure and Beige

Q: The "zh" sound can be spelled in many different ways in English — like the "s" in MEASURE; like the "g" in BEIGE; like the "z" in AZURE; like the "j" in MAHARAJAH; and like the "x" in LUXURY as some people pronounce it. The "zh" sound can also be spelled as a "t" in one instance. We know of only one common word this is true of, not counting its derivatives. What word is it?

Change the penultimate letter to an S and rearrange to name things that some people might treasure.

Edit: Rearranging the letters you get ANTIQUES. My thumbnail image also had horizontal lines reminiscent of an equal sign.

A: EQUATION

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 23, 2023): Complaint Department

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 23, 2023): Complaint Department

Q: Think of a five-letter word for things a lot of people complain about. Add a letter and rearrange the result to get an example of these things. Then add one more letter and rearrange to get a remedy for these things. Five, six, and seven letters, respectively. What words are these?

Add one more letter and rearrange to name something used for thousands of years.

Edit: Add an H and rearrange to get HAIRPINS.

A: PAINS, SPRAIN, ASPIRIN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 16, 2023): Topsy-Turvy

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 16, 2023): Topsy-Turvy

Q: Think of a common 8-letter word, in which the first three letters spell a word, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh letters also spell a word. These two little words mean the same thing. The fourth letter, when rotated 180°, becomes the eighth letter. What word is this?

Drop the second and eighth letters and rearrange to get a word. That word could describe an item that was taken to a place also described by the word by someone whose name sounds like the original word.

Edit: Alan Shepard hit a golf ball (sphere) on the moon (sphere).

A: shepherd --> she, her, p/d

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 9, 2023): How Does Your Garden Grow?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 9, 2023): How Does Your Garden Grow?

Q: Name some things you might grow in a garden. Move the middle letter to the beginning. Phonetically the result sounds like part of the human body and an article of clothing that covers it. What words are these?

Sorry no time to work on the puzzle; we're too busy getting ready for Easter.

Edit: We were probably "planting" eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt!

A: EGGPLANTS --> LEG, PANTS

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 2, 2023): Musicians and Writers Wanted

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 2, 2023): Musicians and Writers Wanted

Q: Think of an eight-letter word for a certain musician. Switch the order of the second and fourth letters and you'll get a word for a certain writer. What words are these? The answers are words, not famous people.

Add three letters and rearrange to name a person who might work on a movie.

Edit: Add H, L, Y and rearrange to get HAIRSTYLIST.

A: SITARIST, SATIRIST

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 26, 2023): Household Products

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 26, 2023): Household Products

Q: Name two brands of household products, each in three syllables. All of the syllables in the two brands rhyme with each other. That is, the first syllable in the first brand rhymes with the first syllable in the second brand, the second syllables in the two brands rhyme, and the third syllables rhyme. What brand names are these?

If my answer is correct, both products also rhyme with a centenarian.

Edit: Jean Dolores Schmidt is better known as Sister Jean.

A: LISTERINE and MR. CLEAN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 19, 2023): Bathroom and Kitchen Renovation

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 19, 2023): Bathroom and Kitchen Renovation

Q: Name two well-known commercial products in five letters whose names are anagrams of each other. One product is something you'd probably see in your bathroom. The second is more likely to be in your refrigerator. What products are these?

My first thought came up with something I hope is NOT in my refrigerator. I'll have to keep thinking.

Update: Add a D to the end of my refrigerator product and you get something that sounds like a bathroom product again.

Edit: My initial thought was DRANO --> RADON but I realized that didn't work. My alternate answer was PIPES --> PEPSI (and then PEPCID). But I later figured out the intended answer.

A: NIVEA (cream), EVIAN (water)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 12, 2023): Around the World

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 12, 2023): Around the World

Q: This week's challenge is a spinoff of the on-air puzzle. Name two countries that have "consonyms" that are nationalities of other countries. In each case, the consonants in the name of the country are the same consonants in the same order as those in the nationality of another country. No extra consonants can appear in either name. The letter Y isn't used.

If I add up the years that each of my four countries became members of the U.N. and divide by 5, I get a prime number.

Edit: My countries were Lebanon (1945), Albania (1955), Cameroon (1960) and Comoros (1975). The sum is 7835 and the prime is 1567. My list of nationalities separated North and South Korea, so I didn't get the more obvious answer of UKRAINE and KOREAN.

A: LEBANON → ALBANIAN (from Albania)
UKRAINE → KOREAN (from N. or S. Korea)
CAMEROON → COMORAN/COMORIAN (from Comoros)
MAURITANIA → MAURITIAN (from Mauritius)
RÉUNION → IRANIAN (from Iran)
Any others?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 5, 2023): MeDiCaL XaVier

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 5, 2023): MeDiCaL XaVier

Q: Name something scary in two words. Five of the letters are vowels, which are all the same. And the consonants are all Roman numerals. What scary thing is this?

I found a weird connection to last week.

Edit: When you combine weird with the theme of science from last week's puzzle, you get Oingo Boingo's song Weird Science (YouTube link) which mentions:
"magic and technology, voodoo dolls and chants, electricity"

A: VOODOO DOLL

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 26, 2023): It Doesn't Add Up

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 26, 2023): It Doesn't Add Up

Q: Take this equation: 14 + 116 + 68 = 47. Clearly this doesn't work mathematically. But it does work in a nonmathematical way. Please explain.

It makes about as much sense as 22 + 11 = 26 + 39.

Edit: My equation turns into Ti + Na = Fe + Y, referring back to the recent chemical elements puzzle where Tina Fey was the answer.

A: Looking at the periodic table and replacing the numbers with the chemical symbols, we get Si + Lv + Er = Ag

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 19, 2023): Make Like A Tree and Get Out of Here

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 19, 2023): Make Like A Tree and Get Out of Here

Q: Name a tree. In the very middle of the word insert a homophone of another tree. The result will be a new word describing what everyone wants to be. What is it?

What everyone wants to be? Not me.

Edit: "Not me" would be "you" which is also a homophone for the letter U.

A: POPLAR + YEW(U) --> POPULAR

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 12, 2023): Under Pressure

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 12, 2023): Under Pressure

Q: Name a popular rock band — one that everyone knows. Add a "B" sound at the end, and phonetically you'll name a place where you might hear this band play. What band is it?

I believe they've been touring since the '50s.

Edit: Clearly the band hasn't been around that long, but U-2 spy planes have been flying since the 1950s and require a special pressurized suit.

A: U2 --> YouTube

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 5, 2023): Would You Like Fries with That?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 5, 2023): Would You Like Fries with That?

Q: Name a food item you might order at a fast food restaurant. The first, second and last letters in order name another food item. Remove those letters and the remaining letters spelled backwards name yet another food item. What foods are these?

Hint: 65003

Edit: In the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS), A065003 contains the Not McNugget Numbers. Back when McDonald's only sold McNuggets in boxes of 6, 9 or 20 the question arose as to which quantities of McNuggets you could or couldn't buy. It turns out that 43 was the highest possible Not McNugget Number.

A: NUGGET --> NUT, EGG

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 29, 2023): Fruit Salad

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 29, 2023): Fruit Salad

Q: Name a fruit in one word. Drop the last two letters. The remaining letters can be rearranged to name two other fruits. What are they?

Or if you remove the 2nd and 4th letters, you can rearrange to get a symbol.

Edit: POMEGRANATE-OE --> PENTAGRAM

A: POMEGRANATE-TE --> PEAR, MANGO

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 22, 2023): One Capital, Two Capitals

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 22, 2023): One Capital, Two Capitals

Q: Take a word that's in the name of several tourist attractions in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Rearrange the letters in that word to spell the names of two other nations' capitals. What are they?

If you anagram the two countries, you get a spicy warbler.

Edit: The cinnamon-breasted warbler belongs to the genus Euryptila.

A: MEMORIAL --> LIMA (Peru) and ROME (Italy)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 15, 2023): For Today's Special We Have...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 15, 2023): For Today's Special We Have...

Q: Name a food dish in 10 letters. The last syllable consists of a consonant and a vowel. Change that syllable to a single consonant sound and you'll name another popular food item, in two words. What foods are these?

This puzzle is making me really hungry.

Edit: Searching through images of Italian food to find one I liked, but without fettuccine, made me very hungry. In addition, the country of HUNGARY forms somewhat of an equilateral triangle with ITALY and GREECE.

A: FETTUCCINE (feh-tuh-CHEE-nee), FETA CHEESE (feh-tuh CHEEZ)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 8, 2023): Elementary!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 8, 2023): Elementary!

Q: Name a famous living person — first and last names. If you drop the last letter of the first name, you get an element on the periodic table. And if you drop the last letter of the last name, you get the chemical symbol of another element. What celebrity is this?

I found an answer for a non-living celebrity which led directly to the correct answer. Note: If you take the movie or series that the person is best known for, each word starts with a chemical symbol (one letter for the first word, two letters for the rest).

My initial thought was Tiny Tim before switching to Tina Fey.
Note: S(aturday) Ni(ght) Li(ve) = S(ulfur) Ni(ckel) Li(thium)

A: Tina Fey --> Tin, Fe (Iron)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 1, 2023): Opposites Attract

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 1, 2023): Opposites Attract

Q: Name a U.S. state capital for which the name of another well-known U.S. city is an antonym. The second city has a population of more than 100,000

The second city was the setting of a sitcom from the '70s.

Edit: Mork and Mindy was set in Boulder, Colorado.

A: LITTLE ROCK and BOULDER