Sunday, February 05, 2023

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

204 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. The second, third, and fourth letters of the first word, in order, spell out my opinion of this puzzle.

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    1. I would have made that 4th letter a different letter in this hardly fantastic challenge...

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    2. Sorry I'm late to the party, just been very busy; didn't even get to the puzzle until yesterday. Nodd, I got your clue, but strangely, it didn't lead me to the answer, and I guess that had to do with the "missing letter" clotheslover pointed to (and Word Whisker seconded). Then I looked at a certain menu, and got the answer pretty quickly.

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    3. LOL. Pretty much my reaction to any fast food menu.

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  3. Take the second and third food items in alphabetical order. You get a name of yet another food item found in the tropics.

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  4. The answer better not be MUSTARD -> MUD, RATS.

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    1. Jan, you beat me to it! Who didn't eat mud when they were a kid, and rats are delicious, 'specially with a little mustard.

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  5. Anagram the first food item, to get something very American.

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  6. No entry numbers were provided for last week's puzzle.

    This week's puzzle is not all that exciting to me.

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  7. It seems that ball boy is two words (Merriam-Webster) not one word. The on air puzzle stated all the words were one word.

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    1. I submitted my comment to NPR Sunday Puzzle and received an email from WS just now!
      "Ballboy" is one word in several dictionaries, like this:

      "https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/ballboy
      It's also legal in Scrabble."

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    2. So now you have his email address.

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    3. Yes, I know his email address. I was surprised to hear from him. Got a second email too.

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    4. I should have done more research for that word!

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    5. Perhaps not. Will has in the past always said M/W is what he would accept.

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    6. SDB: Thanks for saying that "Perhaps not." I thought that was the dictionary that was used as the last "word" relating to vocabulary questions. You might want to take a glance at the New Yorker Caption contest for last week while it is still online. Relates to a crossword puzzle. I am interested if you can think of a caption. I had a great one but already submitted my first one and they will not take more than one.

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    7. Do you mean the cartoon caption?

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    8. Yes, I meant the cartoon caption contest. Please look at it.

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    9. "So far all the clues are leading in two directions."

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    10. What's a word for "straightforward" starting with L-M-N?

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    11. SDB: You should submit your caption.

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  8. The answer is somewhat infuriating and reminds me of a very early Chris Rock character

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  9. I like my answer, but it doesn't match the hints.

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  10. Replies
    1. I don't distinguish between nuggets and tenders
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKfHC5eY5CI

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  11. Ok, I have the intended answer, but I still like my previous answer, maybe even better. I may submit both. I agree with Nodd; it's not exactly a gem of a puzzle.

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    1. Dr. K, would you care to offer a hint for your first answer? The intended answer is so stupid that I'd enjoy trying to guess one that may be better.

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    2. Nodd, try this: The second, third, and fifth letters of the first word spell a word that some here seem to think this puzzle is an example of.

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    3. So far I have one possible answer, but the third word more commonly appears as the second word in a three-word food item.

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    4. If so, I like it. I suppose since it requires some creativity to solve, it will not be acknowledged on air.

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    5. Thank you, Nodd. As further confirmation without, I hope, giving too much away, the first word in the original puzzle has a formal similarity to the second word in my alternative answer, and the first word in the original answer also has a material similarity to both the second and third words in my answer. But I do agree: I doubt it will be acknowledged on air.

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    6. I thought of this answer as well. Borderline acceptable, but more fun than the intended answer.

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  12. I have an answer that's too cool for school and most certainly not the intended answer.

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    1. I think I've got the same but I'm afraid the third item there isn't right.

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    2. I think I got that one too! it's the only answer I have so far, but I'm also doubtful about the third item. generally speaking.

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    3. The intended answer just came to me and I think I like my wrong answer better, even with the third word being a streeeeeetch.

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    4. jsulbyrne--You may want to check my exchange with Nodd about my alternate answer. Could we have arrived at the same one? Or is there yet another?

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  13. Unless my solution is wrong, another oddly worded puzzle. Why not work with the obviously missing letter instead?

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    Replies
    1. Change "can't" to "won't" and "just" to "even" and you win that bet, at least in my case.

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  15. I would never say that you are all vile!

    Happy Sunday!

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  16. Blaine,
    Lego is running 2 of my puzzles that WS rejected over at Puzzleria!. The second one is both geographical and culinary. So far no one seems to have solved it, but I have reason to suspect you might solve it right away, but I can't say why until the deadline. If you have a moment to spare...

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    1. Which 2 are yours? Are the authors listed somewhere?

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    2. Appetizer #2. It should be fairly obvious if you notice the picture.

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    3. Thanks, I think I have the second one. In my answer, the first part of the second word anagrams to a word commonly used in all three countries.

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    4. Do you think Will should have used this rather than the crap he is giving us?

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    5. Okay. BTW, the former city manager of the city I used to work for has the same name as you, and has served as city manager of a long list of cities here in California.

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    6. Yes, I wish he had used it. I didn't find it hard to solve but it is more interesting than what we have been getting from Nonstop Pledge Request.

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    7. I suspect you solved it quickly for the same reason I believe Blaine will too if he reads it.

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    8. Yes, that commonality definitely helps. FYI, I did post at Puzzleria!

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    9. When I told you last week that I knew the answer, I figured it was Appetizer #1

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  18. I'm disappointed the Niners won't be in the Super Bowl. Go Eagles!!!

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  19. Replies
    1. Clark a pseudonym,
      I think you might enjoy this week's "Dessert Puzzle" on Puzzleria!, titled,
      "Dapperly dressed character, coming & going":
      "Think of a movie that spawned multiple sequels.
      Find a verb for what the lead character was able to do to death very early on in that movie.
      The second two-thirds of this verb spell something he wore on his back. The first third sounds like something he wore on his front.
      Who is this lead character?
      What did he wear on his back and what did he
      wear on his front?
      What was he able to do to death, early on?
      Hint: The character was known by more than one name."

      You and other Blainvillians who have already solved the current NPR offering may enjoy our Schpuzzle of the Week, titled,
      Laureates and lariets:
      Take the name a past TV Western character portrayed by a future movie star.
      Anagram the character’s surname to form the surname of a Nobel Prize laureate.
      Anagram the character’s first name to form an adjective describing this Nobel laureate’s output.
      What are the names of this character and laureate?
      What is the adjective?

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    2. Being a Boomer didn't hurt me on these, Lego

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    3. Congrats, Xrysostom, on your solving success. I am aware of a handful of non-Boomers (here in Blainesville and over on Puzzleria!), but it does seem our demographics tend to skew "Boomerish."

      LegoWhoNotesThatItAlsoSeemsThatSilvioBerlusconiJesseJacksonSteveWoznizkMichaelRichardsAndTheReverendAlGreenAreAllMasonicBoomers!

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    4. Answers to two Puzzleria! puzzles:
      Chic Sequel Dessert:
      Dapperly dressed character, coming & going
      Think of a movie that spawned multiple sequels.
      Find a verb for what the lead character managed to do to death very early on in that movie.
      The second two-thirds of this verb spell something he wore on his back, and the first third sounds like something he wore on his front.
      Who is this lead character?
      What did he wear on his back and what did he wear on his front?
      What did he do to death, early on?
      Hint: The character was known by more than one name.
      Answer:
      Superman; Cape, an "S" (emblem); escape (The parents of the infant Kal-El send him in a spaceship to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton. Thus that infant, who would become Clark Kent (Superman) on Earth, managed to ESCAPE death.)
      Hint: The chararacter was named Kal-El at birth, and on Earth was known as Clark Kent and also by his superhero name, Superman.

      Schpuzzle of the Week:
      Laureates and lariats
      Take the name a TV Western character portrayed by a future movie star.
      Anagram the character’s surname to form the surname of a Nobel Prize laureate.
      Anagram the character’s first name to form an adjective describing this Nobel laureate’s output.
      What are the names of this character and laureate?
      What is the adjective?
      Answer:
      Rowdy Yates (portrayed by Clint Eastwood on "Rawhide"); (William Butler) Yeats; Wordy


      LegoWhoNotesThatAllHisRowdyFriendsHaveSaddledUp!

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  20. I have an alternate answer that works pretty well. Next Sunday we’ll see if Will accepts it.

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  21. All of the foods have something in common.

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    1. I am allergic to Chicken McNuggets, nuts, and eggs.

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    1. I get the connection to the first item, but haven't been able to discover the connection to the others yet.

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  23. NPR has updated the puzzle page. I wouldn't say they've corrected it, because they still have last week's challenge and the name of the winner wrong, but at least this week's challenge is now right.

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  24. This puzzle posted online is not exactly the same as the post on this site. "This time name a food item you might order at a fast-food restaurant. The first, second, and last letters together name another food item. Remove those. The remaining letters spelled backward name yet another food item. What foods are these?" Note: last letters together vs and last letters in order.

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    1. I transcribed it directly from what WS said. But it means the same thing. If the word was "pomegranate", the 1st, 2nd and last letters in order (or together) are "poe".

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    2. Hi Blaine, Thanks. Just wanted to make sure means same thing.

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  25. Everyone knows that calling someone a back-seat driver is not a compliment, but a derogatory comment. Can you think of an everyday situation when this phrase would be both a compliment and welcomed by the recipient?

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    1. When a parent is using one of those shopping carts that looks like a car. The kids in front are playing with the wheel, but the parent in the back is the "driver."

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    2. Does it involve a proctologist?

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    3. No, it is a real driving situation on the roads.

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    4. How about the guy that steers the rear of a hook and ladder fire truck.

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    5. I had that thought too, but not sure steering qualifies as "driving." Apparently it's called a tiller truck.

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    6. (Also not sure it's an "everyday" situation.)

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    7. Well it's an everyday situation lately on my residential street because the fire station was taken down and they are now in temporary tenting at the other end in a vacant lot. They use this street as a convenient short cut which I do not enjoy and cannot wait for their new digs to be built half a mile away.

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    8. Sounds terrible! They should at least compensate residents for all the disruption. My street gets shut down several hours once a year for a bicycle race but it's just the one day.

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    9. The pilot in many tandem aircraft usually sits in back.

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    10. The CFI in a sailplane does too, but only "drives" the plane when needed, of course. Anyway sdb specified it's a driving situation "on the roads," which wouldn't happen unless the sailplane got too low and couldn't make it back to the airfield.

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    11. One young family, who house is down at that end, sold and moved out rather than put up with it. I have tried several times to enter and speak with the captain of that station, but all the doors are locked. This country is a cesspool of fearful people. The standard fire truck they use most often (several times a day) has a large U.S. flag attached by one corner to the driver side rear. It looks like it would be in the way, and other fire trucks do not have one. It makes me furious to see it there, as I see our flag waiving to be nothing more than war mongering and other endearing qualities. Most of the firemen are right wing conspiracy nutcases who require a flag in order to remind themselves we are not Canadian. I think this may be because Seattle is just a hundred miles from the border.

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    12. In some cases, interference with the normal use of your property can be a taking without just compensation in violation of the Constitution even though the government doesn't physically occupy the property. Unfortunately, I'm not admitted to practice in Washington, but you might want to go to a City Council meeting and speak your mind for three minutes or whatever they allow you.

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    13. "Most of the firemen are right wing conspiracy nutcases..."
      No wonder they won't let you in.

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    14. MJ,
      What a surprise. You seem to be making my point for me, but I know it is unintentional on your part. I also suspect your think I am making that comment about the firemen being right wing nutcases in general out of whole cloth, but I am not. I talk with strangers of all sorts and most people come across well until something political, or newsworthy comes up, and then it quickly becomes evident if I am talking with a MAGA right winger and/or conspiracy nut. It is usually a surprise to suddenly see the radical change. It almost always happens with cops, but not always. Frequently with firemen, and most blue collar workers, such as those working for City Light, etc. Perhaps you would like me to ignore what I see and hear and witness, like cops physically attacking newsmen, and shooting innocent people. I have seen it all, and I cannot ignore what I have seen.

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    15. sdb, I have to respect your willingness to engage in political discussions with strangers. I enjoy talking to strangers, but I'm not so bold as to venture a political dialogue.

      NPR headline this morning: "A player in Washington state wins the $747 million Powerball prize." Perhaps it's you? (Ironic that the jackpot hit that particular number shortly after the final 747 rolled out of the factory in Washington. Numerology at work?)

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    16. Hmmm... The New York Times headline is "Single Powerball Ticket Wins $754.6 Million Jackpot". Now, if the winner suffers from congenital valgus deformities of feet, I'm betting ICD-9 codes from now on!

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    17. Interesting disparity of diagnoses. I wonder if NPR will change its diagnosis of patent ductus arteriosis or stick to its guns. Or maybe the discrepancy is due to the interest accrued in the time between one headline and the other.

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    18. Nodd,
      Most of us are in your camp on what they are willing to discuss, but I do not find routine conversations to be stimulating or worthwhile. I find that by sticking my neck out a bit I sometimes come away rewarded by learning new things and having more to think about. I look for these opportunities. Of course it does not always work; nothing does.

      As to lotteries, I don't participate. I do not believe the big winners are randomly chosen, but win due their karma. I know this may sound crazy, but I have sound reasons for my understanding in this regard.

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    19. SDB - I agree with your statement about flags being used as nothing more than symbols of American war mongering. It sickens me that the more conservative element in this country treats it also as a sacred object to be worshipped. It is simply a symbol of the country, just as a logo is a symbol of a corporation.
      I do some wildlife photography as a hobby, and am lucky enough to have a few breeding pairs of Bald Eagles within an hour's drive of my home (one within two miles of my home). I like to photograph them because they are majestic and beautiful birds, not because they are the national bird. But, when I post my images online, I often get the jingoistic comments about 'merica, rather than the beauty of the birds.

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    20. Curtis, I appreciate your comments. While my house here in Seattle is only ten minutes by car from the center of downtown, I am exactly one city block from the Southern edge of our largest cemetery where I like to walk most days and can sometimes see bald eagles, ospreys, coyotes and blue herons, etc. None of these wonderful creatures has ever caused me to think of anything other than nature, which knows no political boundaries. I like it that way. My big test will be if I should one day encounter a wild vulture and the image of Ted Cruz does not come to mind.

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    21. I agree about the flag too.
      And if I *did* care a lot about the American flag, as opposed to what it is supposed to stand for, seeing it whipping itself to shreds next to the Confederate flag on the back of some nitwit's pickup truck wouldn't fill my heart with warmth and pride.

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  26. I have what must be the intended answer, plus (I think) the secondary answer that Dr. K and others allude to above. I'm reminded of futility and Christina Rossetti.

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    1. I'm reminded of a 20th Century political satire/tragedy.

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    2. I was reminded of "nugatory" and "In the bleak midwinter / Frosty wind made moan...".

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  27. Finally got the answer. Terrible puzzle. I was surprised to learn you can actually order the fast food item.

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    1. If you were surprised to learn you could order the item, you must not get around much, or watch much TV, or you are thinking of the wrong thing.

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    2. I have ordered many. You're not reading carefully.

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    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    7. Good point, sorry for that.

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

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  29. Well, if the answer I sent in is right, I'll be boggled as to how ridiculous this puzzle truly is. I got the first and second food items, but the third is initials.

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    1. Are you reading them in reverse?

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    2. Then you have the wrong answer.

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    3. Then I'll have to live with being wrong. I decided to spend the week's puzzle time sending about three new puzzle to NPR.

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  30. Just got it. A rather elegant puzzle. A Beatles lyric comes to mind.

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  31. I understand why Blainesvillains aren't thrilled with the puzzle this week, but there's something... well, as Leo says, elegant about it.
    I do feel like Word Woman got an unfair advantage this week. (And here's a metaclue: my clue is along the same lines as someone else's above.)

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  32. Someone has to win this week.

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  33. Our good friend Chuck is the featured "puzzle artist" on this week's Puzzleria!
    In his "Conundrumbstruck by Chuck" series, he challenges us with four strikes-of-lightning-witted-genius titled:
    1. Household words overheard, 2. 1950s Fictional Critter, 3. No Hollywood monster!, and 4. A mystery fit for Popeye Doyle?
    We upload Puzzleria! every Friday morning, just after midnight, 2 a.m. PST.
    Our menus this week also feature:
    * a Schpuzzle of the Week consisting of three pop-quiz geography questions,
    * an Idiomatic Transmission Slice of Puzzle titled "Behavior in Bentleys and Buicks,"
    * a Dessert slice set in the “Naughty Unhinged Great Gatsby Era” Titled “Fictional flappers in flivvers,” and
    * eleven riff-offs of this week's NPR puzzle titled “Nuggets, eggs, nuts and Zagnuts!”
    Drop by and feast on these 20 "nuggets of gold" (not chicken!).

    LegoWhoSuggestsLet'sGetPopQuizzical!

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  34. NUGGET; NUT EGG

    "I would never say that you are all vile!" >>> points to alluvial plain, where gold NUGGETS are sometimes found.

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  35. Intended answer:

    NUGGET —> NUT, EGG

    My hint to the intended answer: “I agree with Nodd; it’s not exactly a gem of a puzzle.”

    “exactly” —> EGG—zactly
    “gem” —> NUGGET

    Alternate answer:

    FROSTY —> FRY, TSO

    My convoluted alternate-answer hints to Nodd asserted a “formal” similarity between “nugget” and “fry”—i.e., both are singular nouns—and a “material” one among “nugget,” “fry,” and “tso”—i.e, all three are fried foods. Just for fun, when Nodd first asked for the hint, I threw in “example” (—> EGG-zample). And the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th letters of the first word spell “rot,” which “some here seem to think this puzzle is an example of.”

    I saw as well many clever hints from others to both solutions, e.g., “generally” ( —> General Tso’s Chicken), “stunned” ( —> nut), and too many others to list.

    I grant that each answer has its flaws: Who orders one “nugget” (hence, the “missing letter,” “s”?)? But to be fair, who orders one “fry”? And “Tso” is admittedly a bit of a stretch: As Nodd noted, it’s usually part of a 3-word phrase—“General Tso’s Chicken”—and “Tso” is invariably capitalized.

    But if both answers are somewhat imperfect, once again it invites the question: Will the Puzzle Master acknowledge a possible alternate answer?

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  36. NUGGETNUT + EGG

    I would have said my feelings about this puzzle are expressed by the second and third letters of the first word + H = UGH !

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  37. NUGGET -> NUT, EGG

    > I was surprised to learn you can actually order the fast food item.

    Apparently, you can buy a single nugget at McDonalds, and at Chick-Fil-A.

    > Worthless

    Most of the dictionaries I consulted were vague on the etymology of NUGGET, suggesting something like "from dialect nug ‘lump’, of unknown origin". But I think "nugatory" (worthless) covers this puzzle and the food item as well.

    > I'm reminded of a 20th Century political satire/tragedy.

    Is a McNugget made from a MacBird?

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  38. NUGGET; NUT; EGG
    My hints:
    1. “The second, third, and fourth letters of the first word, in order, spell out my opinion of this puzzle.” (“Ugg”, homophone of “ugh.”)
    2. “TV hint: Gilligan's Island.” (The show starred Bob Denver. The Denver NBA team is the “Nuggets.”)

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  39. NUGGET, NUT, EGG

    Anagram nugget, and you get GET GUN, a very American thing.

    I had first come up with Pizza Pie, which when you take the three letters, the remaining letters anagram to pizza. Then I re-read the puzzle, and realized I needed a backwards word, not an anagram. Whew!

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    1. I tried "pizza slice" first, because of "pie," but for the life of me, I couldn't get "cilsazz" to complete the answer!

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  40. Nugget — nut, egg

    As I said, I got Nodd's clue (hinting at an "Ugg!" response to this puzzle), only that at first I still didn't think I had the answer, because I was thinking of nuggets (since no one would order just one nugget).

    But then I looked at a Wendy's menu, somehow spotted the word "egg" backwards in "nuggets," and from there got to the answer pretty quickly after all.

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  41. My hint was that Word Woman has an advantage. Because Denver is the home of the Nuggets.

    I also thought of FROSTY, but I don't think "Tso" is the name of the food. (And oddly, it didn't occur to me that that was the alternative answer some others were thinking of!)

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  42. Frosty (Wendy’s frozen dairy dessert)
    Fry (French fry)
    Tso (General Tso’s chicken)

    Last Sunday I said, “I have an alternate answer that works pretty well. Next Sunday we’ll see if Will accepts it.” This is it.

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  43. I think it's more clever than the intended, though not as smooth, but I figure the chances it gets accepted are about -273 C.

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  44. I decided that answer was not really correct. Single nugget? a nut? Made no sense to me.

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    1. Apparently, one can order a single NUGGET at more than one fast food place.

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    2. jan, just saw your comment on this above.

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    3. Natasha, you are going to order a single nugget because you can?!

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    4. WW: Nugget would probably be free. Fast food place may let me just get a sample to see if I like it.

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    5. Hang on -- you've never eaten a nugget??
      I thought the words for the foods you haven't eaten are not in your vocabulary!

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    6. Crito: I never ate mangos. I have had nuggets. I have never ordered just one. Have you?

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    7. Oh! Okay. You said McDonald's would give you one just to see if you like it, so I thought that meant you had never eaten one.
      Nope, I have definitely not ordered a single McNugget! I'm not sure I've ever ordered McNuggets at all -- I certainly haven't eaten one, but it's quite possible I ordered them for my kids, back when I ordered food for my kids. :)

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    8. Today's Jeopardy category: "On Their Fast Food Menu".

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    9. Want to eat just one Nugget? Simply visit Yulin, Guangxi, China, during the summer solstice, and find a Bob's Big Boy.

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  45. I don't think Tso ... which is now written Zuo, and was the name of a 19th c. general. It means "left", which does not seem to be a food item. Hey, I did nugget it either.

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  46. Clark a p, what was your answer involving initials?

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  47. NUGGET -> NUT, EGG
    My hint "No musical hints from Spotify" was a reference to Neil Young pulling his music from the platform so you can't hear his nugget "Heart of Gold"

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  48. Any thoughts as to Blaine's 65003 clue?

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    1. Well, if you type it into a calculator and turn it upside down, you get EOOSG, sorta. The OO looks like eyes or glasses, and ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and (Corporate) Governance, a framework for woke investing that chicken nuggets fails on all three counts. So, no, no thoughts.

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    2. WW: Thanks for the Nugget link. Very interesting. Did you watch Jeopardy?

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    3. I've added details in the original post above. It's from sequence A065003 in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. They are known as the "Not McNugget Numbers".

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    4. After figuring out the answer this week, I googled "65003" and "mcnugget" and got no hits. It seems odd that Google doesn't index the OEIS, but it's constructed as a database, so the leaf nodes aren't accessible to a web walker

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    5. I think it's because the sequences in the OEIS always start with A. The sequence is A065003, not just 65003. That's why I didn't include the leading A0.

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    6. Jan, that video is hilarious!

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  49. Terrible news from The New York Times online: "STARTING AT NOON MARCH 1 We will no longer publish digital Variety and Acrostic puzzles. You can continue to play these puzzles in print." Why take this step backwards???

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  50. My Hint: Someone has to win this week. Refers to Steve Wynn founder of the Golden Nugget Casino

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  51. My clue was: 1294. I had asked my AI what the closing price of gold was last Friday (if you consider Alexa to be AI). Should've checked my facts before I posted. She was off by about $600. Anyway, I was going for gold "nugget". But here's a nugget of wisdom: fact check your facts! (In Alexa's defense, I was not specific about the date.)

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    Replies
    1. ......after I realized the error, I decided to leave it there. No way it would be removed by an administrator! :-)

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  52. I think the puzzle would have been better worded: "Name something you might eat at a fast food restaurant..." Nobody orders a single nugget.

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    1. Au contraire! See my reveal above (receipts attached).

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    2. Clotheslover: Good point! Does anyone order a single nut?

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    3. Do you know any listing of "NUGGET" on a fast food menu?

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    4. Irrelevant! Did you ever see "animal style" on an In-N-Out Burger menu? Doesn't mean you can't order it!

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    5. Natasha, yes! Word Woman and Jan both posted links.

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    6. Just read the menu. Interesting! Thanks, Jan. I am learning so much.

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  53. I have probably missed something in the posts above, but it seems that if Wlll had simply spent a few minutes considering this puzzle he would have phrased it: "The first two and last two letters in order name another food item."
    So the answer would have been nuggets, nuts and egg.
    If he were still interested in puzzles he would bring this up in what he records today for Sunday.

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  54. NUGGET(usually chicken, sometimes fish), NUT, EGG
    pjbWondersWhichCameFirst,TheChickenMcNuggetOrTheEggMcMuffin?

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    1. LOL, jan!
      LegoWhoNominatesOurFriendjanToBeEnshrinedInThe"Blaine'sBlogCommenterHallOfFame!"

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    2. And cranberry's Chicken/Egg question was also quite clever.
      LegoMcChickenMcMuffinPlotThicken?McGuffin!

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  55. Did anyone watch Jeopardy Friday? I think a contestant got credit for a wrong answer.

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    1. Miles said Julie Roberts to the question about playing an art gallery manager. The answer should have been stated as Julia Roberts. Julie Roberts is a country singer, from what I found.

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    2. Just listened to it a couple of times. He kind of elides that last syllable, but it sounded okay to me. No one on the JBoard.tv discussion group had any issue with his answer.

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    3. Jeopardy contestants are always getting themselves in trouble by flubbing a first name when a surname alone will do.

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    4. Jan, I listened to it a few times with volume high and still hear Julie not Julia. I wonder if Roberts would have been enough for the answer. Thanks for the JBoard.tv.

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  56. Has anyone come up with an explanation of the "SPECIAL SERIES -- FIFA World Cup 2022" heading for last Sunday's puzzle on the NPR site?

    One more comment before we need to click on "Load More".

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    Replies
    1. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/19/1143994563/world-cup-qatar-human-rights
      Special series FIFA refers to the article below the Sunday Puzzle. Hope that answers your question,

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    2. But that article's from mid-December. Why is the heading on the puzzle from mid-February?

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  57. This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Steve Baggish, of Arlington, Mass. 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?

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