It's not the first time someone's made this observation.Q: Name a famous contemporary singer (6,4). The second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and ninth letters, in order, spell a repeated part of a song that everyone knows. What is it?
A: CELINE DION, "Old MacDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O!"
For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.
You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.
The puzzle could have been phrased differently, but then it would have been even easier than it already is. I suppose this a hint.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Funny puzzle. Take the singer’s name. If a letter repeats, remove all instances of that letter. Rearrange. You can get two different words, neither of which seem to apply to the singer.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, at my local street market, I scored 3 bushels of local tomatoes for $20. Canning salsa all day today.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOk, that was easy.
ReplyDeletePretty easy! Although, as in the Frank Sinatra puzzle, it is interesting what kind of detail people can discover. Answer submitted; time to go out for breakfast.
ReplyDelete"Elvis" once sang it on national TV.
ReplyDeleteWould have been better on January 4.
ReplyDeleteOhhhhh, that's a great clue.
DeleteIt's (in a general and indirect way) related to last week's puzzle, too.
Yes, good observation!
DeleteCongrats to WS on his upcoming wedding! 👏
ReplyDeleteWill is marrying ESAI Morales
DeleteJames AGEE will be the Best Man
SELA Ward will be the Bridesmaid
Music by Brian ENO
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis one will go down as yet another yawner of a puzzle
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFigured it out before the new groom finished reading it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have it...
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Will on his nuptials Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHis groom?
DeleteWW, right you are! Let me try this again….
DeleteVery funny.
DeleteCheers!
ReplyDeleteThis singer shares a name with another singer.
ReplyDeleteI figured it out without any help, but that's irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI.e., I solved it all by myself, but that's "neither here nor there". On the other hand, animal sounds (including, God only knows, "pet sounds"), can be heard here, there, and everywhere.
DeleteMusical Clue: CATS
ReplyDeleteDoubly true!
DeleteThis singer was the answer to The Sunday Puzzle some years ago. Perhaps I understand Leo's Musical Clue.
DeleteYou got it, Al.
DeleteSo does Dr. Awkward.
DeleteThe singer's name anagrams to something WS wouldn't want to hear his spouse-to-be say at the wedding. 😄
ReplyDeleteThat anagram that WS wouldn't want to hear is a sentence having a comma after the first word.
DeleteOr, to resurrect an old demon, a Molson Ice.
DeleteYes, Enya_and_WeirdAl_fan. And a period at the end. And, while we're at it, quotes all around it. :)
DeleteVery funny.
DeleteThe usual number might be TMI, so I'll just invite everyone to savor the realization that they all are.
ReplyDeleteGot it quickly. Now it's taking me longer to come up with a clue that won't be removed...
ReplyDeleteRemove all vowels from the singer's last name, and replace them with a vowel that does not appear in the solution. Rearrange that to get a group activity.
DeleteReplace the io in Dion with an a, and rearrange to LINE DANCE.
DeleteFollowing on Will's on air puzzle with words beginning with qu, Que sera sera.
ReplyDeleteNot much to see here.
ReplyDeletequintuplets
ReplyDeleteCheck out my comments on Puzzeleria- i.e Florence, Oregon. Very nice interview on KCLS. Thanks.
DeleteThe king County Library System is now doing interviews? I doubt it.
DeleteWill has a predilection for this type of puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI submitted the name of the singer and the repeated part of the song instead of the name of the song. I guess I'll be counted as incorrect. :(
ReplyDeleteNot really clear if wanted only repeated part or the name of the song or both. I would resubmit with both.
DeleteWill confused things with his phrasing. Referring to "a repeated part of a song that everyone knows," in his first telling he asked
Delete"What is it?"
while in his second he asked
"What song is it?"
At any rate, I submitted all three (the singer, the repeated part of the song, and the song) and figured I'd be covered. It'd be nice to know what they look for in submitted solutions.
I submitted first without the name of the song and then all three pieces of information again.
DeleteFirst singer to pop into my head, and I put the song title in parentheses.
DeletepjbHopesThePuzzleMasterWillHaveALongAndHappyMarriage,ThoughHeMustKnowTheWordCanBeRearrangedToSpell"AGrimEra"!
"Spell"?
ReplyDeleteApparently I make these things more challenging than they should be...
ReplyDeleteHey we had a 6, 4 singer just a few weeks ago!
ReplyDeleteMusical Hint: The Doobie Brothers
ReplyDeleteNow I'm looking forward to Thursday; please share then. The Doobie Bros are (to me anyway) the polar opposite of singer / answer to this week's puzzle.
DeleteChatGPT came up with a possible answer that I had not thought of.
ReplyDeleteYeah, me too. It told me the singer is Adele, and the repeated part of the song is "Hello".
DeleteIt's not all that surprising that I hadn't thought of that answer, I guess.
Crito: Now gonna have that song stuck in my head all day!
DeleteChatGPT kept suggesting BILLIE EILISH to me. She's been the answer before, but clearly not this time.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGo Tillies!
ReplyDeleteThey were, alas, defeated by some Feline Lion(esse)s.
DeleteWhat was the answer to the Russian map question?
ReplyDeleteAntimeridian
DeleteI thought of that. Thanks.
DeleteCap's puzzle
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe only difference is that back then it was a clever puzzle, not like this one.
DeleteYes. Interesting observation.
DeleteI had to look that puzzle up, and when I found it I immediately recognized it and remembered solving it back then.
DeleteTruthfully?
DeleteYes, and I now suspect that @Blaine and I are thinking along the same lines.
DeleteI'm feeling similarly.
DeleteThe Celine Dion->feline, lion puzzle on March 15, 2020 involved animals. EIEIO is in a song about Old McDonald's animals.
DeleteOk, got it! I misunderstood the wording of the puzzle. Easy.
ReplyDeleteCaP, I enjoyed your conversation with and puzzle about Love Cross from KLCC in Eugene, OR.". It's a thoughtful 6-minute article.
ReplyDeleteI second that! 👍
DeleteThanks for posting.
DeleteThanks for the link. Great interview.
DeleteThanks all of you. I had great fun with the puzzle and my unexpected "fame" on KLCC.
DeleteFun interview. CaP, is Love Cross her given name?
DeleteYes. In fact while off air I gave her a puzzle involving the fact that her love and cross where antonyms. She loved it
DeleteGreat interview, Cap! You are a wise man and an amazing guy. This is one of the best radio interviews I have ever heard. Thanks for the link.
DeleteLegoWhoAddsThatLoveCrossIsNoSlouchEither
Cap. You work out everyday? What kind of cardio.?
Delete"Good morning, afternoon, evening-Love"
DeleteFigured it out immediately.
ReplyDeleteCultural hint: Famous Fifties showbiz Feud was NOT about the unnamed singer here
ReplyDelete.
Two time winner associated with gaslighting, but in a positive way!
ReplyDeleteCap, I just heard the interview. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dr. K. I had great fun with the puzzle and my 4 minutes of "fame"
ReplyDeleteThe words "Love Cross" are antonyms of each other---because "love" is zero in tennis(O), and "cross" is X, right? So it all comes back to tic-tac-toe! Clever!
DeletepjbAlsoSeesItCouldBeAHugAndAKiss,Too!
You're giving me more credit than I'm due Cranberry, it was simpler than what you did. Cross is an antonym of Love, because cross is a synonym of anger.
DeleteI enjoyed the interview, but I'm surprised a psychiatrist would claim that love and anger are opposites. I've never known of a loving relationship that didn't include at least occasional anger.
DeleteThat surprised me, too.
DeleteSome famous names whose 24689 letters make words:
ReplyDeletealbert schweitzer letch
ellen degeneres ledge
gabriela sabatini areas
garry moore armor
harry reasoner arras
megan gale eagle
paul robeson aloes
ray bolger abler
Yet another musical clue: something from the Beatles' "Revolver" album.
ReplyDeleteMy pic has an unintententional roundabout hint. My nerdy hard rock, "heavy metal" roots are starting to show.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if many if not most Blainesvillians have solved this week's NPR offering. So, as is my occasional wont (whether you want it or not!), I shall now foist Puzzleria!s Schpuzzle of the Week on you puzzle-starved-wizards:
ReplyDelete“These puzzles are making me thirsty!”
Name something you might grab during summer to get rid of thirst. Add two letters to the beginning and say the result aloud.
It will sound like something you might grab to get rid of something else you don’t want during summer.
What two things might you grab to rid yourself of thirst and of something else you don’t want?
LegoWhoSuggestsThatYouDropByPuzzleriaAlsoToChewOnSixAppetizinglyChallengingPuzzlesServedUpByOurFriendNodd
At camp, we used to refer to the mystery fruit punch as "bug juice". I've also heard people refer to DEET that way.
DeleteAt science camps, I suppose they'd refer to a red giant in Orion.
DeleteIn a few months Minnesotans will have plenty, Floridians not so much?
DeleteHmm, I thought the answer to this was clear, but my guess only requires adding one letter.
DeleteTo get rid of thirst with an alcoholic beverage here, you need to show ID. To get rid of ants at a picnic, you could use RAID.
DeleteLot's of great speculation, "ultra-box-thinking" and discerning alternative answers, jan, Nodd, loop and Joshua. jan's ID/RAID, for instance is killer!
DeletePost answers (on Puzzleria! or here if it's okay with Blaine) beginning at noon PDT on Wednesday.
LegoWhoNotesThatThe"SomethingYouMightGrabTo GetRidOfSomethingElseYouDon’tWantDuringSummer"IsPretty"OldSchool"AndIndeedDatesBackToTheTurnOfACentury
The answer to:
Delete“These puzzles are making me thirsty!”
Name something you might grab during summer to get rid of thirst. Add two letters to the beginning and say the result aloud.
It will sound like something you might grab to get rid of something else you don’t want during summer.
What two things might you grab to rid yourself of thirst and of something else you don’t want?
Ice water, flyswatter
LegoWhoHasFlyswatterInHisVeins!
I was thinking of something like that, but I didn't think "water" and "swatter" rhyme.
DeleteSolving and/or creating puzzles that involve pronunciation is like tip-toeing over a field infested with land mines!
DeleteLegoSaysPotaytoAndjanSaysPotahto...Let'sCallTheWholeThingADraw!
Ah, so I wasn't too far off with my guess of WATER -> SWATTER.
DeleteSomehow I'm picturing a woman in traditional Hawaiian garb playing this song on a ukulele
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLollapalooza of a hint, Curtis! On Thursday, post-deadline, I shall post a link to to a relatively recent edition of Puzzleria! that provides proof-positive that "perfectly wired" (as opposed to "perfectly weird") puzzle minds, like ours, think alike. (To be honest, Lego's mind is probably more "perfectly weird" than "perfectly wired.")
DeleteLegoWhoSuggestsThatWhatCurtisDidThereWasToEkeOutALuluOfAClue!
They're everywhere!
DeleteSee this past "Schpuzzle of the Week: "What Maisie Knew"
DeleteLittle Maisie concludes Old MacDonald's Farm is in Hawaii... because "there's a muummuu here and a muumuu there... everywhere a muumuu!"
LegoWhoIsMuchMore"PerfectlyWeird"ThanHeIs"PerfectlyWired"
legolambdalegolambda. Yep - that's exactly what I was going for
DeleteThere’s a strong name relationship with a much earlier singer.
ReplyDeleteYou're gonna have that stupid song stuck in your head ...
ReplyDeleteOur friend and elite puzzle-maker Mathew Huffman will be our featured guest on Puzzleria! this week. He has concocted a pair of "unbeatable-yet-quite-appetizing" conundrums that involve "commonalities" and "categories" for his "Mathew Huffman's Conundrum Set" puzzle-package:
ReplyDelete* the first involves an 'in-common" quintet of words that includes "petard" and "decapitate," and
* the second will require “categorical” thinking.
Puzzleria! is uploaded weekly on the cusp of Thursday and Friday, around Midnight Pacific Daylight Time, or thenabouts.
Other delights on this week's menus include:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week that involves a biblical passage that is both athletic and prophetic,
* an "Implementary" Hors d’Oeuvre titled "Otter in water, frog in a bog?"
* a Coincidental Slice titled "Title’s the same, so is the name" that weds fine literature with the "boob-tube,"
* a “Quintuple Creature Feature!” for dessert, and
* A baker's-dozen riff-offs of this week's "Celine DiMucci" NPR Puzzle titled Here a “moo,” there a “moo,” everywhere a “muumuu!”.
That's 19 puzzles.
L-e-g-o
CELINE DION, EIEIO from Old Macdonald had a Farm
ReplyDelete"Following on Will's on air puzzle with words beginning with qu, Que sera sera." CELINE DION was born in Quebec, Canada.
"Truthfully?" as opposed to lyin' as in LION, one of the words in the previous CELINE DION anagram puzzle. FELINE is the other.
CÉLINE DION → E-I-E-I-O. Old MacDonald had a farm....
ReplyDeleteCELINE DION (E-I-E-I-O)
ReplyDelete> Would have been better on January 4.
"Perihelion" also has the same five vowels in the same order...
> Will has a predilection for this type of puzzle.
... so does "predilection".
> "Spell"?
"E-I-E-I-O" doesn't spell anything, so the puzzle as stated is bogus.
> Yet another musical clue: something from the Beatles' "Revolver" album.
"Here [a moo], There [a moo] and Everywhere [a moo-moo]"
I thought of 'PERIHELION' and was wondering whether I could just use the word or if I had to give some obscurer reference... and then I realized that's what your January 4 clue was.
Delete'PREDILECTION' does have the right vowels, but its consonant pattern doesn't match 'CELINE DION'. I believe 'PERIHELION' is unique!
There's a few more such words, but who wants "reinfection"? Better some more names:
DeletePresident Clinton
President Lincoln
President Nixon
President Wilson
and
Leif Erikson
Celine Dion e i e i o
ReplyDelete”OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM” (“E-I-E-I-O” <— CELINE DION)
ReplyDeleteHint: “The puzzle could have been phrased differently, but then it would have been even easier than it already is. I suppose this a hint.”
If the puzzle had been phrased “vowels of the singer’s name” instead of the letters’ numerical positions, then it would have been even easier.
Hint: This singer shares a name with another singer.
Celine Dion —> Dion (DiMucci)
At first I misunderstood the puzzle to say that it was a song by the singer. (I really don’t know her songs.) But almost immediately I reread the wording, and the answer came quickly. If there were 1,800 correct submissions last week, could this week’s exceed 2,000?
Sorry. I forgot to close the bold face command.
DeleteNo need to apologize. You weren't actually shouting.
Delete40 lashes with a wet noodle!
DeleteThanks, Jan. It's been a long day. And it's not over yet.
DeleteThanks, Word Woman. At this point, 40 lashes with a wet noodle is beginning to sound pretty good.
DeleteDr. K, we always knew you could be so bold!
DeleteCELINE DION, EIEIO, OLD MCDONALD
ReplyDeleteI don't think I left a clue. Cause, you know.
DeleteI wrote, “Take the singer’s name. If a letter repeats, remove all instances of that letter. Rearrange. You can get two different words, neither of which seem to apply to the singer.” That’s CLOD and COLD.
ReplyDeleteCeline Dion, EIEIO
ReplyDeleteI was going to give the old "e" hint again (the "usual number"), but it would have been TMI in this case, being the first letter of the e-i-e-i-0 sequence. Then I noticed that the other two vowels involved are also numerical symbols, so I gently hinted at that. Perhaps we can add the McDonald sequence to the Euler identity as another surprising place to find e, i, and 0!
ReplyDeleteCeline Dion, e-i-e-i-o (“Old McDonald had a farm…”)
ReplyDeleteMy clues:
Answer submitted; time to go out for breakfast.
Maybe to McDonald’s? (Yeah, right!)
The singer’s name anagrams to something WS wouldn’t want to hear his spouse-to-be say at the wedding.
That would be: “No, I decline.”
(Yes, Enya_and_WeirdAl_fan, indeed it is a sentence having a comma after the first word. 😉)
Celine Dion, E-I-E-I-O from Old Macdonald Had a Farm
ReplyDeleteEarlier this week I said, “There’s a strong name relationship with a much earlier singer.” Should be an easy one for the oldies here: Dion DiMucci of Dion and the Belmonts (Runaround Sue and many others).
My Musical Clue "Doobie Brothers" - Michael McDonald was their Keyboard Player..
ReplyDeleteNot to nitpick, but "somebody" misspelled. Celine's name way at the top. :-)
ReplyDeleteNice. Neither lion nor feline, but pinniped, almost.
DeleteYet another nod to the Beatles: I Am the Walrus
DeleteBlaine's seal of approval?
DeleteHe otter know better.
DeleteDrat! I definitely was letting the "Feline Lion" puzzle mess with my spelling. Thanks for pointing it out; corrected now.
DeleteI ain't lion when I say I love your blog, Blaine! I look forward to it every week. It's the cat's meow.
DeleteI mentioned the Farmer's market, but Blaine must have thought people would actually make a connection to Celine Dion, or E, I, E, I, O and deleted it. I have been absolutely melting in my non AC'd kitchen cutting tomatoes and pounds of produce, while canning until the wee hours(to beat the heat). But, my salsa is chef's smooch! And so is my tomato sauce, marinara sauce, ketchup, and peach pie filling.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping I'd get picked this week so I could share my modified children's song with the world:
ReplyDeleteOld MacDonald had a dog,
and Eieio was his name-o.
E-I-E-I-O
E-I-E-I-O
E-I-E-I-O
And Eieio was his name-o.
etc.
Bingo!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI wish you would have "gotten the call," Joshua. Great song parody! But the question is, how would you have pronounced the name of Old Mac's pooch...
DeleteE-Oh? Eye-Oh?
LegoWhoBelievesThat"EE-Aye-EE-Aye-EE-Sha"WouldaGottenAKickOuttaJoshua'sPastoralStylingsAsWouldaWillShortzWhoWasWasBornAndRaisedOnAnArabianHorseFarmInCrawfordsvilleIndiana!
When I sing it I pronounce Eieio as "Eye-Oh."
DeleteReferring to the previous puzzle for which Celine Dion was the answer, I wrote:
ReplyDeleteI had to look that puzzle up, and when I found it I immediately recognized it and remembered solving it back then.
As I was reading the old puzzle, I thought "It's all coming back to me now."
Celine Dion; Old MacDonald. My hint: "Elvis" once sang it on national TV. Andy Kaufman, whose Elvis impersonation Elvis himself deemed the best ever, performed a classic rendition of "Old MacDonald" using audience members on "Van Dyke and Company." https://youtu.be/dmTMzKjqVSk
ReplyDeleteMy clue which simply said "quintuplets" was a reference to a set of Canadian quints by the name of Dionne.
ReplyDeleteHow many of them were there? The mother must have been pent-up.
DeleteOr given how pricey it is to raise one child, she must have been spent-up.
DeleteThat makes cents.
DeleteClark, according to the web, Céline Dion and the Dionne quintuplets were distantly related.
DeleteCELINE DION, E-I-E-I-O("Old Macdonald Had A Farm")
ReplyDeleteHer name did come up in an earlier puzzle where you had to change the first letter in each name, first and last, to get FELINE and LION.
pjbAlsoKnowsThePhrase"SilenceIsGolden"CanBeRearrangedToSpell"CelineDion'sLegs"
My clue "two time winner associated with gaslighting, but In a positive way" was a nod to NFL great "Neon" Deion Sanders (aka Primetime), who stands alone as a professional athlete active in two title games, ie 2 Superbowls and the 1992 World Series. The gas neon is widely used in advertising and showbiz venues. But Deion definitely spells his name unlike Celine.
ReplyDeleteGiven all the kinds of surgery out there, it's hard to imagine a body part that everyone has. "Eyetooth" anagrams to "The Toe, Yo!"
ReplyDelete