NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 5, 2023): Creative PlacesQ: This is a two-week creative challenge. Name a geographical place. Then describe it acrostically using the letters in its name. For example, ALBANY could be described acrostically as "Administering Legislative Business At New York." The place can be anywhere in the world — the U.S. or abroad. Entries will be judged on originality, sense, naturalness of wording, elegance, and overall effect. You may submit up to three entries.
Just remember the deadline is in
two weeks, but on Wed. Nov. 15th.
Kudos to those few on the blog who correctly solved last week's puzzle. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteOh so over. Oso, WA re: the March 22, 2014 mudslide.
ReplyDeleteOnly 2 correct answers!
ReplyDeleteAh, just heard. Only 2 correct entries for 58!
ReplyDeleteI had rashly predicted that the answer number would be greater than the number of correct entries, but I deleted that post after realizing that 54 was not that elusive. If I had thought about the 58 wrinkle, I would have stood by my prediction.
DeleteRidiculous. The puzzle specifically said "in a day," without saying which day. 54 is right for all but two days a year, and it is always right for the many places that don't change the time. (Obviously, I submitted "54," but at least I was in good company.) I think it would have been courteous at least to identify on air the other person who submitted "58" since it was, as Ayesha said, "the hardest puzzle ever."
ReplyDeleteIt had better have been me. Below is my submission:
Delete-----------------------------------------------
58 this Sunday in many places, but 54 on most days
EXPLANATION: There's a lot of ambiguity in the statement of the puzzle, and I make the following assumptions:
- I interpret "How many times in a day can a digital clock, ignoring the colon, read the same right side up as upside down?" as asking for the maximum.
- In the question, I interpret "times" as referring to occurrences, not (distinct) displayed values.
- I assume that 1, when rotated 180 degrees, still looks like 1.
- I assume we're ignoring any displayed AM/PM.
- I assume that displayed times either consist of exactly three digits, or three digits preceded by a 1.
With these assumptions, the "rotatable" times in a day are:
12:21AM
1:01AM
1:11AM
1:21AM
1:51AM
2:02AM
2:12AM
2:22AM
2:52AM
5:05AM
5:15AM
5:25AM
5:55AM
6:09AM
6:19AM
6:29AM
6:59AM
8:08AM
8:18AM
8:28AM
8:58AM
9:06AM
9:16AM
9:26AM
9:56AM
10:01AM
11:11AM
12:21PM
1:01PM
1:11PM
1:21PM
1:51PM
2:02PM
2:12PM
2:22PM
2:52PM
5:05PM
5:15PM
5:25PM
5:55PM
6:09PM
6:19PM
6:29PM
6:59PM
8:08PM
8:18PM
8:28PM
8:58PM
9:06PM
9:16PM
9:26PM
9:56PM
10:01PM
11:11PM
There are 54 times there, so why am I answering 58? Daylight Saving Time! With the change this Sunday, times in the range [1:00AM, 2:00AM) will be repeated, so we get "extra copies" of:
1:01AM
1:11AM
1:21AM
1:51AM
Thus, this Sunday there will be 58 instances during which rotating the clock will yield the same time.
Kudos, Joshua Green!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteCongrats, Joshua Green! With the time change factored in, what WS should have done is repeat the hour of 3:00 PM ET on Thursday as well, so as to give each of the two correct submissions a shot at getting "the call."
DeleteThen again, it might have been the same person getting called twice. Which creates a whole new puzzle question: How many times a day can someone get a call to play the on-air puzzle? 😁
I submitted 58 as well but I was not called. Will has a weird definition of "two." Props to you Joshua, you were more eloquent than I was, but I did submit 58 as well noting daylight savings time ending,
DeleteCounting is hard?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhatever explanation one can come up with in support of 58, the correct answer on the day that was the deadline for submission was 54. It is not fair to change the answer after the deadline. A fair puzzle would provide all the information needed to solve it, albeit it may be cleverly disguised, as in one of lego's recent puzzles which asked for the name of a festival and then said to figure out two things that you would see there, using the letters in "this name." The answer was Oktoberfest, but the two things were "ham" and "stein", which can be formed from the letters in "this name." THAT was a clever and FAIR puzzle.
DeleteMaybe they meant "2, as displayed on a digital clock in the mirror", or 5?
DeleteAs @Neal like the verb also submitted 58, I can no longer be sure of anything. I was kind of afraid of this, that they got such a low number by rejecting valid answers for ... reasons. I'm going to message them.
DeleteJoshua Green, let us know if you hear back.
DeleteThe phrasing of Ayesha's follow-up question of why the on-air player submitted 58 was odd.
Thanks Joshua. Your response was a little more detailed than mine and I made a typo, so they should have counted yours, if they only counted one of ours. That being said, I got the overall number and reasoning correct. I was a little miffed they got counting to three wrong (especially on a counting puzzle) but I am over it, mostly. I am working on the creative one.
DeleteIn RE: the new puzzle, I was able to send in an answer involving a boyhood experience of mine that I thought was magical at the time. Even if it doesn't win, it was fun reminiscing about my ancient history.
ReplyDeleteSince there is no "correct" answer for this challenge, can we post ideas as we get them? It would be fun to see what our colleagues come up with. Blaine?
ReplyDeleteI've already submitted mine so I'd like to post one too if allowed
DeleteI'm back. This puzzle is a PITA, Guinea. PAIN IN THE ASS...
ReplyDeleteOh my! A hopeless answer!
DeleteWhat happened to all the missing posts, including one from Blaine?
ReplyDeleteI believe they are on the tail end of last week's posting.
DeleteI submitted an answer that Will Shortz would enjoy.
ReplyDeleteRemember, you can submit up to three entries. Did you submit three already, or are you hoping that the interns and whatever software they're using will allow you to submit multiple times and will keep track of how many you've sent? (I wouldn't count on that!) Or, is your answer so good that submitting more than one would be a waste of good electrons?
DeleteI'm surprised that Blaine hasn't yet answered whether we should post answers here, but doing so always runs the risk that someone -- a lurker, of course; none of us would stoop so low -- might post your entry as their own.
I did three options in a single entry, I'm not sure it would allow you to send 3 posts separately for the same email with their system to avoid redundant/multiple guesses for regular weeks
DeleteI submitted thrice. The first 2 cities were where Will Shortz went to UVA in Charlottesville, and where Will Shortz lives in Pleasantville.
DeleteCharlottesville
Come Here And Really Look Over The Terrific, Excellent Scenery, Virginia Is Loved Like Everywhere.
Pleasantville
Puzzle-Loving Enigmatology Aficionado Shortz, A Notable Tennis Victor, Is Living Life Enjoyably.
The Mar-a-Lago Club: Home
ReplyDeleteThis hideous enclave maintains a Republican, at large, anomalous group of churlish losers upset Biden has overcome moronic enemies.
this isn't too dissimilar from the one I submitted this morning ha
DeleteTraitor Recruiting Unethical MAGA Puppets To Override Well-documented Election Results
DeleteNodd,
DeleteI love it, but I must remind you that the "puzzle" asks us to "Name a geographical place. Then describe it." So tempting to describe the douche bag who resides there though, so I feel your pain.
sdb, I thought about that, but it seemed like a legitimate interpretation of the puzzle to describe the geographical place by referring to the activity that occurs there.
DeleteNodd,
DeleteI'll give you that, but the key is in the very first word: Traitor, which describes not a place, but an individual. Work on it just a bit more and you have nailed it.
I agree that an individual is not a place, but neither is ""Administering Legislative Business At New York." It's a description of an activity that goes on at the place.
DeleteYou know very well you are describing the person, and not the place. I agree with your point of view, but it just does not fit the description the puzzle demands. You know this as well as I do, so just revise it a bit. I still like it.
DeleteThese Rooms Unify MAGA Politicians To Oppose Well-documented Election Results
DeleteNow, that's what I'm talkin' about!
DeleteA winner in my book.
DeleteWe've all seen how ignorance, not governance, trumped our national discourse completely.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, that's a submission.
DeleteWhere all selfish human insurrectionists naively go to overturn National Democratic Constitutions?
DeleteNice!
DeleteWhat A Shocker How Idiots Not Getting Thrown Out Normalize Divisiveness, Corruption!
DeletepjbSaysSomeOfTheseAreDefinitelyTooGoodToJustKeepHereOnTheBlog!
WASHINGTON, D. C.:
DeleteWhat A Shame Hardhearted Incompetents Need Graft To Open Negotiations---Damn Congress!
CAPITOL BUILDING:
Crazy Anarchists Perpetrated Insurrection To Overthrow Legislative Body---Unfortunately, Incomplete Lynching Did Imbeciles No Good.
TRUMP TOWER:
There Resides Unruly MAGAists Pumping That Orange Weasel's Ego Remarkably.
pjbNeedsToGoBackToNPRToSendInMoreIdeas,Apparently
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEARTH: Everyone Agrees -- Really Too Hot
ReplyDeleteKIEV: Kindly Invade Elsewhere, Vladimir!
or
KIEV as Keep In Europe, Volodymyr!
MARS: Musk Aims Rockets Spaceward
CAMBRIDGE: Colleges Abound in Massachusetts, But Really, I'm Done Getting Educated.
DeleteSHANGRI-LA: Somewhere Himalayan, And Not Geographically Readily Identified -- Look Around!
DeleteKYIV (or Kiev) Keep your ideas, Vladimir...
DeleteLosers' and simpletons' valued earnings gambled away swiftly. Come and spend it now optimistic suckers.
ReplyDeleteGood one, sdb!
DeleteCriminals Hired In City As Government Officials
ReplyDeleteGod's remarkably astounding nature ditch capturing anyone's naturalistic yearnings; overcoming normality.
ReplyDeleteScience Museum / Institution Teaching History, Space, Oceanography, National Ideologies And Nature
ReplyDeleteHome of long lost youth which overestimated our desires.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePLEASANTVILLE (home of Will's Westchester Table Tennis Club): Ping-pong Lets Everyone Around Spend A Nice Time Vying In Lively Little Encounters.
DeleteMagical Elvis memories proliferate historically in society.
ReplyDeleteMighty Elvis moved pelvis here, it's said.
DeletepjbAin'tNeverCaughtARabbitEither,ButHe'llStillBeAFriendOfYours!
I Love it! Just read that his cousin is running for Mississippi governor. His name is Brandon....I wish him well. :)
DeleteI catch your drift, Scarlett. Let's hope his supporters are wearing those "Let's Go Brandon" shirts. That would be one sweet cultural appropriation!
DeleteOverly harried arrivals regret entering an insane rendezvous people oddly return to.
ReplyDeleteTesla, Elon, X; all same
ReplyDeleteMaintains a ranch for art
ReplyDeleteMOMA
ReplyDeleteMuseum of Modern Art
(come on now; laugh)
Tide, Under Saban, Continuing Alabama's Legacy, Occupies Old Sports Arena.
ReplyDeletepjbAdmiresLegendary,AmazingBear---AllMustAgree!
Make that:
DeleteTide, Under Saban, Continuing Alabama's Legacy, Occupies Outstanding Sports Arena.
Even though Bryant-Denny Stadium, at first simply known as Denny Stadium, was opened way back in 1929, my using the word "old" didn't sound nice, even though it did work for the second O in Tuscaloosa.
pjbKnowsMostOfTheFolksInHisHomeStateWon'tEvenKnowAboutThisUntilWillShortzProbablyIncludesItAmongAny"HonorableMention"SubmissionsTwoWeeksFromToday
Looking around, houses aflame in nasty apocalypse.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNORTH KOREA: Now One Required To Honor Kim, Or Regret Ever After.
DeleteGood one! The acronym, that is.
DeleteWow! You had me at KIEV !
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn Our Winter A Californian Is Toast, Yes?
ReplyDeleteJust A City Keeping Southern Origins Near
Ruled Under Strong Soviet Infuence, Always
Most Adventures In New England
BUCKINGHAM PALACE:
ReplyDeleteBritain's Under Charles! King Installed Now, Getting Honour After Mum's Passed Away(Lad's Ascension Came Eventually).
pjbDecidedToAvoidSaying"LookAtCharles'sEars"ForTheLastFourLetters---GoodDecisionOrBad?
West Point
ReplyDeleteWar enterprise some think produces officers in no time.
Britain's Under Charles, King Indefinitely---Noticeably Greedy Heir Awaited Mum's Passing, And Later Accepted Crown Eagerly.
ReplyDeletepjbStillManagedToAvoidMakingFunOfTheNewKing'sLooks(CouldEvenBeTheOnlyOneToDoSoAroundHere!)
MAR-A-LAGO
ReplyDeleteMegalomaniacal Anarchist's Resort, Apparently Lacking Any Grace Overall.
pjbMayVeryWellBeTheOnlyOneHereToUseTheWord"Megalomania"(OrAnyVariantThereof)SoFarInAnyAcrosticHavingToDoWithThePropertyOfFormerPresidentYou-Know-Who(Let'sAllHopeAndPrayHe'llRemainOurFormerPrezPermanently!)
cranberry,
DeleteYou are really great at these challenges. You'll likely be playing the on-air NPR puzzle with Mr. Shortz on November 19!
LegoThinkscranberryIsAcrosticallyGifted
Make America reject losers and grant opulence.
DeleteIt would probably be better to say "any" or "all" losers for that other "A". Otherwise, you've only spelled "MARLAGO". Great job, though!
DeletepjbWould'veAlsoSaidSomethingAboutWhoeverHadAnAcrosticFor"CAMBRIDGE"EarlierAddingAWordThatWasn'tNecessary,ButHeThoughtBetterOfIt
Thankyou.
DeleteMETA
ReplyDeleteManiacal enfant terrible's antics
Those are all wonderful!! Not competing, but I did find one *movie title* that can be acrosticked by a place name. But I've never heard of the movie ... anyhow it's from 1970. Near miss: "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" => Slav.
ReplyDeleteMoscow on the Hudson? No wait it's an insect.
DeleteSUPREME COURT
ReplyDeleteStuck up politically regressive empire making egotists corrupt outrageously uncaring rotten tyrants
Skydiveboy, I absolutely mean no offense, but the headline on this book review read "‘Again and Again’: In Jonathan Evison’s new novel, a curmudgeonly old man believes he has been reincarnated.", and it somehow reminded me of you.
ReplyDeleteNYT will not allow me to read the article. I would like to though. I will pick up a copy at the library either today or tomorrow. No offense taken. I doubt I will find the novel worth reading because the plethora of true stories are so much more interesting and informative. I won't know until I begin the book. What does NYT have to say about the book?
Delete[I apologize to the rest of the group for the long excerpt.]
DeleteBy Helen Simonson
Nov. 7, 2023
It is “the most beautiful of all possible worlds,” a chapter heading proclaims at the beginning of Jonathan Evison’s new novel, “Again and Again.” But it’s easy to doubt this cheerful echo of “Candide” as we are introduced to the book’s protagonist, Eugene Miles, a centenarian curmudgeon living in an elder-care facility in the California desert who insists — a bit too loudly and often — on his desire to be left alone to await death.
It’s a tricky thing to write a crotchety old person, and pretty soon the reader wonders what sort of redeeming qualities will make it desirable to spend time in Eugene’s presence. He is mean to the facility’s staff members, who he concedes are cheerful but “most speak to me with that cloying condescension of the sort one might employ with a toddler or a puppy.” And he disdains his fellow residents, such as Irma, who he says smells of “wilting gardenias and the inside of pill bottles.”
At least Eugene is just as likely to turn his wicked tongue on himself: “I now resemble an elderly chimp with radiation poisoning.” And he has an unsentimental view of being old. “Well, imagine being young,” he explains. “Except you’re tired all the time, and you’re no longer ambitious, and nothing tastes as good as it used to, and you have to go to the bathroom all the time.”
He’s unpleasant, but what spurs us to read on is his unlikely friendship with a new orderly, Angel, a young Chicano who is as naïve, openhearted and kind as Eugene is cantankerous. Eugene begins the novel in self-confinement, hiding away in his room doing jigsaw puzzles, but Angel has a charm that slowly wins over the grouch. Angel gives him nicknames, like calling Eugene “homie,” “dog” and “Geno,” much to his chagrin; and he urges the old man to leave his bubble. Eventually Eugene’s reserve cracks, and he agrees to lunch at an outdoor picnic table, where he begins to tell Angel the story of his life.
Or rather, lives. Eugene says he’s been reincarnated several times. He has lived as a Polynesian girl, an Incan princess and a man, York, who was enslaved by William Clark. But these pasts are glossed over in favor of his life in 11th-century Andalusia, when he was a Visigoth cutpurse, Euric, who was saved by a young woman named Gaya, to whom Eugene will devote the next thousand years. There’s also a detailed reincarnation as Oscar Wilde’s cat, but I refuse to deal with animal narrators. In his current lifetime, Eugene has journeyed from rural California to Los Angeles, from World War II heroics to a reunion with Gaya’s most recent reincarnation, Gladys.
An elderly Scheherazade, Eugene spins his tales in gripping installments, and through it all, we wish to believe Eugene is actually reincarnated, not merely delusional. He has maintained the veracity of his past lives since childhood, but as the stories circle toward painful truths — childhood abuse, psychiatric institutionalization and lies about his current life — we must confront all the ways in which he is an unreliable narrator.
There is a lot going on here, possibly too much. The story sometimes lacks depth as it favors chase scenes over history, and it skates over tragic difficulties that should provide the novel’s tension. But hiding underneath it all is a yearning meditation on the nature of love, fate and how our past(s) might determine our future.
Readers may not warm to Eugene, but they will fall for Angel. Even with his own worries, including a baby on the way, he still has time and unconditional affection to offer a dying old man. We watch Eugene struggle to realize, after so many reincarnations over a thousand cruel years, that perhaps Angel is the real gift of love from the universe. In the end, it may be that the best thing Eugene can do is not obsess over the past but pass on to the young man his hard-earned philosophy, accumulated from several lifetimes, on how best to live now.
jan:
DeleteI appreciate you posting the book review, which I just now finished reading after I read several Goodreads reviews. I am not at all finding this interesting because it does not coincide with what we know about reincarnation. Interesting the author has him having lived as York. Very little is known about York. He was not respected by Clark apparently, who criticized him for being fat and lazy. This has always seemed odd to me because the members of the expedition consumed 9 to 10 pounds of meat a day when they could. How is it York managed to get fat is my question? It is interesting that he was allowed to occasionally hunt with those who hunted because it was not allowed for a slave to hold a gun. I suspect Lewis and Clark wanted him to be able to help defend themselves if they came under attack. He proved to be a very poor hunter however; the bottom of the list L&C kept in fact.
I have been absent from posting this week. My brother is very sick and I have to travel five hours to visit him in the hospital, and I have done my best to crank our a Puzzleria! this week.
ReplyDeleteBut I am just blown away by the creativity so many of you with this two-week creative challenge! (I am lousy at these challenges and therefore envious!)
Also, a big congrats to Joshua Green and to Neal Like The Verb on their 58 (not 54!) answer. Brilliant!
Indeed, all you Blainesvillians are exceedingly bright!
LegoADimBulb
Sorry to hear about your brother.
DeleteI, too, am sorry about your brother. Oh, “the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to.” I hope it all works out for the best.
DeleteLike you, lego, I am astounded at the cleverness and creativity of Blainevillians. These two weeks, I may just sit back and watch.
Lego, I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. Don't worry too much about Puzzleria! Family comes first.
DeleteI concur that Blainesvillians are exceedingly bright. I've put together some plausible entries, but they are nowhere near as good as the ones I see here.
Winemakers in Lowlands Labor Arduously Making Enticing Tastings to Enjoy; Viticulturalists Appreciate Lively Libations Every Year.
ReplyDeleteProbably most beauteous place - ever, anywhere, anytime. From a most beautiful state.
DeleteAwesome. Beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteOcean rains emerge green over Newport.
ReplyDeleteCountry atop North America daring adventurers.
ReplyDeleteCoastline hosts inviting lengthy entertainment.
ReplyDeleteCoastal homeland inviting lengthy exploration.
DeleteOur friend Jeff Zarkin has composed a terrific trio of his Puzzle Riffs that will be featured on this week's edition of Puzzleria!
ReplyDeleteThey involve 1) planets and science fiction, 2) a game and a social event, and 3) an open-ended creative challenge asking you to make sentences from Roman numerals.
We upload Puzzleria! around Midnight PST, perhaps earlier, on the cusp of Thursday and Friday.
Also on our Menus this week:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week about Hunting Bargains & getting the drop on prices,
* an Hors d'Oeuvre about a deity and a descriptor,
* a Slice about Shock & pain & actor’s last name,
* a Dessert about Flapjacks and flip-flops, and
* a half-dozen riffs of this week's two-week NPR challenge titled "Exercises in Acronymony."
Join us for Jeff's nifty riffery... and stick around for a stack of flapjacks and flip-flops for dessert!
Legotistical
I don't have you guys' creativity, so I tried hunting for acrostical phrases in familiar texts. None matched the placename criterion, but a few were a bit amusing:
ReplyDeleteDeclaration of Independence:
sooth -- Swarms Of Officers To Harrass
tsar -- The Same Absolute Rule
King James Bible Genesis 1:1:
lute -- Light Upon The Earth
wits -- Waters In The Seas
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:
mace -- Men Are Created Equal
The Star Spangled Banner:
lot -- Land Of The
fat -- Free And The
hot -- Home Of The _____
Devoid of intelligence?
DeleteAnd did you divulge song title mentioned earlier?
DeleteSUNDANCE
ReplyDeleteSeveral unknown newbie directors announce newly crafted entertainment.
I am beginning to view the Israeli invasion of Gaza as an opportunity for Netanyahu to achieve a land grab by forcing all the Palestinians out completely. Also he most likely sees this as an acquittal of his failure to foresee this attack coming and also his legal troubles. He is now trumping Trump.
ReplyDeleteMotorcycles On Arid Byways
ReplyDeleteEarth's geometry yard; pyramids there.
ReplyDeleteSince Lego has, in fact, already suggested Egypt as one of the geographic locations from which to create descriptive acrostics in this week's Riff-Offs on Puzzleria!, I can honestly say I do believe you've come up with the definitive one right there. Bravo, my dear sir, and well played!
DeletepjbDoesn'tKnowForSureIfAnyoneHereOnTheBlogWillActuallyGetTheCallWednesday,ButHeCanSaySDB'sOfferingsSoFarHaveMadeThisChallengeHisToLose!
PJB,
DeleteWell I am surprised. I missed that Lego had mentioned Egypt as an entry point. I came up with it while attempting to convince my lazy ass it was time to get up and outta bed. I have been trying to decide which three I should submit. I have narrowed it down, by reason of political correctness, to perhaps three geographical offerings, including my Egyptian one. I like the others, but I doubt Will would consider anything that is critical of an individual or is in any way negative, but I may push that one just a bit. Anyway thank you for your kind post.
Home of broken ordinances, killers ever near.
DeleteHome of baseball, or Knickerbokers, Elysian nuances.
Delete
ReplyDeleteLONDON
Lots of nonstop discourse on nickers
I think that's spelled "knickers".
DeleteNo, nickers is slang for the Pound Sterling. Knickers are in the way of a pounding.
DeleteAny one worry about the non-54 non-58 answer that would be when we spring forward to daylight time!
ReplyDeleteSAHARA
ReplyDeleteSit and hope a river arrives.
Sand abundant; hope a river appears.
DeleteMaybe go with "raindrop" instead of "river"?
DeleteDry humor?
Delete