Sunday, May 19, 2024

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 19, 2024): Easy as 1, 2, 3...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 19, 2024): Easy as 1, 2, 3...
Q: Think of a famous film with a three-word title (six letters in the first word, three letters in the second, and four letters in the last), in which the first and last words are rhymes for consecutive numbers. What movie is it?
The movie title also contains the letters of the next two consecutive numbers.

Edit: You can find the letters for NINE or TEN
A: HEAVEN CAN WAIT

86 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Oh nice!
      Hmmmm. That might be TMI though. I think that would have helped me if I hadn't already got it.

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    2. OK. I apologize if I helped anyone get the answer (bet I didn't) and will re-post on Thursday.

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  2. The numbers are significant to the movie.

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  3. There is the original and a remake of this movie.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. I just did some research, and it appears that, actually, the original and the remake are 37 years apart. The original and the remake have different titles, too. The original film has a four-word title, with none of the words rhyming with any number.

      That 35-years-earlier film, on the other hand, only has the title in common with the later film…well, and perhaps a basic idea. Otherwise, though, the characters and plot are different.

      I have seen both the original and the remake. It is an interesting comparison…each against the backdrop of its time.

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  4. Replies
    1. Quentin Tarantino has said that he plans to make ten films in all; his eighth is "The Hateful Eight."

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  5. There is an interesting connection with the star's spouse.

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  6. Too easy to search for the answer with minimum effort.

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  7. Speaking of rhyming with numbers, consider the star.

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    1. Oh cool.
      That makes me think of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... and the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

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    2. Nice follow-up, Crito! I had to do the math.

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  8. I hope this doesn't turn into a circus.

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    1. Don Ameche starred in Heaven Can Wait (1943). That was before my time, but I remember Mr. Ameche as the host of International Showtime (1961-1965).
      Clyde Beatty was a circus impresario and animal trainer.
      Warren Beatty starred in Heaven Can Wait (1978), as well as Bonnie and Clyde (1967).

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  9. Got it by working on what words could rhyme with numbers.

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    1. Write down the two numbers next to each other to create a larger number. Although I have not looked at the Guinness Book in a while, it reminds me of a record.

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    2. Writing down the consecutive numbers gets you 78, an old rpm for phonograph records. I mentioned the Guinness Book as a misdirection, figuring it would avoid being TMI.

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  10. You’d like to go fishing with one of the cast members.

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  11. Not a great "Sunday" puzzle.

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  12. One of my favorite films of all time.

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  13. I had never heard of this movie until today. Is it any good? It doesn't look very interesting to me.

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    1. Yes, it is. The remake was better than original, because it was more up-to-date. I don't know why it couldn't be remade again, even better than the first two.

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    2. Actually, the movie in question was remade, same story, different title. Fairly recently, too.

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    3. There's no reason to rush right out to see it.

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  14. Heard of it. Never saw it. My wife had it before Will had finished repeating the puzzle. I'd like to think I would have come up with it eventually...

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  15. I got the answer even before my roulade finished cooking in the oven.

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  16. There are two (unrelated!) films with this title. The star of the first film later enjoyed a career revival thanks to his role in a movie with a title that somewhat describes the plot of the second film.

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  17. Would you like to have some green herb?

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  18. In addition to the two movies, there is an unrelated song with the same title.

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  19. For a mild chuckle spoonerise the title.

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  20. Woohoo! Back online.

    Not my favorite movie but it came to me easily.

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  21. Didn't get it right away, but just did. I don't remember which rendition I saw.

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  22. Missed "Mighty Joe Young" by 1 letter!

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  23. If you say the movie title quickly, in some locales/dialects, I think the middle word would also rhyme with a number pretty close to the other couple of numbers. Anyway, as for Sunday puzzles today, one down and one to go!

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  24. Some other movies fit the 6-3-4 title pattern, one comes from an offbeat comic, and one is a horrendous ripoff of a great children's classic.

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  25. My granddaughters have gotten too old for "Go Dog Go".

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  26. I got it, not as quickly as the others. But I've no idea how to clue it.

    Me? Don't cheat! Ever. At least without T's.

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  27. Second and final musical hint: Julian Lennon.

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  28. HEAVEN CAN WAIT; SEVEN. EIGHT

    "It came to me easily" but HEAVEN CAN WAIT ;-).

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  29. HEAVEN (seven) CAN WAIT (eight)

    The Original movie → 1943.
    The Remake → 1978.

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  30. HEAVEN CAN WAIT

    > Actually, two films, 35 years apart.

    1943 and 1978

    > I was surprised to find a website that provides the answer directly.

    Just plug in the word counts.

    > Also a sitcom.

    "Kevin Can Wait".

    > The numbers are significant to the movie.

    The movie was released in '78.

    > My granddaughters have gotten too old for "Go Dog Go".

    "Canine wave hat" is an anagram of HEAVEN CAN WAIT.

    > There's no reason to rush right out to see it.

    HEAVEN CAN WAIT can wait.

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    1. Jan - I thought your, "No reason to rush.." elegant.

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  31. Heaven Can Wait

    Last Sunday I said, “You’d like to go fishing with one of the cast members.” You’ll need some bait which may bring to mind Warren Beatty.

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  32. HEAVEN CAN WAIT

    Hint: Glen Gray —> In 1939, Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra topped the charts with “Heaven Can Wait” (no connection to the film).

    Hint: Julian Lennon —> In 1986, Julian Lennon released the album Mr. Jordan.
    The role of Mr. Jordan was played by Claude Rains in the earlier, 1941 version, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, and by James Mason in the later, 1978 version, Heaven Can Wait.

    I found it interesting that if you rearrange the name of Heaven Can Wait’s star, Warren Beatty, you get “beware tyrant” or “tyrant beware.” Make of that what you will.

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  33. Our featured guest puzzle-feature on Puzzleria! this week is "Econfusions," created by our friend Greg VanMechelen (aka "Ecoarchitect"). With a New York courtroom dominating the current news cycle, Eco has created a five-part puzzle-masterful opus titled, "Trials, Convictions and Sentences... You be the Judge!" which is subtitled:
    => A Tumult Like No Other
    => Order in the Court!
    => The People State Their Case
    => “This is Nothing More Than a Show Trial!”
    => The Final Verdict: Key Parts of the Trial
    We upload Puzzleria! each Thursday before (sometimes way before) the Midnight hour PDT.
    Also on this week's menu:
    * a Schpuzzle of the Week titled "Voodoo vampire clover verse,"
    * a Literary Hors d’Oeuvre titled "A mix of meat and sweetness,'
    * a ROT10 Puzzle Slice titled "Truckers and danglers,"
    * a Drinkable Dessert titled "Refreshed? Sated? Tipsy?" and
    * sixteen riff-offs of this week's NPR Challenge, titled "Plenty20 Dirty30 Sporty40 Nifty50?" (including six riffs by Nodd and one by Ecoarchitect).
    So, we shall see you in court... and shall await your verdict on all 25 of these conundrummed-up counts.

    LegoProsecutorOfPuzzleria!WhichIsAPublisherOfPuzzlesThatNeitherHeavenNorHellCanWaitFor

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  34. Heaven Can Wait

    In addition to the 1943 and 1978 movies, which are based on different books and have different plots, Michael Jackson recorded a song titled Heaven Can Wait in 2001.

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    1. As did Meat Loaf in 1977 on his debut album Bat Out of Hell.

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  35. I wrote, “Add the two numbers involved. The factors of the sum are a first in a category of primes.” When this was assessed as possibly TMI, I withdrew it. But 15 factors to 3 and 5. These are the first twin primes, primes separated by two. There are lots and lots of other twin prime pairs; there might be an infinite number of them (there is an infinite number of primes), but no one knows.

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  36. Warren Beatty was in Heaven Can Wait. Warren ends in "en", like "seven". Beatty phonetically contains 8.

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  37. Heaven Can Wait. I saw it when it first came out in 1978. Good puzzle. It has a small ensemble of greats: Buck Henry, Julie Christie, Jack Warden, and Warren Beatty, the star.

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  38. Heaven Can Wait (7 and 8)

    Heaven rhymes with "seven". Wait rhymes with "eight".

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  39. Heaven Can Wait
    I wrote:There is an interesting connection with the star's spouse.
    A few months ago, there was a Brain Tickler in the New York Times where you were supposed to name a famous actress whose first name contains a number backwards, and her last name contains a number one fewer than the first number backwards. The answer was Annette Bening (ten, nine), AKA Mrs. Warren Beatty.

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  40. Lancek asked us to 'consider the star' when thinking of rhyming numbers... Warren Beatty, he meant, rhymes with Four and Eighty. So I said it made me think of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, because both of those feature the number 42, and twice 42 is 84.

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    1. Loved it. Perhaps 42 really is the answer to everything!

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  41. Other movies that fit the 6-3-4 title pattern include:
    one that comes from an offbeat comic: Howard the Duck
    one ripoff of a great children's classic: Winnie the Pooh

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    1. Better tell the Wheel of Fortune Cheats site (see above)!

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    2. Holy Moly! Better don't tell anyone about that!!

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  42. Heaven Can Wait. "One, two, three, 58." The film was made three times in 58 years.

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  43. Yep, got the same. Heaven Can Wait!

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  44. Heaven Can Wait.

    I wrote Me? Don't cheat! Ever. At least without T's.

    If you take away the T's from Me? Don't cheat! you can anagram MEDONCHEA to DON AMECHE, who has to have one of th all time great ACTOR NAMES for Puzzlers.

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  45. My clue was "Oh deer!" It was a reference to "Buck" Henry who played Joe's (Warren Beatty) guardian angel.

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  46. HEAVEN CAN WAIT

    My clue:
    Would you like to have some green herb?
    "Heaven can wait" anagrams to "Wanna eat chive?"

    I also posted a comment—not really a "clue" but a report of sorts—alluding to the fact that the 1978 film Heaven Can Wait (1978) is not a remake of the 1941 film of the same name but one of the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan, which tells essentially the same story (all the way down to the infelicitous saxophone). The 1943 film Heaven Can Wait has a different polt, and features different characters. Meaning, the 1978 film does have the same name, but it is a remake of a different movie (37 years later, not 35).

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    1. (The 1943 film Heaven Can Wait has a different plot…)

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  47. HEAVEN CAN WAIT, HEAVEN=SEVEN, WAIT=EIGHT
    pjbSolvedThisOneEvenThoughHe'sBeenSickForAboutTwoWeeksNow

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  48. My clues: the “can” in the title may rhyme with “ten” in some dialects; and “one Sunday puzzle down, one to go” was a reference to the NYT Sunday puzzle last week where 1 down was a clue about Warren Beatty.

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  49. This week's challenge comes from listener Bob Fecho, of New York City. Think of a well-known actor of the past whose last name is also a brand name. Remove the last letter of the actor's first name and you'll have a product produced by that brand. What is it?

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  50. Got it. Waiting for Blaine...

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  51. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Difficult to clue this star of the silver screen without giving too much away.

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  52. Huh. I thought of an answer immediately, but I'm not at all sure it's right, because... one of the elements of my answer seems kind of obscure for a Will Shortz puzzle.
    I'll wait for the official post here, see whether other people seem to be cluing my answer, and maybe put in a clue myself if I can think of an extremely low-information one.

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  53. Keep looking, Crito - I think you found my alternate. --Margaret G.

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    1. Aha!
      Okay I think I have the intended answer. I'll wait for Blaine's official thread to give a clue though. Thanks for the encouragement, Margaret!

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  54. Do not adjust your set ... I asked my favorite AI's, none of them got what I imagine to be the answer, but:
    Two of them got what may be the marginal answer
    One didn't understand the question
    One came up with: Tom Cruise ... Cruise Automation ... produces self-driving cars. So ... "To Cruise" could be interpreted as a command to the self-driving feature
    I see AI Apocalypse still a ways off ...

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