Sunday, October 06, 2024

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 6, 2024): Two Word Place Names

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 6, 2024): Two Word Place Names
Q: Think of a place in America. Two words, 10 letters altogether. The first five letters read the same forward and backward. The last five letters spell something found in the body. What place is this?
The first letter of each word is a hint to the answer.

Edit: New England is NE (North East).
A: NEW ENGLAND (NEWEN/GLAND)

125 comments:

  1. I overslept this morning; but I'm not as bad as a certain cereal mascot.

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    1. When I try to pronounce "newen" as a word, it sounds sorta like "noon".
      Yogi Bear, who used to shill for OKs cereal, was known to sleep until noon before gathering up all the pic-a-nic baskets in Jellystone Park. Why would a guy like that be considered a good spokesbear for a breakfast product?

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  2. Very nice! Blaine's hint is also great. The puzzle is harder than I thought at first, but well worth pursuing.

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  3. I got lucky, and stumbled across the answer almost immediately. I listened to the puzzle, and then went to look at the map on the kitchen wall. My eyes fell upon a word on the map, and from there, the answer popped into my head.

    I am also reminded of The Brady Bunch.

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    1. Clever. I was thinking of Will and Grace too.

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  4. I’ve been unable to post for the past three or four years, maybe since before pandemic. I haven’t changed any settings since the last time I tried, but for some inexplicable reason, I can post now. Yippee!

    Clever puzzle! I’m trying to come up with a clue that won’t give the answer away.





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    1. Thanks, WW. It was frustrating to be able to read comments but not to post.

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

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  5. This puzzle reminds me of a nerd I once knew (or was!)

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  6. The thing found in my body doesn't work correctly.

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    1. Sorry to hear that. Sometimes this thing is found ON the body as well as in. (Especially if you know where to look).

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  7. The two letters that Blaine mentions are interesting in another relevant way.

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  8. The answer didn't come to me quickly, so of course I consulted lists. This was no help, so I threw in the towel and Moxie and I went running. And on the run I thought of the answer! I love it when that happens. I am glad not to have given up.

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    1. Agreed that it is a satisfying feeling. I solved the SILENT + U -> UTENSIL puzzle while on a walk.

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    2. Not that I'm proud of it, but I often solve the Sunday puzzle while attending Mass. Like a walk, it frees up the mind.

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  9. I finally have it. It took a while...

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    1. It took me a while too. I followed a few rabbits first. I was able to solve it while still in bed. Best puzzle we have had in a while I think. I also think it will be easier for some to solve due to what part of the country they live in.

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    2. Me too. At least I've heard of the place. (I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the Dover sole, lol!)

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    3. Bad fish sticks with you 😉.

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    4. How does one determine which direction a school of fist sticks is headed?

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    5. One can determine the direction by applying fundamental laws of fist sticks.

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    6. I didn't see that. I have a cast on my left wrist that comes off Wednesday. Ugh!

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    7. Ouch. I suppose you will experience some fist sticking at first due to the immobilization.

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    8. This is a rather sore point with me. If my wife doesn't stop hitting my fist with her face I will be forced to obtain a restraining order.

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    9. No wonder you ended up in a cast.

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    10. I was camping out on the coast and took a fall in the dark.

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    11. Wow. Once I impaled my arm on a manzanita branch trying to descend a steep slope in the dark.

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    12. I sure hope you sought and obtained suitable retribution. Like Ronald Reagan said when he was governess of California: "If you've seen one redwood tree; you've seen them all." Why let trees stand in the way of quality toothpicks?

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    13. Most of the manzanita here in California will have gone up in smoke by the time this fire season is over. So Raygun wins again.

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    14. I take your point, but I believe we will more fully know how far Raygun has come in winning come this next November. Of course as some keep telling me, it doesn't really matter who occupies the White House, because they are all corrupt anyway, just look at Biden and how he has ruined our economy. How am I supposed to reply to such ignorance? I do try, but I know it is not going to be successful. The bigger question is, why have we allowed Rupert Murdoch to become a citizen and take down our democracy, not to mention Elon Musk?

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    15. Unfortunately, the electoral college, disproportionate senate representation, dark money permitted as "free speech," and state legislatures essentially drawing their own voting districts and eligibility rules, add up to oligarchy, not democracy, and a welcome mat for wannabe oligarchs like Murdoch and Musk.

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    16. Nodd,
      Well said, and I have been saying the same for many years now. I sometimes say it is an oligarchy, a plutocracy and a theocracy all rolled into one. I am so disgusted with our media who are complicit too.

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  10. Got it! Wish I was there now as we prepare for Hurricane Milton.

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    1. Hm, so I'm ruling out "Miami Beach" then.

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    2. Milton will be tough, especially on Florida, the Tampa region. There has been a ton of flooding in North Carolina and East Tennessee from Helene. There is even a Facebook page dedicated to finding missing persons. There are something like 200 missing.

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    3. I'm the Tampa area...about 2 miles from the coast as the crow flies. Our home is on a ridge in Pinellas county, so not worried about storm surge. But the high winds are concerning. Much of the debris from Helene has not yet been picked up, but apparently they'll be working around the clock to collect all the garbage until it's no longer safe to do so.

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    4. Thank you WW. Sounds like Dr. K might be worse off right now. We were without power for only 3 days during Helene. We have a generator and plenty of gas, and was able to help a neighbor keep their fridge running. Just a little inconvenience compared to many. Who knows what the next 72 hours have in store. 🙏

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    5. I'd say the consensus is that staying isn't safe. Leave safely, I guess.

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  11. The challenge creator's hometown Creve Coeur is a near miss (coeur = heart). Once I thought of the right first word the rest was easy.

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  12. Replies
    1. I’m here, Musinglink, frankly stumped (but just for the moment, I hope). At least part of the delay in solving the puzzle stems from the fact that for a significant portion of the day now we are--by choice--without power (and the web).

      If you read or watch the news, you might think only western NC was ravaged by Helene, but western SC—the Upstate—was, too. Since power went out 10-11 days ago, we have been relying on our generator round the clock, but we’ve recently had to reduce its use to only a few hours per day to conserve the diminishing propane that fuels it. The reason is simple: unfortunately (but not surprisingly), propane delivery is backed up due to exceptionally high demand. So we wait....

      However, there is hope: The electric company that services our area has announced power could be back tonight around midnight. On the other hand, it has also announced that certain spots may take longer. We'll just have to wait and see.

      As I keep repeating, despite Helene's sustained high winds and torrential rainfall, my wife and I, our home, the horses, etc., got off easy. It goes without saying that not everyone did, and that's been heartbreaking.

      In any case, power or not, propane or not, thank you, Musinglink, for your concern.

      Meanwhile, 2 words, ten letters, etc. Hmmm…

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    2. Wow, what a report! A generator for 10 or 11 days! Not to start a political argument, but from what I understand, FEMA and Nat'l Guard help has been pretty sparse. Some places report 31inches of rain in 12 hours. When you compare this to Katrina, preparedness-wise, our government was really lax this time. So, I hope you get your electricity back to full strength by sometime later today like you said. This one will take a long time to straighten out. So hang in there, bro!

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    3. Those MAGA lies have been debunked by the governors of all the states impacted - NC, SC, FL, GA. Local government officials and law enforcement of impacted areas have been all over the news asking people to just stop with the conspiracy theories, as they are hampering recovery and rescue efforts. The government is far more responsive today than it was for Katrina.

      In fact, the only thing slowing response time is the cuts to FEMA that the house has made in their budget. Eliminating FEMA has been a GOP priority for years.

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    4. And of course you meant to start a political argument. A simple search would show you about 6,700 guardsmen from 16 states across the U.S. have been activated to provide assistance (according to the DoD but you probably think they're part of the dee state). But of course Trump and the GOP are complaining no one is coming. The only shocking thing in all of this is the ignorance of the people who believe the lies for politics. Party over country, y'all.

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    5. Stay safe, Dr. K.

      And thank you Spanky McFarland.

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    6. Spanky McFarland,
      Well said! So easy to spot a MAGAt troll.

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    7. Dr. K,
      Did your power get back running again? I hope so, but you say you have horses. Perhaps cows would be a better choice since they emit gas I hear. But what do I know?

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    8. Skydiveboy, we’re probably not getting power back tonight. The latest update indicates it’s now going to be Tuesday by midnight. We shall see. In any case, we’re also about to power down to conserve fuel, so we’ll also lose connectivity till tomorrow.

      But cows? They’re an udder story.

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    9. Sorry to hear that. Anyway I won't milk that any further. However, here's a thought. If you happen to have any old Coleman lanterns or stoves you can safely use them indoors, regardless of the warnings on the box. All that is needed is a small amount of ventilation, like about 5 square inches. It will not even set off your co2 warning alarm. Coleman did not start out making camping lanterns, but gasoline powered lamps and clothes irons for the home. He then expanded to camping lanterns and later camping stoves. The warnings now are due to our litigious society and human stupidity. I do not believe you will be able to power your computer with white gas though. Good luck.

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    10. My house lost power for eleven days after Sandy blew through -- I think that was 2012. I didn't have a generator! But my neighbor had just bought a new one and brought over the old one, and not only that but he was an electrician so he wired it into my house for me. Man, he was a good neighbor. (He's still alive, he's just moved!)
      Hang in there, Dr. K! I think you'll look back on these days with pride.

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    11. I got through Sandy with a 3000-watt inverter that I bought several months earlier. Attached it to my wife's Honda Accord idling half-in the garage (my Prius had no accessible 12-volt terminals), with long extension cords running to our fridge, router, cell phone chargers, and a few lights.

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    12. My wife reminded me that during Sandy and its aftermath when we lived in NJ we were without power for 10 days (no generator). For hot meals, we grilled in our wood-burning stove. Fortunately, we didn't burn the house down.

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    13. Wow. Now I don't feel so proud of myself for having got through Sandy!
      I now have solar panels and a battery that kicks in (almost) seamlessly when my power goes out. But depending on the time of year (and cloud cover), I wouldn't generate enough electricity, so the battery would run out after maybe two days. So I still have the generator.

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  13. I feel a bit dense today. We'll see what my brain does while I think about other things!!

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  14. Change the 4th, 5th, and 6th letters of the place to get another place.

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  15. Not again!

    Musinglink:

    Not to start a political argument....


    Ha ha ha.

    My Clue: The 2024 US Presidential Election

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  16. In case you might have missed my post last Friday:

    A symphony orchestra is made up of a large diverse group of people who come together in order to present a thing of beauty to a receptive audience. And while it is composed of people of many traits and abilities, it must also be pointed out that one must be at the highest level, and this would certainly be the conductor. Therefor one must also be the bassist.

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  17. Got it by starting with the body part! The place is tangentially related to my professional life...

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  18. Not to jump back on the political bandwagon, but this place has had a real issue with inflation. Btw, I don’t follow Blaine’s clue, though I recognize that a kayak is a palindromic water craft.

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    1. The welcome sign is not a clue – just a humorous made up place that would meet the criteria of the puzzle.

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    2. The hint is about the real place name.

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    3. Is a kayak physically palindromic, being pointy at both ends?

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    4. Jan, I think the seats typically point one direction or another. So no.

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    5. Blaine - i figured as much, but it was helpful in my above post’s 2nd clue to the puzzle!

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  19. Ok, I just got it. Nice puzzle. I had convinced myself that under the current post-Helene challenges I would simply form a mental block and stand pat. But, somehow, despite my stubbornness, the synapses fired regardless.

    And thanks, Crito, for the words of encouragement! Much appreciated!

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  20. Blaine,
    Did my 5:23 PM post to Dr. k get vanished by Blogger?

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    1. I can see it. Concerning Colemans, right? I recall seeing it before, too, but I couldn't tell you exactly when.

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    2. Yes, it returned on its own perhaps. Usually Blaine will say if he restores one Blogger removed. I suspect Blogger took a look and decided it would not be a threat to planet earth and put it back. Or I could be gaslighting myself.

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  21. I am happy to report that as of about 12 noon ET, after some 11-12 days without, we once again have power.

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  23. It's hard to think of a clue to describe the body part. Wait, maybe I just did!

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  24. I stumbled on the right # of answers last week, with 2,000. I'm going with 400 this week. Kind of a tricky one.

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    1. Considering how many people on this blog had trouble, I'm thinking closer to 300.

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  25. Well done! The new guess seems like a pretty good over/under to me...

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  26. Any bloggers need any more hints for this week’s puzzle?

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  27. I had to interpret the clues rather broadly to solve this puzzle.

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    1. "broadly" because I don't think of New England as "a place" , but rather a region. A destnation, better.

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  28. Replies
    1. I'm happy to say that hubby and I are alive and well, and there was no major damage to house or property. There's a huge live oak just outside our bedroom, so we slept on the far side of the house. We could hear branches and limbs falling on the roof. It was pretty scary. But somehow no damage to the roof tiles, and tree is still standing. Fortunately (and by design), we live in an area that's impossible to flood, and we have hurricane-"proof" windows and sliding doors. As expected the power is out...who knows for how long...but it could've been so much worse for us. My heart goes out to so many who didn't fare as well.

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    2. Scarlett, thanks for letting us know you fared as well as you did. Tough times for many other folks.

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  29. NEW ENGLAND; NEWEN GLAND

    "Ong" is a tiny town (population 49) in Nebraska (postal code NE). "NE" is also the initial letters of NEW ENGLAND.

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  30. NEW ENGLAND → NEWEN + GLAND

    Blaine's clue: NE = NorthEast & N E = KNEE (body part)

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  31. NEW ENGLAND —> NEWEN + GLAND

    Hint: “[S]tand pat” was hinting of course at the New England Patriots.

    My heartfelt gratitude to the crews that worked on the power nonstop over the past two weeks (and continue to), and thanks to all of you on the blog for your good wishes post-Helene.

    Scarlett, are you ok?

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    1. Thanks for asking. See my response above to Word Woman.

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  32. >> The place is tangentially related to my professional life...
    > Hmmm... mine, too, I guess.

    I read the NEW ENGLAND Journal of Medicine every week.

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  33. I wanted to post a New England hint about solving the Sunday puzzle during Mass, but I figured it would be TMI. Later in the day, Rob’s comment about solving the puzzle during a walk provided me with just enough cover to get away with it.

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    1. Thanks, WW. I could tell that your clue was riffing off OMG, and I noticed that Blaine's hint could lead far afield to Nebraska, but all I could get from Ong was Oklahoma Natural Gas. OMG! That's close to Nebraska!

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    2. Yay, Lancek, you caught that sublety!

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  34. I wrote, “... I am glad not to have given up,” and GLAD N(ot) anagrams to GLAND.

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  35. Nodd, a master puzzle-maker and our friend, has created a dozen puzzles that we are featuring on this week's Puzzleria! — six riffs of this week's NPR Puzzle Challenge along with six gems that sparkle in his recurrent "Nodd ready for prime time," this time titled "Poetry Corner by Anna Graham, Spoonerizing Stars, Political Name-Calling, Initial Impressions, and Literarily Speaking (Parts 1&2)."
    You can start solving this "dynamic dozen" very soon, this afternoon.
    Also on this week's Menu:
    * a Schpuzzle of the Week titled "Flippin’ through Merriam-Webster,"
    * a Melodramatic Hors d’Oeuvre titled "Silver screen, Mandalorian steel,"
    * a Cinematic Slice titled "A pair of parts and apparitions,"
    * a “Hydrosomatic” Dessert titled "Sweet-but-healthful Heath Bar?" and
    * thirteen Riffing Off Shortz And Krozel Slices (including the aforementioned six by Nodd) titled "Palindrome, Gland & New England."

    LegoWhoGuaranteesThatYouWillGiveThisWeek'sPuzzleria!Your“NoddingApproval!”

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    1. New England>>NEWEN+GLAND

      After college graduation in 1969, I moved to Connecticut and become a New Englander. I remained there until 1993, when I moved to Virginia.

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  37. I had an "intuition" the palindrome was a run on between the 2 words, and I felt some Massachusetts connection. I tried to basically identify it backwards with a list of under twenty body parts. Gland was just too generic and not on my list.






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  38. My clues - “”…this place had a real issue with inflation…” was a reference to Tom Brady and the Patriots controversy regarding the inflation of their footballs. My reference to Blaine’s kayak as a palindromic water craft was for Robert Kraft, the Patriots owner. And my inquiry about “any bloggers needing any more hints”….”Any” = NE = New England.

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  39. New England, New-en, gland. As I said, this one was hard to find a clue for. Or not!

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  40. New England (Newen + gland)
    I wrote: The two letters that Blaine mentions are interesting in another relevant way.
    Two of the states in New England are Maine and New Hampshire, which border each other. Maine ends in “NE” and New Hampshire starts with “NE.”

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  41. NEW ENGLAND → NEWEN + GLAND

    My Clue: The 2024 US Presidential Election. Because REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS and WOMEN'S HEALTH seem to be pivotal issues in 2024, and these rights relate to the ovaries and testes, two of the 43 glands in the human body.

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  42. Can't say I've ever been to New England. I'd like to visit sometime, but I'm not sure I can get there from here.

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  43. NEWEN, GLAND

    After listening to the puzzle, I turned to the maps on the kitchen wall. Right away, my eyes fell upon New York State. I said to myself, that if the two word place name started with new, that would lead to newen, and bam! New England!

    I also noted that I was reminded of the Brady Bunch. Not the TV show, but the New England Patriots football team, where quarterback Tom Brady played for many years.

    I knew if I posted any kind of patriotic clue, it would likely be TMI.

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  44. Recently discovered my thyroid GLAND isn't working how it's supposed to. Helpful to get this figured out and start feeling better! New England

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  45. This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Mike Selinker, of Renton, Wash. Think of something to drink whose name is a compound word. Delete the first letter of the first part and you'll get some athletes. Delete the first letter of the second part and you'll get where these athletes compete. What words are these?

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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.