I was fortunate to figure this out quickly.Q: Name a common tree of North America in two words (three letters, five letters). Rearrange its letters to name a well-known plant of Central America, also in two words (four letters, four letters). What tree and plant are these?
Edit: I hinted at "fortunate" for a fortune teller who might "read palms"
A: RED MAPLE, REED PALM
Easy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRearrange the odd letters of the tree. You get an ingredient in some recipes.
ReplyDeleteOkay, whew, this is the first clue that confirms my answer!
DeleteThanks for the help but I got it myself.
DeleteSame for me.
DeleteIf you change the fourth letter to the one three places later in the alphabet, and switch the new fourth and fifth letters, you get another kind of tree.
ReplyDeleteThen, as they say in France, you're back to the plant.
DeleteTake another name by which the tree is known. Rearrange to get a phrase that might describe a guy you don't like.
ReplyDeleteRearrange the letters of the Central American plant, and get something someone might want from a hairdresser.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you might rearrange the letters of the North American tree and get the same result.
DeleteI think that's how anagrams work 😉.
DeleteWell, at least it's not a total loss. I learned how to add an emoji.😉
DeleteYay! And I learned about ojime (continuing the anagram theme)!
Delete...which seems to be the Japanese version of the barrel clip. Live and learn.
DeleteOver 1500 correct entries last week.
ReplyDeleteAny puzzle is easy if you happen to think of the correct answer as your first guess.
ReplyDeleteEach of the words in the Central American plant will anagram to another word. Do that, and you get something you might see at a yard sale, and wonder why it was created in the first place.
DeleteAny puzzle is easy if the thing you're looking for is super common.
DeleteAny puzzle is easy if you find the answer in a corresponding list, and then rearrange the letters to find the anagram, so you can then look up the anagram as well.
DeletepjbNowConsidersThisPuzzle"Easy"(NoNeedToAlertTheMedia)
Should be another 2000 week. I was working on a hint until I noticed that Blaine had already made that connection quite nicely.
ReplyDeleteI don't really believe in it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteA little too explicit given the other hints along the same lines.
DeleteBlaine's hint is much more subtle (and elegant) than mine.
DeleteLegoWhoIsAmazedHowBlaineAccomplishesThisAmazingBlogWeekAfterWeek!
The number of correct entries this week might just make the headlines.
ReplyDeleteEasy one again today.
ReplyDeleteI did learn something new and fascinating about a relative of one of the plants. So all is not lost.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNice confirmation
DeleteTMI
DeleteFor those who care, a corner ahead.
ReplyDeleteSwap the first and last letters of the plant's first word. Then swap the order of the two words. You'll get something, phonetically, that you might ask your sweetheart to hand you.
ReplyDeleteGives: Palm Dear
DeleteI like your comment JAWS, about everything is easy if you get the answer on your first guess.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite quotes is : “If you lose, say little; if you win, say less.”
Thanks. I always consider myself lucky when I think of the answer quickly. There was a puzzle some years back where you started with the name of an Olympic athlete. As I listened to the radio, I figured I would scribble down the name Michael Phelps, and follow the directions, as a quick way to capture the puzzle. It was the right answer. That was a quick day.
DeleteI have always associated the plant with Asia, not C.A.
ReplyDeleteFor those who have solved this NPR puzzle, here is the current "Schpuzzle of the Week" on Puzzleria!:
ReplyDeleteSchpuzzle of the Week:
Triply pronominal proper name
The same English pronoun appears twice consecutively within writer’s name. The last letter of the pronoun that appears second in this writer’s name doubles as the first letter of the French translation of that pronoun.
Thus, there are three pronouns in the writer’s name, namely:
~~two identical adjacent pronouns, and
~a third pronoun (a French translation of the first two) that shares a letter with the second English pronoun.
Who is this writer?
LegoSuggestsThatYouGive"NotTooMuchInformation"HintsThatShowYouKnowTheAnswerButNoAnswersPleaseBeforeWednesdayAtNoonPacificStandardTime
This puzzle leads us into strange places, but I think I've found the strand.
ReplyDeleteThe plant name made me think of that line from the introduction to "The Canterbury Tales" in which Chaucer speaks of how spring causes "palmeres for to seken straunge strondes" or, in Modern English, "pilgrims to seek foreign shores."
DeleteThe plant sounds more like an instruction to a certain professional, if you see what I mean….. [Btw, my blog last week - “Just one more late evening post (at least on the east coast) to say that I never knew this actor’s real name! - ‘one more’ was reference to Mary Tyler Moore show; “late evening” was reference to “knight” and the actor has one very long/unique real name!]
ReplyDeleteI has not heard of the Central American plant...
ReplyDeleteBedrock fall
ReplyDeleteLooks like the two words of the plant's name can be interchanged (still naming the same plant) ...?!
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: 'Oh! Suzy-Q' (Dale Hawkins)
ReplyDeleteOne of the four words in this puzzle also describes something a magician might do
ReplyDeleteRemove a letter of the tree and repeat another letter to get something you might find on a tree.
ReplyDeleteRemove the M of "red maple" and repeat the P to get "red apple".
DeleteSecond musical clue:
ReplyDeleteOf course, there’s a whole section of an orchestra...
When I saw the tree on a helpful list, I put my hands together and clapped
ReplyDeleteMagic School Bus
ReplyDeleteI made this puzzle up Friday and think is my best one in a while now. Please post hints only until Thursday.
ReplyDeleteBoulder, CO and Davenport, IA are both well known U.S. cities with tangible names. Name another well known U.S. city with a tangible name and insert an N in the middle to get a different word with the same meaning. What are they?
Brilliant! 😉
DeleteDan Quayle would like to have a word.
DeleteAre we talking about the exact middle, here, or just "not on an end" (if it's not asking too much)?
DeleteNo, Paul, it is not too much. I want you to understand the puzzle fully. It is to be placed precisely in the middle of the name of the city.
DeleteThank you, skydiveboy.
DeleteDid you solve it?
DeleteNot yet.
DeleteYou will.
DeleteI'll be disappointed if I don't, but I'll feel really smart if I do.
DeletePaul, if it's any consolation, it's so clever that I solved it but didn't realize I had.
DeleteSame here Dr. K. I learned something in the process.
DeleteThe two words share the same root.
DeleteI suspect I came up with the same answer as brilliant Blainesvillians with names like jan, Paul, Scarlett, Dr. K and Italo Svevo. That means I have also likely solved skydiveboy's clever puzzle.
Deleteskydiveboy creates wonderful puzzles... especially geography puzzles.
LegoWhoNotesThatSometimesPuzzlesThatAreNot"Seamless"AreTheOnesThatSeemTheBeTheMostBrilliant!
Tisch, Tisch
DeleteItalo Svevo,
DeleteI am surprised I did not think of that after having lived in Germany for a full 2 1/2 years.
If a foot soldier is an infantryman, what's a hand soldier?
ReplyDelete...an adultryman?
DeleteNope. Answer on Thursday.
DeleteArmor?
Delete....an "armed" force?
DeleteSDB, we posted at the exact same moment. 😊
DeleteWe are in sink, like my dishes.
DeleteI didn't think so, but I do know what is likely to send them to the infirmary.
DeleteGrenadier
DeleteCavalryman, because horse height is measured in hands, not feet.
DeleteNo and no. It's all about this week's puzzle.
DeleteI had a feeling that was the case, and therefor did not post my first guess.
DeleteI think I'm with skydiveboy on this one. Also a dead soldier, right?
DeleteEither palm tree or palmistry I suspect.
DeleteDoubling one of the words in question could be quite euphonious.
ReplyDelete(that is, a double reed)
DeleteThe plant is often found much closer to home.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the TMI. Here goes again: take the two word tree name, add a letter from the first word to the second word. You'll have the last name of a fictional character. The remaining two letters are the first two letters of the role that this character plays.
ReplyDeleteRIP Beatle John. At this moment, 44 years ago...
ReplyDeleteAdd the first name of a First Lady to the answer and rearrange to get a word that many parents wish applied to their kids' Christmas gifts.
ReplyDeleteClue: Think of another "famous actor of the past" in movies. Now look at your calendar.
ReplyDeleteThe tree reminds me of a comment by Donkey in the original Shrek movie
ReplyDeleteHuh. Besides being an ass, I guess I've got something in common with Donkey.
DeleteQue Seurat, Seurat.
ReplyDelete. . .
DeleteWhat's your pointilism?
DeleteLuce-ly speaking 😉
DeleteOnce again, I learn something new; thanks a million, WW.
DeletePaul, of course. It's a good day whenever we learn something new. 😌 I usually do here at Blainesville.
DeleteRED MAPLE; REED PALM
ReplyDeleteI learned about WALKING PALMS that don't really WALK the WALK. Cool-looking nevertheless.
"Bedrock fall" >>> As in The Flintstones' Bamm-Bamm Boo at Halloween time. I have always called REED PALMS 🌴 BAMBOO PALMS.
"Magic School Bus" of Ms. Frizzle fame. The scientific name of REED PALM, Chamaedorea seifrizii, reminds me of Ms. Frizzle.
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DeleteRed Maple, Palm Reed
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “Of course, there’s a whole section of an orchestra...”, referring to the section whose instruments need reeds – saxophones, clarinets, etc.
RED MAPLE → REED PALM: Full info HERE.
ReplyDeleteRED MAPLE —> REED PALM
ReplyDeleteHint: “Rearrange the letters of the Central American plant, and get something someone might want from a hairdresser.”
—> REED PALM —> PERM DEAL (of course, it works for RED MAPLE, too)
Ready for a “Lightning Round” of “Enlightening” Puzzles? Our featured “flummoxifications” on this week's edition of Puzzleria! are four bafflers forged by our friend Chuck. His always electrifying “Conundrumbstruck by Chuck!” features “bolts of enlightenment” entitled:
ReplyDelete~ Song & Dance & Sustenance;
~ Monopolyphemus!
~“A-listair Cooke Book,” and
~ “Music is our religion”
We will upload Puzzleria! very soon, just a tad later this afternoon.
Also on our menus this week:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week titled “Colors worn adorn indoors & out,”
* a Sisyphean Task Hors d’Oeuvre titled “Have you got what it takes to tackle this task?”
* a S-L-U-G-G-I-S-H Slice titled “This spelling may take a spell...”
* a Numismatic Dessert: “Pennies from Paradise,” and
* ten riffs of this week's NPR Puzzle Challenge (including six by Nodd and one by Plantsmith) entitled, “You red a maple, now reed a palm!”
So, who needs mythological Zeus or Jupiter to strike you dumb and numb with their thunderbolts!? We've got a real true-to-life-electrifier... Come, get “Conundrumbstruck” courtesy Chuck!
LegoLikingLightningStriking
I wrote, “Rearrange the odd letters of the tree. You get an ingredient in some recipes.” That’s LARD.
ReplyDeleteRob's clue reminded me of that old chestnut "The lard helps those who help themselves." Which is what I was getting at when I thanked him for the help, but said I got it myself.
DeleteYou are awarded a Laurel and Lardy for that one.
DeleteRED MAPLE — REED PALM
ReplyDeleteMy clue:
Take another name by which the tree is known. Rearrange to get a phrase that might describe a guy you don't like.
The tree is also known as "water maple"—which anagrams to "a male twerp." 😏
Red Maple & Reed Palm
ReplyDeleteMy comment was intended to be added to Curtis and jan's thread, above. I never saw Shrek, so I did a search for Donkey quotes from the movie. I found one or two about waffles, which seemed somewhat pertinent, but one about a problem being more difficult due to color blindness seemed more likely to be Curtis' intent. So that got me thinking about the Ishihara test, which led me to pointillism.
ReplyDeleteIn other news:
I don’t really believe in palm reading or fortune-telling.
I’m guessing when the Spaniards were looking for a word for “table”, they decided to just drop the “n” from the middle of the Latin word. I’m kinda glad they did that rather than put one of those squiggles over it; I’d have difficulty trying to pronounce that. Anyway, I think of a MESA as a “frustrated” (or “frustumated”?) cone or pyramid, having its “point” removed. MENSA, to me, is a club for people who perform well on standardized intelligence tests ( I didn’t really know about the altar top until this week).
I had hoped CANA might be an acceptable alternate spelling of CANNA, but that would have been some kind of miracle. And the few places called Cana hardly qualify as “cities”.
Hand soldiers are PALMISTRYMEN???
RED MAPLE -> REED PALM
ReplyDelete> My Latin dance needs help!
I could use a RUMBA CURER, an anagram of Acer rubrum, Latin for RED MAPLE.
> Any puzzle is easy if the thing you're looking for is super common.
Like the most common tree in North America.
> If a foot soldier is an infantryman, what's a hand soldier?
It's an anagram of RHODE ISLAND, the only state whose state tree is the RED MAPLE.
I was guessing that the hand soldier would be a palm pilot. That would connect it to the puzzle.
Deletered maple, reed palm
ReplyDeleteMy hint: If you change the fourth letter to the one three places later in the alphabet, and switch the new fourth and fifth letters, you get another kind of tree. (Red Apple)
ReplyDeleteAnd the French for apple is "pomme," a homonym for "palm." Pronunciation sticklers may have to pardon my French.
DeleteI had said, "Each of the words in the Central American plant will anagram to another word. Do that, and you get something you might see at a yard sale, and wonder why it was created in the first place."
ReplyDeleteREED PALM yields DEER LAMP. I was picturing a mounted deer head, with lights at the ends of the antlers. Yeesh! Why would anyone create that?
RED MAPLE -> REED PALM
ReplyDeleteI was overseas this week and I don't think I offered a clue here.
I posted "The number of correct entries this week might just make the headlines." In addition to your life line, the palm reader also looks at your fate line, heart line and head line. (Heed this logical advice at your own risk. 🤪)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of logic & palm reading. This causes me to remember way back when I was in 1st thru 3rd grades and our school had some kind of annual evening event where different activities were set up in different rooms. It was a fun event and I think mostly performed by parents. My mother set up a space and performed palm reading. So I learned she knew how to do it from that experience. Even at that young age (me, not my mother, geesh!) I did not believe in it, but I also was open minded about it, realizing I did not actually know. When I told my mother my thoughts on the subject she was quick to inform me that it was not real and that she was just able to pick up information from what the person whose palm she was reading would tell her, and it would impress some people. She also backed up her assertion that it was all fake because she learned how to do it along with a school friend when she was growing up by finding a book in the library that taught how to read the lines. I did not argue with her about that, but knew that a book telling how to do it did not prove anything at all about its veracity. She was not a very logical thinker.
DeleteGreat story/memory. Thanks for sharing. Perhaps the "logical gene" skipped a generation, and she reared a Mensan!
DeleteGood point. I think it clears up a misunderstanding I've had for a long time. I always thought Manzanita was a smart Mexican female.
DeleteChange a letter in "manzanita" and, insert a comma and a space after the changed letter, to name an American choreographer, dancer and actress.
DeleteYep, there she is!
DeleteI'm not usually very needy, but right now I need a man!
DeleteRED MAPLE"---
ReplyDelete(common tree of North America)-->
"REED PALM"
(well-known Central American plant)
I said think of a "famous actor of the past and look at the calendar." Donna REED starred with Jimmy Stewart
ReplyDeleteIn the perennial Christmas favorite "It's a Wonderful Life.*
The answer to my puzzle up above a ways is MESA, AZ & insert an N in the middle to get MENSA. Mesa is the Spanish word for table. Mensa is the Latin word for table. So there you now have 3 different language words for table. But wait. If you rearrange the letters in Mesa you get SAME. So now there you have 4 words that are the same, although that was not part of the puzzle; just an interesting observation.
ReplyDeleteI emailed this puzzle to Will Shortz, who turned it down saying:
"Thanks for the NPR puzzle suggestion, which is cute.
But since "mesa" and "Mensa" are etymologically related, the wordplay doesn't wow me quite enough to use this on the air.
Sorry!
I appreciate the offer, tho."
I am happy it did manage to "wow" those here who indicated they solved it, and I wish someone could explain Will's rejection so I might understand it. All it tells me so far is that he really did not understand my puzzle.
The French word for table is (wait for it!) "tableau". I'll just have to bask in that epiphany for a while.
DeletePaul, If I were to respond to your post with, Le Tombeau de Couperin, that would be a grave mistake.
DeleteRED MAPLE, REED PALM
ReplyDeletepjbAlmostSubmittedItAs[PALM][REED]WhichWould'veBeenEmbarrassing!
Never check something just after you said it wrong. Sure enough, I said PALM REED!
ReplyDeletepjbHasNoFurtherCommentOnTheSubject
My clue: Add the first name of a First Lady to the answer and rearrange to get a word that many parents wish applied to their kids' Christmas gifts.
ReplyDeleteAdd "BESS" Truman to REDMAPLE to get PREASSMBLED
* PREASSEMBLED
DeleteWell, that's neat!
DeleteI agree with Paul. Good show, Pandamonium.
DeleteLegoWhoBelievesThatAWorldfulOfBuddiesOfPythias(OrEvenAWorldfulOf"MattDamons"OrEvenAWorldfulOfPandas!)IsPreferableToAWorldfulOfDemons!
Too easy. This week's challenge comes from Joseph Young, who's a frequent contributor here — and it's a little tricky. Change one letter of a place on earth to get a familiar phrase much heard around this time of year. What is it? The answer consists of three words (5,2,5).
ReplyDeleteCongrats once again, Lego, but, really, you're not going to fool anyone around here!
ReplyDeleteOh, Lego!
ReplyDeleteOh, for God's sake!
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteRight, Lego knows this is too easy for us -- he's just giving the slower listeners a chance at an "Aha!" moment.