Q: Think of a word meaning "delay." Remove one W from it and you'll be left with another word meaning "delay." What words are these?Read carefully, if you don't want to be delayed.
Edit: The puzzle includes the phrase "one W" which may make you think that W appears more than once (e.g. SLOWDOWN). But that made me question why it was worded that specific way. It became clear that this was intended to be a tricky puzzle where you had to remove "ONE W" from the word.
A: STONEWALL --> STALL
I can confirm jan's comment. Cute.
ReplyDeleteCute answer, but borderline Nixonian itself.
DeleteBrings me back to the Nixon era.
ReplyDeleteGood times.....
DeleteAn anagram of "coops."
ReplyDeleteLegoLaggardly
Oooh, I think I get this hint! I'll be interested to see if it's what you intended.
DeleteCoops...not the Moops, right? (Those guys that invaded Spain in the 8th Century)
DeleteFittingly, this one may take just a little bit longer for some solvers.
ReplyDeleteAha!
ReplyDeleteI thought I had it earlier but the two sides of the operation didn't quite match. But while I had the right idea, I was pretty far off, and the actual answer is very good, I think.
Jan, two separate, unrelated Nixon era events!
That's what I was thinking.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteJeepers, I _am_ sorry. I had no idea this might be a giveaway.
DeleteNot at all? I sure did.
DeleteI liked it
DeleteI did too.
DeleteI have a poetic clue but it's likely TMI.
ReplyDeleteCommon New England sight.
ReplyDeleteSeems like TMI…. At least it was for me
DeleteI think this a clever clue. If you know the correct answer to the puzzle, this is obvious. I just tried googling for this, and wasn't hitting it.
DeleteDunk's? Massholes? Roast beef joints that also serve seafood?
DeleteNice puzzle! Kudos to the on-air puzzle solver this week, who should have been named Anna Graham.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteRemove five tall letters from the second word, and what remains, phonetically, can end a relationship.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNot easy
ReplyDeleteAn anecdote of the garment trade.
ReplyDeleteCan't quite seem to get de lay of de land.
ReplyDeleteI haven't yet solved it, but your comment reminded me of a job my dad used to tell: the class assignment was to use these four words in a sentence: defeat, deduct, defense, detail. One young student was so proud when he said: de feet of de duck went over de fence before de tail!
DeleteMeant to say joke (not job)
DeleteCan a hen delay an egg?
DeleteCan an installer delay a carpet?
DeleteCould an Englishman depict Scotland?
DeleteDeLay and one W
ReplyDeleteI can see why this puzzle might be good at this time of year, though one of the words reminds me of a different time of year. And if I could only tell you where I came up with the answer!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFive.
ReplyDeleteFive? I say twenty.
DeleteMickey scaled Big Ben.
DeleteI was thinking 28.
DeleteI was thinking ‘63
DeleteGranted our Puzzling is important, but might we spend a moment talking about the damage the current President is doing to our national history?
ReplyDeleteI thought this would be easy...but? Reading Blaine's clue , I wonder if the synonym has to have two W's since the puzzle says to remove ONE w.
DeleteClark, your answer is in the "setup."
DeleteR.I.P. Richard Chamberlain (my first crush)
ReplyDeleteI usually don't care much for math puzzles.
ReplyDeleteMichael Jackson
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteOk if I got deleted, surely...
DeleteYep. Quickly too.
DeleteBlaine?
DeleteI apologize. I was just so excited about finally solving the puzzle.
DeleteIs the typo intentional?
ReplyDeleteIt's weird but irrelevant
DeleteNPR should correct the typo. I guess they cannot hire English majors.
DeleteI hadn't noticed it. Thinking of those t-shirts that say
DeleteLET'S EAT CHILDREN
LET'S EAT, CHILDREN
PUNCTUATION SAVES LIVES
jan, that is so tasteless, unless you have Special Sauce, of course.
Deletejan, I did not notice either until it was pointed out on this site. It should have been caught by NPR and corrected sometime today at least.
Delete"It's a rare kid who shows good taste," Tom said swiftly.
DeleteOh, of course. I’ve had the answer for quite a while but just didn’t “see” it. Now I do.
ReplyDeleteWaterloo.
I think is has been a long time since we had a similar type of puzzle before.
ReplyDeletePuzzles like this are generally hard.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of whistling Dixie past the cemetery on a ghost tour.
DeleteBen,
ReplyDeleteI like your comment.
I like the Sunday puzzle because it takes my mind off the whole mess in D.C. Not that I’m ignoring it: I post the latest Trump crap and my response every day on Facebook. Maybe no one reads my diatribes, but it helps me to vent. And right now I need my own mental health to combat the insanity surrounding me.
My own suggestion (for the puzzle—my suggestion for Trump is unprintable, although I’m told it’s physically impossible). The last few puzzles have been “tricky.” So think outside the box.
ReplyDeleteThat’s not a clue, merely a comment.
ReplyDeleteAnd do YOU sleep well at night knowing that Hegseth & cronies are in charge of national defense?
ReplyDeleteDiz, I cannot stand much more of dt.
DeleteDon't sweat it. Only three or four more terms of DJT before we get Lara Trump.
DeleteYeah, I think Trump is going to try to find a loophole t/hat lets him have another, and another, and another…..term.
DeletePersonally, I think the 22nd Amendment is pretty clear, but Trump will take this to SCOTUS, and God only knows what they will decide.
Don't be so sure, Diz. The 22nd Amendment says, "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice." Elected. Doesn't say you can't become President otherwise, say, by being elected VP and having the elected president step down, or by being elected Speaker of the House (you don't even have to be elected a Representative for that) and having the Pres and VP step down. The 12th Amendment says, "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States", but nothing says Trump is ineligible to be President (just ineligible to be elected President). Now, I think the intent of the 22nd may well be that Trump can't have a third term, but he (and Musk) can pay a lot of lawyers to argue otherwise.
DeleteI’m not a lawyer, and certainly not a constitutional scholar, just an engineer, trained in logic, but here are some of the (NIGHTTMARE) scenarios I can see.
DeleteThe root issue is that while the INTENT of the 22nd amendment, to limit Presidents to 2 terms is clear, the language only speaks to being ELECTED to the office and is silent on the issue of a person acceding to the office, as Ford did, (after the resignations of Agnew which allowed FORD to become VP under the 25th) AND POTUS, when Nixon resigned.
Scenario 1.
2028, Don, Jr and Eric, after establishing residences in different states to avoid the requirements of the 12th Amendment, are elected POTUS and VP. On January 21, Eric resigns, Don, Jr. nominates Poppa as VP. A complicit congress confirms Poppa as VP, then Don, Jr, resigns……
Scenario 1.
2028, Don, Jr and Eric, after establishing residences in different states to avoid the requirements of the 12th Amendment, are elected POTUS and VPOTUS. Poppa gets himself named Speaker of the House (which doesn’t require him to have been elected to the House, and doesn’t require Senatorial action). Don, Jr and Eric resign, the office of the president is open and under the provisions of the Presidential Succession act of 1947, devolves to the Speaker of the House.
It's that scary enough?????
Yes, I think there may be several scenarios that will give Trump a third term (gag!). One of them is if he declares martial law. Heres what I read about that: “The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly define when or how the President can declare martial law—leaving the issue open to interpretation and debate, with some
Deletescholars arguing the President lacks inherent authority to do so without congressional authorization.”
Think a Republican House & Senate would deny Trump?
Under martial law, many civil liberties, and including the Constitution, are suspended. Lincoln declared martial law during the Civil War—and martial law has been declared 6 times in U.S. history.
DeleteAnd now if you do anything against Tesla dealerships, against Tesla owners or their vehicles, it will be deemed “domestic terrorism.”
DeleteAha. Burn a Tesla & you will go to prison. However, join an insurrection at the capital, injure police—and you will get a pass.
Yep. Sounds like justice to me—NOT!
In 1960, after he had been elected VP, LBJ decided that he would serve as both President of the Senate (as VP) and Majority Leader, the position he had held for most of the 50s. He made his pitch to the caucus of Democratic Senators, who chose the Majority Leader, and thought he had wrangled enough votes for his candidacy, even though it violated the principle of separation of powers.
DeleteWhen the time came for a vote, however, some of those Senators who had pledged their support withdrew it and he lost. When LBJ left the room after losing the vote the reporters gathered there asked him what had happened, to which Johnson responded by saying, "Gentlemen, I'll answer your question with a question: 'What's the difference between a caucus and a cactus?'"
None of the reporters had a clue so LBJ answered his own question: "The pricks are on the outside of the cactus."
Once upon a time we not only had norms, but took them seriously. Mike Johnson, on the other hand, treats Trump's tweets like they are the voice of God.
And my submission for next week’s puzzle is: name any 5 countries that will be our allies in 2026.
ReplyDeleteAll the countries run by dictators our current president is bffs with: The reconstituted Soviet Union, with Ukraine added back in; China, with Taiwan added back in; North Korea; Hungary; Belarus (though the last two may be part of the reconstituted USSR). Greenland and Canada will be de facto allies because they will be U.S. states by then.
DeleteNodd,
DeleteBefore I begin, I hope you saw my post this morning telling you that I did not see your answer post to my puzzle. Of course you nailed it. Gud werk.
Now: Don't you mean BBFs?
Anyway I hope you are not interfering with our upcoming (and about time too) invasions of Canada, Greenland and Panama? How much longer are we going to put up with their outrages? Here in Seattle we are already enforcing a strict nighttime blackout as we did in the trial run we call WWII.
SBD, I did see your post and replied briefly thanking you for confirming I had the right answer.
DeleteSure, BBFs works too.
The possibility that I might be interfering with the planned invasions had not occurred to me. I'm sure the WH staff reads this blog, so if I am now a security risk I hope to be deported to Italy, where my daughter lives.
Nodd, I lived in Italy in 1972. I loved it except for the awful food they are forced to eat. I want to be deported back there soon. Do you know if Washington D.C. happens to have bean markets?
DeleteSDB, I do not know, but I assume there has been an executive order abolishing beans, as they tend to be favored by poor people and lefty tree huggers. In any case, we would be better served by eating road kill, like our HHS Secretary.
DeleteNodd, Speaking of purchasing food. With everything being destroyed in our country now, I do not need to be asked by sales cashiers at most stores if I want a receipt. It sends me up the wall screaming to have to inform them how they should complete the standard transaction on their own. Why is this long standing protocol now being dismantled? Why is it citizens of this country do not complain when crap like this occurs? Who do I contact in this new administration to straighten this out? Oh, really? Nevermind.
DeleteSDB, again I do not know, but it is my perception that most purchases are made by smart phone and so a paper receipt is not thought to be necessary. As far as who to contact, you might try Co-President Musk on Twitter, I mean X.
DeleteX plain? Or X stream? I think I would prefer X pell.
DeleteI'd go for X president, by 2028 if not before.
DeleteI want him X posed and deposed.
DeleteX actly.
DeleteI considered for a moment a VV situation a la the stylized spelling of the title of Robert Eggers's film The VVitch, but none of the few words with double Vs means 'delay.' However, as one of Jan's comments suggests, The VVitch might include a clue.
ReplyDeleteThe answer left me a little cold.
ReplyDeleteHow about if look to remove a W then I look for two U's
ReplyDeleteNice! I suggest continue considering the cryptic part of the puzzle again.
DeleteIt's quite precise wording, Cap. And I am quite the fan of W.
Delete-WW-
And keep in mind that in Germany W is pronounced like we pronounce V. I hope I am not sending you down a wabbit whole.
DeleteOld joke: If "9W" is the answer, what's the question?
DeleteItalo: The question is, what highway goes north from Fort Lee, NJ, up the west side of the Hudson River?
DeleteDo you spell your name with a "V" Herr Wagner?
DeleteJan wins the QP [Qualitätsprüfer] doll!
DeleteAnd JAWS, I've been on that road (I think) for a minute or two, maybe more. You get the Chris Christie doll [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo80gXXIH_o]--but you might have to wait a while for it to arrive.
Let me join Italo Svevo and, presumably, JAWS, as someone who has driven on 9W, the road that extends north from the GWB. It was one of the very first roads I ever drove on, more years ago than I care to remember.
DeleteChrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line!
Delete(Although I guess that's south; is it the same highway?)
I've been on 9W all the way up to Poughkeepsie. I tried driving down it from Poughkeepsie to Bear Mountain, hoping for some nice views of the river valley. It was disappointing.
Delete9W doesn't go to Poughkeepsie. US 9 does. Poughkeepsie's on the east wide of the river. There a nice Walkway Over The Hudson there, a burned-out former railroad bridge. Wikipedia's 9W page has some nice views of the valley, like this (West Point), this, and this.
Deleteside, not wide
DeleteSpent plenty of time on 9W as a kid visiting my grandmother in Haverstraw. My cousin still lives in the house where my dad and his twin were born in the front bedroom. Today the town has nearly 1/3 of the population as Dominicans.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSorry Blaine. It was after I had worked on this puzzle all day and was excited over finally have gotten it
DeleteThe sixth Marx brother - Quotation.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the difference between what cops eat while watching video entertainment and the type of entertainment they usually watch?
ReplyDeleteOne is popcorn, the other cop porn.
DeleteBravo!
DeleteI was really hoping that “Glomarize” had a W in ot
ReplyDeleteIn it, not in ot
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the difference between small souvenirs at a birthday celebration and a road builder with intestinal disturbance?
ReplyDeleteOne is a party favor, the other a farty paver.
DeleteBingo!
DeleteWhat former Scotus members would be likely to be found at a Fourth of July cookout?
ReplyDeleteWarren Burger, Felix Frankfurter. Breyer's ice cream for dessert?
DeleteWell done, Jan! (Or medium rare, if you prefer.)
DeleteHere comes William Howard Taft. Better slap some more burgers onto the grill.
DeleteDon't forget the hickory chips!
DeleteGrilled barackoli for the vegetarians.
DeleteWhat takes place when a gasoline-powered car reaches a certain RPM?
ReplyDeleteShift happens.
DeleteInterestingly, I found an antonym, but it has no W to remove from it (in order to form another word with a similar meaning).
ReplyDeleteI'm having no luck with this puzzle. So I'll post one that I came up with recently. (Perhaps it's been done before, but I don't recall seeing it.)
ReplyDeleteThink of a U.S. national park. Rearrange the letters to name two creatures you might encounter there.
Grand Teton? We’ve been there.
DeleteScarlett, don’t give up. Heed Blaine’s sage advice: Read carefully.
You're correct Dr. K. And the 2 creatures are rodent and gnat.
DeleteThanks for the encouragement on this week's puzzle. I know there's something cryptic in there somewhere but I'm just not seeing it. I'll keep at it.
Scarlett, whenever things are phrased so precisely. . .
DeleteGlacier -- gar, lice?
DeleteTry this one -- Take the two-word name of a national park. Move one letter six places later in the alphabet, and one letter six places later, to get a movie character.
DeleteNodd, for the second letter shift, did you mean six places earlier?
DeleteI have the same question as Dr. K.
DeleteAnd by the way, I just solved the challenge....literally!
Well done, Scarlett!
DeleteYes, six places EARLIER. Sorry!
DeleteWe’ve been to many national parks but not that one.
DeleteHere's another -- Rearrange the letters in a national park name to spell what Adam had when he was alone, in two words.
DeleteBiscayne?
DeleteNo. Adam had this on the first day of his life, before Eve was created, according to Milton.
DeleteRight, Milton would not have written of Adam's "basic 'yen'." ll have to pull my Milton off the shelf and dive deep tomorrow.
DeleteI think it is in Book VIII.
DeleteAh, Mesa Verde. That Milton, he certainly had Capitol Reef.
DeleteExcellent!
DeleteRearrange the letters of a national park to spell what you might see if a giant Indonesian reptile took a camping trip to the park.
Poetic flare?
DeleteYes, sir. A bit of a strettch for the homophone, admittedly...
Delete*stretch*
DeleteGrand Teton --> dragon tent!
DeleteRight again! Rearrange the letters of a national park to spell a pungent food and a kind of marketplace.
DeleteI'm still stumped with the Adam riddle. How do you rearrange Mesa Verde?
Delete:)
DeleteScarlett, one of the words is very strongly suggested by the presence of Adam. The rest of the letters make a manageable size of anagram.
Ah, thanks Crito. I got it now! I just needed to get off my 'butte' and go for a walk to clear my head.
DeleteHere's one: rearrange the letters of a national park to get an ardent trickster.
DeleteNorth Cascades --> scorched Satan?
DeleteGood one Dr. K! I was going for Congaree -> eager con
DeleteWhat is the difference between a Penn & Teller stunt and Brendan Behan?
ReplyDeleteA magic trick/a tragic Mick. It's possible that Guinness may not be good for you (although it was probably stronger stuff that killed him).
DeleteI don't really know, but I doubt he ever turned down a pint. Personally I am not a fan of Guinness. They do a great job on the marketing end, but others do much better on the fluid side. They telephoned me many years back and I turned down being in their book. I am not at all impressed by it. Good job on your solve. I wonder why it took me so long to coin it.
Delete
DeleteThere was a political slogan from the 19th Century: "Ireland sober is Ireland free." We're still waiting for the lab results.
What is the difference between the entrance to a large farm structure and Elon Musk?
ReplyDeleteI should get this one, sdb--and I think I have--but I'll leave it to someone else.
DeleteAs kids we used to tell each other it was open.
DeleteWhat is the difference between thieves arguing over how to divide up their stolen goods and the current president vis-a-vis Elon Musk?
DeleteDoes it have anything to do with plunder and blunder? Anyway back to bed now for me.
DeletePlunder, yes; blunder, no.
DeleteOne is a loot bicker, the other a boot-licker.
DeleteNodd,
DeleteI could not figure that one out although I had already made up the one similar that I was holding off and posted below.
One is a barn door, the other a darn bore.
ReplyDelete"Bore", or "Boer"?
DeleteGood point, Paul. So, is his "The Boring Company" a typo?
DeleteBORE, but I like Boer too. You get extra credit for that one, Paul.
DeleteWhat is the difference between a church apparition and a Secret Service assignment at Mar-a-Lago?
ReplyDeleteA holy ghost and a ghoulie host?
DeleteAnswer:
DeleteOne is a parish ghost and the other is a garish post.
Jan,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. The Constitution says only that you can’t be ELECTED for a third term, but your scenario is correct: how about Vance running for President, with Trump as VP; then Vance resigns/steps down, and the VP (Trump) becomes President.
How about it? I say no.
DeleteAgain, 22nd says he's ineligible to be elected President, not ineligible to be President or to succeed to the presidency.
DeleteAnd if two amendments are in apparent conflict, which prevails? The later one? Or does SCOTUS adjudicate?
DeleteI think by engaging in this pointless conversation we are falling into Trump's trap of diverting our attention from the harm he is incurring now to a non issue at this stage. He is a master at diversions. Don't fall for it.
DeleteUrgh, finally got it. Clue: Oz.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the difference between Mr. Trump and President Trump?
ReplyDeleteElon Musk and Russia.
DeleteOne is a whole ass and the other ....
DeleteAnswer:
DeleteAt first he was a reckless fooler and now he's a feckless ruler.
Nice!
DeleteThanks.
DeleteR I.P. Val Kilmer.
ReplyDeleteI finally solved this after giving up on finding this on my own or in a list, trying a variety of tricky ideas, and then searching a larger list that contained the answer(s) (and revealed that one of my ideas had been right all along). Will used to warn about the type of trickiness seen here, but he seems to have stopped doing that, which I consider unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteI have now turned 80 today. This is a Birthday Milestone. I Spoonerised that and got Mirthday Bilestone. I believe I prefer the former.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, SDB!
DeleteThanks, jan. It's been a long time coming.
DeleteHappy Birthday, sdb, and many happy returns!
DeleteThank, Dr. K, but wait! It gets even better. My local NPR station just informed me that it is also National Burrito Day. How tariffic can it get?
DeleteMy favorite clown show tariff: the one on Australia’s remote Heard and McDonald Islands, where only penguins live.
DeleteI am once again reminded of something Sam Rayburn said: “Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.”
That is a very good number, SDB. Congratulations!
DeleteThanks, Crito. I agree and I think can live with it.
DeleteHere we go: Armageddon, or perhaps just a recession/depression. Trump can follow in Hoover’s footsteps.
ReplyDeleteThe market appears to be in free fall today. Our money managers have arranged a group call at 1:00 for all their investors.
What a fucking mess.
Doesn’t the market have an emergency stop: trading stops when the market loses just so much? Kind of like banks closing when there’s a run?
ReplyDeleteOh, the “circuit breaker” doesn’t kick in until the S&P loses 20%. Not there yet!
ReplyDeleteBut the day is still young!
ReplyDeleteNot like me.
DeleteHappy belated birthday! I am 79, so right behind you.
ReplyDelete