Sunday, March 09, 2025

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 9, 2025): Jon Stewart at the Movies

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 9, 2025): Jon Stewart at the Movies
Q: Take the name JON STEWART, as in the comedian and TV host. Rearrange the letters to spell the titles of three classic movies. One of the titles is its familiar shortened form.
ChatGPT isn't much help, or is it?

77 comments:

  1. Take the last eight letters of the full title with the shortened form. You get things that you might see at a movie screening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh! Rearrange the letters!

      Delete
    2. You might also see them during a film shoot.

      Delete
    3. Hey Rob! You're causing a—

      (Oops. Can't say any more without TMI.)

      Delete
  2. While the first two titles jumped out at me, I was unfamiliar with the 3rd “classic” film I had come up with (but that’s just me; films are not my long suit). I must have stared at that 3rd title for quite a while, but then, finally, the synapses fired.

    A tweak here, a tweak there…

    I’m thinking of a lawyer….

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right -- as Jan said in the earlier thread, there's no question of one being less 'classic' in terms of its era, but I'd agree that, um... one of them has not withstood the test of time nearly as well as the other two.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, it’s certainly had a lasting cultural impact, but has way less rewatch value than the others.

      Delete
  3. Think one of these titles was used in a recent puzzle

    ReplyDelete
  4. All 3 films have won Academy Awards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not in my answer, one did not. (Not if you mean "Academy Award" as in "Oscar.")

      Delete
    2. Thanks Diz. Wolfgang - yes Oscars/Academy Awards but not necessarily for Best Picture.

      Delete
    3. Pam — ah, okay. I thought we might have different answers. (I was debating my own.)

      Delete
  5. Arrange the first letters of the three movie titles to spell something featured in a classic 1980s movie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I didn't already have the answer, this would be the Gordian Knot of clues.

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  7. Easier than it appears at first.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Two of the three films were made by the same movie studio.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi friends! It my puzzle you're all working on this morning! I'm so glad to get to share it with you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Al, it's a really nice observation about "Jon Stewart"! One of those that makes you go, "huh, I would never, ever have noticed that on my own."

      Delete
    2. Congrats on having your puzzle selected, Al. :)

      Delete
    3. Good one, Al!(Almost looks like it would be an AI- made puzzle, don't you think?)
      pjbOnlySawOneOfTheseFilmsAsAChild,BTW

      Delete
    4. Al, you're in Cozy Lake? That's near Augusta, right? When I lived in NJ, I used to take the family every August to the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show aka the New Jersey State Fair.

      Delete
  10. I wish I could call my folks, but they live on in my heart. (Sorry, feeling sentimental today.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Understood, today would have been my daughter’s birthday. Some days just bring out the emotions.

      May you be consoled by memories of times shared.

      Delete
    2. Scarlett, I may be seeing a hint there, however suffused with sentiment.

      SuperZee, you are not alone. Not a day goes by…

      Delete
    3. They are missed for sure. My sisters, too. 💙💜

      Delete
    4. You may be right Dr. K. All these replies really touched me.

      Delete
    5. I was taught, one never needs to search for enemies, enemies will find you.

      But, friends are where you find them. This blog, of people with a shared interest in puzzles, is a place where friendships begin.

      Friends who celebrate each other’s successes….and share each other’s sorrows.

      Let us continue to share, and grow, our friendships.


      Delete
    6. Thanks, SuperZee. It's a lovely expression for all of us at Blaine's.

      Delete
    7. Congrats to Al for creating a wonderful NPR puzzle. And Thanks to SuperZee for sharing those beautiful sentiments... and to Blaine for providing us this excellent forum!
      LegoSincerely

      Delete
  11. So the deal is that we use every letter once, right? It's not like we're intended to get Star Wars outta Stewart by recycling the a and the s. If so, then I have three movies. This puzzle seems familiar.

    ReplyDelete
  12. pieces

    BTW, two of these movies were great – one sucked.

    ReplyDelete
  13. On my first try, I thought I had a correct answer, but one of the films turned out to be a dud.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is a repeat. I remember because Will made a point to say that this was a very clever puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It's an apt puzzle for us today. Thank goodness Jon doesn't spell his first name John.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I get your John drift.....ouch!

      Delete
    2. Actually, you can also get three well-known movies by rearranging the letters of John Stewart. You just need a spelling variant for one of the titles. Literally.

      Delete
    3. Scarlett, you got it!

      Lancek, no spelling variant needed for me.

      Delete
    4. I thought Scarlett was just adding an H to one of the titles to get her ouch, without worrying about whether it was a movie. My three movies would not evoke an ouch, but there's the spelling thing.

      Delete
    5. I just realized ouch can serve double duty.

      Delete
  16. Too bad there is no M in the name. (That one is a classic!)

    ReplyDelete
  17. One of the movies has been used before.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Using letters found in Jon Stewart's real surname LEIBOWITZ, possibly repeated, make the title of another classic movie, it won an Oscar though not Best Picture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OK, not "Z". A movie whose title contains 7 letters.

      Delete
  19. The plot to one of the movies is based on Ibsen.

    ReplyDelete
  20. When I first looked at this puzzle after feeding my dogs, it was predawn and couldn't think clearly...I needed more sleep. The most important was to realize something about the number of letters available to me.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  22. One of these has not spawned another movie--unless you believe everything you see on the internet.

    ReplyDelete
  23. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Will sure sounds good on the radio. Sounds like he may well make a full recovery from his stroke. Does anyone know if he's resumed playing table tennis daily?

    ReplyDelete
  25. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Is Christianity the result of Pilot error?

    ReplyDelete

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.