Q: Think of a famous movie star (6 letters, 6 letters). The first name, when said out loud, sounds like a brand of a certain object. The last name is someone who uses this object. What movie star is this?Has this puzzle got you over a barrel?
Edit: A barrel maker is a cooper which is also a model of the Mini car brand.
A: MINNIE DRIVER --> MINI, DRIVER
Rearrange the first three letters and the last three letters of the name and you get something a famous example of which shares the first name.
ReplyDeleteNice, Rob! And if you start with the last three...
DeleteGreat clue, Rob!
DeleteLove the clue!
DeleteAs a fan, I don’t like using this word for the famous example!
DeleteThere’s another actor with the same surname.
ReplyDeleteAnd a singer with the same first name
DeleteAnd don't forget Nashville!
DeleteDr K, That is how I solved it. Get well, guy!
DeleteThanks, sdb.
DeleteDo I get extra points for my "under 150" correct answers last week?
ReplyDeleteYou should. And if Crito and skydiveboy were disappointed with the cinephile quotient in Blainesville, they must have REALLY been depressed by that of the NPR population.
DeleteGood call, Scarlett. While "The Call" would be more gratifying, I do like it when I find out that my odds of getting it were greater than half a per cent. :)
DeleteArrrghhh! Only about 140 correct answers to last week's puzzle! Those were good odds of getting "the call." Now I am kicking myself for not submitting. I didn't think the puzzle was that hard. (At least I have proof that I did in fact know the answer.)
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned, let Scarlett have those extra points!
I did manage to submit a correct answer last week. And I'm certain the only reason I didn't get the call to play on air is that I was in the middle of the Amazonian Jungle, and not accepting calls.
ReplyDeleteI tried to get ANTONIO BANDERAS to leave my outgoing message while I was away, to let Will Shortz know that I knew, but HE wasn't accepting MY calls.
In a roundabout way, a TV character from last century comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteI just had the same thought as I relax in my recliner with a nice cuppa coffee.
DeleteI think I know the character you are referring to, only that I can't think of the name anymore (the character or the show).
DeleteDid this character have the same initials as the movie star but in reverse order?
DeleteJohn, not the character I'm thinking of.
Deleteif you anagram the first and last name this person was born with, you get the title of a movie. --Margaret G.
ReplyDeleteYeah, 140. That's low, but for my own ego renewal, I can say that I was one of the 140. Why didn't Wolgang submit his? Anyway, the NPR puzzle web page was up as early as 7:30, ECT. So I solved and sent it in. This particular movie star is not particularly outstanding, so I'm stuck with thinking of clue.
ReplyDeleteI didn't submit because sometimes people play the puzzle just for the fun of playing the puzzle, plus I thought there would be way, way more correct answer submissions (i.e., lowering the odds).
DeleteAnyway, based on my approach to solving this week's puzzle, I have a bold prediction—between 700 and 800 correct answers.
I'd say 109 - 112 this week.
DeleteHmmm...as low as 109 and as high as 800. This reminds me of The Price Is Right. I'll predict anywhere from 113 to 699 correct answers.
Delete(I actually think there will be more.)
DeleteMy prediction: more than 1,400
DeleteDrop the first letter of the last name and what remains is the first name of an actor who, sadly, is no longer with us.
ReplyDeleteI have the answer. It's taking me longer to come up with a clue that is not TMI. The first one I thought of is too risky.
ReplyDeleteA different film star, born in the same country, starred in a film that shares multiple syllables with name of the actor that is the answer to the puzzle.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThe track I took to solving this reminded me of the airplane I took my first airline trip in. More on Thursday.
DeleteThis isn’t much of a clue, but an ex-girlfriend of mine had the object so I’m quite familiar.
ReplyDeleteOut of many, one.
ReplyDeleteCute puzzle. It got me imagining - what if this actor married a famous actor of the opposite sex, with six letters in their last name, (actually there are 2 that have this last name) and then took on their surname? It would be perfect!
ReplyDeleteMakes me think of The Wonder Years
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteFeinstee - me too - what a great show!
DeleteLancek - apparently so, and something I was not previously aware of!
Now that you're aware, though, should you defer? I'll delete my reply.
DeleteFootball position
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm back from my Sunday morning activities, I can repost my comment from last week's blog.
ReplyDeleteX-Ray vision not required to see this week's solution.
Culinary Clue: APPLES
ReplyDeleteI like them
DeleteCut to the chase ...
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything this actor has done
ReplyDeleteThe answer reminds me of a cartoon character.
ReplyDeleteMinnie Mouse. By the way, the Mickey Mouse puzzle was 3 years ago today on July 3, 2022.
DeleteThink of another actor with the same surname and place a positive 4 letter adjective between the first and last names to phonetically describe the person they were portraying in a fairly recent movie about a real person.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSometimes things get a little too close.
ReplyDeleteI am glad there is so much good will on this site.
DeleteWW, just how close is Pam's comment? Of course with it not being TMI
ReplyDeleteClark a pseudonym, more Thursday!
DeleteOh no! Didn’t make that connection! So sorry … too many mimosas at brunch?
DeleteNo worries. Self deletion is always an option. And I hope brunch was fun!
DeleteI started thinking about surnames that are occupations in alphabetical order. I felt wicked smart to think of the actor so quickly.
ReplyDeleteNow I have a 70’s song stuck in my head.
ReplyDeleteThere's a well-known Washington DC runner who is on the money for this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteObscure, regional niche famous but "George Banker" is very well-known in the Washington DC fitness community. I've always been intrigued by that name and when this puzzle came out I thought on him right away. But, I submitted the actress in "Good Will Hunting" and other movies.
DeleteA book by E. B. White comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteIs this movie star also a singer?
ReplyDeleteI think that would be TMI.
DeleteIsn't everyone a singer at heart? "Ocean's Eleven"
DeleteApparently so.
DeleteActually, I was thinking about something my Mother kept with her sewing stuff. I'm not exactly sure what part of the sewing machine required it, but it also came in handy for tinkering with eyeglasses, watches, transistor radios, etc.
I just read a little further:
Delete"Especially useful for adjusting the bobbin case tension on your vintage Singer Sewing Machine."
I'm sure she thinks so
DeleteRemove all letters from the name that appear multiple times. Rearrange the remaining letters to get an appropriate location.
ReplyDeleteVery nice!
DeleteJust visited this location today. Not always a fun place!
DeleteMany of my wife's ancestors and some of mine lived there over the last 300 or so years. Different place, same name.
DeleteI was there last month, just to get real.
DeleteGood clue.
DeleteOne example of this location is within walking distance of my house, for whatever that’s worth…
DeleteNot a single example in Massachusetts.
DeleteOr in NJ.
DeleteThe last time I visited one of those was 20 years ago.
DeleteIf you add a letter to the end of the name of a character this actor portrayed, you get another example of the object. A rather dated example.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little late this week!
ReplyDeleteMinnie DRIVER >> MINI Driver
ReplyDeletePlaying degrees of separation:
X-Ray vision is one of Superman’s POWERS.
Mike Myers, starred in spoofs of the James Bond movies, as AUSTIN POWERS.
AUSTIN Motors developed the iconic MINI.
And, a 2001 MINI, painted to match the Union Jack was used in the Austin Powers movie, Goldmember.
MINNIE (MINI) DRIVER
ReplyDelete"Football position" MINNIE DRIVER's first role was in a Right Guard anti-perspirant commercial.
I thought Pam's referral to Cooper directly went a bit too far. Blaine's hint was more subtle. I also thought of Mini-Cooper, which was joked about on The Big Bang Theory by the character Sheldon Cooper.
I thought Snipper also spoiled Blaine's subtlety by mentioning an actor with a 6-letter surname who might marry the other and form a perfect pairing. On the other hand, feinstee's follow-up about the Wonder Years was cool. (I'm assuming he was referring to Winnie Cooper.)
DeleteMinnie Driver
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “This isn’t a clue, but an ex-girlfriend of mine had the object so I’m quite familiar.” FYI – the Mini Cooper front seats are quite roomy.
Please don't post early!
ReplyDeleteIt's annoying. 🙃
DeleteMinnie Driver & Mini Cooper car
ReplyDeleteMy Hint:
"Think of another actor with the same surname and place a positive 4 letter adjective between the first and last names to phonetically describe the person they were [he was] portraying in a fairly recent movie about a real person."
Place GOOD between the first and last names of the actor, Adam Driver, who portrayed the main character in the recent movie, FERRARI. You will now have Adam good Driver, which phonetically becomes: A damn good driver. This is accurate because Ferrari began as a race car driver.
MINNIE DRIVER
ReplyDelete> The brand has belonged to four different companies.
British Motor Corporation, British Leyland, Rover Group, and BMW.
> I'd say 109 - 112 this week.
That's the length, in centimeters, of the shaft of a mini driver, a golf club that falls between a traditional driver and a 3-wood.
> A book by E. B. White comes to mind.
He's a mini driver.
>>> Remove all letters from the name that appear multiple times. Rearrange the remaining letters to get an appropriate location.
>> One example of this location is within walking distance of my house, for whatever that’s worth…
> Not a single example in Massachusetts.
Here it's called the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
Exactly! I live in MA, too. That's why I said, "The last time I visited [a DMV] was 20 years ago." That would have been in NY.
DeleteMINNIE DRIVER
ReplyDeleteHint: “There’s another actor with the same surname.”
—> Adam Driver
About Pandemonium’s clever clue
—> In 2003, NJ’s DMV changed its name to NJ MVC, New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
Some of the best puzzles just seem to “fall from the sky...” Four such “Skydiversions” (created by Mark Scott, aka “skydiveboy”) have landed smack-dab in the middle of this week’s Puzzleria!
ReplyDeleteMark’s four-ply “Skydiversionary Appetizer” is titled:
~ Mixed-up city fathers,
~ Dandy candy and faddy duds,
~ Jesus Christ Supersorcerer, and
~ Cars carnivores crave!
You can try dodging them (or, better yet, engaging and trying to solve them!) very soon this very afternoon when we will upload Puzzleria!
Also on this week's menu:
⦁ a Schpuzzle of the Week titled "Golf Cart ‘toons!"
⦁ an Instrumental Hors d’Oeuvre titled "Behemoth becomes a big maker of melody,"
⦁ a Homophonic Slice titled "Bitchin’ ‘bout a beverage,"
⦁ a Consume Some Consommé Dessert? titled “Baby it’s warm inside... and outside!” and
⦁ ten Riffing Off Shortz And Chaikin Slices titled "Minnie the Moocher, Donald the Driver," including six created by our friend Nodd and one created by our friend Plantsmith.
⦁ So please come, Dive into the Fun.
LegoHopingHisChuteOpens
Minnie Driver — Mini, driver
ReplyDeleteMy clues:
Out of many, one.
That was about the way I proceeded to solve this puzzle: In fact, I consulted the IMDb's list of the "Top 1,000 Actors and Actresses>/a>." That gave me 43 names fitting the 6-6 terms of the puzzle, with Minnie Driver being the only one to fit the brand and person terms. So, arguably, out of many, eventually there was one.
The track I took to solving this reminded me of the airplane I took my first airline trip in.
That airplane was a Boeing 747. On that IMDb list of 1,000 entries, Minnie Driver is entry #747.
Based on my approach to solving this week's puzzle, I have a bold prediction—between 700 and 800 correct answers.\
That was another reference to the number 747, which comes just about right in between 700 and 800.
Sorry, my alarm went off early
ReplyDeletehttps://www.timeanddate.com/
DeleteMINNIE DRIVER, MINI, DRIVER
ReplyDeleteI clued this week Culinary Clue: APPLES
This was a reference to Minnie Driver's breakout role as in GOOD WILL HUNTING.
Matt Damon: Hey do you like apples?
A-Hole: Yeah, I guess?
Matt Damon: I got her number. How do you like THEM APPLES?
I wrote, “Rearrange the first three letters and the last three letters of the name and you get something a famous example of which shares the first name.” The rearrangement is VERMIN, and the famous example is MINNIE MOUSE.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you follow the last three by the first three, no rearranging is necessary! (Fine clue, by the way.)
DeleteMinnie Driver. Cute as hell, but I just can't think of anything major that she's known for. Yeah, Goodwill Hunting, but that was 30 years ago. Oh, well...
ReplyDeleteMinnie Driver was excellent in Will and Grace. It is a role often overlooked but she was fantastic!
DeleteMinnie Driver->Mini, driver
ReplyDeleteA driver might drive a Mini Cooper.
My clue: "Drop the first letter of the last name and what remains is the first name of an actor who, sadly, is no longer with us."
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of River Phoenix. He was only 23 when he died from a drug overdose.
I also commented on a post by Tortitude. I think he was referring to Mr. Bean, but I'll await his explanation.
Nope! See below (and by the way, I'm female!)
DeleteMinnie Driver
ReplyDeleteI wrote: In a roundabout way, a TV character from last century comes to mind.
Take Blaine’s clue of a Cooper -> Mini (Minnie) Cooper and make the M upside down (roundabout) to get Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years.
That's great Tortltude! My thought process was Mr. Bean driving his Mini Cooper on the roundabout. And in one episode he bought a new easy chair, tied it to the top of his car, and sat in it to drive home, using a broom to reach the pedals. It was hilarious!! My cuppa coffee comment was to call attention to the coffee bean. (Sorry about the he/she error. I shouldn't have assumed.)
DeleteMINNIE DRIVER
ReplyDeleteMy clue - "what if this actor married a famous actor of the opposite sex, with six letters in their last name, (actually there are 2 that have this last name) and then took on their surname! It would be perfect!" - this referred to Bradley or Gary Cooper, which would result in Minnie Cooper!
ReplyDeleteI was not previously familiar with Blaine's subtle reference to a Cooper being a barrel maker (but I am now!). .
I loved the clever posts from Rob and Pandamonium.
I had said:
ReplyDeleteA different film star, born in the same country, starred in a film that shares multiple syllables with name of the actor that is the answer to the puzzle.
When I solved the puzzle, I immediately thought of the movie Mrs. Miniver, starring Greer Garson. I figured posting something like, Well the answer isn't Greer Garson would be TMI, since when you look her up, you get to Mrs. Miniver, which is really close to Minnie Driver. Eventually, I came up with the roundabout way of connecting them, since they were both born in England.
Pandemonium offered a clue that, once you eliminate the duplicated letters in "Minnie Driver," leaves you with "DMV." Unable to come up with anything that clever I latched on to his clue, with a twist.
ReplyDelete"DMV" can also refer to the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. My wife was born in Baltimore and comes from a long line of farmers, factory workers and railroad employees from Maryland; I was born in D.C. and my great-great-grandfather was a ship's captain from Baltimore.
And though now retired, I’ve lived and worked in the DMV since 1993.
DeleteI've been gone since 1975 but I still feel nostalgic about summer thunderstorms, fireflies, humidity, the brown snow that collects behind the rear wheels of cars, the black snow that collects around parking lots, and eastern woodlands.
DeleteI might feel differently about many of these, of course, if I still lived in D.C. and had to deal with them in reality, rather than as memories.
Although I was born and raised in New York City, I lived in small towns in New England for 23 years before relocating to the DMV. What I love about being here is the incredible variety of people I deal with every day and the cultural richness they bring.
DeleteCut to the chase ... "The Bourne Identity" and "The Italian Job" both have long Mini Cooper car chase scenes
ReplyDeleteMINNIE DRIVER, MINI, DRIVER
ReplyDeleteLet me be the very first person to wish you all a very happy Independence Day tomorrow!
pjbPlansToWatchFireworksOnTelevisionTomorrowNight,AndHopesY'AllWillToo!
And what is it we are expected to find so "happy" about escaping one vile empire and beginning our own vile and genocidal empire that is poised to now begin WWIII? Please wake up!
DeleteI submitted this to Will, who thanked me but thought it too obvious. He was probably right. Evidently, I was the second person to do so (Blainevillian?).
ReplyDeleteTake the surname of a famous athlete. Add a letter somewhere in the surname, and get a famous island. Who is the athlete, and what’s the island?
Mohammed Ali and Bali?
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DeleteWell, what do you know? Not my intended answer but a valid one, so there are at least two valid ones. Now if I had said instead, add the letter in the fifth position…
DeleteIndeed. And autocorrect strikes again! ^^^Muhammad Ali.
DeleteOooooh. Saw the athlete in action *very* recently. (I like the puzzle but I can see Will's point...)
DeleteWell I solved it, but I never heard of the athlete. I do know how to pronounce the name correctly though.
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ReplyDeleteRegarding the 23 missing girls, has anyone bothered to ask Texas Governor Greg Abbott if they have looked in their ICE detention facilities? Just asking.
ReplyDeleteThis is a phonetic challenge in four parts. First, say a letter of the alphabet out loud -- like B, C, or L. Then name something you might carry around in your pocket. Say it twice. Finally, name a variety of tree. Say these four things in order, and phonetically they'll name a nice place in the United States to vacation. What is it?
ReplyDelete(That's this week's puzzle.)
DeleteThis is a phonetic challenge in four parts. First, say a letter of the alphabet out loud -- like B, C, or L. Then name something you might carry around in your pocket. Say it twice. Finally, name a variety of tree. Say these four things in order, and phonetically they'll name a nice place in the United States to vacation. What is it?
ReplyDeleteIf you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, July 10 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
That was way too easy!
DeleteMy wife and I plan to be there in November.
ReplyDeleteI plan to be there every November, but have yet to get there.
DeleteI got the first three parts quickly enough, stumbled on the fourth, and then had my “aha” moment. Haven’t been there yet, but my son and daughter-in-law have.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete!!
ReplyDeleteI think time is speeding up. This century just seems to be zipping right by.
ReplyDeleteA sardine can
ReplyDelete