Sunday, June 08, 2025

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 8, 2025): Female Animals and Their Offspring

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 8, 2025): Female Animals and Their Offspring
Q: Name certain female animals. Insert a T somewhere inside the word, and you'll get a synonym for this animal's offspring. What animals are these?
Of course I appreciate this puzzle along with all the puzzles created by our esteemed LegoLambda.

49 comments:

  1. cute-cute! Thank you, LegoLambda!
    --Margaret G.

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  2. I wanted to say something clever about this puzzle, but came up two letters short.

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  3. Got it. Now for a clue……

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  4. While solving this, I found a slightly different wording of the clue for an alternative puzzle: Name certain female animals. Insert a T and rearrange the letters to describe a completely different animal's offspring. What animals are these? (Hint: "surf and turf" springs to mind :)

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Pre coffee, I couldn't solve this, but now I have. In other news, Gizmo from Big Bear Valley finally fledged in her um, unique way.

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  7. Oops, my bad—a British word meaning “expensive”

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  8. Bragging about my bad ideas always gets me into a mess.

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    1. I was apologizing for making a stupid mistake before my first cup of coffee.

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  9. Another Lego puzzle -- is that what we wanted? Of course!

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  10. I don't get a single one of the clues so far. I mean, except mine. I guess that's good! They can't be TMI.

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  11. I have an answer. When I came up with it, it seemed too simple, and I dismissed it, thinking at best that it was an alternate answer. But now, I have been able to match it up with a couple of clues above. So, maybe I do have the answer.

    However, the answer I have works for both males and females of the animal. So, I'm still looking.

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    1. JAWS, we may have the same answer (but maybe not).

      In any case, I think that my answer, given the puzzle's precise wording, would be ultimately disqualified on two counts: I used a word that applies to both males and females, not just females, and that is in the singular form, i.e., a certain animal-, not animals--to which I added the "T."

      The answer works, but given the puzzle's wording, it is admittedly weak.

      The quest continues.

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    2. keep in mind offspring can be plural

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    3. In the wording of the puzzle, the use of “certain female animals” and “this animal’s offspring” is inconsistent.

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    4. I have found the intended answer. What is interesting to me is that the 1942 clue works for both the intended answer, and the answer that Dr K and I both came up with. (At least, I think Dr K and I found the same not quite right answer. More on Thursday/Friday for that.)

      As for the not quite right answer, besides the connection with 1942, I will note that this was a challenger.

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  12. After you add the T, to get the synonym, you can remove the T and rearrange to find related writings.

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  13. You can also add a T into the animal's name to get another word.

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  14. Very neatly crafted puzzle, and, coincidentally, less than 500 km from the next stop in the Odyssey. IF my guess is correct, that is. That's not so much a hint as an inside sports observation Homer might have made recently.

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  15. I'm glad I got it--now I can drift off to sleep this afternoon.

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  16. I finally got the answer. I didn't follow my own advice to always read the question carefully. I actually had the answer all the time, but failed to realize it. Ha ha on me.

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  17. Can't believe it took me so long, I should have solved this before midday. (Pardon my French.)

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  18. The universal clue: e. This time it fits phonetically between two parts of the answer to form a musical clue.

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  19. Duh! To quote Bugs Bunny; "That's all, folks!" : not a clue, I just can't figure this one out.

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    1. Porky Pig said "That's all, folks!"; Bugs Bunny said
      "What's up, doc?". If you're going to quote a Warner Bros. cartoon character, get it right!
      pjbAlsoKnowsElmerFuddWasVoicedByArthurQ.Bryan,NotMelBlanc

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    2. BTW This was not a clue either. I also haven't figured this one out.
      pjbHasJosephYoungCurrentlyPackagingHisNextCrypticCrosswordForPuzzleria!RightNow,SoHe'sALittleDisappointedInThisWeek'sPuzzleFromHim(AtTheMoment)

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    3. Well, cranny, to be exact Porky Pig said, "Abbadee, abraded, abbadee, that's all, folks."

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    4. Abraded?
      pjbDoesn'tThinkThisWasAn"Exact"Quote

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    5. Well, it's not an exact quote.

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  20. I once tried, in lieu of spelling out my email address, using Looney Toons characters' catchphrases: "Suffering Succotash!" "Despicable!" and so forth. Suffice it to say, this only created greater confusion.

    Confusion is not the worst thing; it can produce great results. I offer as Exhibit A: https://archive.org/details/looney-tunes-s-1953e-06-duck-amuck (please excuse the wait until the cartoon starts). Keep at it, just like Daffy did, no matter how confused you may feel, and all will become clear.

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  21. If I have the right answer (and it seems to fit a number of the clues others have posted), the puzzle works just as well in the singular (i.e., a female animal instead of animals) as in the plural.

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  22. The puzzle is just sloppily stated. There's another sloppy feature of it that nobody has mentioned yet. I find it annoying but apparently it doesn't bother others. I won't say anything explicit about it till Thursday.

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    1. Crito, If you have time, please contact me at jrywriter@aol.com. Thanks.
      LegoWhoHearsTheSoundsOfOneHandClappingAndOfASecondShoeDropping

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    2. I'm at such a dead end with this one I bet I don't even believe the answer when it's revealed on Thursday. I will believe how it's explained to be "sloppy", though.
      pjbHasAWeddingToAttendSaturday,SoHeDoesn'tNeedThis

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  23. Well, I have an answer, however...This answer is not perfect but I will give a clue or two. Only pertaining to my particular answer, if it doesn't seem worth exploring, then my answer is probably wrong. So there. Here goes: the animal I came up with is one that I don't think any culture anywhere has ever eaten. Second clue: The movie Frantic, with Harrison Ford.

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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.