Q: This is a two-week creative challenge, and it's a tough one. Most people are familiar with palindromes, which read backward and forward the same. For example:
Rise to vote, sir. Lid off a daffodil.
The object is to write a palindrome that contains the letter Q. Entries will be judged on sense, naturalness of syntax, and overall elegance. The person who submits what Will considers to be the best palindrome containing the letter Q will play the puzzle on the air with him next week.
Edit:I guess I should be pleased that the winning answer was an extension of mine.
A: God y'know Spot's IQ is tops. Wonky dog!
I quietly but quickly quit this quirky request. I've been quelling my thirst for quizzing with my cryptoquotes.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Kennections puzzle. Maybe I'll get his book!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun puzzle segment. Did anyone else think Ken's voice sounded different than on Jeopardy!?
ReplyDeleteDid I hear wrong that Will gave the enumeration 5 2 3 for Ponce de Leon?
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to figure out how they consider Leon to be three letters. Maybe they both made a mistake but it's odd they wouldn't re-record that part as the whole thing is edited.
DeleteAgreed!! It had us all scratching our heads for sure!
DeleteI think Ken caught the error but figured the answer out and chose not to correct Will.
DeleteI guess a stroke can do that.
DeleteI thought for sure once Matthew Modine's name came up, the Kennection was going to be Stanley Kubrick.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised Will used the 1983 movie, Streamers, in his on air challenge. I've watched it 3 or 4 times, but wonder if anyone else here remembers it.
DeleteI know the real answer.
ReplyDeleteMy sentence involved the real part of a number tau, Re(tau).
DeleteRIP Tom Lehrer.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs
DeleteIt's unqanny; I was just on a kwest for his "Pollution" this past weeq.
Yesterday I spent some time with ChatGPT to see if it could come up with a suitable answer to the puzzle. I am not giving it much thought myself. Well, the results were basically nonsense. I kept pushing and pushing for accuracy, but although it agreed with me, it would not comply properly, but say it had. I finally told it that I did not believe it could come up with an acceptable palindrome containing a word containing the letter Q.
ReplyDeleteWell it finally agreed with me that it could not do it, even though I even suggested using Iraq. This proves beyond any reasonable doubt that Blaine is smarter than ChatGPT.
ChatGPT sounds like what we laughingly call Customer Service.
DeleteI tried Chatgpt and was surprised how unprepared it was for the challenge.
DeleteI don't watch TV, and did not know Celebrity Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings lives here in Seattle.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/ken-jennings-home-seattle-jeopardy/
Celebrity Real Estate
‘Jeopardy!’ Host Ken Jennings Is Raking in More Than $4 Million a Year From Game Show—So, Is He Ready To Expand His $5 Million Property Portfolio?
By Kelsi Karruli
January 21, 2025
Two meteor showers will peak simultaneously tonight. It is my understanding that they are superior to plant based showers.
ReplyDeleteGood one! 😂 Do you know what polar bears get when they sit on an iceberg too long? Asteroids!
DeleteWhen I see a photo of a polar bear on an iceberg, I am always reminded of a famous French author; Flaubert.
DeleteBlaine, I hope you submitted that; it is a winner. And it is about time we heard you on air.
ReplyDeleteNever submitted puzzle answers when I lived in the U.S. with the exception of creative challenges. Yeah, they are subject to Will's discretion, but at least people must solely use their own brain power to produce them. No longer with a U.S. zip code or phone number, however, I can only submit if I enter my now invalid contact info. Thus my submissions were likely disqualifed, so below are my "palindromes with a Q." At least here they may be shared in a space of possible appreciation for the time spent on them. 🤞
ReplyDeleteThe first two are set in Greenland's indigenous culture [and BTW, I confirmed that .tif is accepted alt to .tiff]:
ReplyDeleteUlu's .tif of "Igloo Cod" won top Qaanaaq drawer, Qimmiq, reward Qaanaaq pot. Now do cool .gif of it, Sulu!
or a bit longer variant:
Ulu's .tif of "Igloo Cod, Eros Eye" saw top drawer, Qimmiq, won. Now Qimmiq reward pot was eyesore. Do cool .gif of it, Sulu!
"Sulu" then led me ad astra to the Star Trek Universe:
ReplyDeleteData distorts ET a tad, and Q tips deliver Odo reviled spit. Q DNA data test rots I.D. a tad.
or to avoid being doubly stilted a tad:
Sand distorts ET's time a tad, and Q tips deliver Odo reviled spit Q DNA data emits. Test rots ID DNAs.
While example is spot on, question would be whether Q may be reached via IQ, Esq., Q-Tip, WQED, or not quite, quality qualifier is a quietly quirky Q word, usually, but not always, with a U.
ReplyDeleteI posted a very similar entry to Blaine’s title last week:
ReplyDelete007’s IQ is 700
Not sure how Will feels about digits though…
Tess went in on a QAnon IT News set.
ReplyDeleteDAYS AT SCENIC NADIR AT A QATARI DANCIN’ ECSTASY AD
ReplyDeleteAI Overview
Yes, there are dervishes and whirling dervish performances in Qatar, often associated with the Mevlevi Order and Sufi traditions. While not native to Qatar, dervish ceremonies and performances are held there, particularly during cultural events and festivals, and can be seen in venues like Mondrian Doha.
So, suppose there's this advertisement for one of these performances, see? And I become transfixed staring at it, reaching the level of absolute blurriness (scenic nadir).
I know; ... it suqs.
Denizens of Blainesville who read my weekly previews of Puzzleria! (which I upload every Thursday afternoon at around this time) are well aware that the "Coeur Contributors" to P! have been truly the Heart of our weekly puzzle blog ever since we launched back in May of 2014. That Core of Contributors includes commentors as well and puzzle contributors.
ReplyDeleteOne of those prolific puzzle commenters/contributors is our friend Nodd, who composes puzzles and "puzzle riffs" with exceptional skill. This gifted puzzlemaster and riffmeister has composed eleven riffs of the National Public Radio Q-Palindrome Challenge for this week's Puzzleria! along with his ever-popular "Nodd ready for prime time" package of puzzles: "A Prime-time Name-time Rhyme-time Appetizer" titled: "Twin Name Games Come First, Then Anna Graham’s Verse."
Our menu this week also features:
*a Schpuzzle of the Week titled “Lesson in optimizing an idiom,”
*an Alpha-Beta Battling Hors d’Oeuvre titled “Name, alphabetical rank, cereal number,”
*a Geological Slice of Puzzle titled “Erosion of Earth gives birth to description,”
*a Scrabbly Dessert titled “Tacky trashy greedy nasty!” and
*16 riffs (11 of them Nodd's) of Will Shortz's Q-Palindromic Challenge
We are confident that you will give this week's edition of Puzzleria! your "Nodding Approval!"
Lego
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy submission (obviously not a winner): O, got a bod - Qdoba to go.
ReplyDeleteI didn't submit an answer, but I came up with the rather trivial "I rat a Qatari." I was trying to come up with something with Qtips/spit, but best I could do was "Pool DNA: spit, Qtips and loop", "loop" being a fingerprint pattern. Once I saw someone else had a Qtips answer that was complete, I just lost interest.
ReplyDeleteYikes! I rat a Qatari is something I had thought of as well!
DeleteRe(r+tsuj+sti+k) is just one r, as no, in Re(tau), quaternions are not suj, si, k, it's just Re(r).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI think that works better as "YY U R, YY U B, I C U R YY 4 ME" ("Too wise you are....)
DeleteChisel THAT on your bridge, Hamilton!
DeleteThanks, jan and Lancek. I deleted my flawed post (with "Too Smart U R...") and was going to repost, but I was, as usual, beaten to it by bright Blaine's posters!
DeleteLegoWhoSuspectsThatEveryBodyB B B B Y Y 4 I Or He (AndWhoApparentlyThinksThat"I"And"He"AreObjectiveCasePronouns!)
Actually, Lego, my comment referred to Bobby's original post, but I was also not fast enough to top the queue.
DeleteWith reference to some sports, in which a Q designates a qualifying score, I submitted "Did I Q? I did!"
ReplyDeleteHmmm... Given my own personal experience, the "Q" always stood for "Quit!"
DeleteLegoPostingAnUnQualifiedComment
I entered: Uh, a Q? Ha! Y? Til a U, quality? Ah, Q! Ah, U!
ReplyDeleteIt's 2025 and I have a couple of Italian American friends from high school who've gone full MAGA. So I offered NONA Q'S MOM'S Q-ANON
ReplyDeleteI submitted two palindromes:
ReplyDeleteTO IRAQ, A RIOT, and DO GO TO IRAQ, A RIOT, O'GOD!
I later came up with, but didn’t submit, O’ DIG IRAQ A RIG, I DO.
I submitted “D E Crofton’s IQ is not forced”
ReplyDeleteDid I aid emir at a Qatari media? I did!
ReplyDeleteDidn’t win the puzzle, though! :(
While trying to put something together for this, I was reminded of semordnilaps, which are words that spell another word when spelled backwards. That led to:
ReplyDeleteSemordnilap pupils fit never at a Qatar event if slip up palindromes.
It's not likely to win, but it might get mentioned, just because it uses semordnilap/palindromes.
JAWS-
DeleteI had not heard of that iconic word, but love it, and I think your using it is brilliant!
Thanks!
DeleteWould whoever got the call, please post your winning entry here?
ReplyDelete"Anita spit Q tips at Ina"
ReplyDeleteUnsubmitted: Q on 7 on Rotator? No; 7, no Q. (Think rotary phones.) Eager to see winning entry.
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge comes from Eric Chaikin, of Westlake Village, Calif.
ReplyDelete"I turned on the TV and saw anger, evil, slander, and ruin. It was all pleasant news. What channel was I watching and what specifically was on the screen?"
I didn't see any sailors, but I saw some tars.
Delete... and nights, but no days.
DeleteJan, that's not quite right, and your version is just a bit easier maybe?
DeleteThe winner this week is Jon Wentz of Stillwater, Minn.
ReplyDeleteJon's palindrome: God, y'know Spot's IQ is tops. Wonky dog!
I noticed Will did not repeat on air the challenge's object as it was initially described. He omitted the adjective "longest" palindrome before reading out the winning entry. I listened closely because I saw here the winner before tuning into the stream and wondered if there was really nothing longer submitted to have worked at least as well? 🤷♂️
ReplyDelete