Sunday, August 31, 2025

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 31, 2025): English Writer Goes to the City

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 31, 2025): English Writer Goes to the City
Q: Name a famous English author. Change the first letter of the last name to an S. Then move the first, second, and final letters of that last name in front of the first name. The resulting string of letters reading from left to right will name a major American city. What city is it?
[redacted]

Edit: My hint was that the author might be my sixth cousin which was a reference to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
A: FRANCIS BACON --> SAN FRANCISCO

Sunday, August 24, 2025

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 24, 2025): A Tale of Two Athletes

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 24, 2025): A Tale of Two Athletes
Q: Take the first and last names of a famous athlete. Change the first letter of the last name to L, and rearrange the result to get the first and last names of another famous athlete. In each case the first name has 6 letters and the last name has 5. These are athletes everyone knows. Who are they?
Drop the last two letters of the first athlete's first name and add a P. I tried to rearrange the result, but I couldn't do it.

Edit: Follow the steps and you get IMPOSSIBLE.
A: SIMON BILES --> LIONEL MESSI

Sunday, August 17, 2025

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 17, 2025): Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 17, 2025): Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Q: Take the classic illustrated children's book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Rearrange its 26 letters to name a famous film director (first and last names) and a noted role on stage (in two words).Who is the director and what is the role?
I removed the letters AVSI.

Edit: I removed (or took out) AVSI which refer to Act V, Scene I of Macbeth. The sentence ended with a period (or a damned spot).
A: Steven Spielberg, Lady Macbeth

Sunday, August 10, 2025

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 10, 2025): What's Up, Doc?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 10, 2025): What's Up, Doc?
Q: Name something many hospitals have, in 7 letters. Rearrange the letters to name two things you can get inside a hospital (4 and 3 letters each).
I wasn't looking in the right place.

Edit: Don't look inside the hospital. The title was a hint, to look UP.
A: HELIPAD --> HELP, AID

Sunday, August 03, 2025

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 3, 2025): What's on TV?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 3, 2025): What's on TV?
Q: "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 remember watching this channel back in the days of standard definition CRTs. Anyone else?

Edit: CRTs often exhibit overscan where part of the TV signal is outside the visible region of the screen. Broadcasters had to be careful not to put titles in these areas or else they might get cutoff, like in this puzzle. "Anyone" (NE-one) was a clue to the states being in the North East.
A: They were watching ice hockey (NHL Eastern division) probably on ESPN. The particular teams are the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins.