I removed the letters AVSI.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?
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
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ReplyDeleteSolved fairly quickly, once I had the correct Bananagrams tiles selected.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I watched one of the director's movies yesterday. There is a reference to one of the director's movies in the name of the stage role.
DeleteFirst director I thought of. But at first I wasn't sure if the role related to the director.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand Blaine's clue.
ReplyDeleteMy clue is: do you need a crossbow?
Got it. Wondering how someone comes up with this combination of names. The book looks cool.
ReplyDeleteAlso the first directorI thought of. The rest was easy.to spot.
ReplyDeleteVery easy, I say.
DeleteThere's a connection of sorts between the book and the director.
ReplyDeleteSolved with pen and paper, and a list of directors.
ReplyDeleteSolved it! Think I'll have a donut with my coffee to celebrate.
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DeleteNice one
DeleteDidn’t need to phone a friend to figure this one out. The director was the first one who came to mind
ReplyDeleteI read this book as a child. Solved. --Margaret G.
ReplyDeleteI solved this while on a walk with my dog.
ReplyDeleteFido?
DeleteI'm impressed that you were able to juggle all those letters in your head.
DeleteWW - I think I get your hint (which I rarely do!).
DeleteInitially this seemed difficult; however, it was a quick solve. I agree with WW's observation - how does someone come up with this? Anyway, it appears that the puzzle master has something in common with the creator of the stage role.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know the book. Knew the director. I have read this role repeatedly on my exercycle. No clue here.
ReplyDeleteI remember the role from my study of Slavic literature many years in the past.
ReplyDeleteThe answer is not too challenging given the fame of both the director and the role. But imagine, as a puzzle maker, thinking this one up!
ReplyDeleteApparently Ed Pegg, Jr. Has waaaay too much time on his hands. Brilliant anagramming, though!
DeleteI'm impressed by how Ed Pegg, Jr. comes up with these sorts of puzzles. By the way, his last puzzle included the song "Go on With the Wedding." If you add "e" and "I" and scramble, you'll get "The Doggie In the Window," which was the original name of "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window?". I was amazed that two Patti Page songs are near-anagrams of each other.
DeleteTortieWhoHadThisAsARiffOnPuzzleria!ButDidn'tPostItHere
I spotted one once in a West Hollywood parking lot and I'll see the other in October.
ReplyDeleteWithin about 30 minutes at the old Fred Segal on Melrose on a Saturday back in spring 2005, I happened to SPOT Winona Ryder, Steven Spielberg & Kate Capshaw, and Pat O'Brien. And I'll be seeing a production of The Scottish Play this fall: https://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/plays-events/macbeth-2025.
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ReplyDeleteNo leftover letters.
DeleteWhile film roles are virtual, stage roles are live.
ReplyDeleteanyone else have a leftover letter? maybe I don't have the right answer.
ReplyDeleteoh never mind. I miscounted my letters. math is hard. :D
ReplyDeleteEasy one to solve. Had to be much harder to create this anagram than to figure out the answer. My child loves this book, by the way.
ReplyDeleteA fine children's book, much better than the ones I grew up with, though slightly anxiety-provoking for very young kids. Amusing to imagine the stage role character reading Fun With Dick And Jane, mashing up one line from each.
ReplyDeleteSolved this by starting with the stage role. The director is well-known, but not the first one that comes to my mind. The comments section also helped.
ReplyDeleteHaving no familiarity with anything in the 6/22/2025 puzzle (https://puzzles.blainesville.com/2025/06/npr-sunday-puzzle-jun-22-2025-film-award.html), I had no confidence that I would recognize anything in this week's answer. Fortunately, both parts are entities I've heard of.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised no one's mentioned a connection between book and stage play.
ReplyDeleteIt is forbidden to say the answer.
ReplyDeleteIt is forbidden to say part of the answer, but we won't say which part. Is it TMI to add that the letters in the name Michael Bay can be found in the title? That was the first director's name I found, but that didn't work. Just sayin'. Once I found the right director's name, then the stage role immediately came to me.
DeletepjbWillKnowLaterIfAndWhenThisPostHasBeenRemoved,Obviously
I made a similar comment to Bobby's and got TMI'd.
DeleteYet another director is *almost* there, if only one could buy a vowel.
It is bad luck to say, "Macbeth" in a theater.
DeleteI had a comment that said "When I got the answer, I had to leave the room and turn around three times."
Delete(A regular here claimed it was TMI, so it was removed.)
I just arrived back home from tent camping in Eastern Oregon, and I too thought it would be hard to solve, but got it quickly.
ReplyDeleteThe answer reminds me of way back when I was in the army in Germany, and a guy in my room showed me a New Yorker Magazine cartoon, and asked me to explain it to him. When I instantly laughed out loud he became annoyed with me, apparently thinking I was putting him down, but I wasn't. I was going to explain it to him, but he couldn't accept that I got it right away and laughed. As I recall he would not, at that point, let me explain it to him. I have always found that equally humorous. I will explain this thursday.
SDB: Perhaps you can find that cartoon and post the html.
DeleteI remember that cartoon--and was reminded of it by another comment earlier today.
DeleteI tried to locate it online, but it was a futile attempt. It is a wonderful cartoon.
DeleteSDB: Sometimes I have found past new yorker cartoons online. Can you give the subject matter and date?
DeleteNatasha,
DeleteSo have I, but I looked and looked on Googling and the New Yorker cartoon archive site with zero results. Not even close ones came up. I searched, saying 1965-66 and Trump stuff even came up. Their search engine was totally useless. And I cannot say anything about the cartoon until thursday.
SDB: Ok. That is fine. A relative was portrayed in one of their cartoons years ago. I wish I had saved it. Cannot locate it in the archives yet. Maybe I will write to the magazine. I am trying to get citzenship for England. My grandfather was born there. I may move there.
DeleteI'm pretty sure I got the correct film director, but I'm having a hard time with the remaining letters.
ReplyDeleteKeep at it, Cap! I'm confident that you will figure it out. (Not a clue, just encouragement...)
DeleteMight I suggest resting and washing up? Just not at the same time.
DeleteClark, a suggestion. Look carefully at my comment above, especially carefully at the second part. Good luck.
DeleteThanks JayB, I'm beginning to wonder if I have the correct director
ReplyDeleteI can't find a different director and can't do a damn thing with the remaining letters! Its beginning to get really frustrating.
DeleteKeep staring at the leftovers.
DeleteNatasha, I have eleven leftovers that don't seem to anagram. I'm really feeling stupid.
DeleteI think we should not discuss the number of letters until the deadline thursday.
DeleteJust look at them in order. You can do it! It was magical when I discovered the answer.
DeleteThis should help: https://www.wordplays.com/anagrammer
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
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DeleteMy original comment was similar to one upthread. Maybe that poster did the right ritual.
DeleteThere's a link between the director and the role in episode 62 of season 1 of a certain TV show.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I figured it out late today. My only hint would be "family dysfunction" might be an appropriate theme.
ReplyDeleteEd Pegg Jr. seems to spend a LOT OF HIS DAY on anagramming. Kind of reminds me of the drive with Merl Reagle in Wordplay.
ReplyDeleteMe? I've been spending my time watching Mexican Baseball.
I found the animated video of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble on Amazon Prime. Fun to watch.
ReplyDeletehttps://reelgood.com/movie/sylvester-and-the-magic-pebble
DeleteHonestly this was another disappointment from the addled mind of Shortz. It's almost always the obvious answer. I enjoyed the puzzle of June 22 because the director wasn't one of the first three that come to everyone's mind. I don't think anyone wants a "cute, quick solve."
ReplyDeleteCome on Will, remember why you got into this. Challenge us!
This is not from the mind of Will Shortz. It is from Ed Pegg, Jr. Puzzles are submitted by listeners. If you want a more challenging puzzle, submit one.
DeletePersonally, I enjoyed this puzzle. Even after finding the correct director, I found more than one stage character in the remaining letters, but only one that used all of the remaining letters.
I also enjoyed it. I would rather have a clever puzzle than a challenging one, and a 26-letter anagram that converts a book title into two well-known names is certainly clever. The up-front intimidation level is high, though, so the number of solvers might yet be disappointing. Not to mention Cap's apparent frustration.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIf you Google with the phrase in quotes, you get the title immediately.
DeleteSorry
DeleteWhat do these movies have in common: Airplane, one of the Back to the Future movies, and Yesterday?
ReplyDeleteFunny-sounding anagram I stumbled upon a few hours ago from BACK TO THE FUTURE:
DeleteFAR-OUT BUCK TEETH
pjbThinksAboutWeirdStuffSometimes,Doesn'tHe?
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DeleteAirplane, Back to the Future II, and Yesterday all contain Jaws gags
DeleteAn (unrelated) actor with the director's surname played in a 1966 satire of the stage play.
ReplyDeleteSTEPHEN SPIELBERG, LADY MACBETH
ReplyDelete"I solved this while on a walk with my dog." My dog could be named Spot as in LADY MACBETH'S famous soliloquey, "Out, out damn spot!"
Ah, but if you know Word Woman's wonderful dog, you know also that it rhymes with some parts of this comment.
DeleteLegoWhoBelievesWordWoman'sPoochIsNo"Spot"ButIsRather"Tops!"
Double, double toil and trouble? Uh-uh.
DeleteSTEVEN SPIELBERG, LADY MACBETH
ReplyDelete> Amusing to imagine the stage role character reading Fun With Dick And Jane, mashing up one line from each.
"See Spot run. Out, damned Spot!"
> I'm surprised no one's mentioned a connection between book and stage play.
Sylvester's last name is Duncan.
> An (unrelated) actor with the director's surname played in a 1966 satire of the stage play.
David Spielberg had a small role in MacBird!, in which MacBird (Stacy Keach) and Lady MacBird (Rue McClanahan) plot the assasination of John Ken O'Dunc (Paul Hecht). (Cleavon Little had his acting debut as a witch.)
Steven Spielberg/Lady Macbeth
ReplyDeleteMy having solved this puzzle using, “…pen and paper, and a list of directors.", points to Schindler’s List, IMO one of the most powerful movies of all time.
I remain haunted by the little girl in the red coat. Had my grandparents not come to America when they did…
Steven Spielberg, Lady Macbeth
ReplyDeleteI wrote: There’s a connection of sorts between the book and the director. Steven Spielberg bought the rights to “Shrek!” another one of William Steig’s books. The movie was produced by Spielberg’s company DreamWorks.
I wrote, “Didn't know the book. Knew the director. I have read this role repeatedly on my exercycle. No clue here.” For years I have gotten on the exercycle almost every evening for a half hour. I read Shakespeare aloud, all the plays chronologically and the sonnets and other poetry. I have been through the whole oeuvre four or five times.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePuzzleria! is celebrating an important milestone this week. In March of 2016, Patrick J. Berry's (screen name: "cranberry") Cryptic Crossword Puzzle first appeared on our cyberpages!. Today, almost ten years (and a fun-filled full 39 puzzles later) we are proud to present Patrick's 40th Cryptic Crossword, titled "Fortieth Time’s Still the Charm!" Patrick's fortieth masterpiece deals with a literary theme that is the exact opposite of “drab” – orthographically as well as figuratively. We invite all to match your wits with Patrick, our resident "Cryptic Crossword Master!"
DeleteWe shall upload Puzzleria! very soon, this very afternoon.
Also on our menus this week:
~A Schpuzzle of the Week titled "Five limerical lines of literary lions,"
~A Time & Space Hors d’Oeuvre titled "Endless & big-like vs. ended & twig-like,"
~A Chevy Nova Novella Slice titled “Lilliput-put-put-put...”
~A Brickyard Dessert titled “Hoosier pick to win at Indy?” and
~A dozen puzzle riffs of this week's NPR Puzzle Challenge (including 6 created by Nodd, riffmaker-extraordinaire).
Thus, this week's edition of Puzzleria! seems to be filled with "sweet spots."
LegoWhoLikeBobbyBorisPickettGottaKickOuttaCryptics
STEVEN SPIELBERG, LADY MACBETH
ReplyDeleteMy comment included “The rest [i.e., the stage role] was easy to spot,” a link to Lady Macbeth’s famous lines from Act 5, Scene 1 of Macbeth, “Yet here’s a spot….Out, damned spot! out, I say!”
Steven Spielberg & Lady MacBeth
ReplyDeleteChatgpt got it right away.
ReplyDeleteReally??
DeleteWhen I asked, it said the answer is
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stage role: The Lamb
It said this even though when it counted the letters it found that there weren't enough.
The first answer Chatgpt gave me with the correct one. I was surprised.
DeleteI asked Chatgpt yesterday. I already knew the answer but did not reveal it. Perhaps it learned from previous questions from others.
DeleteSYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE=STEVEN SPIELBERG, LADY MACBETH
DeleteThere is an old superstition in the theater that you must never utter the name MACBETH inside a theater, because it is said to be bad luck. Should any actor/actress actually be performing in a production of "MacBeth", they must always refer to it as "The Scottish Play". Everyone will usually know what they're talking about.
BTW While I am, of course, happy that Lego has promoted this evening's edition of Puzzleria! featuring the 40th cryptic crossword of my time with Lego and Co., I did notice a HUGE mistake he has made towards the end. If anyone here is interested in doing my latest offering later, and you do solve it, you will see what I mean. Will explain next Wednesday.
pjbHasHeardOfTheDirectorAndTheStageRole,JustNotThe"Sylvester"Story(WasThereACartoonCat?)
Steven Spielberg and Lady MacBeth
ReplyDeleteThat's why I didn't give a hint, to speak of it would be bad luck
Steven Spielberg, Lady Macbeth – I posted no clue last Sunday. Nice anagramming, but not too tough to solve.
ReplyDeleteMy clue was: "do you need a crossbow?"
ReplyDeleteThe famous line, "screw your courage to the sticking place" refers to the act of cranking a crossbow to the point where the string hooks over a small hook attached to the trigger.
My hint was saying it reminded me of a 1966 New Yorker cartoon. It was a little dog, like the one in Dick & Jane, walking out of the castle on the drawbridge over the moat. His head is turned to look back. The line below is, "Out, out damn spot." My roommate thought I was mocking him or trying to shot him up I suppose, but I just could not laugh before I answered him, and he closed it off at that point.
ReplyDeleteI remember it just as you described it--and had just as little luck as you did trying to find it on the internet.
DeleteApparently the joke has been repeated by so many cartoonists since then that cartoon dogs now have thought balloons over their heads saying "That old joke...." But it was funny the first time.
I agree, and it really was a winner, plus I also have the anecdote to remember. I wonder if he ever did find the answer. There were 4 of us to a room, but I did not hang out with any of them. I was friendly with all, but careful with choosing my actual friends.
DeleteSDB: I searched New Yorker but could not find cartoon. Wish I could see it. Do you know the cartoonist? I have a friend whose close friend works for the new yorker and publishes his cartoons. They are really good.
DeleteNatasha,
DeleteThat was 59 or 60 years ago; most likely 1966. I am assuming he had a recent copy at the time. No idea on the author.
skydiveboy, Natasha, ZenoCosini et al,
DeleteHere is a cartoonist named Ron Morgan who might have composed that cartoon... (but I have not verified that with certainty.) He was the right age, though... But he was just one on many cartoonists that used that "Out Damn Spot" cartoon trope!
Still, perhaps this is the cartoon skydiveboy vaguely recalls?
However, Ron Morgan's nephew Chuck Morgan (also a cartoonist) listed a number of publications where his uncle's cartoons were published... but "the New Yorker" was not among them:
"He sold his cartoons all over the world. His cartoons will be missed as well as his wit by all who knew him. Ron had cartoons in Harvard Business Review, National Enquirer, Saturday Evening Post, Smithsonian Institute, Field and Stream, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Woman's World, Leadership Journal, Country Living, The Star, Medical Economics, Clinical Advisor, Cortlandt Forum, The Oldie, and many more."
LegoonCartoonDetective!
NOT EVEN CLOSE! The cartoon is exactly as I posted, and ZenoCosini verified. It is a very competently drawn cartoon (not a sketch) and I remember it as clearly as if I had seen it an hour ago. It has always been one of my favorites.
DeleteI remember that around 1968 when I used to get every issue of _Playboy_, there was a photograph of a man and woman interrupted in bed (the woman undressed, just as you would expect from _Playboy_). The man was ordering the four-legged interrupter off the bed with "Out, damned Spot."
DeleteAll of these take-offs are indeed humorous, but none come close to the cleverness of the cartoon of the little spotted dog walking across the drawbridge with such an expression of disillusionment. It really is a shame none of us has been able yet to locate this gem.
DeleteSteven Spielberg, Lady Macbeth
ReplyDeleteI do not get Blaine's clue.
ReplyDeleteNor do I, Natasha. I hope he'll explain it soon. I tried making something with the 22 other letters at first. Then I noticed Nodd's comment about "Slavic literature" with AVSI prominently displayed and thought that might be a supporting clue. I guess I don't get Nodd's either!
DeleteLancek: Glad am not only one.
DeleteNow that Blaine has explained the clue, I'm not exactly kicking myself. I wouldn't have gotten it even if he had let us know that V and I were Roman numerals!
DeleteVery clever.
DeleteMy clues - "Initially..." and "it appears the puzzle master has something in common with the creator of the stage role" was a reference to the initials WS - for Will Shortz and William Shakespeare.
ReplyDeleteSTEVEN SPIELBERG, LADY MACBETH.
ReplyDeleteI clued that I've been watching Mexican Baseball because the legal name of Mexican Baseball is Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, whose initials LMB mirror those of Lady MacBeth
My comment: "Solved it! Think I'll have a donut with my coffee to celebrate." As in "Dunkin Donuts." Lady Macbeth was instrumental in the murder of King Duncan.
ReplyDeleteA strange connection.... Steven Spielberg bought the rights for a different book by the same author: Shrek. It became a franchise.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare wrote Shrek???
DeleteI wonder if they might rebroadcast the main reason MacBeth has a bad name. https://www.npr.org/2006/05/13/5402902/remembering-new-york-citys-opera-riots
ReplyDeleteSteven Spielberg, Lady Macbeth
ReplyDeleteBy coincidence, I had watched the movie JAWS the day before the puzzle. Absolutely love the music John Williams wrote for it. I had also noted that the stage character hada reference to another movie by the director. That, of course, is the ET in Lady Macbeth.
Ach, forgot to comment here again—I blame the travails of moving house—getting out of our damned spot!
ReplyDelete"The Wise Queen" is the latest CarTalk Puzzler, and their answer was posted today. It makes no sense to me, but perhaps you will make sense of it. I believe there may be a mathematical way to improve the odds, but I do not get their answer.
ReplyDeleteIf someone were wearing a white hat, one of the others would have stood up after a short time.
ReplyDeleteSee why?
Since nobody raised her hand, the smart one deduces that there is no white hat.
If one were wearing a white hat, they all would have still raised their hands because they would all have seen a red hat.
DeleteIndeed.
DeleteAnd yet, after a short time, one of the ones wearing a red hat would have stood.
Imagine that it's you, me, and Blaine. It turns out the Queen put a white hat on Blaine. Everyone raises his hand. A little time passes...
What do you deduce?
I see what you are saying.
DeleteThe wording of the puzzle, as I found it from googling "the wise queen puzzle", contains a serious ambiguity.
Delete"The queen states "If you can see another red hat, then, raise your hand." The word "another" implies that every woman has already seen one, which would make the answer trivial.
This week's challenge came from Bobby Jacobs, of Glen Allen, Va. 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?
ReplyDeleteDo 11 letters get rearranged or only the 5 in the last name?
DeleteAll 11. Cute puzzle.
DeleteHey nice, Bobby! And congrats.
ReplyDeleteI'll put a clue when the new blog entry shows... Blaine, let's move!
Congrats Bobby!
ReplyDeleteWhen I got the answer, I had to leave the room and turn around three times.
DeleteThe first name is the first athlete I guessed. The second took me longer, because I'm not very sportsy.
ReplyDeleteSolved it. Nice puzzle, Bobby. Waiting for Blaine.
ReplyDeleteNeat puzzle.
ReplyDeleteGot it. I initially thought the first name was to remain the same, but once I understood that was a requirement, my answer worked. And I agree: Nice puzzle, Bobby.
ReplyDeleteGot it. Very clever!
ReplyDeleteGot it, but how to hint?
ReplyDeleteSweet puzzle!
ReplyDelete