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.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?
Edit: Follow the steps and you get IMPOSSIBLE.
A: SIMON BILES --> LIONEL MESSI
Rearrange the letters of the second sports figure’s surname, and get some big vehicles. Nice puzzle. Congrats, Bobby.
ReplyDeleteI almost made it work with Sonja Oberem and LeBron James until I realized she is (5,6) not (6,5).
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Bobby.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great puzzle, Bobby! I doubt Will's assertion that "these are athletes that everyone knows," though. Not everyone familiar with one will be familiar with the other.
ReplyDeleteI went the list route since I'm sports ignorant, but when I got the answer, I had to admit that I know both athletes.
DeleteI had never heard of the 2nd famous athlete, need to watch more TV. Liked Blaine's unclue though.
DeleteUsing a list, as soon as I saw one of the names, I knew it would be one of the answers. The other took me longer to get, but when I found it, it was a name I've read or heard.
DeleteAthletes everyone knows: Not me! I am ignorant about sports.
ReplyDeleteBut I can consult lists. Take the even letters of the name of the
first athlete. You can rearrange them into something agricultural.
Nice, Rob.
DeleteI said to myself, "that's not going to work" then had a chuckle.
DeleteReminds me of a famous singer. Congrats, Bobby!
DeleteSweet, Rob. I just got it.
DeleteGolly, thanks. I will wait one year and then suggest it as a puzzle to Will.
DeleteIt would be a terrific Sunday puzzle. Ruined for us, here, but hardly! Well done, Rob!
DeleteSomething agricultural.🤣 Good one!
DeleteOm
DeleteAwesome!
DeleteSo far, I have thought of three famous athletes that fit the 6,5 pattern. All of them have an L somewhere in the name, which means they all could be either the first or second name. This might take a while...
ReplyDeleteGot it! Now to think of a clue...
DeleteRearrange the name of the second athlete to get something an astronomer does.
DeleteOff by a factor of 1000, according to a noted one.
DeleteI used to work out with the second athlete when I was very young.
ReplyDeletepi
ReplyDeleteSimone Biles was born on Pi Day, March 14, 1997.
DeleteThanks, everybody!
ReplyDeleteTerrific puzzle, Bobby. Congratulations - this is 2 of yours now that you've had published for Will to offer on air, correct?
DeleteYes. It is fun to be on NPR.
DeleteAfter the puzzle had aired and Blaine still hadn't posted it, I thought of a comment, but it would have been TMI. 😏
ReplyDeleteWith multiple false starts, this wasn't my neatest solve. But I got there.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone thought “toy”?
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, yes.
DeleteProudly solved without lists. Not a large challenge.
ReplyDeleteSweet puzzle.
ReplyDeleteIt would be ironic if someone got stuck on this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAnother poorly worded puzzle. Are we supposed to rearrange only the last name, meaning that the two athletes have the same first name?
ReplyDeleteRearrange all letters.
DeleteThank you, Jaws!
DeleteThat's precisely how I read it. Haven't got it yet.
DeletepjbIsAlso"SportsIgnorant"ToSomeExtent
Just now got it, and then sent it in immediately!
DeletepjbHasUsedOneOfTheAthletes'FullNamesInOneOfHisPastCrypticCrosswords(OneOf39BeforeHisLatestOnP!ThisWeek)
Reminds me of a state capital.
ReplyDeleteI know zip about famous athletes, but when I saw the name of the first person the first name of the second person jumped out at me. I would have to google to discover what sports they are involved in.
ReplyDeleteAfter a few weak guesses I got it.
ReplyDeleteI'm out of the sports loop. So, will wait for next week's puzzle.
ReplyDeletePS I'm in the age group that remembers the Brooklyn Dodgers so when the first name I could think of was PEE WEE REESE I knew this puzzle wasn't for me!
DeleteWelcome to my world. Even though, I’m an ex-New Yorker, and a Yankee’s fan, I too will never forget Ebbett’s Field, Lou Campanella, Gil Hodges, and the immortal Jackie Robinson.
DeleteI'm an aged and annoying New Yorker, too young to remember the Giants or the Dodgers, but I still call them the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Especially when I'm out in California, mostly so my friends and family know that I'm ever and always an aged and annoying New Yorker (not that they need a reminder).
DeleteI’m 77, probably a couple of years older than you, so I do remember when the Giants and Dodgers moved west, and I remember attending Mets games at the Polo Grounds before Shea Stadium was built. I also git to see Mantle, Berra, Kubrick, et al at the old Y@njee Stadium in the 60’s. While I’ve never been to a Mets game at Shea, I did see Joe Namath and the Jets play there in December 1971.
DeleteSorry about the typos….
DeleteCongrats to Bobby Jacobs, a brilliant puzzlemaker who is Klieg-light-bright... ("oh yes, and a great guy!")
ReplyDeleteLegoWhoNotesThatWhile"SomeBobbiesAreCopsOurBobbyIsTops!
Rearrange the first athlete's name to get something very dry.
ReplyDeleteDry indeed.
DeleteFor once, I actually got Blaine's clue. Clever.
ReplyDeleteTwo jazz greats, each with a connection to Malcolm X.
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me, I saw a funny New Yorker cartoon mocking Andrew Cuomo for holding fundraisers way out on Long Island.
DeleteDream on.
DeleteI knew nothing about Dream Hampton, but discovered that her daughter's name is Nina.
DeleteThis is a neat puzzle. Well, not exactly.
ReplyDeleteTake the first name of the first athlete and the last name of the second athlete and remove all repeating letters. Rearrange what remains and you'll get no letters.
ReplyDeleteBoth athletes are associated with a certain color (sort of).
ReplyDeleteNo big, but drop the last two letters of the first athlete's first name, add a military assignment, and I can do anything.
ReplyDeleteP, it can’t be done, but add KP, it’s Kim Possible.
DeleteOne might be misled into thinking that the first athlete is associated with the equestrian set
ReplyDeleteRearrange all the letters in the second athlete’s name to get a fruit and a large carnivore
ReplyDeleteI'd give a clue, but some posters here seem to twist my words.
ReplyDeleteIt's like well-wishing in a cast.
ReplyDelete"Gymnast's figures of speech about broken bone" might be a cryptic clue for Simone Biles, and "break a leg" is how actors say "good luck" (the same people who are afraid to say "Macbeth"), and a simile is like a metaphor.
DeleteEarlier I wrote, "neat puzzle". Several other hunters had the same idea.
Hinters, not hunters (stupid auto-correct!).
DeleteI realized earlier today that I had not actually submitted my puzzle entry yesterday. I arrived home from work, and tried to submit it. The form would only let me fill in about half of the information, and then it would freeze up. I tried multiple browsers, and rebooting. Finally, I pulled up the old Contact Us form, and submitted my entry that way.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that will reduce the number of correct answers submitted this week. Anyone else having issues?
I went back to the old submit form because that way I get a reply with the answer I submitted, and I can cut and paste it on thursday.
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ReplyDeleteTMI Blaine
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Deletegenius!
ReplyDelete(Messi, the "Little Genius")
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI'm no longer getting an email confirmation when I submit an answer. Is this something new?
ReplyDeleteThe new form just thanks you for your submission (when it’s working).
DeleteTo get to the old form, including a return confirmation email, Google “NPR Puzzle,” click on “Sunday Puzzle,” and then click on “Submit Your Answer.” Hope this helps.
You can also get to the old form by googling "NPR Contact Form."
DeleteBlaine,
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to contact you to let you know a post is (or seems to be) TMI without flagging it and amplifying the TMI?
Such a good point.
DeleteMany's the time I've seen someone correctly comment "TMI" and thought, "Yeah, but... marking a comment as TMI can be even more of a giveaway."
I agree.
DeleteSIMONE BILES, LIONEL MESSI
ReplyDelete"Sweet puzzle" as in not BILE.
"Om" refers to Old Macdonald as in the EIEIO reconfiguration Rob suggested. Very clever, sir.
I thought your first clue was a reference to Napoleon Dynamite. I think the only line delivered by either of Pedro's cousins was: "Simón!" (And I'll add my congrats to Bobby here, too!)
DeleteMy reference to a famous singer refers to the Celine Dion / EIEIO NPR puzzle.
DeleteSIMONE BILES, LIONEL MESSI
ReplyDeleteHint: ‘”Rearrange the letters of the second sports figure’s surname, and get some big vehicles. Nice puzzle. Congrats, Bobby.”
—> MESSI —> SEMIS
SIMONE BILES -> LIONEL MESSI
ReplyDelete>> Rearrange the name of the second athlete to get something an astronomer does.
> Off by a factor of 1000, according to a noted one.
Carl Sagan famously overused "billions".
> Rearrange the first athlete's name to get something very dry.
"Dry as a bone" is one of those BONE SIMILES.
Jan, I saw your off by a factor of 1000 comment, and I had thought of something similar, but didn't want to guide people to millions vs. billions, since that felt too close to TMI--too many letters to work from.
DeleteSimone Biles, Lionel Messi. My clue was "After a few weak guesses..." This was a reference to J D Vance's "moment of weakness" quip regarding Simone Biles' opting out of the Olympic games for mental health reasons. We have such an uplifting administration in Washington.
ReplyDeleteSIMONE BILES, LIONEL MESSI
ReplyDeleteSince both athletes are on the shorter side, I clued that this was Not a large challenge.
Great puzzle, Bobby! And a nice puzzle Addendum, Rob (which I expect we will see in 2026!)
SIMONE BILES -B +L >>>>LIONEL MESSI
ReplyDeleteMy path to the solution wasn’t neat, in fact, it was rather MESSY.
I wrote “Two jazz greats, each with a connection to Malcolm X.”
ReplyDeleteThe two jazz greats are Lionel Hampton and Nina Simone.
Malcolm X recounted in his autobiography how Hampton’s “Flying Home” would send dancers at Roseland Auditorium into another world, even, IIRC, inspiring some people to jump from the balcony onto the dance floor. Malcolm (and Alex Haley) described the experience;
“Showtime!” people would start hollering about the last hour of the dance. Then a couple of dozen really wild couples would stay on the floor. The band would now really be blasting . . . some couples were so abandoned—flinging high and wide, improvising steps and movements—that you couldn’t believe it. I could feel the beat in my bones, even though I had never danced.
https://honeysucklemag.com/reminiscing-in-tempo-on-malcolm-x-and-the-legacy-of-the-big-band-era/ [one correction: Roseland was in New York, not Boston] You can see Spike Lee’s recreation of that scene from Malcolm X at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePHO8dJU1-M.
Nina Simone was a supporter of Malcolm X and his radical resistance to racism. TikTok gives us a snippet from her on Malcolm https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kDvcHtXCN2c.
I really enjoyed your clue and responded with: "That reminds me, I saw a funny New Yorker cartoon mocking Andrew Cuomo for holding fundraisers way out on Long Island."
DeleteCuomo has been doing much of his mayoral campaigning in the Hamptons (~100 miles from the city he claims to want to govern). Al Hirschfeld famously hid the name of his daughter Nina in most of cartoons for the New Yorker.
Simone Biles, Lionel Messi
ReplyDeleteOur friend Plantsmith takes center stage on Puzzleria! this week. His always-glorious "Garden of Puzzley Delights" always shines, thime with a “What Is My Side Hustle?” Appetizer titled “Green Rage, Blue Rage, Flowerage.” (You'll have to read-to-believe the "Green Rage" portion of the saga!
ReplyDeleteWe upload Puzzleria! very soon, this very afternoon.
Also on our menus this week:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week titled “Joust a sport involving mail?”
* an Obscure Hors d’Oeuvre titled “What Wood yew dew?”
* a Synonymous Puzzle Slice titled "Pair of 'pads & payloads' words,"
* a Dietary Guidance Dessert titled "Butterfiles before a big race?" and
* a whole mess of riffs of our friend Bobby Jacobs' excellent (neither "Messi"-nor-"Bileful" NPR Puzzle, titled "Ebon Missile, Lime Lioness."
Join us for some fun!
LegoWhoIsAProponentofPlantsmith'sWordsmitheryAsWellAsAFanOfBobbyJacobs'PuzzleFun!
One of the cool things about this puzzle is that a casual glance would never suggest that these two names, both (6,5), have ten of their eleven letters in common. Congrats again, Bobby.
ReplyDeleteSIMONE BILES & LIONEL MESSI
ReplyDeleteYes, of course, Simone Biles and Lionel Messi.
ReplyDeleteOn Sunday, I said:
After the puzzle had aired and Blaine still hadn't posted it, I thought of a comment, but it would have been TMI.
The comment I had thought of was: "It's past 9:00 AM ET, and Blaine still hasn't posted. Did he drop the ball?"
My comment was: Take the first name of the first athlete and the last name of the second athlete and remove all repeating letters. Rearrange what remains and you'll get no letters. ~~ The remaining letters were ON, so if you rearrange ON you get "no."
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that one, Scarlett. However, after Rob's post everyone was vying for second place!
DeleteThanks! I get it, though. Rob's was a hard one to follow!
DeleteMy clue: "It would be ironic if someone got stuck on this puzzle."
ReplyDeleteBecause Simone Biles "sticks" her landings, which is a good thing!
my clue - "I used to work out with the second athlete when I was very young"....."work out" as in "train" , like when I played with Lionel trains.
ReplyDeleteI played with them as well. In fact, when Chuck mentioned "toy," I was going to reply "More than one, actually." I'm pretty sure Chuck was referring to Simon.
DeleteSIMONE BILES, LIONEL MESSI.
ReplyDeleteI had clued: Rearrange the name of the second athlete to get something an astronomer does. That's SEE MILLIONS, referring to stars. Jan then correctly pointed out that one famous astronomer (Carl Sagan) was noted for saying "billions." While off by a factor of 1000, the millions is still technically correct (the best kind of correct), because in order to see billions, you have to see millions first. :-)
SIMONE BILES, LIONEL MESSI
ReplyDeleteMuch easier than the Entrees on P! this week, BTW.
pjbWillNotWantToEverHearAboutSportsAgainInPuzzleriaOfferingsAfterThisWeek,HePredicts
My clue: Both athletes are associated with a certain color (sort of).
ReplyDeleteBiles has many gold medals and Messi has received more than a few yellow cards.
This week's challenge came from Mike Reiss, who's a showrunner, writer, and producer for "The Simpsons." 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?
ReplyDeleteEasy.
DeleteI am not clear on this. Take an American author. Following the rules of the puzzle, would you change Mark Twain to Mark Swain, and then take SWN and put it in front of Mark to get the American city SWNMARK?
ReplyDeleteSwnmarkai
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ReplyDeleteYeah the 'result' includes the remnants of the surname too.
ReplyDeleteSolved it over breakfast.