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
Blaine, is that true? (It's likely that it's a tricky hint that I don't understand.)
ReplyDeleteI got the answer at breakfast. (I'm on EDT.)
It's actually a super TMI hint that gave me the answer before I put any thought into the puzzle.
DeleteAfter reading your comment I reread his clue and it became tmi for me too!
DeleteIt's not Frank Sinatra.
ReplyDeleteNo, and it's not William Shakespeare.
DeleteNot Hugh Lofting, either.
DeleteI have a name and city that work. They are either right, or fodder for a new puzzle.
ReplyDeletei’ve always said I’m good at solving puzzles but not so good at constructing them. That said and inspired by Bobby Jacobs’ recent sports puzzle, I came up with a musical one I submitted to Will, who liked it but not quite enough. So, for those on the blog who might be interested, here it is:
ReplyDeleteTake the title of a Beatles song, remove the first letter, rearrange what remains, and get the name of another musical artist.
Hints and clues are of course welcome, but please refrain from revealing the answer before Thursday at 3.
Heh, I almost immediately got what I assume is an unintended answer. Well, actually, it doesn't quite fit your conditions. It's kind of a 'waste case'. A permutation that isn't a derangement...
DeleteGot another one that works but probably not intended, because I get only the first name of the artist.
DeleteGot me thinking: What if Doris Day's parents had named her Esther?
DeleteAha! Now I have what I'm pretty confident is the one Dr K intended.
DeleteOkay, my clue is: not James Brown, and not Van Halen, so don't bother with those.
Got it, with a lucky early guess. Taking longer to come up with a non-TMI clue.
ReplyDeleteA story in the news sometime in the past month reminded me of the city, even though the news story was far away from the city.
DeleteRearrange the last seven letters of the author’s name. You get a company that used to make something having to do with the unrearranged last five letters of the author’s name.
ReplyDeleteInteresting coincidence, I'm reading a book about that company right now!
DeleteThis is another nifty puzzle from Simpsons writer Mike Riess. Remarkable, since he just writes puzzles on the side!
ReplyDeleteHow do you know that Mike Reiss isn't a Puzzle-Writing Supervillain, who authors the Simpsons on the side, as a pet project?
DeleteOn re-examination, I think the puzzle poorly stated, but, I understand Blaine's comment. More on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteDang! I understand Blaine’s clue and it gets deleted.
DeleteI don't want to offer a hint I'll have to walk back.
ReplyDelete"Have to walk back" because there's NO CAB available.
DeleteIf you change the 1st and 3rd letters of the author's last name to I and L, then you can rearrange to get a related word.
ReplyDeleteFrancis Ialon is an anagram of Californians. There was a San Francisco, Californians puzzle on September 24, 2023.
DeleteWell, being a resident of Philadelphia, I can tell you, this name is not unknown. Not just because this person is also a cousin of the writer.
ReplyDeleteI can’t find today’s recording or puzzle anyplace but here today.
ReplyDeleteHad to test out a few different hypotheses before I got it.
ReplyDeleteMiddlemarch? Middle Mom?
ReplyDeleteAh! Finally got it. As we all know, George Eliot's real name was Eve Thportr. From that we get Shreveport. Nailed it. Gotta love those wild Welsh names.
DeleteIs an advanced degree required to solve this puzzle?
ReplyDeletea degree of temperature might be relevant
DeleteBart Simpson, appropriately.
ReplyDeleteA clarifying question: the second step of this puzzle is to move the “first, second, and last letters of the last name,.” Is the “first” letter the original one or the S that the first letter gets changed to in the first step of the puzzle?
ReplyDeleteMy solution involved moving the S.
DeleteChange first letter to an S, then move that S along with the second and last letter to front of the series of letters to spell the city
ReplyDeleteThen I have an answer that works, but I'm not sure if it's kosher according to the rules
DeleteAgreed!
DeleteAs soon as I was sure of the answer I rejected all other possibilities.
ReplyDeleteNever read anything by the FAMOUS BRITISH AUTHOR, but I have been to the FAMOUS CITY and even saw a related piece of artwork in Paris, once.
ReplyDeleteAfter I posted the puzzle at the end of last week's blog I returned back to bed thinking it might be difficult to solve, but with just a bit of logical thinking I got the answer quickly. It would be TMI to say how I solved it though. So I will pass on hinting again this week.
ReplyDeletefirst time i ever had to do a captcha to submit my answer to npr, odd
ReplyDeleteThe intended answer was one of my first guesses. I would have posted sooner, but my keyboard died last night. Had to buy a new one today. Couldn’t even log on to my PC without it. Anyway, decent puzzle. And lends itself to solving backwards, too.
ReplyDeleteBackwards worked for me.
DeleteLikewise.
DeleteGMTA.
DeleteDoes that stand for: Great Mimes Talk Alike?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIt's not Dr. Seuss.
ReplyDeleteSomething's not right about this puzzle.
ReplyDeletenice
Deleteterrific!
ReplyDelete(shout-out to Charlotte's Web)
DeleteThe "orgy dome" was blown away by heavy winds at the Burning Man. I guess it wasn't designed too well. We have something a lot more stable here in Philly.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a t-shirt with a quote from the author and a map of a country as food.
ReplyDeleteHi Friends. I suppose the group has discussed this before, but are we sending our answers to NPR via the new link below the puzzle? I don't get an automatic email reply that way. If I send my answer the old way, I get a reply.
ReplyDeleteI have used both. I never get a reply from the newer form. Last week I received a reply when I used the original form, but I again used it yesterday and still no reply has come.
ReplyDeleteA relative of the author was the subject of a puzzle here a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is that I solved this puzzle after breakfast
ReplyDeleteTry ChatGPT, although I got it without.
ReplyDeleteHuh, that's interesting!
DeleteWhen I tried, ChatGPT eventually came to the conclusion that the author is Toni Morrison and the city is San Antonio, because it thought Sontoni was close enough to San Antonio.
What impressed me was that it now seems to be able to carry out the letter-by-letter operations, which used to be well beyond its capabilities.
It should know where Toni Morrison came from.
DeleteI tried ChatGPT after getting the answer myself. It confirmed the right answer. My friend Eileen tried ChatGPT and was told the answers were CHARLES DICKENS and CHICAGO.
ReplyDeleteI tried ChatGPT on Sunday after I solved the puzzle. It got the answer immediately. Perhaps the puzzles should be checked on ChatGPT before using them.
DeleteWith the drought here it has been a bad year for tomatoes.
DeleteDouble the author's name, and you get a coffeehouse in the same city.
ReplyDeleteI have a collection of word pairs that one might call “phonetic anagrams”. Instead of rearranging the letters of the words, one reorders the sounds of the words. For example, consider the pair “cancel and “slacken”.
ReplyDeleteI’m wondering how to make good puzzles out of them, in part because I don’t know how hard to make them, especially since I’m always impressed by the speed with which posters to this blog seem to get the answers of the NPR puzzle. For example, “Consider a state of being common to all humans and most animals. Rearrange the sounds of that word to describe people who should never be in that state when they are on duty.”
Is that too hard? Too easy? Feel free to post the answer if you have it. If nobody gets it, I’ll come up with an easier clue. I’d also be interested in people’s reaction to phonetic anagrams as a puzzle genre.
I think I have it. Not quite a piece of cake, but the two words could make a slice, people. The problem with phonetic anagrams would be the difficulty in defining them. Getting from "cancel" to "slacken" by rearranging sounds is a bit of a stretch. Will might be reticent.
DeleteSend a sample to Lego. He always has good suggestions on how to present puzzles.
DeleteI think the words are "asleep" and "police," with the a and the o in the two words pronounced as schwas. The letters in the two words can be anagrammed to spell "a slice people." I was trying not to give it away.
DeleteI predict Trump will soon fire Kennedy and become the hero who saves us all from the idiot he installed in his present position so as to provide him of this opportunity to prove to us all that he has our best interests at the forefront. We should all then bow down to our magnificent leader in awe.
ReplyDeleteFRANCIS BACON >>> SAN FRANCISCO
ReplyDelete"Middlemarch? Middle Mom" refers to my mom sharing her middle name with FRANCIS (spelled with an E though).
SAN FRANCISCO (<—FRANCIS BACON)
ReplyDeleteI solved it backwards, that is, from the city to the writer.
The answer to my Beatles puzzle was…Crito?
FRANCIS BACON>>FRANCIS SACON>>SAN FRANCISCO
ReplyDeleteMy issue with this puzzle is that Francis Bacon is generally remembered as a philosopher and a statesman. Although he did write, I think referring to him (only) as an author was misleading.
But I thought Blaine being his sixth cousin was brilliant, even though it was deleted.
FRANCIS BACON & SAN FRANCISCO
ReplyDeleteNot France's Bacon, nor is it Canadian Bacon
This might have been a challenging puzzle had it not specified the exchanged letter must be an S.
FRANCIS BACON --> SAN FRANCISCO
ReplyDelete> Something's not right about this puzzle.
BACON's not kosher.
> I've seen a t-shirt with a quote from the author and a map of a country as food.
France is BACON.
> A relative of the author was the subject of a puzzle here a few years ago.
That was Oscar Mayer BACON.
> Double the author's name, and you get a coffeehouse in the same city.
BACONBACON, SAN FRANCISCO
Francis Bacon, San Francisco
ReplyDeleteI thought a cute hint might be to compliment the Simpsons writer who writes puzzles "on the side" (of bacon). It got past the censors. Looking forward to Dr. K's Beatles song.
ReplyDeleteI believe the intended answer was "I Me Mine" and Eminem. An alternative answer is "Help!" and ELP.
DeleteWell done, Tortitude!
DeleteWell done Tortitude AND Dr. K! I was stumped for sure.
DeleteYes! ELP was the first I thought of, but it isn't *rearranged*.
DeleteMy clue was that it isn't James Brown and it isn't Van Halen. Van Halen (supposedly) insisted on having all the blue M&Ms removed from the bowl of the candy that he required every venue to provide; and blue M&Ms replaced the older brown ones.
Actually it was brown M&Ms and there was a legitimate reason for insisting that the promoter remove them: if he didn't then that was a sure sign that the promoter hadn't read the contract or taken it seriously--which was in turn a sign that he might not be adhering to the very detailed specifications for the handling and set up of the massive equipment that Van Halen used in their shows. A canary in the coal mine. https://www.businessinsider.com/van-halen-brown-m-ms-contract-2016-9
DeleteOf course! I remember now.
DeleteHm, but isn't there someone who refused to eat blue ones?
I wrote, “Rearrange the last seven letters of the author’s name. You get a company that used to make something having to do with the unrearranged last five letters of the author’s name.” NABISCO used to make BACON Thins.
ReplyDeleteFrancis Bacon, San Francisco. Supposedly, Actor Kevin Bacon is the Thirteenth cousin of philosopher and writer Francis Bacon. Which means he might be related to Blaine! Anyway, KB's father Edmund Bacon was a designer of Love Park in Philadelphia, among other things. I'd match Love Park to the Orgy Dome at the Burning Man any day. However, Philadelphia has more murders.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's right. The murder count in Philadelphia, so far this year, is: 150. It's down significantly from 183 last year, and 294 in 2023. In 2022, it 367. I don't think we need the Nat'l Guard, yet. On other hand, Burning Man with a paltry one murder just might. I mean, isn't it all about love and peace and doing your own thing? If they can't pull that off without a murder, send in the troops, baby!
DeleteThe Puzzleria! Spotlight shall shine this week upon our extremely talented friend and master-puzzle-maker Laura Kozma (screen name "Tortitude"), who has concocted a septet of "Tortie's Slow but Sure Puzzles" for your solving enjoyment. It is a "Slow-Cooked But Surely Challenging Appetizer" titled:
ReplyDelete~Sole-Role Thespian, “Go down... Oops!”
~Dreamy “Brylcreemy” Thespian?
~Fowl-Fish-Fowl (Shot),
~“Associated” but not “The Association,
~”Rhymin’ ‘n’ Chimin’,
~Pyramid Frock? and
~“Go down... Oops!”
We shall – as is our wont, and, as we hope, is your want – upload Tortie's talent and the rest of Puzzleria!s conundrummery very soon, this very afternoon!
Also on this week's menu:
*a Schpuzzle of the Week titled “Paulgrim’s” Intrastate Progress (penned by the Bedfordshire Bunyan),
*a Truly Cubical Yet Nearly Spherical Hors d’Oeuvre titled “Six sides” versus “nix sides!”
*a Cinema Versus History Slice titled “Chills two centuries apart,”
*a Dietary Dessert titled “Walk right past a plate of pasta?” and
*a few handfuls, give or take, of this week's Riffing Off Shortz And Reiss Entrees, titled “Rasher-a-Roni, the San FranCrisco Treat!” (Ding-Ding!)
So, gather up your puzzling fortitude... you "shell" need it to match wits with Tortitude!
LegoPunningWithTheWorstOfThem!
I wrote "As soon as I was sure of the answer I rejected all other possibilities." This was a nod to Francis Bacon, one of many writers to describe the phenomenon of confirmation bias centuries before that term was invented. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
ReplyDeleteMy hint was "Bart Simpson," a reference to San Francisco's BART rapid transit system.
ReplyDeleteFrancis Bacon --> San Francisco
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “The intended answer was one of my first guesses. I would have posted sooner, but my keyboard died last night. Had to buy a new one today. Couldn’t even log on to my PC without it. Anyway, decent puzzle. And lends itself to solving backwards, too.” I posted no clue.
I was looking for, but didn't find, an appropriate place to comment "roger that" as a refernce to Roger Bacon, a philosophical forerunner to Francis.
ReplyDeleteSo, Blaine, are you related to Kevin Bacon, too? Since you're related to Francis, and KB is too... well?
ReplyDeleteI will plead ignorance on this one. Until today, I didn't know anything about Francis Bacon, except his name. When I searched for English authors, his name did not appear. Wikipedia says he was a statesman and philosopher. How was I to know? Well, now I know, and I'm grateful to still be learning in my golden years.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought 'author' was not right. I mean, technically he was an author, but that's not really how we use the word today.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather you not for several reasons but mostly because I try to avoid publishing my full name whenever possible.
DeleteNo worries, Blaine. I was only joking and hoped you would see it as such. Just word play.
DeleteWhoosh.
DeleteYeah, I guess your hideout is safe for the present. Actually I am laughing because I am nearing the end of a recent book, Ride the Devil's Herd, by John Boessenecker about Wyatt Earp. It is a fascinating account of the aftermath of the fight near the O. K. Corral. It compliments Casey Tefertiller's, Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend, 1997, which is the only account up until then on the subject worth reading. So, as I am reading it at this moment, and there is a posse after the Earps, I am laughing at the implied similarity, although I suspect you will not soon be found by Behan. Don't worry; I know nothing of your current whereabouts.
DeleteMy clue "It's not Dr. Seuss" was a reference to Green Eggs and Ham, and then from Ham to Bacon.
ReplyDeleteFRANCIS BACON, SAN FRANCISCO
ReplyDeleteGood morning to all, BTW.
pjbShould'veBeenToBedMuchEarlier,Obviously
There's nothing on your blog.
DeleteI had commented: "A story in the news sometime in the past month reminded me of the city, even though the news story was far away from the city."
ReplyDeleteThe story, of course was the many mentions of Alligator Alcatraz, which reminded me of the time I took the tour at Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay. By the way, I highly recommend getting the audio portion of that tour, it was well done.
As others have noted, this was easy to solve backwards, because you could quickly figure out the major city had to start with S. That narrowed down the list quickly.
A close relative of mine works on films Kevin does. Hear great things about him. I never connected him with Sir Francis Bacon.
ReplyDeleteWhen Francis Bacon performed in London's earliest stand-up comedy clubs, he used the much hammier stage name Frank Bacon.
ReplyDeleteAnd after Frank died, his son, Chris P., took over.
DeleteThis week's challenge came from Joseph Young of St. Cloud, Minn. Think of a popular commercial name that ends with the names of two male animals one after the other. If you have the right commercial name, its first six letters can be rearranged to spell the name of an N.F.L. team. What is it?
ReplyDeleteCongrats once again, Lego!
DeleteNearly 500 correct entries last week
ReplyDeleteThank you, jan. Alas, I am guessing likely more than 500 correct entries this week. But, who knows?
DeleteLegoWhoSeemsToBeHarboringSomeKinda"AnimalObsession"
That's really nice, Lego.
ReplyDeleteI have an odd connection between the team name and the commercial name. There's a kind of ambiguity involved, or maybe better polysemy. Oh, and my connection involves a place with a name that is more commonly used to denote a different place.
Wow this clue is so obscure I don't think even Joseph will see what I'm driving at.
Thank you, Crito.
DeleteLegoWhoAdds"AndCrito(WhoSeemsToBeAnExcellentDriver)IsCorrectAboutJoseph'sSight"