Sunday, October 26, 2025

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 26, 2025): Current American Singer

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 26, 2025): Current American Singer
Q: Name a famous current American singer. Replace the last name with a colloquial term for a person from the place where this singer was born and raised. Say the result out loud. Phonetically, you'll get a form of singing the singer doesn't usually do. Who is the singer and what is the kind of singing?

45 comments:

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    1. Nodd, are you the creator of today's puzzle? I don't know of too many Donns that live in CA. Haven't solved it yet, in any case.

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    2. Yes, it's mine. Hope you like it!

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    3. It took a while, but I finally got it. Nice one, Nodd!

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    4. Kudos, Nodd. I had to research the connection of the singer to the place. But how did you know the singer "doesn't usually do" this kind of singing?

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    5. So, with that cat outta the bag...
      Donn DiMichele (also known by his screen name. "Nodd") is an excellent puzzlesmith! His "Nodd ready for prime time" puzzle collections have appeared regularly on Puzzleria! since March of 2023. Both the quantity and the quality of his puzzlemaking are quite impressive. In addition, each week "Nodd" writes six riffs of the NPR Puzzle. You can see his six "self-riffs" when we upload P! this Thursday!
      LegoWhoConfessesThatPuzzleContributorsLikeNoddAreTheTrueStrengthOfPuzzleria!

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    6. Congrats, Nodd. Finally solved it. It's a fun puzzle!

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    7. Lancek, I relied on an Internet search. I don't actually know, of course.

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    8. Just solved it! Good one, Nodd! Also, I didn't know your screen name is a phonetic pronunciation of your real name, Donn! BTW Anybody here know why you can't hear the on-air puzzle on the NPR website right now? I solved all the examples that were printed on the site from the on-air puzzle, but I can't hear it. Blaine, is there another site we can find the recording?
      pjbIsRemindedOfAHorrorMovieCharacterWithThisOne

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  2. I think I have the answer, but I never heard of this person.

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  3. I hope my hint wins a ribbon this week.

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  4. I didn't know the singer. I admit to having to use lists.

    Rearrange another colloquial name for a resident of the place, and you get someone associated with capital punishment.

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  5. I don't know most current American singers. I might have to use lists.

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  6. How many forms of singing are there?

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    1. That's what gets me too...I tried working it backward from singing forms or styles and...nada. I tried to make "mariachi" work, alas.

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  7. Me too - I don't think I would have found this singer without AI

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  8. I really like this puzzle, maybe because I solved it! I've had a long dry spell lately. Been feeling like I'm stuck in Folsom prison like last week... or is that San Quentin?

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  9. Another fun puzzle - interestingly, the answer to this puzzle (the singing style) is actually quoted in one of the singer's most popular songs. And for those that use AI to solve, you know that's not appropriate!

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    1. Okay, Chuck! You must be proud of that one.

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  11. I dunno, I'd think twice before using AI on this one.

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  12. I'm proud to have solved this one. The singer has the same last name as the lead roles in a sort-of-recent TV drama series. One of the lead actors in that series was a lead in a classic movie. The actor in the other lead role in that movie shares a first name with the singer. (I'll grant you that's an unusually large and twisty rat's maze to follow.) (Several clue here.)

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    1. (The actor in the other lead role in that movie shares a first name phonetically with the singer.)

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  13. This was the second singer I thought of. Not my particular taste in singers, but seems like a really decent person

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  14. The mere act of asking oneself how to solve this could lead to the answer.

    Would overly lengthy Gregorian chanting be considered chapel drone? (I happen to be sitting in a chapel as I type this.)

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  15. Students today have laptops, but I went to college with a portable typewriter.

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  16. The situation that first brought this singer fame has been likened (by detractors) to the type of singing.

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  17. Take another colloquial term for a resident of the place, remove one repeated letter, rearrange, and get the surname of a renowned artist.

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    1. He thought it was hip to be square. Eventually, anyway.

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  18. "Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can."
    ~Paul Tournier

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  19. The singer's first name sounds like the last name of another famous singer.

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  20. The singer and singing style are both well known, so I wouldn't go overboard scouring lists

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  21. Good one, Nodd. I thought it would be hard for me to solve because I know almost nothing about current singers other than opera singers. However I solved it both easily and quickly while still in bed, except for the singer's last name, which I had to use a short list to discover.

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  22. I can't find today's puzzle episode on the app or online. Anyone have a link?

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    Replies
    1. I found the transcript; "audio will be available later today" :(

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    2. Click the blue highlighted subheading link below Blaine's heading.

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  23. Nodd's puzzle earns a big yellow thumbs-up.

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For NPR puzzle posts, don't post the answer or any hints that could lead to the answer before the deadline (usually Thursday at 3pm ET). If you know the answer, submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't assist with solving. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the deadline. Thank you.