I can't say that I've read the whole book, but the section I read was riveting. Remember the deadline this week is Wednesday.Q: I was at a library. On the shelf was a volume whose spine said "OUT TO SEA." When I opened the volume, I found the contents had nothing to do with sailing or the sea in any sense. It wasn't a book of fiction either. What was in the volume?
Sunday, December 21, 2025
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 21, 2025): Out to Sea
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 21, 2025): Out to Sea
33 comments:
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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Colorful half-dozen
ReplyDeleteI have this book and mine definitely covers sailing.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very salient observation!
DeleteAre you shore?
DeleteI think I solved this right away, but the second sentence threw me.
ReplyDeleteE pluribus unum.
There's an old joke like this
ReplyDeleteThe answer I got would, in contradiction to the instructions, have something to do with sailing or the sea.
ReplyDeleteBoth
DeleteI see that Blaine thoughtfully corrected NPR's grammatical error.
ReplyDeleteNo clue here.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone receive entry receipts by email from NPR anymore? Since they went to the new submission form some months ago, I haven't and have wondered if my entries are even received.
ReplyDeleteSame here. I used the return emails as proof that I sent in the correct answer as early as Sunday. For those who didn't believe me. Now I have no proof.
DeleteYou can still take a screenshot. It will show the date and time, and the .jpg file will have the same date and almost the same time as file properties.
DeleteTrimmers beware: reefing your sails won't protect you from this week's high winds!
ReplyDeleteBut in a way, a common aid will help you a lot.
Should be a lot of correct entries this week. Since I can't make it into a puzzle, I thought the wordplay aficionados in Blainesville might appreciate this little poem:
ReplyDeleteWeird Sheila Goldstein
Fancies Marcie's Holstein.
While confident of my answer, I haven’t a clue as to how to clue it.
ReplyDeleteDon't reuse puzzlers like my brother!
ReplyDeleteI plan to order this book on Amazon
ReplyDeleteHas anyone seen the Wizard of Oz performance in Las Vegas? Is it worth the money?
ReplyDelete(Not a clue but an anecdote) Years ago I worked as the library desk clerk at the Department of Interior's library in DC. Because there was so little to do I started reading the books that were being returned. That, however, annoyed my superiors, who told me it looked out of place, so they gave me the job of putting the checkout slips for the last several years in Dewey decimal order just to keep me occupied. Pure tedium.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, going through these hundreds of slips I found one for a book called "How To Hold Up A Bank." I was intrigued, so on my lunch break I went to look for the book in the stacks. I didn't find the book but I did learn that it was on a shelf devoted to . . . soil engineering.
True story--you can find the book on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/How-hold-bank-Giorgina-Reid/dp/0498067297/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WQ9V7HMKUWHP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jUOcT4YZU5MT9X-oT-WBQQ.B_UOZbnxNXgFpfPiIX_FOC79HVQ1p1EuKKG_-lLb_qI&dib_tag=se&keywords=%22How+to+hold+up+banks%22&qid=1766333196&s=books&sprefix=how+to+hold+up+banks+%2Cstripbooks%2C180&sr=1-1. Unfortunately it isn't helping me get the answer to this week's puzzle.
Interesting. Did you use the Dewey decimal system? I thought it would be the Library of Congress system, you know, with letters, like TSPMK as so forth?
DeleteAlso, it's available on pdf at the internet archive. It's by Giorgina Reed, or Reid, I forget. It reminds me of something I heard someone say one time, "All retaining walls will fall."
DeleteReminds me of the kid who draws a picture of a stagecoach with no wheels. Teacher asks, "What holds it up?" "Bad guys!"
DeleteMusinglink--I wish I could answer your question (it's been 50 years).
DeleteThen there's the book entitled "To Serve Man" in the story by Damon Knight.
DeleteThe book is about pi and prime numbers.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of my childhood.
ReplyDeleteThe book is about a trip of sorts.
ReplyDeleteA few items of the on-air challenge might have stumped me. "Sinuous" I was able to infer (certainly after knowing the answer was "belly dancer"), but "dim sum" I had to look up. It is definitely not on the menu of my favorite Chinese restaurant.
ReplyDeletePS: And neither are BEef Dumplings.
DeleteYeah, "beef dumplings" are definitely a stretch as clues go. But you've gotta find a restaurant that serves dim sum. Yum! Usually available weekend mornings. LMK if you'd like a recommendation in Boston.
DeleteNot to disagree or to put too fine a point on it, Blaine, but the sections I read were overlong and plodding.
ReplyDeleteThe sequel is even better--ou we ni!
ReplyDelete