Q: Think of a famous living singer. The last two letters of his first name and the first two letters of his last name spell a bird. Change the first letter of the singer's first name. Then the first three letters of that first name and the last five letters of his last name together spell another bird. What singer is this?I'm not sure he'd like having his first name changed to that.
Edit: My Japanese teacher would pronounce my name with an "r" sound; I didn't mind the nickname "Brain". On the other hand, if you change the P in the singer's first name to an F...
A: PLÁCIDO DOMINGO --> DODO, FLAMINGO
Remove a letter from the last name and add a different letter at the end to spell the last word of a band name.
ReplyDeleteI read this at first as "brand name," but it didn't matter.
DeleteNice wordplay, Lancek, and good delivery.
Delete👏
DeleteWrite down the names of the two birds involved. If a letter repeats, remove all instances of that letter. You are left with a word describing a degree of heat.
ReplyDeleteHa! I guess those of us who sometimes have to ponder Blaine's clues will have an easier time this week.
ReplyDeleteI had a little clue involving today, but I think it's arguably tmi. Jan said at the end of last week's thread that it's an appropriate day, and I agree, but I'm worried about adding anything to that.
I'll say that aspects of this very wordplay have appeared in the on-air puzzle, and also were suggested by a Blaine's Puzzle commenter in the past.
Let me relay what NPR posted: This week's challenge comes from Mike Reiss, who's a showrunner, writer, and producer for "The Simpsons."
ReplyDeleteThis actually functions as a hint.
DeleteOr two.
DeleteSeems like it's been a while since the correct answers submitted exceeded 2000. Maybe half that this week? We'll see. (Good one, Blaine.)
ReplyDeleteBlaine, what more can we say?
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle has been around the block before.
Got it. As always, tough to come up with a non-tmi hint...
ReplyDeleteRearrange the letters of the first name to get something a superstar may wear on their head.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was on my way to solving it, but even though I have something that works for the first part of the puzzle, recent hints are telling me I'm on the wrong path.
ReplyDeleteNow that I have the answer, I believe it's safe to divulge that I was unable to find a bird matching the _AYEWTON template. Danke schoen, again, jan.
DeleteThat was my first thought, too, and I was kinda bummed that it didn't work.
DeleteI solved this puzzle while cleaning the bathtub.
ReplyDeleteI like this one, and I love Blaine's comment.
ReplyDeleteEasy solve for me since I’m a bird nerd.
ReplyDeleteIs this what a bird nerd looks like? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gc4QTqslN4
DeleteNo clue here (and no offense intended).
I love this!
DeleteThat's not a link, Zeno.
DeleteI used the link posted and it worked.
DeleteZeno, here's an actual link so you can click it directly: Surfin' Bird
DeleteThe moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn...
ReplyDeleteSadly Pluto is no more
DeleteA literary hint: Thomas Pynchon.
ReplyDeleteHariña.
DeleteFariña?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete5280
ReplyDeleteMusical Clue: The Girl Can't Help it
ReplyDeleteI love your clue but I doubt that too many people will get it but that’s water under the bridge
DeleteThe Doors
DeleteIt says too much about me, but this clue was a giveaway.
DeleteAre these bird names read left to right in order, or are they anagrams?
ReplyDeleteBIRD, not DIRB
DeleteThe Puzzle Answer has a relationship to the show itself
ReplyDeleteI believe that's where Leo was headed.
DeleteA perfect Sunday puzzle.
DeleteAnd where jan was headed at the tail end of last week's post.
DeleteThis is an appropriate day for this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteSunday in Spanish is Domingo. Interestingly, this puzzle was on December 7, Placido Domingo was born in 1941, and December 7, 1941 was a significant day in history. Pearl Harbor Day was also on a Sunday.
DeleteBobby Jacobs...
DeleteMaster puzzle-maker, mathematician, and... historian!
LegoWhoConsidersBobby"AJackOfAllTradesAndMasterOfMost!"
Bobby. Here’s what a Google search says about December 7 and Placido Domingo: December 7th is a significant date for tenor Plácido Domingo, marking numerous opening nights at Milan's famous Teatro alla Scala, including his 1969 debut in Ernani, and other performances like Carmen (1984) and Otello (2001), plus a 2020 Season Opening Gala; he often celebrates these anniversaries on social media, highlighting his long history with the iconic opera house.
DeleteCinematic clue: little Ricky Schroeder.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard Will say the puzzle I thought it was going to be a difficult one for me to solve, but my mind directed me immediately to the answer and I went back to sleep.
ReplyDeleteIf we go with the original first name as Blaine suggests, I don't think the change of its first letter is very flattering.
ReplyDeleteOh, that was Blaine's point ...
DeleteThis thread is pointless.
DeleteNorwegian Wood.
DeleteYeah, this one is for the birds.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the very basic answer you might expect.
ReplyDeleteFor some, it may be an Olympic effort to come up with the singer's name.
ReplyDeleteI got the answer on my third try.
ReplyDeleteYou're better than me. It took me ten or so tries. 🤪
DeleteLiterary clue: I'm thinking of an author whose name is seasonally appropriate.
ReplyDelete"Bird" can be ambiguous - hard to know if this puzzle will involve a big bird, small bird, or some combination thereof. Anyway, there seems to be a strong connection to a recent puzzle.
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle. Congratulations Mike Riess!
ReplyDeleteThe answer only just came to me this hour.
ReplyDeletepjbBelievesMentioning"SesameStreet"MightBe[TMI]Here
Yesterday, December 8th, was the 45th aniversary of John Lennon's assassination. I wanted to go to New York, but I have a cold, and it was 27° in NYC. So, where do the ducks in Central Park go in the winter? Do they fly south to the tropical climes to be with the other birds?
ReplyDeleteIs this a "Catcher in the Rye" reference? Or is this an example of great minds paddling in the same pond?
Delete(I don't see any directions to Three Mile Island in Musinglink's post or my response, which does not contain any clues that I am aware of, but I will accept being blasted with a thunderbolt from Blaine if there is.)
At any rate, the answer provided by AI was "Just like rich Manhattanites, some go south for the winter and others find snug retreats in town, followed by lots of details that New Yorkers might recognize.
Sometimes, birds get tired of the long trip south each winter. I heard of an old buzzard who decided to save his strength and fly commercial. He'd heard about how bad airline food was, so he packed a good supply of roadkill in his suitcase. As he was boarding, the gate agent offered to check his stinking bag for him. "Oh, no," he replied. "It's carrion."
DeleteWow! I've arrived!!!!
Deletejan-
DeleteYour joke reminds me of a true story I believe I posted on this blog several years ago. In March 1999 2 friends and I arrived at Seatac airport with our luggage in order to fly to Amsterdam to begin a month's vacation driving all over Portugal and Spain. Just before leaving the house with my luggage I had a thought and grabbed my deteriorating rubber chicken my youngest brother had given me several years before. It had been hanging on a nail by my washer and dryer and I think the heat was causing the rubber to begin to show its age. When we made it to the check in counter to check in our luggage the attendee asked me about the rubber chicken and I told him it was my carrion. I then dropped it in a waste container on our way to the loading area.
ChatGPT got it again. This is happening too often.
ReplyDeleteBut ChatGPT often gets it wrong. Just the other day, it hallucinated a well-governed United States:
DeleteG. Elliott Morris, of Strength in Numbers, asked ChatGPT to fact-check an article for him.
The AI flagged "Multiple factual impossibilities":
- “The current Secretary of Defense is a former talk show host for Fox News."
- "The Deputy Director of the FBI used to guest-host Sean Hannity’s show.”
- “Jeanine Pirro is the U.S. District Attorney for DC!”
ChatGPT suggested:
Since none of these statements are true, they undermine credibility unless clearly signposted as hyperbole, fiction, or satire.
If they are intentionally exaggerated, you might rewrite as:
"To illustrate the point, imagine a world where..." or "It can sometimes feel as if..."
When I asked, ChatGPT told me that the intended answer is Kiki Williams. It brushed off the worry that KIKLIAMS can't be made into a bird by changing its first letter, admitting that this is true but informing me that there is no singer who meets all the criteria, so this was close enough.
Delete(In case you're wondering: there is a singer named 'Kiki Williams', but I don't think anyone would say she's famous. She's well below a real estate agent with that name in my Google search.)
ChatGPT 5.1 got it right in 1 minute 8 seconds. The older models always come up with something like KIKLIAMS, but the two most recent usually get it.
DeleteChatGPT 5.1 solved for me too in less than 1 minute. I never used 5.1 before. Thanks. Already had solved.
DeleteI used to be an avid movie goer. That is no longer the case. I do not miss the cinema at all. Now I watch DVD movies on my 55" flat screen TV. I laugh when I hear movie reviewers exclaim how much better it is to watch a film on the big screen and in the company of a live audience. Uncomfortable seats; poor visibility; overly loud volume; people talking and rustling popcorn and candy, occasional farting; my needing to relieve myself, and not wanting to miss part of the movie in order to do so, but still must; people laughing when I may not understand why it requires that unwelcome noise that makes it impossible for me to hear some of the dialogue; the inability to back up in order to hear something not properly recorded. Please forgive me if I have left anything out. I would not trade my watching at home films of my choice on my TV and enjoying the story, and not the unwelcome violence and special effects that I do not consider special in any way for the in person experience ever again. But let's put all that aside for a moment as I ask a question to those of you who do still revel in the big screen experience. Is there a new movie playing in theaters called, Merrily We Roll A Bong, or did I hear it incorrectly on the radio today?
ReplyDeleteI keep confusing the second bird wth a type of dancing
ReplyDeletePLACIDO DOMINGO; DODO, FLAMINGO
ReplyDelete"Blaine, what more can we say?" besides Flacido? ;)
We've seen another version of this puzzle before.
"Bathtub" >>> Placido FLAMINGO is an opera-singing flamingo Muppet from Sesame Street, known for his dramatic performances and parodies of famous operas, voiced by Richard Hunt. He was introduced to help teach children about classical music and opera, often appearing in sketches like "The Bathtub of Seville" or "The Dentist of Seville," and was based on the real-life tenor Plácido Domingo.
PLACIDO DOMINGO (—> DODO, FLAMINGO)
ReplyDelete“A literary hint: Thomas Pynchon.”
—> The extinction of the dodo figures notably in Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow.
PLACIDO DOMINGO (DODO, FLAMINGO)
ReplyDelete> Appropriate puzzle for today.
DOMINGO is Spanish for "Sunday".
> The avian transformation has been done before.
With PLACIDO FLAMINGO
> One bird is a common sighting on suburban lawns. The other isn't. [deleted]
FLAMINGOs are common. DODOs are extinct.
PLACIDO DOMINGO & DODO & FLAMINGO
ReplyDeleteMy Hint:
"When I first heard Will say the puzzle I thought it was going to be a difficult one for me to solve, but my mind directed me immediately to the answer and I went back to sleep."
He is not only an opera tenor, but also a director and conductor.
NOTE: He has always, since living outside of Spain, had to put up with almost everyone mispronouncing his first name, which is Plaw-thee-dough, and not Plaw-see-dough.
I wrote "My father had a record album of bird calls; whenever he played it our cat would frantically look behind our record player for the birds hidden there. I don't think either of these birds made it onto that album, however."
ReplyDeleteIn fact it was an album of African bird calls, including one that sounded like the "glub glub" made by milk when it is poured out of a milk bottle. But I didn't say African birds, since I thought that would be TMI.
You can hear the melodious cry of the flamingo at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oqFfzoOEqIg. It should be obvious why the dodo wasn't included on the album.
I assumed jan's "appropriate puzzle for today" alluded to the "date which will live in infamy" ; maybe he was only thinking about the day of the week.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, when I found Hawaii's state bird, I figured the answer just HAD to be Wayne Newton ... but, nay!
I contributed a handclap to the "band name" thread to acknowledge Eric "slowhand" Clapton (aka Derek).
PLACIDO DOMINGO; DODO, FLAMINGO
ReplyDeleteMy Musical Clue "The Girl Can't Help it" was an homage to Divine's walk through Baltimore to that tune in the movie Pink Flamingos. I've said enough.
And then my reference to "the show itself" is because PLACIDO DOMINGO translates to PLEASANT SUNDAY, I believe. Which is the rough vibe of Sunday ATC and Weakened Edition.
One of the premiere puzzle constructors of our time (and in our midst), Chad Graham, again takes center-stage this week on Puzzleria! His always entertaining and provocative "Conundrumbstruck by Chuck" puzzle-package this week features posers that are titled:
ReplyDelete~ “One brand, two businesses;”
~ “PeRSOnaliTY becomes SPORTY;”
~ “Britain exports prestige U.S.tateside;”
~ “Lifestyles of the rich and nameless?” and
~ “Classic car, contemporary character”
We shall upload Puzzleria! very soon this very afternoon. Stay tuned.
Also on our menus this week are:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week titled “Enlightenment, Camera, Action!”
* a Treacherous Aquatic Creature Hors d’Oeuvre titled “Syllabifispoonerization!”
* a Jingo Bells Slice titled “Jacks & Jills & Jingoism,”
* a Geopolitical Dessert titled “Cosmic clouds, neutron stars, pseudonyms!” and
* ten Riffing Off Shortz and Reiss riffy Entrees titled “Santo... No, Placido Domingo!”
It's about time you'll got Conundrumbstruck... by Chuck!
LegoCatchingLightningInABottle(LightningThatIsNotWhiteButThatIsIntoxicating!
Placido Domingo->dodo, flamingo
ReplyDeleteMy clue was: Rearrange the letters of the first name to get something a superstar may wear on their head. Answer: idol cap
ReplyDelete[SDB]:
ReplyDelete"his first name, which is Plaw-thee-dough, and not Plaw-see-dough."
Hmmmmm. Is this true?
Domingo himself has a Castilian accent, so he does use the "Apical Production" of 's'. It isn't quite our 'th' sound; maybe it's half way between our sibilant 's' and our unvoiced 'th'.
But intuitively I feel like we, speakers of English, should 'factor out' that general difference in pronuncation.
This reminds me of the problem I had, when I lived in Australia, of how to say the name of Queensland city, Cairns. Australians say /kænz/ . But that's because Australian (Strine) is generally non-rhotic. So is it correct for an American to say /kænz/ , or should I say /kɛɹnz/ (pronouncing the 'r', that is)?
I feel like if I used the lispy 'th' sound in Placido's name, I would be (or sound like I was) making fun of him. Or just being pretentious.
I believe I have it right, but I just now googled it and this is what came up first:
Delete"Plácido Domingo pronounces his name in Spanish as PLAH-see-doh DOH-ming-goh, with the "c" sounding like a "th" (in Spain) or "s" (in Latin America), and the "g" having a soft, almost guttural sound, meaning "Peaceful Sunday". It's a smooth, rhythmic pronunciation emphasizing the syllables, not like the English "Placid"."
That is about as clear as mud. Then I listened to 3 YouTube pieces, and only the last one pronounced it with a clear th sound.
All that being said, I remember clearly Placido was being interviewed by a woman who asked him about everyone mispronouncing his name wrong. This was decades ago. He replied that he just ignored it, and I think he also said that here he would also pronounce it wrong just to not make an issue of it.
My hint -- Remove a letter from the last name and add a different letter at the end to spell the last word of a band name. (Derek & the Dominos)
ReplyDeleteMy clue was 5280, which is the altitude of Denver in feet. “Perhaps Love” was written by John Denver and sung as a duet with Placido Domingo. (Denver considered this to be the best song he ever composed.)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this comment. I didn't know about this duet, so I just found and listened to a video. Now I'm sitting here with tears rolling down my face. 🥹
Delete.... Most everyone, including me, remembers where they were when they first heard JFK was assassinated, or that Elvis was dead, or when the World Trade Center towers came down. But I also vividly remember where I was when I learned John Denver died.
DeletePlácido Domingo; Do + do = dodo; Pla --> fla + mingo = flamingo
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “It’s not the very basic answer you might expect.” Placido incorporates the very opposite of basic: acid.
My reference to the ambiguity of whether the puzzle involved a small bird or a big bird (or some combination thereof) was a reference to Big Bird and the character Placido Flamingo that Sesame Street introduced (as referenced by some others above). My noting the strong connection to a recent puzzle was a reference to last week's "casino" puzzle since Las Vegas has the Flamingo Hotel & Casino.
ReplyDeleteYes, Brain. I noticed the "L" pronounced as "R" when I worked in a lab with a bunch of Chinese post-Docs. That's why the networks don't have Asians doing Election coverage.
ReplyDelete...and that clever comment brings us full circle from Blaine's!
DeleteI've never had a yen to learn日本語, but I kinda like Mandarin oranges.
Delete