I was initially convinced it had to do with a dromedary and Drew Barrymore.Q: Think of two hooved animals. Take all the letters of one of them and the last three letters of the other, mix them together, and you'll get the first and last names of a famous actress. Who is it?
Sunday, February 01, 2026
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 1, 2026): Two Hooved Animals and an Actress
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 1, 2026): Two Hooved Animals and an Actress
56 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.
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I wanted Salma Hayek to work with Yak. Alas.
ReplyDeleteI got nothing so far. Derailed by Len Caribou and Sandra Bullock.
DeleteMare Winningham didn't work either.
DeleteHa!
ReplyDeleteSomeone is on the right track...
Anagrams aren't a lot of fun. But there is one fun thing about this puzzle.
Wasn't STRAP going to save us from this kind of thing? Where is STRAP?
DeleteI didn't solve it yet, but I stumbled across a variant puzzle, which I am going to send to Lego for the next Puzzleria! In any case, I wanted to see if ChatGPT could solve my puzzle. Here are some of its comments:
ReplyDelete"If solving is the goal and you’re willing to give a tiny nudge that would keep it fun instead of brute-force"
"And yes—this is exactly the kind of clue where even solvers who love brute force eventually mutter, “There has to be a cleaner insight,” which makes your comment especially on-brand 😄" (my comment was that even ChatGPT got tired of brute force)
"Very clean, very fair, and yes: much funnier once you realize brute force would be miserable here."
Well, Pi Day is coming right up, isn't it?!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteSo many actresses...so many ungulates. At least Will could have told us if the actress is still extant.
ReplyDeleteOr something to narrow this down. "Famous" is a sufficiently vague term that it could be almost any actress.
DeleteMaybe we should send in Whitney Houston or Cate Blanchett just to be safe.
DeleteAt my age, it pleases in a perverse way that AI gave me two incorrect answers. It also pleases me that I can still recognize wrong answers.
ReplyDeleteI have posted on this blog before that in February or March 1964 I had dinner with Elke Sommer. I didn't score with her then, and I am not scoring with her now.
ReplyDeleteIt behooves us to know that elks have hooves. But does an Elke have hooves? Whoever heard of a herd of Elke without hooves? And bees (as well as some unwell humans) have hives.
DeleteLegoUngulatory
If it were just the surname...
ReplyDeleteOut of the mouths of babes... I think I have it!
DeleteI believe I have it. I predict very few correct answers this week.
DeleteAl, agreed.
DeleteTrue, it's a difficult one to unravel.
DeleteI wonder if I can use Miss Piggy as one of the actresses.
ReplyDeleteARMY + spoNGE => MEG RYAN ... I don't think that's it, just saying.
ReplyDeleteK, Blaine.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that too.
DeleteI have an answer but I'm not sure it's the intended one. If it is, there's something I found extraneous. One of the animals is one I'm very familiar with and the other one not.
ReplyDeleteSame here.
DeleteOh joy! I think I finally got it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSorry, Spanky and Blaine.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteApparently, I'm not allowed to express my opinion on this puzzle.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOh, wait--bad hint. Picking letters out of the name, reusing at will, I can spell five hoofed animals.
ReplyDeleteSo I have an answer. It might be the intended one, but I hardly think many would call her a famous actress. Maybe, but maybe not.
ReplyDeleteNumerical Clue: 34
As I noted above in response to Lancek, "famous" is sufficiently vague that it could include almost any actress.
DeleteMy actress shares a first name with a few athletes including a couple that were in the news recently (not to mention who the last name may bring to mind).
ReplyDeleteMoments ago as I was reading a just now published new book I picked up at the library yesterday, I came across the name of the less well known animal in a somewhat different context. My life is filled with strange coincidences, and this is one of the mildest, but still interesting to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the difference between the U.S. House and LA Fitness?
ReplyDeleteAt LA Fitness, the reps serve a useful purpose.
DeleteI'll accept that. I was thinking more like, the reps at LA Fitness actually work, or actually do their job. I figured you would solve it.
DeleteAnd too many reps lead to serious injury.
DeleteAnd weight for it:
DeleteReps not properly controlled may lead to people becoming sore.
Or worse, total collapse.
DeleteOkay, let's drop it now.
DeleteI only know of this person via a certain SNL alum.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Blaine. Let's just leave it at:
DeleteThere are several animals that can supply those last 3 letters.
If it's any consolation, jan, I read your clue before it was deleted and it didn't help me at all.
DeleteNot only animals, but clothes.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRelative may leave to marry.
ReplyDeleteI surrender. My best shot is PIG + MARE = PAM GRIER. The extra R is obtained by reading the left side like a pirate.
ReplyDelete1928.
ReplyDelete[shrug]
DeleteHow about someone with a first and last name plus a middle name not used for purposes of this puzzle?
ReplyDelete