Sunday, April 19, 2026

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 19, 2026): Political Lawsuit?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 19, 2026): Political Lawsuit?
Q: Think of a popular movie of the past decade. Change the last letter in its title. The result will suggest a lawsuit between two politicians of the late 20th century — one Republican and one Democrat. What's the movie and who are the people?
Maybe we should focus on what the politicians had in common rather than their differences?

36 comments:

  1. For once, my initial answer was correct.

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    3. Though I suppose we could just turn the page on this to get this convoluted answer.

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    5. Blaine, harumph. You know I will just double down anyway ;). WW

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    6. Oooooh.
      I thought tmi too, but this is an excellent metaclue.

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    7. Agreed. Between this one and the one below, WW is on a roll this week!

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    8. Crito and Lancek, merci. Crito, I never met a clue I didn't like ;-).

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  2. If I'm correct, the book the movie is based on was a childhood favorite.

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  3. Over 770 correct answers last week

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  4. You will immediately notice something about the first names of the politicians.

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    1. Rob, this factor is especially noted as one dines out.

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    2. Great 🧠🧠...

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    3. Well, not so great on this side, but I did write my clue before seeing yours.

      The wording of this puzzle was a bother. Instead of movies, I tried to think of lawsuits between Republicans and Democrats.

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    4. Actually one of the names of the pols is not the original name.

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  5. There's a feature of the answer that practically screams to be the centerpiece of a clue. But it's already been clued. So I'll just note that the parties have been realigned since the late twentieth century.

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  6. Does James Ellison work for Staples? Because that was easy. It’s going to take me longer to figure out a clue. I love WW’s!

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    1. Neither politician was elected president.

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  7. Interestingly, there are a few lawsuits between Republicans and Democrats right now that involve a relevant term.

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  8. I found this difficult as I know very little about contemporary films. That said and having consulted some lists, I now have the answer.

    But as for clues, all I could think of is that it's not Washington or Lincoln.

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  9. Pretty straightforward puzzle - there ought to be more than 1000 correct answers this week.

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    1. Oops, that doesn't work! I'll see if I can get it straightened out by Thursday.

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  11. Neither was elected to the last office they sought.

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  12. I haven't started searching yet, but can someone define "past decade?" 2011-2020? 2016-2026?

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    1. Agreed that "past decade" is ambiguous, but it means the past ten years.

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    2. Thanks Dr. K! Now, on with my search.

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  13. The puzzle also works with two Canadian politicians, one Liberal, the other Progressive Conservative. (The former is less well known.)

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  14. Take the name of one of the politicians. Remove the last 3 letters of the first name. Repeat what is now the last letter of the first name. Remove all letters of the last name except the first, middle, and last letters. Rearrange to get the name of another politician.

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    1. For some reason, I'm put in mind of Joni Mitchell.

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  16. I now feel compelled to put PIN to paper.

    After Word Woman so graciously sent me an unasked for blog pin in the mail, and I both thanked and told her I would wear it at the Friday afternoon conversation group I joined three weeks ago it came to pass yesterday. Normally I do not wear anything I can properly wear a lapel pin with, but I informed her I would on this occasion and see if anyone noticed and let her know how it turned out.

    Several hours ago (Saturday) I informed her via email that Friday afternoon I did as described, and while the pin was obvious to all in attendance for three hours, no one asked me about it. I also mentioned that I do not recall anyone ever commenting on any lapel pin I have worn, and I was not expecting any different outcome with this pin, no matter how attractive.
    Tonight, (I am writing this Saturday evening) after returning home from a wonderful night out at the magnificent Meany Auditorium on the U of W campus here in Seattle, where I attended a solo classical guitar performance by Pablo Sáinz Villegas, from Spain. I arrived at my seat five rows back from the stage about twenty minutes early. As I moved to my seat I had to pass in front of two women my seat was just to the left of. The first was an elderly lady who must have been the mother of the middle aged lady to my right as I sat down. In order to open a conversation, as I was passing in front of them, I commented on how coincidental it was we should each be reading the same thing. A lame joke, I know, but it worked, and we began a conversation. After a couple of minutes the older woman farther to my right, leaned forward and asked me about the Rubic’s Cube pin on my lapel. She could only have caught a brief glimpse of it as I walked in front of her, but she obviously had no difficulty in seeing what it was, and wanted to know about it.
    I thanked her for asking and told her I was surprised at her noticing. I then went on to explain to them how this pin came about in great detail. They were impressed, and I almost forgot to mention they are both from Ukraine. Perhaps others here have also had unexpected, similar experiences.

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