Sunday, April 05, 2026

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 5, 2026): Musical Cars

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 5, 2026): Musical Cars
Q: Think of a musical instrument. Add two letters at the end, and you'll get the names of two popular automobile models reading left to right. What musical instrument is this?
It's not a Ford Tempo or Hyundai Sonata. Maybe I'm not smart enough to figure this out this week?
Posted by Blaine at 6:09 AM
Labels: , ,

29 comments:

  1. skydiveboySun Apr 05, 06:09:00 AM PDT

    Think of a different musical instrument whose first letters are the surname of a person who behaves like what the last 2 letters can describe when used as the initial letters of a French phrase that describes a child no one would want to be around.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr. KSun Apr 05, 06:12:00 AM PDT

    Greetings from Indianapolis, where I’m attending the Final Four. Yesterday, I met and shook hands with Michelle Obama’s brother, Craig Robinson. Imagine that.

    You have to be smart to get this puzzle, but I’m in agreement that the extra two letters may not be necessary. A fun and clever puzzle. Congrats, again, Cap!

    To those who celebrate, Happy Easter!

    Go, UConn!

    ReplyDelete
  3. NoddSun Apr 05, 06:13:00 AM PDT

    Remove five letters of the instrument to get a classic American musician. Remove five different letters to get a classic American car.

    ReplyDelete
  4. RobSun Apr 05, 06:14:00 AM PDT

    Remove the first three letters from the instrument, rearrange, and you get somewhere I am right now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JAWSSun Apr 05, 06:16:00 AM PDT

    Autocorrect, or correct auto?

    ReplyDelete
  6. PaulSun Apr 05, 06:20:00 AM PDT

    Someone in this group ought to have no trouble with this one.

    ReplyDelete
  7. feinsteeSun Apr 05, 06:25:00 AM PDT

    "left or right" or "left to right"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dr. KSun Apr 05, 06:26:00 AM PDT

      "left to right"

      Delete
    2. BlaineSun Apr 05, 06:33:00 AM PDT

      Thanks. I fixed it here, but the NPR intern will have to fix it on the website. 😜

      Delete
  8. CritoSun Apr 05, 06:25:00 AM PDT

    Okay, I guess my answer is the intended one -- Blaine's clue confirms it. But I didn't think the second model was well-known.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dr. KSun Apr 05, 06:25:00 AM PDT

    Remove three letters from the instrument, rearrange the remaining letters, and get the surname of a renowned 20-century philosopher.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NoddSun Apr 05, 07:21:00 AM PDT

      If I'm thinking of the right one, he was also connected to music.

      Delete
    2. Dr. KSun Apr 05, 08:13:00 AM PDT

      Right you are, sir.

      Delete
  10. SuperZeeSun Apr 05, 06:27:00 AM PDT

    Several people have commented on the cleverness of this puzzle. I agree.

    ReplyDelete
  11. janSun Apr 05, 06:35:00 AM PDT

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. BenSun Apr 05, 06:41:00 AM PDT

    Clue: Monopoly

    ReplyDelete
  13. janSun Apr 05, 06:44:00 AM PDT

    I once saw a Yugo transfigured into the instrument, in Grand Central Station, in NYC. Pix on Thursday.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Word WomanSun Apr 05, 07:10:00 AM PDT

    From last week and continuing on:

    Word WomanSun Apr 05, 04:56:00 AM PDT
    Well, I have a whole treatise on women named Sarah at car shows describing the new models from either direction ;-).

    "A bidirectional text contains two text directionalities, right-to-left (RTL) and left-to-right (LTR). It generally involves text containing different types of alphabets, but may also refer to boustrophedon, which is changing text direction in each row.

    An example is the RTL Hebrew name Sarah: שרה, spelled sin (ש) on the right, resh (ר) in the middle, and heh (ה) on the left. Many computer programs failed to display this correctly, because they were designed to display text in one direction only.

    Some so-called right-to-left scripts such as the Persian script and Arabic are mostly, but not exclusively, right-to-left—mathematical expressions, numeric dates and numbers bearing units are embedded from left to right. That also happens if text from a left-to-right language such as English is embedded in them; or vice versa, if Arabic is embedded in a left-to-right script such as English."

    This was worth the price of admusdion!

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    Replies

    Word WomanSun Apr 05, 04:57:00 AM PDT
    Um, admission. But I am carefully considering adding "admusdion" to the lexicon. ;)

    *******************

    Admusdion: to amuse the god, Dionysus, god of wine, joy, theatre and madness, including this celestial body. (my nod to this lunacy is my clue this week).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JAWSSun Apr 05, 08:06:00 AM PDT

      Would you please clarify the correct pronunciation of admusdion?

      Is it ad-MUSE-dee-un?
      Is it ad-muss-DIE-on?

      Something else?

      Delete
  15. SizSun Apr 05, 07:30:00 AM PDT

    I was going to stick with my first answer: BUGLE (Bug+Leaf), but after a hot cup of brain lubricant, I found the intended answer. Happy Resurrection Day to all here who are humble enough to accept the greatest gift ever offered! Thank you, Jesus!

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  16. DizSun Apr 05, 07:34:00 AM PDT

    I play this instrument! My mother made me take lessons all thru high school! This isn’t a hint, merely a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  17. legolambdaSun Apr 05, 08:32:00 AM PDT

    Congrats to CAP (in ALL CAPS!). 'Tis a capital puzzle challenge.
    LegoWhoClassifiesThisAsASuperPuzzleFromASuperNiceGuy

    ReplyDelete
  18. Clark a pseudonymSun Apr 05, 10:04:00 AM PDT

    Thanks Lego

    ReplyDelete

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