Q: Think of a popular film franchise with many sequels. Hidden in consecutive letters inside its name is a place mentioned multiple times in the Bible. Replace that place with a single letter and you'll name a Major League Baseball team. What franchise and team are these?I was just reading about Dorothea Waley Singer who spent time arranging and cataloguing all medical and scientific manuscripts in Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the Middle Ages to the early modern era. I don't know why I mention that, but I'll explain on Thursday.
Edit: If you rearrange the letters in D.W. SINGER, you get RED WINGS, the hockey team for Detroit.
A: T(HE AVEN)GERS --> TIGERS
This puzzle may be rigged. Change the first three letters to a U.S. state abbreviation to get the title of multiple movies.
ReplyDeleteNice!
DeleteThanks, feinstee.
DeleteTwice nice!
DeleteDiana Rigg starred in the British TV series "The Avengers." If you replace "The" with "SC" you get "Scavengers," the title of several movies.
DeleteI gave kudos for both clues, which were very nice. There were other references to the TV Avengers later in the week, but yours was the first (and probably the subtlest). Your "second that emotion" quote below was a brilliantly concealed Motown reference. I'm surprised there weren't more of those.
DeleteThanks, but the Motown reference was brilliantly concealed from me, too, as I didn't even think about it until you mentioned it!
DeleteI hope you all enjoy my puzzle. You can probably guess the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteWill tightened my initial condition, which was probably a good thing. He changed the nature of the second condition, perhaps to make the solution more likely to be unique.
Congrats, Joshua! I don't have an answer yet, but it's a great puzzle.
DeleteI second that emotion. It's clever.
DeleteThrice nice!
DeleteGreat puzzle, Josh!
DeleteA nice combination of frustrating and enjoyable, Joshua! The answer finally came to me at 2:30 this morning. Congrats on a fine puzzle (and for living rent free in my head for the better part of a day!)
DeleteAs others have certainly inferred, my inspiration for this was the March 15, 2026 puzzle. I noticed the relevant wordplay while trying to solve that one, and I figured it was worth submitting.
DeleteFWIW, I clued HEAVEN as a “metaphorical place” and TIGERS as a “plural animal.” I think Will improved on both of those.
It's a good one, Josh.
ReplyDeleteI do think I see your inspiration! And, movie titles...
This is an excellent puzzle, Josh! Wonderful wordplay. I could go on, but I won't.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteI know what you mean, Crito, but I was running out of superlatives. If you know what I mean.
DeleteTake the last name of a character from the franchise. Change the first letter. You get another MLB name. (Hey, I don’t know anything about these franchises or about baseball, but I can look at lists and do a little research.)
ReplyDeleteOh! I blew the spelling. More obscurity!
DeleteNice puzzle! Finally figured it out.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle is similar to the Star Trek, Shrek puzzle on March 15. There has been another similar puzzle in the past.
ReplyDeleteThere was a Heaven's Gate, The Avengers puzzle on May 20, 2018. Also, March 15 is the day after Pi Day, March 14. There was a tiger in the Life of Pi.
DeleteThere was also a Heaven Can Wait (7, 8) puzzle on May 19, 2024. There have been a lot of puzzles about Heaven movies in May.
DeleteNot just similar to that puzzle, but derived from a solving attempt.
DeleteThis isn’t a clue, just a fact: seeing the place was tricky.
ReplyDeleteA strategy helped me solve this puzzle quickly.
ReplyDeleteI've gone down several rabbit holes as I do for our Sunday puzzles. Today I learned that lotus seeds are good for many ailments but you must peel them before you can eat them.
ReplyDelete8-14
ReplyDeleteA substance with pH between 8 and 14 is ALKALINE, and AL KALINE earned the nickname Mr. Tiger.
DeletePreviously, I posted the word STICKLER. You might say a stickler is an "i-dotter", which rearranges to Detroit.
Clever puzzle indeed - one that you need to pause and think about before rushing in to solve. If you take a synonym for this baseball team, drop the first letter and rearrange, you get another team.
ReplyDeleteYa lost me at "bible." Looks like Blaine's got a couple four things to 'splain on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to remember to share a potentially TMI theme involving the team and place on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteIf my solution is correct, and that's a big if, the most important parts of the clue are what aren't there.
ReplyDeleteYou’ll know you have the correct answer when you have it. The answer isn’t ambiguous.
DeleteDave is right: the answer is obvious once you get it. Not trying to be facetious here. Took me almost 30 minutes to get this week’s answer. Am not bragging: just think that sometimes we OVERTHINK the puzzle, when the answer is not that complicated or obscure.
DeleteMy husband and I do the puzzle every week, and I often say “That answer is too convoluted. Pick something more obvious, not one that only a handful will get.”
I give up this week
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteWhen a team of Christian soccer players puts on a party to celebrate their significant victory earlier that day, which player is it who welcomes their guests?
ReplyDeleteThe goalie hosts.
DeleteYou solved that one about as quickly as I came up with it.
DeleteExcept I would not pluralize it. My answer is The goalie host.
DeleteIn this usage, hosts isn’t a plural, it's the third person singular form of the verb, to host.
DeleteBut why spoil a nice spoonerism?
DeleteBecause the version of this shaggy dog I remember was about an amateur hockey team sponsoring a parent/child picnic as a PTA fundraiser. A local newspaper covered the event and headlined the story as, The Fathers, the Sons, and the Goalie Hosts.
DeleteI spent a lot of time horsing around on this puzzle, but finally peeled back the layers of the onion.
ReplyDeleteI like to give poetry clues...but here the obvious one would be too easy!
ReplyDeleteEye agree!
DeleteDr. Awkward, I think perhaps we're on the same wavelength.
DeleteYes, definitely. Well, actually, I do agree, at least in part.
DeleteTo quote the Bard, "You starveling, you elfskin, you dried neat’s tongue, you bull’s pizzle, you stockfish!"
DeleteBut, that may be going overboard, just a wee bit.
Going overboard whilst over bored, how poetic is that?
Sounds like we're all highly experienced puzzlers!
DeleteDr. Awkward: Dante, Blake, Byron, Shelley, Browning and Browning, Dickinson, Hopkins, Yeats, and so many others…
DeleteGoing overboard, or overbard?
DeleteBlake's "The Tyger," as many correctly noted, from his "Songs of Experience."
DeleteIn my list above, Blake for "The Tyger" and "Heaven and Hell," the others for "heaven."
DeleteMusical Clue: The Grateful Dead
ReplyDeleteAs of now, I do not yet have this figured out. I did come up with something early this morning that I thought might be the answer, but the specific spelling of the place does not appear to be in most translations of the bible, so I don't think it qualifies. I shall continue to look, and will explain more about this on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I have the correct answer. I will explain my not quite alternate answer on Thursday.
DeleteI did get something of an answer. It's probably wrong
ReplyDeleteWe know it's not the "SAW" franchise.
ReplyDeleteI sympathize with those who are struggling this week. There are lots of film franchises, Biblical places, and MLB teams to consider. I encourage everyone to keep trying, though, as it really is an elegant puzzle with a satisfying answer. No tricks, just serendipitous wordplay -- and yes, you will know when you have it.
ReplyDelete1979
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit late to the party this week. I guess the neurons weren't firing. But I just did solve the puzzle--in the shower. This is not a clue; at least I don't think it is.
ReplyDeleteI finally solved it. You just need to check the right list.
ReplyDeleteDid the South really lose the Civil War in April 1865? I am not so sure any more.
ReplyDeleteGranted, Southern states lead in the fight against democracy.
DeleteMy neighbor, Mr. Allison helped me solve this one.
ReplyDeleteThe Avengers minus Heaven + I = Tigers
ReplyDeleteMy Hint was hinting at the 1957 movie, Heaven Knows Mister Allison.
The Avengers is not even listed on this top 50 movie franchises:
Top 50 Hollywood Movie Series/Franchises (Ranked by Impact & Box Office)Based on industry data and popularity, these are among the top Hollywood movie series:
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
James Bond
Star Wars
Harry Potter / Wizarding World
The Lord of the Rings / Middle-Earth
Fast & Furious
Batman
Jurassic Park / Jurassic World
Spider-Man
Mission: Impossible
Pirates of the Caribbean
X-Men
Avatar
DC Extended Universe (DCEU)
Transformers
Toy Story
Shrek
Indiana Jones
Star Trek
The Hunger Games
Rocky / Creed
Terminator
Alien
Planet of the Apes
Die Hard
John Wick
Mad Max
The Matrix
Back to the Future
Godzilla (Legendary MonsterVerse)
Despicable Me /
Minions
Twilight
Saga
The Godfather
Halloween
Scream
Bourne Series
Ocean's Eleven
The Chronicles of Narnia
Kung Fu Panda
Ice Age
Men in Black
The Mummy
Evil Dead
Final Destination
Predator
RoboCop
Lethal Weapon
American Pie
Karate Kid
Spy Kids
Other lists would not include the first word: THE. I considered using the HE from THE with other titles, but no joy there. I also do not know bible places very well, nor bad movies such as these, nor the MLB. I still do not even know what The Avengers is about. So it was not a fun puzzle for me, but clever non the less.
The Avengers are part of the MCU.
DeleteAnd I am expected to know what in Hell the MCU is? I don't think so.
DeleteSambo … Moab… (New York) Yankees
ReplyDeleteI’m certain my answer is wrong, but getting to it was too much fun not to share.
I took the fact the biblical place name was hidden to indicate the place name was an anagram. With that mind, I then noted that Rambo contains the letters a, m, b, and o which rearrange to Moab, the ancient nation across the Dead Sea from Israel, in what became Jordan.
However, after looking at English, Hebrew and Greek alphabets, I could do nothing with the R from Rambo. Then, I took a look at the NATO phonetic alphabet, where I found Yankee for Y. Interesting, but the team is the Yankees. I’m short an S.
What about Sambo? It turns out that English author Helen Bannerman’s,1899 book, Little Black Sambo, has been the basis for several movies.
So, rearrange the letters a, m, b, and o from Sambo to get Moab and add the S to the NATO alphabet’s Yankee to get (the New York) Yankees.
Talk about challenging one’s assumptions! A hidden place name and a non-standard alphabet.
(Oh, I also took Blaine’s clue regarding a 19th century, female, British author as confirmation.)
Interesting! I was thinking all week about Little Black Sambo, because of the tigers, probably, and tried to make something out of GHEE and either SERVANT or TAVERNS, but was afraid of offending sensibilities.
DeleteThe Avengers, Tigers
ReplyDeleteI didn’t give a hint, but I struggled with this more than I should have. I thought of The Avengers almost immediately, but I almost always forget about the “The” in front of titles like this, so I was stuck looking for something in “Avengers” and got nowhere! “Angels” came kind of close, but it still didn’t make me think of heaven.
THE AVENGERS (HEAVEN), TIGERS
ReplyDeleteI really did solve it in the shower. (I was coming clean about my methods.)
Congratulations, Joshua Green, and thanks for an excellent puzzle!
If you get the call, don't tell them about the shower! It might be too risque for NPR. :-)
DeleteI wrote, “Take the last name of a character from the franchise. Change the first letter. You get another MLB name.” That’s Steve ROGERS / DODGERS, with apologies for the misspelling.
ReplyDeleteWhen I mentioned running out of superlatives to heap on Josh's puzzle, I meant that I had to stop short of FANTASTIC and INCREDIBLE (which suggested superhero movies) -- and, of course, MARVELOUS.
ReplyDeleteAs is his wont (and our want!), our friend and brilliant puzzle-crafter Jeff Zarkin (aka "SuperZee") has once again composed a treasure chest filled with "puzzle gold plunder" for us to unlock and ponder. They will appear in his popular "Jeff Zarkin Puzzle Riffs" feature on this weeks' edition of Puzzleria... which we shall upload very soon this very afternoon.Jeff's challenge this week is a musical one featuring six puzzles titled:
ReplyDelete~ "Two letters doing triple duty!"
~ Roy Or*ison’s Voice?
~ Peter, Paul & Emotive Music
~ Instrumentally Mysterious
~ Venus (in Bluejeans) Fly Trap?, and
~ “More Greens but fewer ‘Greens’”
All are invited to enjoy these challenging musical morsels cooked up by our Master puzzle-chef Jeff!
Also on our menus this week:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week titled "Kitchen gizmos? Ocean creatures?"
* a A-Full-Of-F-Words Hors d’Oeuvre titled "Fracas in Fleaflickerville!,"
* a History’s Mystery Slice titled "Filling in the Gaps of the Past,"
* a “Tsk-Tsk-Text-it-a-Task-it” Dessert that asks the question, "Can low-tech tools do high-tech tasks?" and
* about 8-or-so not-at-all-so-so riffs of this week's NPR Puzzle Challenge (including six composed by master riffmaker Nodd), titled “Revenge of the Tita..?. Tige...? No, the Motor City Kitties!”
So, Join us for some Jefferific, mind-joggling enjoyment!
LegoProprietorOfPuzzleria!HomeOfTheWorlds'sBestPuzzlemakers!
THE AVENGERS - HEAVEN + I --> TIGERS
ReplyDelete> I spent a lot of time horsing around on this puzzle, but finally peeled back the layers of the onion.
I'm not into superhero movies. Steed and Peel are my AVENGERS.
I liked the puzzle, but didn't appreciate including the THE in the wordplay.
Jan,
ReplyDeleteDiana Rigg was a dish. You agree?
I wouldn't use that term today, but back then, sure.
DeleteSpeaking of which (?), RIP Claudine Longet, whom I remember not as the entertainer who killed Spider Sabich, but as the crush of Ensign Charles "Shuck" Parker on McHale's Navy.
DeleteI didn't even notice that Blaine removed my clue. Yeah, it could be tmi. In response to Lancek's saying "I could go on, but I won't," I told him to go ahead: we can wait.
ReplyDeleteI think other people may have been cluing "Heaven Can Wait" too.
The Avengers-Heaven+I=Tigers
ReplyDeleteI wrote: "I've gone down several rabbit holes as I do for our Sunday puzzles. Today I learned that lotus seeds are good for many ailments but you must peel them before you can eat them." I was alluding to the Lotus Elan car driven by Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) on The Avengers TV show. Also want to acknowledge the clever comment by Nodd about the puzzle being 'rigg'ed.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember how many times I looked at The Avengers in lists of movie franchises without seeing the word heaven. Walking away from the puzzle for a bit helped.
ReplyDeleteI had mentioned that I had something that sort of worked. In a list of movie franchises, the list described the Ocean's 11 (and 12, 13, 8, etc.) as "Ocean's". I looked at that, and realized I could replace Ocean with the letter A, to get A's, the common nickname for the Oakland Athletics. However, the bible usually uses the term seas (Sea of Galilee, Red Sea, etc.), and sometimes waters, but not usually Ocean.
Can someone enlighten me? The puzzle's creator (Joshua Green) wrote last Sunday: "I hope you all enjoy my puzzle. You can probably guess the inspiration." I'm at a loss about his inspiration, and I've read through the comments. Am I missing something?
ReplyDeleteDid he mean the March 15, 2026 puzzle?
DeleteSorry for any confusion.
DeleteAs @Dr K inferred, my inspiration was the March 15, 2026 puzzle, which I figured many here would recognize. In fact, I made the relevant observation for this puzzle while trying to solve that one.
Thank you Dr. K and Joshua. Makes perfect sense! I try to look for puzzles while looking at relevant lists, but haven't been successful yet. I enjoyed this one for sure!!
DeleteThe Avengers, Heaven, Tigers. My clue of 1979 referred to the year the Talking Heads Song Heaven was released.
ReplyDeleteThe Avengers – heaven --> Tigers
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “This isn’t a clue, just a fact: seeing the place was tricky.” It spanned two words, and it wants heaven to be a physical place.
THE AVENGERS - HEAVEN + I = TIGERS
ReplyDeleteWow, May is teeming with things, so many good things but whoa, coming up for air. . .and we havent even hit the Ides of May yet. Whew.
Word WomanTue May 12, 05:08:00 PM PDT
Yes, definitely. Well, actually, I do agree, at least in part.
Definitely refers to the definite article "the." In part., refers to the part of speech of THE, that which have tripped up many a puzzler here and elsewhere.
Word WomanTue May 12, 05:58:00 PM PDT
To quote the Bard, "You starveling, you elfskin, you dried neat’s tongue, you bull’s pizzle, you stockfish!"
But, that may be going overboard, just a wee bit.
Going overboard whilst over bored, how poetic is that?
Avenging is a dessert best served cold ?! ;-)
Dr. Awkward Wed May 13, 09:20:00 PM PDT
Sounds like we're all highly experienced puzzlers!
Dr. KThu May 14, 12:03:00 PM PDT
Dr. Awkward: Dante, Blake, Byron, Shelley, Browning and Browning, Dickinson, Hopkins, Yeats, and so many others…
JAWSThu May 14, 02:08:00 PM PDT
Going overboard, or overbard?
JAWS. "Overbard" LOVE it.
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed that comment! I had actually read your going overboard comment twice, because I really expected you to put a bard reference in there. Once I confirmed it was not there, I had to respond with one!
DeleteJAWS, O! ;-)
DeleteMy post “Clever puzzle indeed - one that you need to pause and think about before rushing in to solve.” - pause referred to the Tigers mascot named PAWS.
ReplyDeleteAnd “If you take a synonym for this baseball team, drop the first letter and rearrange, you get another team.” Bengals - B = Angels
Wondering why we are so focused on the Straits of Hormuz and not the Gays of Hormuz?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Blaine and Margaret, did your lapel pins ever arrive?!
Lastly, Go Avs!
That's all she wrote from Colorado.
THE AVENGERS, HEAVEN, TIGERS
ReplyDeleteI liked the puzzle, nice word play. But I did have one gripe with it -- I don't know anything about Joshua Green, but I'm pretty certain Will is Christian.
I'm no religious scholar, but I believe it would have been more appropriate to say a "place that appears many times in the Christian Bible."
In the Hebrew Bible, the word "heaven" (shamayim in Hebrew) isn't used as a destination for the human afterlife, as it is in Christianity. The Jews do not really have this concept of Heaven as a place.
As for my clue, I wanted to avoid naming Talking Heads ("Heaven") or Bob Weir (who had a solo album called "Heaven Help The Fool") as I thought they were both TMI.
I instead used The Grateful Dead, hinting at Weir without naming him.
Thanks Ben, I was thinking similarly about heaven as a place, but you expressed
DeleteThanks Ben. I’d had the same issue, but wasn’t sure how to phrase it. You did it very well.
DeleteIf it makes you feel better, I had clued HEAVEN as “a metaphorical place.” Will changed it, and arguably made it tighter, but I could see it not quite working for some.
DeleteFinally got around to fixing my profile picture.
ReplyDelete"THE AVENGERS", with HEAVEN replaced by an I, becomes TIGERS.
ReplyDeletepjbDoesn'tEvenWatchThatMany"FilmFranchise"MoviesAnyway(HeDefinitelyNeededToConsultListsForThisOne)
This week's online challenge comes from Joseph Young, of St. Cloud, Minn. Name what certain performers do, in two words. Rearrange the three vowels in the second word and remove the space between the words to name a country. What country is it?
ReplyDeleteCute puzzle. Unfortunately, it’s an art form I detest.
DeleteUnfortunately it looks like it is the wrong puzzle.
DeleteThe question is, which is the wrong puzzle?
DeleteI imbibed a certain libation in this country.
DeleteVery interesting! The NPR Puzzle site has a completely different challenge for this week, also from Joseph Young:
ReplyDeleteName a famous actor of the past, seven letter first name and seven letter last name. Remove three consecutive letters from him last name and the remaining letters in order will be the well known lead character from a long running series of films. What actor and character are these?
Guess we'll have tp wait until the puzzle airs to know which one is really this week's challenge.
The character’s films were regularly on TV in my youth, but fell out of favor.
DeleteSuper Zee, Because it had every bigoted trope
DeleteAs, when viewed in hindsight, did many of shows of that era.
Delete"from him last name"?
DeleteMaybe Joe can weigh in on the country puzzle and if he did indeed submit it.
DeleteSplainit, where did you get the info about the puzzle? I've been going to www.npr.org/puzzle, but you seem to have a different source.
ReplyDeleteIn the Sunday morning "Up First" email from NPR.
DeleteSplainit's puzzle is one from 2023, although it's in a slightly different form.
ReplyDeleteNow, it's pretty consistent with Will's modus operandi to give us a three year old puzzle with slightly different wording! But it's highly unlikely that Joseph Young would do that. Hmmmm. And in 2023, Will credited the puzzle to someone else, not to Joseph.
I dunno, could go either way.
Yes, I thought it sounded familiar and searched Blaine's archives...found it right away but different author and wording. So recent...odd.
DeleteThe NPR Website shows the 7/7 actor puzzle as this weeks challenge
ReplyDeleteOkay, I have both of them. But I don't know which one to clue.
ReplyDeleteMusical clue: a David Bowie song I probably can't name here.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful jan, with just a wispy trace of a hint...
DeleteLego
Thanks, Lego. And, congratulations once again! How many puzzles of yours has Will used so far?
DeleteNot many actors of the past have 7 letters in both first and last names. First actor I thought of without a list!
ReplyDeleteSame, and I’m glad, because I’m not sure I’ve heard of the character.
DeleteSolved it also. Easy.
ReplyDeleteThe correct NPR puzzle this week is:
ReplyDeleteThis week's challenge comes from Joseph Young, of St. Cloud, Minn.
"Name a famous actor of the past, seven letter first name and seven letter last name. Remove three consecutive letters from him last name and the remaining letters in order will be the well known lead character from a long running series of films. What actor and character are these?"
Lego...
Okay, thanks Legolambda!
ReplyDeleteI have a clue, but I'll wait for this week's thread.
Congrats again, Joe!
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle, Joe. Not too hard, for me, but I'm out of novel avenues to clue it without saying too much. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteThanks Crito, Word Woman and Ben.
ReplyDeleteSee you all later on Blaine's Blog.... He'll know what to do... He always does!
Lego...
Congrats, Lego, on having another puzzle aired. Good one! Since the actor can't be Clint Eastwood, and the character can't be Harry Callahan, there is no TMI in saying: It made my day. 😁
ReplyDeleteThank you, Wolfgang... You just made mine.
DeleteLego...
Alternate answer that assumes "consecutive" suggests adjacent, but not necessarily in order...
ReplyDeleteAlien > Nile > A's
Like the Israelites near the Nile, the A's are in exile.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete