This puzzle might have been better next month.Q: Name a product in seven letters that people buy in a shop that typically sells only this product. The last four letters backward spell what people often do to this product. Rearrange the first three letters to spell what people then do to this product. What product is it?
Edit: I was thinking of Halloween
A: SPIRITS --> STIR, SIP
Wow, Blaine. Saturday night?!
ReplyDeleteI'm put in mind of a '70s song.
I approve of this message.
DeleteI also thought of a 70s song -- I wonder if it's the same one.
DeleteOh, but also an 80s song, huh.
DeleteAs for the '70 song, at least the one I intended, it's connected to the puzzle's first word. But there is also a second '70s song connected as well to the puzzle's second word. And you could add to the second word's music connections, for good measure, Sam Cooke. As for the puzzle's third word, there is a doo-wop group that's connected, but to provide the name would probably be tmi.
DeleteBtw, Howie Roark, nice. But it took my better half to explain it to me. Bonus dormitat Homerus.
I don't get Howie Roark's add-on, but anyway, I can think of two 70s songs featuring that word. One of them is among my favorite songs ever; its album introduced me to my favorite artist. (I had another remark about it but let's be careful about tmi.)
DeleteMy 80s song is... upbeat. (If you don't think so, I'm sure I can convince you on Thursday!)
Oh wow, I just thought of a surprising connection between my two songs. But I'm going to give TMI a very wide margin and leave it alone until Thursday.
DeleteShana Tovah on this perfectly splendid autumn day! May our years get stronger not stranger. (And may we all ask everyone we know the plan for voting ahead on 11/3).
ReplyDeleteMay we, our families, neighbors, and friends share in a year of health, peace, and love.
DeleteWW is the new year 5587?
Delete5787. That's the age of the universe, of course.
DeleteSpeaking of voting: (AI may have been involved).
DeleteI thought the age of the universe was infinity.
DeleteJ. Michael Lustig has a disturbing take on what could happen with a new Congress
DeleteCap, Archbishop Ussher would say it's 6030.
Deletejan, amusing that they turned W into a Democrat in the video.
I was there earlier today.
ReplyDeletenice...and took me only three guesses!
ReplyDeletefather, son, and...
DeleteChange one vowel in the product to another vowel, rearrange, and you get a group you might be surprised to see in the store.
ReplyDeleteI have an answer that works, but I'm not happy with it. I almost never hear people refer to the product using this word.
ReplyDeleteSounds about right to me.
Delete... And the shops that sell this product always sell (related) products that are NOT this product.
DeleteI do hear people use this word for the product, so that's sub-culture-dependent.
DeleteBut you're obviously right that shops that sell this product sell related ones. I've even been to a very specialized sort of shop (nowhere near my home) that comes closer than any other I've seen to selling only this product, and even it (and its kin) sell some related products.
I agree on all counts.
DeleteI quickly thought of someone famous for doing the second thing but never the first.
ReplyDeletewas it Dean Martin?
DeleteNo, he was the opposite of that.
DeleteWhen I bought an HP printer years ago, I foolishly signed up for their "Instant Ink" subscription service. The other day, I decided to stop throwing money away, and cancelled my subscription. The next day, the printer stopped working, since the ink cartridges in it were Instant Ink cartridges, and I was no longer subscribed. So, I ordered a set of (cheapish) HP-compatible ink cartridges. But the printer rejected those, because it said it was an "HP+" printer, which only works with genuine HP in cartridges. Grrr!
ReplyDeleteTwo thirds of one word in the above is a clue.
It’s taking me longer to think of a clue than it took to find the answer.
ReplyDeleteRemove all letters that are repeated in the name of the product. The remaining letters, in order were referred to during a Prudential Financial quarterly results analyst call a year ago.
DeleteJust under 900 correct entries this week.
ReplyDeleteHard to clue without tmi. I'm going to err on the obscure end:
ReplyDeleteByrd & Murkey wishing = it.
Finally got it. And I have to say that I'm not sure if I would have gotten there if had it not been for some of the clues. Definitely on the more obscure side of naming the product.
ReplyDeleteI got Blaine's clue, for once. But my cat thinks that it might have been better LAST month!
ReplyDeleteWell, I think this puzzle may have been more appropriate in May! I actually submitted a puzzle that some different wordplay with this product word.
ReplyDeleteAnd JAWS, having been a long standing employee of Prudential, I’m quite amused by your clue!
There’s a famous guy who doesn’t want one of these done.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle has a connection with another puzzle from earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteThere was a stallion (stall, lion) puzzle on March 22. Spirit is the Stallion of the Cimarron.
DeleteBack here again, are we?
ReplyDeleteNPR programming yesterday had interesting takes on both Fibonacci and population growth/decline.
This link about Fibonacci numbers (Pingala numbers?) and many other Indian mathematicians knew about the number sequence many centures before Fibonacci:
https://umedesi.com/ancient-indian-origin-of-the-fibonacci-sequence/#Pingala_and_the_Early_Mentions_of_the_Sequence
Fibonacci popularized the number sequence in Liber abaci. There must be Liberace and/or Liber hibachi puns in there somewhere. Trying to feel good about getting to those puns soon. Maybe a triple pun?
Long-winded way to present my clue this week but there you go. . .
But I don't see how this explains the sequence of European counts.
DeleteAre we now back to the recent discussion of infinity?
DeleteI hope not. I was afraid it was going to go on ad infinitum.
DeleteYou mean like the last presidential election being a fraud?
DeleteAd infinitum plus ad nauseam.
DeleteHa ha. Even I got that one.
DeleteI'm quite sure ad infinausem is, indeed, not a number.
DeleteIf it were a number, it would be equal to 92 (45 + 47).
DeleteCould you please spell that out in seashells?
DeleteWell let's all keep clam anyway.
DeleteI know this is a maiden voyage, but I only seahorse.
DeleteThe puzzle would also be appropriate in December.
ReplyDeleteThree SPIRITS visited Scrooge on Christmas Eve.
DeleteIt's odd that nobody has commented yet on the cleverness of this puzzle. The setup seems to suggest some amazing wordplay, although I can't verify that until I solve it.
ReplyDeleteActually, it is pretty clever. My objection is to the description of the shops.
DeleteThe solution just came to me. I was making an assumption that others might make.
DeleteHmmm, I would not take the wordplay all the way to amazing. It's decent, interesting, gives one pause. But, amazing? Naw.
DeleteAgreed. Will obviously took great care in the phrasing of the puzzle, but some meaning was compromised in the interest of simplicity and brevity. It's clever, but I was hoping for more.
DeleteCan we now agree we had 2 NPR puzzles last week, and no NPR puzzle this week?
ReplyDeleteMaybe in honor of Rosh Hashanah this week's puzzle began on the preceding night?
ReplyDeleteErev puzzles are posted on Saturday nights at Sunset.
DeleteThere may be manifesting involved.
ReplyDeleteDid Shakespeare envision Uber Eats 400 years before its time?
ReplyDeleteEver notice that slim chance and fat chance mean the same thing? Anyway, I have no clue how to hint on this puzzle…
ReplyDeleteI guess I always thought of "fat chance" as ironic. "Oh, huge big fat chance of that happening!"
DeleteI could care less.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteCrito, I’ll concede that fat chance is often used ironically. I do use it unironically as well.
DeleteSame here.
DeleteAnd maybe the same applies to Paul's point about "I could care less." Maybe it's like this: the origin of the paradoxical usage is ironic, but the usage breaks free of the irony and so now it's just an expression that means the opposite of what it seems like it should mean.
Is it or isn't it ironic? Alanis Morrisette would like to chime in here:
Deletehttps://faroutmagazine.co.uk/are-there-any-actual-examples-of-irony-in-the-alanis-morissette-song-ironic/
So, I didn’t have a ghost of a chance to hint at this puzzle
DeletePEANUTS STUN APE ?
ReplyDeleteI ran into this one "in the wild": Theistic ethicist.
DeleteI felt like I was hitting my head against a wall, but it finally came to me.
ReplyDeleteI got tired of my hands going numb on long bike rides, so I installed new grips. On the level!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteSPIRITS; STIR, SIP
"Back here again, are we? >>> Once again, we're talking about selling alcohol/SPIRITS only in a standalone store.
NPR programming yesterday had interesting takes on both Fibonacci and population growth/decline.
This link about Fibonacci numbers (Pingala numbers?) and many other Indian mathematicians knew about the number sequence many centures before Fibonacci: >>> There is a strong Brazilian SPIRIT called TINGALA, rhyming with PINGALA.
https://umedesi.com/ancient-indian-origin-of-the-fibonacci-sequence/#Pingala_and_the_Early_Mentions_of_the_Sequence
Fibonacci popularized the number sequence in Liber abaci. .There must be Liberace and/or Liber hibachi puns in there somewhere. Trying to feel good about getting to those puns soon. Maybe a triple pun?" >>> TRIPLE PUN alludes to TRIPLE SEC, sold in the SPIRITS store. (Next to glasses, openers, and other corollary items).
Long-winded way to present my clue this week but there you go. . ."
Maybe you can tell I took a January interterm class on bartending? I also make a mean JELLY BEAN (blackberry brandy and ANISETTE -- close-sounding to (Alanis) MORRISSETTE, mentioned in a later clue about irony.
Btw, Alanis Morrisette and Brandi Carlisle sang a great surprise duet at Red Rocks Amphitheater this week. Beyond cool. Now, there's some stand -together SPIRITS.
SPIRITS (—> STIR, SIP)
ReplyDeleteThe first ‘70s song connected to the puzzle’s answer was Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky,” and the second was Bob Marley’s “Stir It Up.” Before he went solo, Sam Cooke was from 1950 to 1957 a member of a gospel group, The Soul Stirrers. And the doo-wop group connected to the third word was the Shells, who had a 1958 novelty song, “Sippin’ Soda.”
SPIRITS, STIR, SIP
ReplyDelete> And the shops that sell this product always sell (related) products that are NOT this product.
SPIRITS are distilled. Beer and wine are not SPIRITS.
> [Long, anti-HP Instant INK screed]
Two thirds of one word in the above is a clue.
NK was the IATA code for SPIRIT Airlines
> I got tired of my hands going numb on long bike rides, so I installed new grips. On the level!
Alcohol acts as a quick-drying, non-greasy lubricant when installing hand grips. SPIRIT levels contain alcohol to reduce surface tension and let the bubble slide easily.
spirits (stir, sip)
ReplyDeleteRob, except priests buy wine (sold in a SPIRITS Store) all the time, yes?
ReplyDeleteAnd they're always walking into bars with rabbis and ministers.
DeleteDoubtlessly they buy wine and other things there, but it would still be a surprise - to me - to see them there.
DeleteIf you were to change the vowel instead to another vowel and rearrange, you'd get another group you might (not?) be surprised to see there.
DeleteAh, Rob, I see you subscribe to the immaculate conception of wine. Wine just appears, no one has to buy it and bring it to church ;-).
DeleteMy post:
ReplyDelete- “Well, I think this puzzle may have been more appropriate in May!” - May is when Spirit Airlines went out of business.
- “I actually submitted a puzzle that some different wordplay with this product word.” - my submission was to think of a travel brand, remove one letter and read it backwards and you get what the brand is known for…..Spirit (airlines) and trips.
- “And JAWS, having been a long standing employee of Prudential, I’m quite amused by your clue!” - JAWS was referring to Pension Risk Transfer - known as PRT in the industry. I presume JAWS will explain as well.
Correct! You posted before I could!
DeleteSpirits sip stir
ReplyDeleteSPIRITS SIP STIR
ReplyDeleteBy clue that my cat thinks that it might have been better LAST month related to the embarrassing Bond film title OCTOPUSSY.
August, last month, was the EIGHTH month of the year.
This week’s edition of Puzzleria! again features great puzzles created by a very inventive puzzle-maker and very valued friend of our puzzle blog.
ReplyDeleteWe shall proudly upload his quartet of “quality-quizzicals” very soon, this very afternoon.
He has prepared an ingenious four-part “Threads Run Through All Axes” Appetizer: titled:
~ “The Shortest Distance?”;
~ “Or as a Canadian Might Say...”;
~ “Weaving in Traffic”; and
~ “Black and Blue Backyards.”
But that’s just the beginning...
Also on our menus this week are:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week titled “Diamond, Court & Turf Wars,”
* a Horrific Hors d’Oeuvre titled “Old Saxon contraption caption stupefaction!”
* a “Forever-In-infamy” Slice titled “Black-Not-Red Letter Day”
* a Diva Dessert titled “Does S-O-U-P screw-up an O-P-U-S?” and
* and eight riffs of Will Shortz’s latest self-penned puzzle, titled “Spirits get Stirred, Get Sipped, Slip through a Straw!” (including six rifflelicious gems penned by our friend Nodd, riffmaster-extraordinaire!).
All are welcome! Please join us!
Lego...
The 70s song I first thought of, when Dr. K mentioned the idea, was "Spirit in the Night". It's a Springsteen song, on "Greetings from Asbury Park," and it's oddly spiritual although not even faintly JudeoChristian -- much more bacchanalian. The Manfred Mann cover is not even close (although I think it might be more popular).
ReplyDeleteThen I did think of "Spirit in the Sky", which is not a bad song, though not in my Top N list.
And then I thought of the 1981 song "Spirits in the Material World", from the Police album "Ghost in the Machine", a great album. And it hit me that "Sting" can be extracted, though not quite with its letters in order, from "Springsteen". I thought of saying something about "preen" but I wanted to stay really clear of TMI.
spirits, stir, sip
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “There’s a famous guy who doesn’t want one of these done.” I am speaking of James Bond, who always wants his Martini “Shaken, not stirred.”
SPIRITS, STIR, SIP
ReplyDeleteI had posted a clue saying to remove all repeating letters, and you are left with PRT, which as Snipper noted above, is an acronym for Pension Risk Transfer, which I think has been mentioned on every Prudential quarterly analyst call for the past couple of years. I figured it would be too obscure for anyone, but instead, I have discovered a fellow Pru employee!
A ghost manifests into a bar. The bartender says "You're in the right place; we totally serve spirits here!"
ReplyDeleteA skeleton walks into a bar. The bartender says "Here's your beer.....and a mop."
DeleteI may not have gotten into the, “spirit,” of this week’s puzzle, but I can share a shaggy dog…
DeleteA rope walks into a bar, the bartender says, “We don’t serve your ropes here, get out.”
The rope leaves, tousles his hair, and twists himself around before re-entering. Again, the bartender tries to throw him out, saying, “We don’t serve your kind here, aren’t you a rope?”
To which, our hero replies, “No, I’m a frayed not.”
There are others, e.g.:
ReplyDeleteTROLLEY YELL ROT
KNEECAP PACE KEN -- this happens to me ...
I don’t think I get this either way, and the shops characterization is sketchy at best, but I have a bigger gripe. Isn’t SPIRITS a category of products, rather than a product? Even if we’re thinking of generic examples, isn’t it plural? You wouldn’t say “I bought a spirits.”
ReplyDeleteJan is straightforwardly right that you'd be hard pressed to find a store that really only sells spirits. Even state liquor stores in states where only such stores are allowed to sell spirits, will sell plenty of other beverages.
ReplyDeleteBut I genuinely don't understand the 'bigger gripe'. Isn't every single word for a product also a word for a category of products? Is beer not a product? Is couscous? Linen? Starbucks coffee? (Those are all obviously categories, too.)
'Spirit' is not a very common word in this sense, but in my dialect it is mainly a mass noun. So in that usage you would say neither "I bought a spirits" nor "I bought eleven spirits" but rather "I bought over a gallon of spirits." It's like 'oats' or... I think... 'grits'. You always ask how much, not how many, even though it has the normal English inflection of a plural.
“Beer” can be either, so “I bought a beer works.” “I bought beer” would be an unspecified quantity, I suppose, but “I bought spirits” at least sounds like multiple individual items. Maybe I just don’t understand alcoholic terminology.
DeleteI asked "Did Shakespeare envision Uber Eats 400 years before its time?" Maybe; Owen Glendower claims "I can call spirits...."
ReplyDeleteHotspur is not, however, persuaded that his business model works: "Why, so can I, or so can any man,
But will they come when you do call for them?"
Hah!
ReplyDeleteI love that bit, I should have recognized the reference.
And you left out "... from the vasty deep." Shakespeare just invented that word for that purpose.
Thanks--I tried to keep it a little obscure to avoid going too close to Three Mile Island. (I clipped off "from the vasty deep" in my comment above because I couldn't relate it to gig workers--but the quote looks and sounds like it is missing something without it.)
DeleteMy first thought was "carpets". 'step" is good but "car" only works, sorta, if I don't have to rearrange it.
ReplyDeleteHmm ... if you're not careful about the way you step across a carpet, you could get an arc when you touch a doorknob...
DeleteWhen my wife and I got married fifty years ago, our first home was an apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, above The Friendly Spirits liquor store.
ReplyDeleteSPIRITS, STIR, SIP
ReplyDeleteI almost wasn't going to be able to do this, or anything else online for that matter, if Mom hadn't gone down to the Verizon store earlier this evening to make our late Wi-Fi payment.
pjb'sLifeMostlyRevolvesAroundActivitiesOnHisKindleAndHisPhoneTheseDays(AndHeIsNotAloneInThis,Obviously!)
This week's puzzle, from the NPR Up First newsletter: This week's online challenge also comes from Alan Hochbaum, of Duluth, Ga. There are two neighboring countries whose names have anagrams that rhyme with each other. What are the countries and their anagrams?
ReplyDeleteThis seemed like it was going to be hard, but it wasn't -- I guess sometimes you just start in the right part of the world, or the right part of wordspace.
ReplyDeleteI've found an alternative, though! I'll give a clue and also a clue to my alternatives in the new thread when it comes.
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DeleteHmmmm. Okay now I have a different idea about why I got this one so fast.
ReplyDeleteIt helped to start with the right country.
ReplyDelete