NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 21, 2026): Nocturnal Creature

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 21, 2026): Nocturnal Creature

Q: Take the name of a nocturnal creature, in two words. The first word is a spooky sound. Move the last letter of the first word to the start of the second word and you'll get another spooky, nocturnal sound. What is the creature and what are the sounds?

Change the last two letters in the first word to a vowel and rearrange everything. The result is a word that describes most of this post.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 14, 2026): From the Kitchen to Something Unwanted

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 14, 2026): From the Kitchen to Something Unwanted

Q: Name something in 10 letters that's found in a kitchen. Drop its sixth letter to name something on a keyboard. Then drop the new word's fifth letter to name something no one wants to get. What words are these?

Normally I'd have something to add here, but today it's the opposite.

Edit: A postscript (P.S.) is something that might be added afterwards, but this time they are the letters to be removed.

A: BACKSPLASH, BACKSLASH, BACKLASH

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 7, 2026): Necessary Misprint

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 7, 2026): Necessary Misprint

Q: Rearrange the letters of "NECESSARY MISPRINT" to spell a familiar phrase.

There are many words that can be created from those letters, e.g. reminiscent, trespassers, creaminess, seamstress, etc.

Edit: I used a couple of Latin abbreviation: e.g. is exempli gratia meaning for example and etc. is et cetera meaning and the rest.

A: SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS ("Thus Always to Tyrants")

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 31, 2026): Song Title: Two Words, Two Countries

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 31, 2026): Song Title: Two Words, Two Countries

Q: Name a classic song with a two-word title. Drop the first letter. Add an R after the new first letter. The result will be the names of two countries one after the other. What song is this?

Clue: Dolour

Edit: Dolour is a band led by Shane Tutmarc. His name anagrams to "Tehran Muscat".

A: PIANO MAN --> IRAN, OMAN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 24, 2026): A Singer of Human Desire

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 24, 2026): A Singer and Human Desire

Q: Think of a famous female singer (eight and four letters, respectively). The first syllable of her first name, the second syllable of her first name backward and the last name forward again are all verbs associated with human desire. Who is this singer?

Rearrange all the letters in her name to get an instrument and a type of belt.

Edit: The instrument was a LUTE and the type of belt was a CONVEYOR

A: COURTNEY LOVE --> COURT, YEN, LOVE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 17, 2026): Actor and Character

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 17, 2026): Actor and Character

Q: Name a famous actor of the past, seven letter first name and seven letter last name. Remove three consecutive letters from his 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?

Rearrange the letters of the actor and you'll get an animal and a fruit.

Edit: You get a CHINCHILLA and a PEAR.

A: CHARLIE CHA(PLI)N --> CHARLIE CHAN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 10, 2026): Baseball and Movie Franchises

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 10, 2026): Baseball and Movie Franchises

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

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 3, 2026): Fore! Five!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 3, 2026): Fore! Five!

Q: Name a well-known comic actor (4,5) whose name is an anagram of two terms in golf (4 and 5 letters, respectively). Who is it?

It's been a few years since we've had a puzzle involving this actor. Surprisingly it didn't involve elements.

Edit: The other Seth Rogen puzzle was from December 2015. I think there could have been a puzzle where you change his first name to "Hyd" or "Nit" and get an element.

A: SETH ROGEN --> SHOT, GREEN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 26, 2026): Religious Figures

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 26, 2026): Religious Figures

Q: Name an animal whose first five letters in order spell a religious figure. And if you change the animal's next-to-last letter, its last five letters in order will spell another religious figure. What animal is this?

Is this a joke? So easy!

Edit: A priest, a minister and a rabbit walk into a blood bank. The receptionist asks if they know their blood types.
The priest says, "I believe I'm a Type A."
The minister says, "I believe I'm a Type B."
The rabbit says, "I believe I'm a Type O."

A: RABBIT --> RABBI, ABBOT

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?

Edit: What I found more interesting was their first names are GERALD and GERALDine

A: FORD V. FERRARI --> FORD V. FERRARO
There was no actual lawsuit between these two.