NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 6, 2026): From the Latin, transportare "to carry across"

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 6, 2026): From the Latin, transportare "to carry across"

Q: Think of a means of transportation in seven letters. Change the fifth letter to a U and read the result backward. You'll get a common Latin word followed by its English synonym. What words are these?

The level of difficulty in this week's puzzle is just right.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 30, 2026): Back to School

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 30, 2026): Back to School

Q: Think of a state capital and say it out loud. Change one vowel sound in it to name something many schoolkids study. What things are these?

Matthew 26

Edit: Matthew 26:41 includes the line, "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Jack Swilling is commonly credited as one of the founders of Phoenix, Arizona.

A: PHOENIX --> PHONICS

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 23, 2026): Thirteen to Twenty

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 23, 2026): Thirteen to Twenty

Q: Spell out the numbers from 13 to 20 -- THIRTEEN, FOURTEEN, FIFTEEN, SIXTEEN, SEVENTEEN, EIGHTEEN, NINETEEN, TWENTY. Select one letter from each word, in order, to name another number. No anagramming is necessary. What number is it?

Again, Will has given us a "number" puzzle that doesn't expect any math knowledge.

A: INFINITY

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 16, 2026): Movie Villains

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 16, 2026): Movie Villains

Q: Think of a famous movie villain. Insert one letter to get the brand name of a household product. Then change one letter of the product to get the last name of another famous movie villain. Who are the characters, and what is the product?

I got it on the fourth try.

Edit: Ivan Drago was the villian in Rocky IV.

A: DR. NO, DRANO, DRAGO

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 9, 2026): Faces North

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 9, 2026): Faces North

Q: Using only the letters in the words FACES NORTH, repeating them as often as you wish, you can spell a familiar expression in seven words (4,3,3,6,3,3,5). What expression is it?

I'm reminded of a puzzle with something left out.

Edit: I was thinking of a puzzle involving trees that got rearranged to be 4 other trees, but with a letter left out.

A: CAN'T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 2, 2026): Get Moving

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 2, 2026): Get Moving

Q: Think of a type of exercise equipment in three syllables. Remove the two middle letters and you'll name a means of transportation. What words are these?

It was worded differently, but we've seen this wordplay twice before.

Edit: The first time we had this wordplay was in the NPR Puzzle for August 8, 2021. The other time was as the On-air Puzzle in January 18, 2026.

A: TRAMPOLINE, TRAMLINE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 26, 2026): K, L, M, N, O Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 26, 2026): K, L, M, N, O Puzzle

Q: There is a set of five five-letter words that vary by just their middle letter. If the middle is any letter from K through O, it makes a common word. However, no other letter can go in the middle to complete a word. What words are these?

The first and last words are somewhat similar.

Edit: HOKEY and HOOEY are terms that both relate to nonsense.

A: HOKEY, HOLEY, HOMEY, HONEY, HOOEY

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 19, 2026): Animal Plurals

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 19, 2026): Animal Plurals

Q: Take the name of a popular 21st-century film with animals, in eight letters. Remove the first and last letters, then change one of the remaining six letters to a C, to spell a plural word for certain animals. What words are these?

Change the penultimate letter in the film title to an R and rearrange. The result is a plural for something else that can move and consume food.

Edit: ZOOTOPIA -I +R --> PROTOZOA

A: ZOOTOPIA, OCTOPI

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 12, 2026): Filmed on Location

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 12, 2026): Filmed on Location

Q: Take the 10-letter (2-word) title of a popular TV series for which most of its seasons have been filmed in a foreign country. Remove the first and last letters, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell the name of a country. What are the two names?

Take the 4th letter of the country and change it to a G. Rearrange to get the name of a popular liquid.

Edit: The liquid is GASOLINE

A: LOVE ISLAND --> SLOVENIA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 5, 2026): Marketing Buzzwords

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 5, 2026): Marketing Buzzwords

Q: Name two words that are opposites. They share a single letter. Remove that shared letter from each word, put a hyphen between the two resulting words and you'll get a term you sometimes see in food ads. What words are these?

Take the hyphenated term and add the letters M and R. Rearrange to get something you don't want to see in your food.

Edit: FLATWORM

A: SLOW, FAST --> LOW-FAT