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.
A: COURTNEY LOVE --> COURT, YEN, LOVE
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.
A: CHARLIE CHA(PLI)N --> CHARLIE CHAN
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.
A: SETH ROGEN --> SHOT, GREEN
I can think of another duo that ties the two duos together.Q: Name a famous musical duo. Remove four consecutive letters of the duo's name and phonetically you'll name a famous nonmusical duo. Who are they?
A: RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS --> WRIGHT BROTHERS
I was initially convinced it had to do with a dromedary and Drew Barrymore.Q: Think of two hooved animals. Take all the letters of one of them and the last three letters of the other, mix them together, and you'll get the first and last names of a famous actress. Who is it?
A: DEER + (spring*)BOK --> BO DEREK
*Note: There are many African antelope that would work (Blesbok, Bontebok, Bosbok, Duikerbok, Gemsbok, Grysbok, Klipbok, Reitbok, Rhebok/Reebok, Springbok, Steenbok/Steinbok and Waterbok)
A very timely puzzle.Q: Name a famous living singer whose first and last names together have four syllables. The second and fourth syllables phonetically sound like things a dog walker would likely carry. What singer is this?
A: ALICIA KEYS --> LEASH, KEYS
We're not going to quibble over syllabification of Alicia as A‑leesh‑a versus A‑lee‑sha, are we?
If you take the last name of one of them, you can rearrange those letters to name another half of a famous duo.Q: Think of a well-known couple whose names are often said in the order of _____ & _____. Seven letters in the names in total. Combine those two names, change an E to an S, and rearrange the result to name another famous duo who are widely known as _____ & _____. Who are these couples?
A: ADAM & EVE --> SAM & DAVE
Her daughter has the same middle name.Q: Name a famous female singer of the past (five letters in the first name, seven letters in the last name). Remove the last letter of her first name, and you can rearrange all the remaining letters to name the capital of a country (six letters) and a food product that its nation is famous for (five letters).
A: SARAH VAUGHAN --> HAVANA, SUGAR
Q: Think of a famous living singer. The last two letters of his first name and the first two letters of his last name spell a bird. Change the first letter of the singer's first name. Then the first three letters of that first name and the last five letters of his last name together spell another bird. What singer is this?I'm not sure he'd like having his first name changed to that.
A: PLĂCIDO DOMINGO --> DODO, FLAMINGO
Q: Take the name of a famous person in American politics (6,6). Hidden in this name reading from left to right, but not in consecutive letters, is the name of a well-known place that's very dry, in 4 letters. Remove these letters. The remaining 8 letters in order from left to right will name another well-known, very dry place. What politician is this?I referred to a list and one place showed up just after a very familiar place.
A: KAMALA HARRIS --> MARS, KALAHARI
Q: Think of a famous actress -- first and last names. Swap the first letter of each name (e.g. Lana Turner would become Tana Lurner). Say the result out loud, and phonetically you'll get some advice on fermenting milk. What is it?Take the name of the actress. For each letter, if it appears more than once, keep only half the instances (round up if necessary -- half of 3 is 1.5, but you'd keep 2 letters). Rearrange those letters to get a piece of outerwear.
A: DREW BARRYMORE, "BREW DAIRY MORE"
Q: Name a famous current American singer. Replace the last name with a colloquial term for a person from the place where this singer was born and raised. Say the result out loud. Phonetically, you'll get a form of singing the singer doesn't usually do. Who is the singer and what is the kind of singing?I realize why I was having trouble with the puzzle. I knew the singer, but the "phonetically" was what threw me. I had to change my pronunciation for the sake of making the puzzle work.
A: CARRIE UNDERWOOD, OKLAHOMA (OKIE) --> KARAOKE
Q: Think of a famous singer. Replace the last three letters of the first name with an E. Also replace the last three letters of the last name with an E. The result will be a world-famous location. What singer is this?"Not Again."
A: WHITney HOUSton --> WHITE HOUSE
Q: Name a famous actress (five letters in the first name, six letters in the last name). Change the first and third letters of her first name and the first letter of her last name. The resulting letters in order from left to right will name a place where you might see this actress.There's a connection to Ben Kingsley and this place.
A: JODIE FOSTER --> MOVIE POSTER
Q: Name a famous English author. Change the first letter of the last name to an S. Then move the first, second, and final letters of that last name in front of the first name. The resulting string of letters reading from left to right will name a major American city. What city is it?[redacted]
A: FRANCIS BACON --> SAN FRANCISCO
Drop the last two letters of the first athlete's first name and add a P. I tried to rearrange the result, but I couldn't do it.Q: Take the first and last names of a famous athlete. Change the first letter of the last name to L, and rearrange the result to get the first and last names of another famous athlete. In each case the first name has 6 letters and the last name has 5. These are athletes everyone knows. Who are they?
A: SIMON BILES --> LIONEL MESSI
I removed the letters AVSI.Q: Take the classic illustrated children's book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Rearrange its 26 letters to name a famous film director (first and last names) and a noted role on stage (in two words).Who is the director and what is the role?
A: Steven Spielberg, Lady Macbeth
Q: Think of a famous movie star (6 letters, 6 letters). The first name, when said out loud, sounds like a brand of a certain object. The last name is someone who uses this object. What movie star is this?Has this puzzle got you over a barrel?
A: MINNIE DRIVER --> MINI, DRIVER
Q: Take the first and last names of a major film director. Drop the last six letters of his name, and rearrange what remains. You'll get the name of a major film award -- for which this director has been nominated six times. Who is he and what is the award?Technically, the director has one more name.
A: PEDRO ALMODĂVAR, PALME D'OR
Q: Think of a famous current actor. His first name is also the name of a famous movie character. Drop the middle letter of his last name and you'll name another famous movie character. Each character is a central figure in a dozen or more films. What actor is this?Let me add that I've already heard part of this wordplay. The puzzle might have been more relevant in a couple weeks, give or take.
A: JASON BATEMAN --> JASON and BATMAN.
