NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 29, 2023): My Alarm Didn't Go Off...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 29, 2023): My Alarm Didn't Go Off...

Q: The time 6:29 on a digital clock, ignoring the colon, also reads 6:29 upside down. How many times in a day can a digital clock, ignoring the colon, read the same right side up as upside down? We are not accepting military time.

I'd much rather spend my time on an African safari.

Edit: My initial clue was about a Rubik's cube which has 6 sides each with 9 "stickers" but that was clearly TMI, so I switched to Africa which has 54 countries.

A: 54 times (12:21, 1:01, 1:11, 1:21, 1:51, 2:02, 2:12, 2:22, 2:52, 5:05, 5:15, 5:25, 5:55, 6:09, 6:19, 6:29, 6:59, 8:08, 8:18, 8:28, 8:58, 9:06, 9:16, 9:26, 9:56, 10:01, 11:11 = 27 times, but then repeated for both AM and PM).

Update: Will went for the Daylight Saving Time answer of 58, when you can see 1:01, 1:11, 1:21 and 1:51 twice when the clocks go back 1 hour at 2 AM.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 9, 2023): Lights, Camera, ...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jul 9, 2023): Lights, Camera, ...

Q: Take the first name of a famous movie director. Write it in upper- and lowercase letters. Rotate the third letter of this name 180° and you'll get the name of the main character in one of this director's most popular movies. Who is it?

Take the full name of the director. Remove the third from the last and the last letter of each name. You can rearrange the letters to get an apt anagram. Or rearrange them again to get a different apt anagram.

Edit: RID(l)E(y) SC(o)T(t) --> DIRECTS, CREDITS

A: Ridley (Scott) --> (Ellen) Ripley

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 16, 2023): Topsy-Turvy

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 16, 2023): Topsy-Turvy

Q: Think of a common 8-letter word, in which the first three letters spell a word, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh letters also spell a word. These two little words mean the same thing. The fourth letter, when rotated 180°, becomes the eighth letter. What word is this?

Drop the second and eighth letters and rearrange to get a word. That word could describe an item that was taken to a place also described by the word by someone whose name sounds like the original word.

Edit: Alan Shepard hit a golf ball (sphere) on the moon (sphere).

A: shepherd --> she, her, p/d

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 1, 2021): Topsy-Turvy

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 1, 2021): Topsy-Turvy

Q: Think of a common Britishism — a word that the British use that's not common in the U.S. Write it in all capital letters. Turn it upside-down (that is, rotate it 180 degrees). The result is a famous hero of books and movies. Who is it?

I fell for the initial trap.

Edit: I assumed the answer had to only involve the invertible letters HIMNOSWXZ but was able to escape that trap. James Bond was often narrowly escaping the villain's traps.

A: LOO --> 007 (James Bond)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 20, 2021): Take the Car out for a Spin

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 20, 2021): Take the Car out for a Spin

Q: Name a make of car. Write it in all capital letters. Rotate one of the letters 90 degrees and another letter 180 degrees to make a woman's name. What is it?

I think this might be Will's favorite make of car.

Edit: We've had several puzzles involving MAZDA including Mazola->Mazda, Madagascar+Z->Mazda/Gas car, Amazed-E=Mazda and Wanda->Mazda. That last puzzle (from July 2, 2017) was the same puzzle but in reverse.

A: MAZDA --> WANDA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 8, 2019): Looking Sideways

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 8, 2019): Looking Sideways:

Q: Name a popular TV personality. Write the name in all capital letters. Rotate the last letter 90° and move it forward one spot — that is, move it in front of the preceding letter. The result will name a famous movie. What is it?

I've been staring at lists of TV personalities and famous movies for so long, I can't focus.

Edit: In other words, I'm experiencing double vision (007).

A: DR. OZ --> DR. NO

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 10, 2019): Turning Winter on its Head

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 10, 2019): Turning Winter on its Head:

Q: Think of a 4-letter word for something commonly seen in the winter. Write it in lowercase letters. Turn it upside down, and you'll name a device you use with this thing. What is it?

I didn't have this initially because I didn't consider a lowercase 'l' looking like itself upside down since it would have to shift up/down to work. But I believe that is the answer.A: wool --> loom

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 2, 2017): Girls and Cars

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 2, 2017): Girls and Cars:

Q: Think of a common girl's name. Write it in all capital letters. Rotate one of these letters 90 degrees and another of the letters 180 degrees. The result will name a make of a car. What is it?

And if you take one letter in the make of a car and turn it 90 degrees and another letter is turned 180 degrees the result is a fish.

Edit: A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

A: WANDA --> MAZDA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 5, 2017): Playing Games

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 5, 2017): Playing Games:

Q: An easy-ish one this week. Write the name of a game in small letters. Reverse the second and third letters. Turn the fourth letter upside-down. The result will name something else to play. What is it?

You can't convince me to give you an iota of help this week.

Edit: Not one scrap which anagrams to...

A: craps <--> cards

NPR Sunday Puzzle (April 17, 2016): Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (April 17, 2016): Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle:

Q: Take the name of a famous musical. Write it in upper- and lowercase letters, as you usually would. Now turn one of the characters upside-down and move it to another place in the title. The result will be the last name of a well-known stage performer. What is the musical, and who is the performer?

Chicago? Nope. Cats? Nope. Hmm... I'm not getting it!

Edit: My hint had question marks, an ellipsis and an exclamation point to point you to thinking about the punctuation.

A: Oliver! --> (Laurence) Oliv¡er

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 14, 2014): Calculator Geography

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 14, 2014): Calculator Geography:

Q: If you punch 0-1-4-0 into a calculator, and turn it upside-down, you get the state OHIO. What numbers can you punch in a calculator, and turn upside-down, to get a state capital, a country and a country's capital?

It's easier to solve this puzzle than it is to provide hints. Just focus on the letters BEGHILOSZ.

A: BOISE (35108), BELIZE (321738) and OSLO (0750)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 14, 2013): 90° Letter Rotation

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 14, 2013): 90° Letter Rotation:

Q: Take a common English word. Write it in capital letters. Move the first letter to the end and rotate it 90 degrees. You'll get a new word that is pronounced exactly the same as the first word. What words are these?

I think it is a foregone conclusion that Will intends us to get creative with how we write our letters.

Edit: The two hints were "foregone" and "write" which contain hints to two possible pairs. The picture gives an example of how you might write a W so it looks like an E when rotated. By the way, the picture is of a set of Ambigrammic Letter Tiles created by Eric Harshbarger.

A: WON, ONE or WRY, RYE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 30, 2010): Mind the Gap

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 30, 2010): Mind the Gap:

Q: Take the name of a nationality and write it in lower case letters. Remove the first letter and rotate one of the remaining letters 180 degrees. The result will be another nationality. What nationalities are these?

Some would say these countries are rather close, but I wouldn't try to build something like a bridge between them.

Edit: My hints were "rather close" (dan-ish) and "something like a bridge" (span-ish).

A: spanish --> danish