Q: Take the word "ballerina," drop one letter and rearrange the remaining eight letters to name a well-known fictional character. Who is it?My wife asked me, "A hat puzzle, then a helmet puzzle. What's next?"
A: Ballerina (remove 'a') --> Li'l Abner
Q: Think of a former world leader whose first and last names both sound like things you might see in a mine. Who is the leader, and what are the things?Now that this blog has been mentioned on the NPR website, we can expect great things. Here come all the new visitors looking for the answers to last week's hat puzzle. For the rest of us, this week's puzzle shouldn't be too hard.
A: HELMUT KOHL --> HELMET, COAL
Q: A hat room contains a wall with 49 pegs, arranged in a 7-by-7 square. The hat clerk has 20 hats that are to be hung on 20 different pegs. How many lines, containing four hats in a straight line, is it possible to produce? A line can go in any direction: horizontally, vertically or obliquely. To explain your answer, number the pegs in order, from 1 in the upper left corner to 49 in the lower right corner; list which pegs you put the 20 hats on, and give the total number of lines containing four hats in a row.Liane has left, but it also seems like the NPR website editors are gone. Last week they had "goose" as a two word phrase (instead of "roast goose") and this week they misspelled Sam Loyd (as Sam Lloyd). Anyway, back to the puzzle; not counting rotations and reflections, I have 3 ways to get the answer.
A: I found 3 main solutions (not counting reflections and rotations). Click each one to see a larger view with any rotated/reflected variants.
Q: Take the two-word title of a TV series. The first word contains a famous actor's first name in consecutive letters. The second word is a homophone for this actor's last name. Name the series and the actor.My hint: 80% of Ararat in space... figure that one out.
A: American Idol --> Eric Idle
Q: Think of two five-letter words that are exact opposites, in which the first two letters of each word are the same as the first two letters of the other, only reversed. Hint: The fourth letter of each word is A. What two words are these?Déjà vu. Okay, so time for some open discussion. What do you think of Audie being the regular host of NPR: Weekend Edition Sunday? Is she doing a good job? How does she compare to Liane? How is Will with a new puzzle partner? Do you even listen to the puzzle on-air or do you read it online only? What do you think of them repeating a puzzle? Do you have a better puzzle?
A: Same as last week
Q: Think of two five-letter words that are exact opposites, in which the first two letters of each word are the same as the first two letters of the other, only reversed. Hint: The fourth letter of each word is A. What two words are these?I don't know what they mean... for about two months now.
A: URBAN and RURAL
Q: Create a 4-by-4 crossword square with four four-letter words reading across and four different four-letter words reading down. Use the word 'nags' at 1 across and the word 'newt' at 1 down. All eight words must be common, uncapitalized words, and all 16 letters must be different.You could use recent hints in my other post...
A:Across: NAGS, ECRU, WHIM, TYPO
Down: NEWT, ACHY, GRIP, SUMO
Q: Think of two common girls' names that are seven letters long and that start with the same four letters in the same order. Drop these four letters in each name, and mix the last three letters in each name to come up with another common girls' name in six letters. What names are these?We were out all day in the sun celebrating Mothers' Day; I got a tan. By the way, is the six-letter name Barbie?
A: NATALIE and NATASHA --> SHEILA
Q: Take the name of a well-known U.S. university. One of the letters in it is a chemical symbol. Change this to a two-letter chemical symbol to name another well-known U.S. university. What universities are these?If you are a regular visitor to this blog, you'll know I sometimes complain about the puzzles Will picks. This time, since it was submitted by a regular visitor (Dave Taub), I'll try to be not so critical. I will say I like how the chemical elements are related, but I feel one of these universities may not be as "well-known" to some.
A: DUKE (University) - U + Ra = DRAKE (University)
Q: Think of a familiar three-word phrase in the form '___ and ___'. If you remove the 'and' and put the second word in front of the first word, you get a compound word naming a place of power. Hint: The compound word has nine letters. What is the three-word phrase, and what place of power is this?I'm going to have to lie back on the sofa and ponder this puzzle.
A: Room and Board --> Boardroom
