NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 28, 2017): Fancy Math?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 28, 2017): Fancy Math?:

Q: If ELI is 173, and LOIS is 5,107, how much is LESLIE?

The first person who says it's a little more than 5.3 million is getting banned.

Edit: Turn the name upside down and you get the number, but not 5,318,008.

A: LESLIE = 317,537

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 21, 2017): Creature of the City

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 21, 2017): Creature of the City:

Q: Name a creature in 9 letters, 2 words. Drop the consecutive letters 'UR' and what remains when read in order will be the name of a major US city (in 7 letters).

It's no time to tucker out on this puzzle.

Edit: Tucker was the name of a sea turtle recently rescued by the Seattle Aquarium.

A: SEA TURTLE --> SEATTLE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 14, 2017): Morning and Evening Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 14, 2017): Morning and Evening Puzzle:

Q: Take the brand name of a product that's usually consumed in the morning. Drop the first two letters and read the remaining letters backward. You'll get a word associated with the evening. What is the brand, and what's the word?

Personally I like french toast for breakfast.

Edit: "French" was a hint to the second word (SOIRÉE) and "Toast" was a hint to part of the first word (CHEERS --> CHEERIOS).

A: CHEERIOS --> SOIRÉE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 7, 2017): Medical Procedure Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 7, 2017): Medical Procedure Puzzle:

Q: Name a familiar medical procedure in nine letters. You can rearrange these letters to name two people who might get this procedure. The answer consists of informal names for these people. Who are they?

Using an anagram solver, I came up with an alternate pair of names. I'll tell you more next week.

Edit: The word "anagram" was a hint. And the alternate answer it came up with was MOMMA and GRAM.

A: MAMMOGRAM --> GRAMMA + MOM

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 30, 2017): Billboard Hot 100 Creative Challenge (cont.)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 30, 2017): Billboard Hot 100 Creative Challenge (cont.):

Q: It's a two-week creative challenge. The object is to mashup the titles of past No. 1 hits on the Billboard 100 pop chart to tell a story. For example: "I Shot The Sheriff" "The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia." "The Morning After" "I'll Be There" "Leaving On A Jet Plane."

Wikipedia has a list of the Billboard No. 1 singles from the Hot 100 era, 1958 to present, which you can use. Your story can include up to seven song titles. Entries will be judged on cleverness, naturalness of reading, memorableness of the songs and overall elegance. You can send up to three entries and the best one, based on Will's opinion, will play the puzzle on the air in two weeks.

Week two...

A: Winning entry: Thrift Shop! / What Goes Around Comes Around. / Rag Doll, / Good Luck Charm, / Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini, / It's All In The Game. / I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For!

Runner up: Sugar, Sugar / I Heard It Through the Grapevine / (You're) Having My Baby / I Gotta Feeling / It Wasn't Me / The Stripper

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 23, 2017): Billboard Hot 100 Creative Challenge

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 23, 2017): Billboard Hot 100 Creative Challenge:

Q: It's a two-week creative challenge. The object is to mashup the titles of past No. 1 hits on the Billboard 100 pop chart to tell a story. For example: "I Shot The Sheriff" "The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia." "The Morning After" "I'll Be There" "Leaving On A Jet Plane."

Wikipedia has a list of the Billboard No. 1 singles from the Hot 100 era, 1958 to present, which you can use. Your story can include up to seven song titles. Entries will be judged on cleverness, naturalness of reading, memorableness of the songs and overall elegance. You can send up to three entries and the best one, based on Will's opinion, will play the puzzle on the air in two weeks.

Get those creative juices flowing...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 16, 2017): A Runny Variety of Cheese Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 16, 2017): A Runny Variety of Cheese Puzzle:

Q: A spoonerism is when you change the initial consonant sounds of two words in a phrase to get a new phrase. For example, "Tames Jailer" is a spoonerism of the singer James Taylor. "Spark Mitts" is a spoonerism of the swimmer Mark Spitz. The name of what famous entertainer — first and last names — has a two-word spoonerism meaning "A runny variety of cheese"?

I got caught up on "entertainer". That's not the first word I'd used to describe this person. Anyway, back to getting dressed for Easter.

Edit: My pants are a little loose, so I made sure to wear a black belt.

A: BRUCE LEE --> LOOSE BRIE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 9, 2017): Deep Dive Under the Sea

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 9, 2017): Deep Dive Under the Sea:

Q: Name a well-known U.S. city in two words. Replace each of these words with a word that rhymes with it, and you'll name a large sea creature in two words. What is it?

It's a brainstorm...

Edit: ... is an anagram of Manta birostris which is the Giant oceanic manta ray.

A: SANTA FE --> MANTA RAY

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 2, 2017): Proper Name Anagrams

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 2, 2017): Proper Name Anagrams:

Q: Think of four 4-letter proper names that are all anagrams of each other. Two of them are first names — one male and one female. The other two are well-known geographical names. What names are these?

If I combine the first names I get a third person.

Edit: Liam Neeson and Mila Kunis starred together in the movie Third Person

A: LIAM, MILA, LIMA, MALI

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 26, 2017): Kitchen Remodel

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 26, 2017): Kitchen Remodel:

Q: Name two things found in a kitchen — one starting with G, the other starting with K. If you have the right ones, you can rearrange the letters to name two other things, one of them found in the kitchen starting with F, the other one probably found elsewhere in the house starting with K. What things are these?

Anyone have an answer not involving a brand name?

A: GRIDDLE + KNIFE --> FRIDGE + KINDLE