NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 26, 2017): C'est la Vie

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 26, 2017): C'est la Vie:

Q: Think of a familiar French expression in three words, containing 3 letters, 2 letters, and 5 letters, respectively. Then take its standard translation in English, which is a two-word phrase. If you have the right phrases, the first words of the two phrases said out loud will sound like a world capital. What is it?

Not the way I say it.

Edit: I'm used to hearing the first P distinctly pronounced, but the other pronunciation where the P is silent is acceptable.

A: NOM DE PLUME = PEN NAME
"NOM PEN" sounds like PHNOM PENH, the capital of Cambodia

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 19, 2017): Dare to be Different

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 19, 2017): Dare to be Different:

Q: Here is a list of six words. Besides the fact that each word contains the letter E, what highly unusual property do they share?

ADIEU

AMAZED

BUREAUS

ELATES

HEAD-ON

SIENNAS

I could add SOLUTE and ABASE to the list, but I really don't care.

Edit: Happy Thanksgiving! Removing the letter E from CARE, you get CAR.

A: All the remaining letters in each word (after removing the E) can be rearranged to name a car maker. AUDI, MAZDA, SUBARU, TESLA, HONDA and NISSAN. My additional two form LOTUS and SAAB.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 12, 2017): State Capital and World Capital --> State Name

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 12, 2017): State Capital and World Capital --> State Name:

Q: Take the name of a U.S. state capital. Immediately to the right of it write the name of a world capital. If you have the right ones, the name of a U.S. state will be embedded in consecutive letters within that letter string. What three places are these?

Rather than wasting my time looking through several different lists; I feel I have to watch YouTube instead.

Edit: YouTube --> video --> Montevideo

A: DENVER or DOVER MONTEVIDEO = VERMONT

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 5, 2017): Fall Back to a List of Directors

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 5, 2017): Fall Back to a List of Directors:

Q: Think of the last name of a famous film director. The first two letters and last two letters in order spell a word. And the remaining letters, rearranged, spell a synonym of that word. What film director is it?

I have two answers -- a third if you want to include an Academy Award winning composer.

Edit: Along with the Huston family, the Coppolas are notable for having three generations of Academy Award winners: grandfather Carmine Coppola (best score), father Francis Ford Coppola (best film, director, screenplay and writing) and daughter Sofia Coppola (best screenplay).

A: (Francis Ford / Sophia) COPPOLA --> COLA + POP

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 29, 2017): Metal Nationalities

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 29, 2017): Metal Nationalities:

Q: This week's challenge sounds easy, but it's a little tricky. Name a well-known nationality. Drop a letter, and the remaining letters in order will name a metal — one of the elements on the periodic table. What is it?

A person from Oman is an Omanganese, right?

Edit: Omanganese hints at the greek letter OMEGA.

Update: I included a better clue in the comments about whether Will Shortz ever tests these puzzles. Software companies will often release a BETA version of their software to let customers test features before the final version is released.

A: TIBETAN, remove β (BETA) and you get TIN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 22, 2017): Two Week Challenge: Move Two Numbers

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 22, 2017): Two Week Challenge: Move Two Numbers:

Q: This is a two-week challenge. Write down the equation:
65 – 43 = 21.
You'll notice that this is not correct. 65 minus 43 equals 22, not 21. The object is to move exactly two of the digits to create a correct equation. There is no trick in the puzzle's wording. In the answer, the minus and equal signs do not move.

Keep it up; you still have another week to solve this.

Edit: My hint last week was "I used to be an advocate...". I guess you could say if I'm no longer a proponent, I must be an ex-ponent. :) This week's clue is a hint to raise the numbers up.

A: 65 - 4³ = 1² --> 65 - 64 = 1

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 15, 2017): Two Week Challenge: Move Two Numbers

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 15, 2017): Two Week Challenge: Move Two Numbers:

Q: This is a two-week challenge. Write down the equation:
65 – 43 = 21.
You'll notice that this is not correct. 65 minus 43 equals 22, not 21. The object is to move exactly two of the digits to create a correct equation. There is no trick in the puzzle's wording. In the answer, the minus and equal signs do not move.

I used to be an advocate of more challenging number/math puzzles. But this one is not worthy of a two-week challenge.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 8, 2017): What did Henry Ford Do?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 8, 2017): What did Henry Ford Do?:

Q: Take the name of a country. Insert an E somewhere inside it. You'll get a phrase that answers the question: What did Henry Ford do?

Not to repeat myself, but I just like saying the name of the capital.

Edit: This puzzle wasn't that different from the "Just add Z" puzzle from 2014.

A: MADAGASCAR --> MADE A GAS CAR

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 1, 2017): I can't make SUSHI without U

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 1, 2017): I can't make SUSHI without U:

Q: Think of a 4-letter food. Move each letter one space later in the alphabet — so A would become B, B would become C, etc. Insert a U somewhere inside the result. You'll name a 5-letter food. What foods are these?

To make a long story short, I woke up to raindrops in the night. Later, when my alarm went off, I tried working on this in my sleepy state for about 15 minutes and then fell back asleep. Good thing I wasn't trying to get up for a final.

Edit: In Final Fantasy XV, during the "Raindrops in the Night" hunt, you fight a JUMBO FLAN. Perhaps a little too much of a clue and something searchable, but I went for it anyway.

A: FLAN and GUMBO

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 24, 2017): What to Name the Baby

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 24, 2017): What to Name the Baby:

Q: Think of a familiar 6-letter boy's name starting with a vowel. Change the first letter to a consonant to get another familiar boy's name. Then change the first letter to another consonant to get another familiar boy's name. What names are these?

Don't worry; even if you don't have the answer now, you still have until Thursday at 2:59 pm ET. But don't wait any longer than that. And especially don't go on vacation.

If you were to submit your answer at 2:59 pm, you'd be just in time. The last time this puzzle was used (July 27, 2014), I was on vacation.

A: AUSTIN, DUSTIN, JUSTIN