NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 31, 2017): Wrapping Up the Year

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 31, 2017): Wrapping Up the Year:

Q: Name a famous singer — 3 letters in the first name, 5 letters in the last. Drop the middle letter of the last name and rearrange the result to name a variety of singing group. What is it?

I think it works equally well if you put the letter back in.

Edit: I can't say I care much for a boy band; I'd call them a boy bland.

A: BOB DYLAN --> BOY BAND

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 24, 2017): Fifty Nifty United States

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 24, 2017): Fifty Nifty United States:

Q: The name of what well-known U.S. city, in 10 letters, contains only three different letters of the alphabet?

The same could be said about a city in Australia.

The Australia city is WAGGA WAGGA.

A: WALLA WALLA (Washington)

Christmas Puzzle for 2017

Our annual Christmas puzzle is available now.
As in prior years, the reward for solving is a video Christmas card, but you'll need to figure out the password by solving the puzzle first.

Note: If you need some help, the full answer is posted here, but try solving it without help first... it's more fun that way.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others). We are always looking for new ideas for next year's Christmas puzzle, so submit those too.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 17, 2017): Modern Conveniences

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 17, 2017): Modern Conveniences:

Q: Think of a convenience introduced in the 19th century that is still around today. Its name has two words. Take the first three letters of the first word and the first letter of its second word, in order, to get a convenience introduced in the 21st century that serves a similar purpose. Their names are otherwise unrelated. What two conveniences are these?

I can't think what it would be.

Edit: I eventually figured it out. My comment contained hints to "reference lists" and to enlisting the help of others.

A: YEL(LOW) P(AGES) --> YELP

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 10, 2017): Put Your Vehicle In Reverse

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 10, 2017): Put Your Vehicle In Reverse:

Q: The name of what vehicle, spelled backward, becomes phonetically a four-word phrase identifying another vehicle?

Parallel parking requires you go backwards but if you've gone back more than 3 times, you're doing it wrong.

Edit: Three weeks ago we had a puzzle on car makes where one of the answers was SUBARU.

A: SUBARU --> URABUS = "You are a B-U-S"

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 3, 2017): Get Out Your World Map

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Dec 3, 2017): Get Out Your World Map:

Q: Take the singular and plural forms of a particular noun. Remove the first two letters of the singular form and you'll name a country. Remove one letter from inside the plural form to name another country. What words and countries are these?

Not to be petty, but doesn't this mean yet another lapel pin for LegoLambda?

Edit: Hint: a naval petty officer...

A: YEOMAN --> OMAN, YEOMEN --> YEMEN

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