NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr. 23): Household Entertainer

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr. 23): Household Entertainer:

Q: Think of a six-letter word for a common household activity. Change the second letter to the following letter of the alphabet, and you will have the name of a well-known American entertainer. This is the person's full name as he or she is popularly known. And a hint: This person is still performing today. What is the word and who is this entertainer?

Actually my son was the one that came up with the answer. He didn't even know the entertainer, but worked at it from the standpoint of guessing "household activities". Don't limit yourself to thinking that it has to be someone like Prince or Cher...
Edit: Once again the deadline has passed so it is time to reveal my answer. The hint was that the answer is the person's full name as they are popularly known. I thought this meant performers that go by a single name, but it doesn't. Here's the answer with credit to my son who got it first.

A: BAKING --> B.B. KING

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr. 16): "Bartender, make it a double!"

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr. 16): "Bartender, make it a double!":

Q: Name two drink orders you might make at a tavern. Each is a single word. Read these two words one after another, and you'll get a familiar two word phrase that names something you never want to be seen in. What is it?

I'm a little late in posting this because I hadn't figured out the answer. But last night my wife and I were mulling it over and she came up with what we think is the right answer... I'll post it later today. My hint is that the drink orders aren't specific types of drinks (e.g. not 'ale', 'beer', etc.)
Edit: Okay, as promised here's the answer we came up with.

A: MUG + SHOT --> MUG SHOT

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr. 9): Pythagorean Anagram

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr. 9): Pythagorean Anagram

Q: Take the letters of PYTHAGOREAN and rearrange them to make two familiar math terms.

So there are 11 letters to anagram. I'll give you a hint, the two words aren't close in length. Neither GRAPH, nor THEORY is part of the answer.
Edit: And now for the answer...

A: HEPTAGON and RAY

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar. 26): Fill in the Blank

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar. 26): Fill in the Blank

Q: Think of a familiar three-word phrase in the form of 'in the blank.' The word that fills the blank will start with the letter 'S.' Move the 'S' to the end you'll get another familiar phrase in the form of 'in the blank.' What phrases are these?

Well, I completely missed posting this before the deadline, but here's my answer...though the official answer might be different.

A: In the SWING --> In the WINGS

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar. 19): Four letters, change P to a B

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar. 19): Four letters, change P to a B

Q: Name an object in four letters, starting with the letter "P." Change the "P" to a "B" and you'll get a verb that names something you do with that object.

I'm not going to help you out with a hint this time... you'll have to figure it out yourself.
Edit: Well, actually there was a subtle hint there. I could have said, "I'm not going to bail you out this time" but that would have been too obvious. And now the answer:

A: PAIL --> BAIL

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar. 12): S before B, makes it a plural

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar. 12): S before B, makes it a plural

Q: What eight-letter noun -- containing the letter 'B' -- is pluralized by inserting an 'S' immediately before the 'B'?

I figured the answer had to be something like 'mothers-in-law' where the plural goes inside the word. I didn't think too long before the answer came along. I'll tell you after the deadline passes.
Edit: And along comes the answer... since the deadline has passed. There were a couple clues there.

A: PASSERBY --> PASSERSBY

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar. 5): Food anagram

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar. 5): Food anagram:

Q: Take the phrase, 'take bets on.' Rearrange those 10 letters to name something to eat. What is it?"

This one took almost no time at all, which is rare... and now I'm hungry. I'll post my answer after the deadline on Thursday.
Edit: Did you figure it out? Did you notice the clue above? Well done!

A: TAKE BETS ON --> T-BONE STEAK

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 26): Getting rid of two desires

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 26): Getting rid of two desires

Q: Think of two different words meaning desire. Add the same letter in front of each of them, and you'll get two new words, each meaning "get rid of." What words are these?

Since we were away in Hawaii, I didn't post this earlier in the week. Instead, I'll just have to post the puzzle and my answer all at the same time.

A: URGE and ITCH --> PURGE and PITCH

What's the next number in the sequence?

Here's a sequence puzzle that will make you think. It's an infinite sequence so be prepared to show the next 7 or 8 terms.

Q: Can you figure out the next few terms in the following sequence?
5, 15, 5, 18, 5, 24, 14, 20, 5, 14, 14, 5...

I'll post the answer later in the week.
Hint: Changing the sequence to the letters in the alphabet we have EOEREXNTENNE.

A: The sequence is now part of the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. Looking at onE, twO, threE, fouR, fivE, siX, seveN, eighT, it should be apparent that we are looking at the last letter of each number (in English) which is then converted to its position in the alphabet (E=5, O=15, etc.) following the pattern, the next few terms are ...14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 25...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 12): Two forms of communication

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 12): Two forms of communication

Q: Name a traditional means of sending a communication, in eight letters. It contains the letter 'R.' Drop the 'R' and rearrange the remaining letters to name another means of communication, in seven letters. This is a modern means of communication. Hint: Both words start with the same letter. What words are these?

With all the news recently about Western Union discontinuing telegrams I figured the eight letter word had to be 'telegram'... well, after lots of attempts at rearranging, I can tell you the answer isn't telegram. I will tell you that the second form of communication is definitely a more modern form of communication and it didn't exist, say twenty years ago, maybe less.
Edit: My wife and I worked on this in the car and game up with what must be the right answer. It's after the deadline, so here it is.

A: POSTCARD --> PODCAST