Q: Name a place where most people would like to go. The name of this place contains the letter 'V' somewhere inside it. Replace the 'V' with 'T' and 'H' to name a person you wouldn't expect to go there. Who is it and what's the place?I can tell you I wouldn't want to be heading there anytime soon... but perhaps some day.
A: HEAVEN --> HEATHEN
Q: Will has a problem. For a long time squirrels have been jumping from trees near his house onto his roof. His house has an attic fan, and the squirrels can enter the attic thru a hole cut in the roof for the fan. Will had the tree branches cut back from the house to prevent the squirrels from getting into the attic. Now the squirrels have started running up his front steps, jumping up on the railing at the top, jumping six feet onto the telephone wires leading into the house — and from there, jumping to the roof. As Will cannot get rid of the railing, the telephone wires or the front steps, how can Will prevent the squirrels from getting onto his roof?The most obvious solution is to prevent them from entering the fan opening by adding a wire grate. But that doesn't really prevent them from getting on the roof. The other obvious solution would be to add a large disc-shaped baffle to the telephone line. As long as they can't see through the baffle, the squirrels will be deterred from jumping over because they can't judge their landing spot. The drawback is that it is a rather ugly addition to the telephone line. However, my submitted solution is something else that I think is creative, amusing and practical. I'll tell you what I came up with after the deadline.
A: I suggest adding a section of PVC pipe around the telephone line, slightly bigger than the wire so that it will easily spin. Imagine the fun you'll have watching the squirrels try to either land on it (flying off into space) or trying to cross it (and being spun back toward the ground). In my mind it meets the criteria of being practical, creative and amusing. If Will implements this solution I hope he films it so we can all have fun watching the results.
Q: Take a familiar three-word title, with four letters in the first word, two letters in the next and six letters in the last. The last word contains the consecutive letters R-A-N. Change the R-A-N, to O-R and you'll get another familiar three-word phrase. What is it?If you finish this quickly it will be quite an achievement.
A: TOUR DE FRANCE --> TOUR DE FORCE
Q: Think of a well-known U.S. city; the letters in its name can be rearranged into a symbol for 1,000, a symbol for 10, and two words meaning zero. What city is it?All this talk of U.S. cities reminded me of a puzzle from last November; it's likely you'll find a clue there. I got distracted for awhile thinking the answer was LEXINGTON (G, X, NIL, NOT, NONE?) but it obviously wasn't right...
A: KNOXVILLE --> K, X, NIL, LOVE
Q: A two-part challenge. Either half will work. Take the name Isaac. Those letters are the initials of a classic song. Name the song. (Hint: the 'I' does not stand for the pronoun and neither 'A' is the article.) So think of a famous song that represents an 'accidental acrostic' of Isaac — or think of any other legitimate 'accidental acrostic' of five or more letters.There's a Fleetwood Mac song called "Hungry Country Girl" that has the lyrics "I sat around and cried" but that doesn't meet the puzzle criteria for a couple reasons (includes 'I' and isn't the song title).
A: Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider
Q: Name a European nationality, drop the first letter, insert a 'b' somewhere later in this string of letters and the result will name a group of people found mainly in Asia. What groups of people are these?Is it vital I answer this week? You can figure this out on your own, can't you? Okay, I'll give clue... think of being hidden in a place associated with Carroll O'Connor.
A: ITALIAN - I + B --> TALIBAN
Q: Each answer is a familiar two-word phrase in which each word has four letters. The middle two letters of the first word are 'hi' and the middle two letters of the second word are 'ho.' Two different phrases have this pattern. What are they?I'm not putting a lot of effort into a clue this week so you'll have to be on the lookout for your own answers. I will tell you that I don't think the answer is CHIC SHOP, THIN CHOP, THIS SHOE or WHIZ SHOW, but I guess that was obvious.
A: The two-word phrases I came up with are:
CHIP SHOT and SHIP AHOY!
Q: Name certain internal parts of the human body, five letters, the word is plural. This word contains an 'i.' Change the 'i' to an 'o,' spell the result backward, and you'll name another part of the body that's very near the first ones. What body parts are these?I know I ought'ta provide a clue to this puzzle, but I was too busy organizing a Mother's Day Brunch for my wife, my mother and my sister. A trio of moms, near and dear to my heart, were all treated to a scrumptious buffet in the atrium of a nearby hotel. Maybe if I have time, I'll post a clue later in the week.
A: ATRIA (two upper chambers of the heart) --> AORTA (large artery leaving the heart)
Q: Think of two countries whose names start with the same three letters. Set these names side by side, drop the first three letters from each of the names, the remaining letters, in order, will spell the name of one of the longest rivers in the world. What are the countries and what is the river?I actually went past this river on a trip my family took in 1980. I'm going to give a big clue; the river doesn't go by any major cities. And notice the puzzle says one of the longest rivers, so we can rule out the Nile naturally.
A: CHI(LE) + CHI(NA) --> LENA.
Q: Think of a six-letter plural word naming a certain category of foods. Change the first letter to a 'C,' then re-arrange the result to get an adjective that describes many of these foods. What is it?The important letter in the clue is 'C'... Aren't you glad I'm here to give you clues?
A: FRUITS +C-F --> CITRUS