NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 13, 2010): One of these things is not like the others

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 13, 2010): One of these things is not like the others:

Q: Write down the following five names: Christian Dior, Anne Boleyn, Edna Ferber, Indiana Jones and Richard Simmons. The first four names have something unusual in common that the fifth name does not. What is it? Give another name that shares this property. Hint: It's a property that only a few names have. To show that you have the right answer, think of another name that shares the same property. Any name that shares the property will be considered correct.

183 kg cat?

Edit: Okay, so 183kg is 403lb. If you Google for "403 pound cat" you'll end up finding the Jacksonville Jaguars Mascot who has been portrayed by Curtis Dvorak

A: You should have noticed that the letters of the first and last names are consecutive. But what about Richard Simmons? Some have suggested that the first letter should be in an *odd* position of the alphabet (e.g. A, C, E, G, etc.). But that's like saying it should be people with consecutive letters that aren't exercise gurus. The actual answer is that both the first and second letters in each name are consecutive.
Christian Dior, Anne Boleyn, Edna Ferber, Indiana Jones. But Richard Simmons' second letters are "i" and "i" which aren't consecutive.

So what names did you come up with? Here's just a few of the one's I thought of:
Adrián Beltré - Boston Red Sox 3rd baseman
Andy Borowitz - Comedian and Satirist
Andrea Bocelli - Italian pop tenor
Charles Dickens - English novelist
Chris Dimarco - American golfer
Curtis Dvorak - portrays the Jacksville Jaguars mascot, Jaxson de Ville
David Ebersman - CFO of Facebook
Don Eppes - FBI agent on the show Numb3rs
"Duke" Evers - Trainer of Apollo Creed and later Rocky Balboa
Harry Ibrahim - Asian Fashion Designer
Odalis Perez - MLB pitcher, formerly of the Washington Nationals
Ogden Phipps - Financier, Tennis Champ and Racing Horse Breeder
Rhea Silvia - Mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus
Robert Sproul - Former University of California President
Ross Spencer - Mystery Writer
Shirley Tilghman - President of Princeton University
Tom Upton - Former MLB shortstop

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 6, 2010): One Swell Foop

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 6, 2010): One Swell Foop:

Q: A 'spoonerism' is when you interchange the initial consonant sounds of two words to get two new words. For example, with 'right lane,' you'd get 'light rain.' Think of a familiar two-word phrase that's an instruction seen on many containers. 'Spoonerize' it to name two things seen at the beach. What's the phrase and what are the things?

I'm not happy with my current answer. Phonetically I have a problem with the sound on one of my words, so I'm hoping that perhaps there is a better answer.

Edit: The title of this post was a hint to the intended answer. As for my alternate answer, the key was the "Ph" in Phonetically.

A: SHAKE WELL --> WAKE, SHELL

Blaine's close miss: PULL HERE --> HULL, PIER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 30, 2010): Mind the Gap

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 30, 2010): Mind the Gap:

Q: Take the name of a nationality and write it in lower case letters. Remove the first letter and rotate one of the remaining letters 180 degrees. The result will be another nationality. What nationalities are these?

Some would say these countries are rather close, but I wouldn't try to build something like a bridge between them.

Edit: My hints were "rather close" (dan-ish) and "something like a bridge" (span-ish).

A: spanish --> danish

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 23, 2010): What Country Doesn't Have Problems?

What Country Doesn't Have Problems?:

Q: Name a country that is spelled as a solid word. Change two consecutive letters in it to a single R. The result will name a problem that this country has traditionally faced. What's the country and what's the problem?

My hints this week? 43 and 66...

Edit: Malaysia is the 43rd most populated country and the 66th largest country by total land area in the world.

MALAYSIA - YS + R = MALARIA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 16, 2010): "Be vewwy, vewwy quiet..."

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 16, 2010): "Be vewwy, vewwy quiet...":

Q: Rearrange the letters in the phrase 'rabbit season' into two related words. What are the words?

Well, if that is the question, I have two possible answers that would work. However, I can't think of any serious clues since I keep imagining Elmer Fudd reciting "Kill the Wabbit, Kill the Wabbit..."

Edit: My clue was "that is the question" hinting toward a revised Hamlet soliloquy, "Two Bs or not two Bs...". (The intended answer has two words starting with B.) The clue to that was to think of a male voice singing opera. The clue to the alternate answer was the word "serious".

A: BARITONE+BASS
Alternate answers: ABSTAIN+SOBER, BOATERS+BASIN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 9, 2010): Happy Mothers' Day Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 9, 2010): Happy Mother's Day Puzzle:

Q: Think of a big name in the oil business, then drop the first and last letters to get another big name in the oil business. What names are these?

If you think like Will, this puzzle is so easy!!! If you don't, it might take you awhile. P.S. I'm sure there are long lists of petrochemical companies (and maybe even company executives) if you look on Wikipedia and elsewhere. P.P.S. Happy Mothers' Day.

Edit: The hint was the italicized word "so". If you pronounce the individual letters you get "Esso". (Esso is the international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies derived from the pronunciation of the initials of Standard Oil.) Will deliberately tried to misdirect with his wording to make you only think of companies refining petroleum. But think instead of other uses of oil (perhaps used by your mother in cooking) and you'll easily get the answer.

A: WESSON --> ESSO

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 2, 2010): A Number of Cities...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 2, 2010): A Number of Cities...:

Q: Write down the number '100.' Underneath it write '100/500.' How the numbers align doesn't matter. What U.S. city does this represent?

Another numeric hint --> 12:21

Edit: As Ben surmised, my hint was to the Bible, specifically the book of Romans, chapter 12, verse 21: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." An alternate translation found in some versions of the Bible is "Do not be CONQUERED by evil, but conquer evil with good." Romans is a hint to Roman numerals. Conquered is a homonym of the answer.

A: C on C or D --> Concord

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 25, 2010): Name Two Birds...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 25, 2010): Name Two Birds...:

Q: Name a famous person whose first name is seven letters long and ends with the name of a bird, and whose last name is also seven letters but starts with the name of a bird. Hint: One of these birds is the general name for the bird, and the other is a specific type of bird. Who is it?

Finally a nicely constructed puzzle with enough clues to confirm your answer, but not too many that they give it away. Are the bird names long or short? Is this person part of history? Or part of the present time? Not wanting to ruin the puzzle, I'm steping out of giving a clue this week and leave it to you to ponder.

Edit: If you read the last word of each question you get short/history/time --> A Brief History of Time. Also, I deliberately misspelled step(p)ing because that's what is left after removing the birds from his name.

A: stepHEN HAWKing

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 18, 2010): A Tale of Two Countries

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 18, 2010): A Tale of Two Countries:

Q: Name a country in six letters. Change two consecutive letters in it to one letter to get the name of another country. What countries are these?

Here's a related puzzle sent to me by Gillog Lautomy, "Name a country in seven letters. Change three consecutive letters in it to one letter to get the name of another country. What countries are these?"

Edit: The hint was the "name" Gillog Lautomy. You can insert the country names to form 4 words (gilGUY/ANAlog lauGH/ANAtomy).

A: GUYANA --> GHANA

P.S. The answer to the bonus puzzle is LIBERIA --> LIBYA.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 11, 2010): Is it Thanksgiving Yet?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 11, 2010): Is it Thanksgiving Yet?:

Q: Name something you might order in a restaurant — two words, eight letters all together, with four letters in the first word and four letters in the last. Drop the last letter. The remaining seven letters will read backward and forward the same.

Man, I've got turkey on the brain, and it's only April. If you think turkey too, I'm sure it will pan out.

Edit: There were a few clues in my short post. "Man I've got turkey" sounds like "Manavgat, Turkey" which is near "Side". A little more obvious is that Thanksgiving dinner usually consists of turkey and numerous side dishes. Finally, dishpan and outside contain the words "dish" and "side". What is left is "pan out". I hope those hints weren't too obvious and didn't give it away.

A: SIDE DISH --> SIDEDIS