NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 3, 2011): Moby Dick scores an 82

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 3, 2011): Moby Dick scores an 82:

Q: Assign every letter of the alphabet a numerical value: A=1, B=2, C=3 and so forth. Think of a classic work of literature that has eight letters in its title. When the letters are given a numerical value, they add up to 35. What's the title? Clue: The title has two words.

Clue: 12,672

Edit: First hint was 12 as in Adam-12, second hint was 672 as in the birth year of Venerable Bede

A: ADAM BEDE, the first novel by George Eliot

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 27, 2011): This Puzzle is Rated PG for Mild Language

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 27, 2011): This Puzzle is Rated PG for Mild Language:

Q: Take the word 'calm' and flip the letters A and L to get 'clam.' Take the last name of a film director known for using profanity, and flip two pairs of letters in place to get a word used as a substitute for profanity. Who's the director, and what's the word?

Have I ever used profanity? I plead the fifth.

Edit: The name Quentin comes from the Latin quintus meaning "the fifth"

A: Quentin TARANTINO (swap AN and NO) --> "What in TARNATION!"

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 20, 2011): Consumer Protection Laws Anagram

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 20, 2011): Consumer Protection Laws Anagram:

Q: Take the phrase 'consumer protection laws,' and rearrange the letters to name a person in broadcasting and an issue of public debate. Hints: The name of the person in broadcasting has five letters in the first name and five letters in the last name. For the issue of public debate, it's a familiar two-word phrase with seven letters in the first word and five letters in the second. What name and phrase are these?

If NPR keeps posting the puzzle this early we'll have to stop calling it the Sunday puzzle! Are you following what I'm saying? Are you clear? Cool.

Edit: The NPR puzzle is part of Weekend Edition Sunday (host Liane Hansen). The day before, NPR broadcasts Weekend Edition Saturday (host Scott Simon). "Are you following what I'm saying?" was a hint to the game Simon Says. "You clear" was a hint to "nuclear" while "Cool." was a hint to cooling down a reactor.

A: SCOTT SIMON, NUCLEAR POWER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 13, 2011): Sounds Like Another Name Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 13, 2011): Sounds Like Another Name Puzzle:

Q: Think of a five-letter girl's name that ends in a 'J' sound. Change that to a 'CH' sound to get a common five-letter boy's name. What names are these?

Not to be a pest but didn't we have a puzzle recently involving names? If you thought Marsha and Martha were less common girl's names, what about the names this week? I was going to clump together a clue or two from last week, but I think I'll refrain.

Edit: The first clue was pest as in a tiny fly. The second hint was clump as in comic book character, Midge Klump. The third clue was a reference to last week's post where I mentioned people that shared birthdays on March 10, including gymnast Mitch Gaylord. The final clue was refrain, an indirect reference to the show Sing Along with Mitch.

A: Midge and Mitch

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 6, 2011): In a Galaxy, Far Far Away...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 6, 2011): In a Galaxy, Far Far Away...:

Q: Think of a two-word phrase that means a time long ago. Move the third, fourth and fifth letters to the end of the phrase, without rearranging those three letters, to get a new two-word phrase that means the beginning. What phrases are these?

One less than Osama's and one less than Les Essarts.

Edit: Today (March 10) happens to be the birthdays of Sharon Stone and Osama bin Laden. Sharon's age is 53, Osama's is 54. That was the hint for STONE AGE. The other hint was a reference to the Tour de France 2011. Stage two of the race will be a circuit out and back to Les Essarts. Decrementing you get STAGE ONE.

A: STONE AGE --> STAGE ONE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 27, 2011): Acacia and Acadia, I'm Done!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 27, 2011): Acacia and Acadia, I'm Done!:

Q: Take a common girl's name that's six letters long. Change the fourth letter to the next letter in the alphabet to get another common girl's name. What names are these?

I had to laugh when I figured out the intended answer. But it reminded me I needed to pick up some candy at the convenience store.

Edit: My hints - MARS (candy), MART (convenience store), HA HA (laugh).

A: MARSHA --> MARTHA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 20, 2011): Know Your Anatomy

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 20, 2011): Know Your Anatomy:

Q: Spell a part of the human body. Change one of the letters to an E, and rearrange the result to name another part of the human body. What body parts are these? Clue: Both parts of the body are things you can see.

Within a minute I came up with 3 valid pairs of body parts. I have a fourth pair that is questionable, but still could work.

Edit: Time to reveal my 3 acceptable pairs.

A: NECK (C to E) --> KNEE
ARM (M to E) --> EAR
HAND (N to E) --> HEAD

Note: Will also accepted CALF (L to E) --> FACE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 13, 2011): Two Presidents Visit the Capital

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 13, 2011): Two Presidents Visit the Capital:

Q: Name a world capital. Add the letter R, and rearrange the letters to name two U.S. presidents. What is the world capital and who are the presidents?

I'm primarily thinking of countries in Africa, maybe Chad?

Edit: The flag of Chad has the primary colors of blue, yellow and red in 3 vertical stripes. This matches exactly with flag of Romania which has the same tricolor pattern (with cobalt blue instead of indigo, but you can't tell me they look that different). The capital of Romania is Bucharest

A: BUCHAREST + R --> BUSH + CARTER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 6, 2011): You are Cleared for Take-off

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 6, 2011): You are Cleared for Take-off:

Name two things an airplane does. Each of these is a single word. Put them together, one after the other, to make a compound word that names something it's nice to have as big as possible. What is this thing?

I don't know about you, but I like my porterhouse as big as possible...

Edit: Porterhouse is a type of steak which is a homophone of stake which is a synonym of the answer.

A: BANK + ROLL = BANKROLL

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 30, 2011): Q to N, Synonym Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 30, 2011): Q to N, Synonym Puzzle:

Q: Think of a common word that's six letters long and includes a Q. Change the Q to an N, and rearrange the result to form a new word that's a synonym of the first one. What are the words?

I'm feeling this puzzle could be hard... how about you?

Edit: I had a couple hints, one about how you might feel and then hard was a synonym for "uneasy".

A: QUEASY - Q + N --> UNEASY