NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 2, 2013): I've got 3 words for you...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jun 2, 2013): I've got 3 words for you...:

Q: Can you name three common three-letter words that are all synonyms and which together consist of nine different letters of the alphabet? Here's a hint: The letters A and O are not used.

Merl Reagle is one of my favorite puzzle constructors, so I can't add much to this puzzle. If I have the right words, you can rearrange the nine letters to form a pair of words that could be considered synonyms.

Edit: I figured the words had to use the remaining vowels of E, I and U so came up with CUT, HEW and NIP which could be anagrammed to INPUT and CHEW. Others had Merl's intended answer

A: BUG, IRK, VEX

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 26, 2013): G is for..., T is for...:

Q: Think of a word starting with G. Change the G to a T, and rearrange the letters after the T. The result will be a new word with the same meaning as the original word. What words are these?

S.S. last week, J.C. this week.

Steven Spielberg was the director mentioned last week. James Cameron directed Titanic.

A: GIANT --> TITAN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 19, 2013): Read the Book, Watched the Film

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 19, 2013): Read the Book, Watched the Film:

Q: Name a category of books, in two words. Add one letter to each word — the same letter of the alphabet in each case. Rearrange the letters of the first word plus the added letter to make a new word. For the second word simply insert the new letter somewhere inside it. The result will be the two-word title of a famous movie, which is based on a book, which is definitely not found in the category of books you originally named. Name the category of books and the movie.

The initials of the director relate to the puzzle in a couple ways.

A: Children's Lit. --> Schindler's List

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 12, 2013): On a Scale of One to Ten...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 12, 2013): On a Scale of One to Ten...:

Q: Name a famous American man, first and last names. Change the first letter of his first name from T to H. The result will sound like a term for an attractive person. Who is it?

He is a very colorful character, isn't he...

Edit: He received flak for broadcasting colorized versions of classic movies on his network.

A: Ted Turner --> "Head Turner"

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 5, 2013): Famous Performer

NPR Sunday Puzzle (May 5, 2013): Famous Performer:

Q: Name a famous performer whose last name has six letters. Move the first three letters to the end — without otherwise changing the order of the letters — and add one more letter at the end. The result, in seven letters, will name a place where this person famously performed. Who is it, and what's the place?

Reminds me of the joke, "What's the difference between a piano and a fish?" You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish.

Edit: How is a piano like a fish? They both have scales... This puzzle was previously featured in November 2008

A: MARIA CALLAS --> LA SCALA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 28, 2013): Six-word Proverb Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 28, 2013): Six-word Proverb Puzzle:

Q: The first 12 letters of the alphabet are A to L. Think of a familiar, six-word proverb that contains 11 of these 12 letters. The letters may be used more than once, and you may use additional letters from the second half of the alphabet. What proverb is this?

Will has given us a task that's akin to finding a needle in a haystack, but I'm not one to judge a book by its cover. Let's not count our chickens before they hatch, but we can figure this out, can't we?

Edit: Several proverbs get close to using most of the letters in A through L, but the ones I gave weren't the answer. But if we work together...

A: Birds of a feather flock together

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 21, 2013): Location, Location, Location...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 21, 2013): Location, Location, Location...:

Q: Name a geographical location in two words — nine letters altogether — that, when spoken aloud, sounds roughly like four letters of the alphabet. What is it?

Hint: It's 261m.

Edit: The oil tanker "Aegean Sea" responsible for the oil spill in 1992 was 261 meters long.

A: Aegean Sea = AGNC

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 14, 2013): 90° Letter Rotation

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 14, 2013): 90° Letter Rotation:

Q: Take a common English word. Write it in capital letters. Move the first letter to the end and rotate it 90 degrees. You'll get a new word that is pronounced exactly the same as the first word. What words are these?

I think it is a foregone conclusion that Will intends us to get creative with how we write our letters.

Edit: The two hints were "foregone" and "write" which contain hints to two possible pairs. The picture gives an example of how you might write a W so it looks like an E when rotated. By the way, the picture is of a set of Ambigrammic Letter Tiles created by Eric Harshbarger.

A: WON, ONE or WRY, RYE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 7, 2013): Commonly Read on Sunday Morning

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Apr 7, 2013): Commonly Read on Sunday Morning:

Q: Name something in nine letters that is commonly read on Sunday morning. If you have the right thing, you can rearrange all the letters to name a bygone car model that you still see on the road today. What are they?

I have a really great clue, but I'm going to save it for when I have the answer. :)

Update: 562-87-4193 is not my social security number.

Edit: Assuming the first word is 123456789, the second rearrangement is 562874193.

A: SCRIPTURE --> PT CRUISER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 31, 2013): Resistance is Futile (Ohm)...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 31, 2013): Resistance is Futile (Ohm)...:

Q: Name something in four letters that you use every day. Add the letters O, H and M, and rearrange all seven letters. You will name something else you probably use every day. This seven-letter thing is usually found near the four-letter thing. What are they?

If you search for the answer words, the first results are from people that don't use each of these every day. By the way, the answer is not LANE and MANHOLE.

A: SOAP and SHAMPOO