NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 23, 2014): A World of Instruments

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 23, 2014): A World of Instruments:

Q: Name a capital of a country. Change the first letter to name a familiar musical instrument. What is it?

It's not easy to come up with a thumbnail that doesn't give the answer away.

Edit: My hints were to an alternate answer. The photo is from a music store in Yuba City, California. The word "ThUmBnAil" contains "TUBA" in order.

A: Caracas (Venezuela) --> maracas.
Juba (South Sudan) --> tuba

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 16, 2014): Driving to the Supermarket

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 16, 2014): Driving to the Supermarket:

Q: Take the brand name of a popular grocery item, written normally in upper- and lower-case letters. Push two consecutive letters together, without otherwise changing the name in any way. The result will name a make of car. What is it?

I was having trouble with this, then a light bulb turned on.

Edit: GE trademarked the name Mazda for their incandescent light bulbs with tungsten filaments.

A: Mazola --> Mazda

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 9, 2014): It's All Greek to Me

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 9, 2014): It's All Greek to Me:

Q: Take the name of a classical Greek mathematician and re-arrange the letters in his name to spell two numbers. What are they?

A: DIOPHANTUS --> THOUSAND + PI

P.S. We discussed Diophantine Equations 5 years ago.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 2, 2014): The Oscar Goes To...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 2, 2014): The Oscar Goes To...:

Q: Take the first name of a nominee for Best Actor or Best Actress at Sunday's Oscars. You can rearrange these letters into a two-word phrase that describes his or her character in the film for which he or she is nominated. Who is this star, and what is the phrase?

You'll need the following list of nominees.

A: SANDRA (Bullock) --> NASA DR.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 23, 2014): Six Words Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 23, 2014): Six Words Puzzle:

Q Write down these six words:
- Cupid
- Yoo-hoo
- Eyeball
- Entrance
- Seafood
- Wiper

The six words have something unusual in common. And when you've figured out what it is, that unusual something will suggest the name of a well-known U.S. city. Name that city.

It made me think of a TV show, instead of a U.S. city.

Edit: The TV show I was thinking of was "Quincy, M.E." with the italicized hint to me

A: The first syllable of each word sounds like a letter. Those letters spell out the name of a city: QUINCY (Massachusetts)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 16, 2014): Entertainer Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 16, 2014): Entertainer Puzzle:

Q: Name a famous entertainer: two words, four letters in each word. You can rearrange these eight letters to spell the acronym of a well-known national organization, and the word that the first letter of this acronym stands for. Who's the entertainer, and what's the organization?

You're not going to get me to give this away.

Edit: I intended this to be a double clue. The first being a reference to the former military policy of "don't ask, don't tell". The other was a reference to playing cards and not giving away your hand because you have a "Poker Face". By the way, according to Wikipedia, the organization is no longer an acronym.

A: LADY GAGA --> GLAAD + GAY

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 9, 2014): Studying the Body of Literature

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 9, 2014): Studying the Body of Literature:

Q: Name a title character from a classic work of fiction, in 8 letters. Change the third letter to an M. The result will be two consecutive words naming parts of the human body. Who is the character, and what parts of the body are these?

This answer came quickly once I switched search engines.

Edit: The hints were quickly (SWIFT) and search engine (YAHOO). A Yahoo is a legendary being in the novel Gulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift.

A: GULLIVER --> GUM, LIVER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 2, 2014): SHE and HIS puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 2, 2014): SHE and HIS puzzle:

Q: It's a two-part question: Where in most homes will you see the words SHE and HIS, and what word will you see right after HIS?

We don't even have these words in our home. If we did, we would use the word after HIS. Anyone think the word OUR might also be next to these two? Good, I thought so.

Edit: The initial answer I came up with was SHErry and wHISkey being in a locked cabinet requiring a key. I hinted at bOURbon (with another clue toward bon=good). But I wasn't completely satisfied with the answer. I'm leaning toward the alternate answer provide by Al in the comments as Will's intended answer.

A: A digital clock with the times viewed upside down as letters. 3:45 is SHE, 5:14 is HIS. The time that follows immediately after is 5:15 which spells SIS.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 26, 2014): Remove a Double S to Get a Synonym

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 26, 2014): Remove a Double S to Get a Synonym:

Q: What word, containing two consecutive Ss, becomes its own synonym if you drop those Ss?

Anyone else feel this puzzle might have been more appropriate in a couple months?

Edit: Perhaps in the Spring?

A: BLOSSOM --> BLOOM (and variants like BLOSSOMING --> BLOOMING, BLOSSOMED --> BLOOMED, BLOSSOMS --> BLOOMS)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 19, 2014): Famous Name with Double Letters

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 19, 2014): Famous Name with Double Letters:

Q: Name a famous person whose first and last names together contain four doubled letters — all four of these being different letters of the alphabet. Who is it? For example, Buddy Holly's name has two doubled letters, D and L.

So it would seem that nicknames like "Buddy" are okay if that is what the person was most known by. I have the answer but not before trying to make Annette Funicello and Isabella Rossellini work. Did you know her full name was Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini? That was interesting to find out.

Edit: The last sentence starts "That was..." which has the initials T.W. from my answer.

A: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS