NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept 11, 2016): Colors of the Rainbow? Days of the Week?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept 11, 2016): Colors of the Rainbow? Days of the Week?:

Q: Think of a well-known category with exactly seven things in it. Alphabetize the things from their ending letters, and the last letter alphabetically will be "e." In other words, no thing in this category ends in a letter after "e" in the alphabet. It's a category and set of seven things that everyone knows. What is it?

Okay, figured that out and now I can get ready to go to church.

My hint was going to "mass" as in "land mass".

A: The seven continents (Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept 4, 2016): Anyone Call For An R.N.?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept 4, 2016): Anyone Call For An R.N.?:

Q: If you squish the small letters "r" and "n" too closely together, they look like an "m." Think of a common five-letter word with the consecutive letters "r" and "n" that becomes its own opposite if you change them to an "m."

I have a myriad of excuses as to why I forgot to post the puzzle and answer last week running the gamut from A to Z, but mainly my wife and I were very busy constructing costumes for the family to attend a convention this weekend. I intended to post as soon as I figured out the answer last Sunday but never came up with it, so forgot to get back to it. Apologies to all.

Edit: My hint was "running the gamut from A to Z". On a boat the equivalent would be from stem to stern.

A: stern --> stem

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 21, 2016): Name that Rhyme

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 21, 2016): Name that Rhyme:

Q: Name a famous person with the initials B.S. and another famous person with the initials G.M. — whose first and last names, respectively, rhyme with each other. One of the names has one syllable and one has two syllables. Who are these famous people?

I'd rather be reminiscing about my vacation.

Edit:The song Reminiscing mentions Glenn Miller, and during American Idol's 2007 broadcast of Idol Gives Back, Ben Stiller jokingly threatened to sing the song nonstop until $200 billion in donations was achieved.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 14, 2016): The Cat's Away...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 14, 2016): The Cat's Away...

I'm unable to post the puzzle this week, but I didn't want to leave you without a place to post comments on the puzzle. Somebody help me out by posting a copy here. Then feel free to add your *hints*.

Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any outright spoilers before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here. Thank you.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 7, 2016): All that Glitters is not Gold

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 7, 2016): All that Glitters is not Gold:

Q: Name a famous Olympics champion past or present — first and last names. Remove every letter from the name that appears exactly twice. The remaining letters in order will name certain minerals. Who is this Olympics star?

You've probably figured this out already, so you don't need my help this week.

Edit: You didn't need "help" this week because those are the repeated letters that are removed.

A: MICHAEL PHELPS --> MICAS

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 31, 2016): Ponies Accept Seared Caviar

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 31, 2016): Ponies Accept Seared Caviar:

Q: Take the four four-letter words LIMB, AREA, CORK and KNEE. Write them one under the other, and the four columns will spell four new words LACK, IRON, MERE, and BAKE.

This is called a double word square. I'd like you to find a double word square with 6-letter words. Specifically, your square must include the words PONIES, ACCEPT, SEARED and CAVIAR. These four words must be among the 12 common, uncapitalized six-letter words in the square. Can you do it?

A: Here's the answer:

ACROSS
CLARET
CAVIAR
EMIGRE
PONIES
TRENDS

ACCEPT
CLAMOR
RAVINE
ORIGIN
SEARED
STRESS

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 24, 2016): Men's Kitchen Attire

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 24, 2016): Men's Kitchen Attire:

Q: A spoonerism is an interchange of initial consonant sounds in a phrase to get another phrase, as in "light rain" and "right lane." Name something seen in a kitchen in two words. Its spoonerism is an article that's worn mostly by men. What is it?

The problem I had was that the name I would have used for the kitchen item has the same initial sounds. And what I would have called the men's item would have the same initial sounds. Thus they would both be spoonerisms of themselves, not each other.

Edit: I'd probably call the kitchen item a pie pan and the clothing item a tie tack.

A: PIE TIN --> TIE PIN

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 17, 2016): Mixed-up American Politicians

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 17, 2016): Mixed-up American Politicians:

A: Name a prominent American politician — first and last names, 11 letters total. Rearrange these letters, and you'll get a country plus the former name of another country. Who's the politician, and what countries are these?

A: NANCY PELOSI --> SPAIN, CEYLON

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 10, 2016): The Boys of Summer

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 10, 2016): The Boys of Summer:

Q: Think of a phrase that denotes a particular major-league sports team in 12 letters. The first 6 letters are the same as the second 6 letters rearranged. What team is it?

A: THE MIAMI HEAT

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 3, 2016): Shall we play a game?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 3, 2016): Shall we play a game?:

Q: Take the word FALSE and divide it between the L and the S (e.g. FAL and SE). FAL is the start of the word FALL, and SE is the end of the word RISE. And, of course, "fall" and "rise" are opposites. Do the same thing for the word SHALL. Divide it into two parts, so that the start of it starts one word and the end of it ends another word — and those two words are opposites. The dividing point is for you to discover. There are three different solutions and you are to find all three.

A: SHORT and TALL, SHARP and DULL, SHAKY and STILL and SHAN'T and WILL