NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 5, 2023): MeDiCaL XaVier

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Mar 5, 2023): MeDiCaL XaVier

Q: Name something scary in two words. Five of the letters are vowels, which are all the same. And the consonants are all Roman numerals. What scary thing is this?

I found a weird connection to last week.

Edit: When you combine weird with the theme of science from last week's puzzle, you get Oingo Boingo's song Weird Science (YouTube link) which mentions:
"magic and technology, voodoo dolls and chants, electricity"

A: VOODOO DOLL

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 26, 2023): It Doesn't Add Up

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 26, 2023): It Doesn't Add Up

Q: Take this equation: 14 + 116 + 68 = 47. Clearly this doesn't work mathematically. But it does work in a nonmathematical way. Please explain.

It makes about as much sense as 22 + 11 = 26 + 39.

Edit: My equation turns into Ti + Na = Fe + Y, referring back to the recent chemical elements puzzle where Tina Fey was the answer.

A: Looking at the periodic table and replacing the numbers with the chemical symbols, we get Si + Lv + Er = Ag

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 19, 2023): Make Like A Tree and Get Out of Here

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 19, 2023): Make Like A Tree and Get Out of Here

Q: Name a tree. In the very middle of the word insert a homophone of another tree. The result will be a new word describing what everyone wants to be. What is it?

What everyone wants to be? Not me.

Edit: "Not me" would be "you" which is also a homophone for the letter U.

A: POPLAR + YEW(U) --> POPULAR

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 12, 2023): Under Pressure

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 12, 2023): Under Pressure

Q: Name a popular rock band — one that everyone knows. Add a "B" sound at the end, and phonetically you'll name a place where you might hear this band play. What band is it?

I believe they've been touring since the '50s.

Edit: Clearly the band hasn't been around that long, but U-2 spy planes have been flying since the 1950s and require a special pressurized suit.

A: U2 --> YouTube

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 5, 2023): Would You Like Fries with That?

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Feb 5, 2023): Would You Like Fries with That?

Q: Name a food item you might order at a fast food restaurant. The first, second and last letters in order name another food item. Remove those letters and the remaining letters spelled backwards name yet another food item. What foods are these?

Hint: 65003

Edit: In the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS), A065003 contains the Not McNugget Numbers. Back when McDonald's only sold McNuggets in boxes of 6, 9 or 20 the question arose as to which quantities of McNuggets you could or couldn't buy. It turns out that 43 was the highest possible Not McNugget Number.

A: NUGGET --> NUT, EGG

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 29, 2023): Fruit Salad

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 29, 2023): Fruit Salad

Q: Name a fruit in one word. Drop the last two letters. The remaining letters can be rearranged to name two other fruits. What are they?

Or if you remove the 2nd and 4th letters, you can rearrange to get a symbol.

Edit: POMEGRANATE-OE --> PENTAGRAM

A: POMEGRANATE-TE --> PEAR, MANGO

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 22, 2023): One Capital, Two Capitals

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 22, 2023): One Capital, Two Capitals

Q: Take a word that's in the name of several tourist attractions in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Rearrange the letters in that word to spell the names of two other nations' capitals. What are they?

If you anagram the two countries, you get a spicy warbler.

Edit: The cinnamon-breasted warbler belongs to the genus Euryptila.

A: MEMORIAL --> LIMA (Peru) and ROME (Italy)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 15, 2023): For Today's Special We Have...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 15, 2023): For Today's Special We Have...

Q: Name a food dish in 10 letters. The last syllable consists of a consonant and a vowel. Change that syllable to a single consonant sound and you'll name another popular food item, in two words. What foods are these?

This puzzle is making me really hungry.

Edit: Searching through images of Italian food to find one I liked, but without fettuccine, made me very hungry. In addition, the country of HUNGARY forms somewhat of an equilateral triangle with ITALY and GREECE.

A: FETTUCCINE (feh-tuh-CHEE-nee), FETA CHEESE (feh-tuh CHEEZ)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 8, 2023): Elementary!

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 8, 2023): Elementary!

Q: Name a famous living person — first and last names. If you drop the last letter of the first name, you get an element on the periodic table. And if you drop the last letter of the last name, you get the chemical symbol of another element. What celebrity is this?

I found an answer for a non-living celebrity which led directly to the correct answer. Note: If you take the movie or series that the person is best known for, each word starts with a chemical symbol (one letter for the first word, two letters for the rest).

My initial thought was Tiny Tim before switching to Tina Fey.
Note: S(aturday) Ni(ght) Li(ve) = S(ulfur) Ni(ckel) Li(thium)

A: Tina Fey --> Tin, Fe (Iron)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 1, 2023): Opposites Attract

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Jan 1, 2023): Opposites Attract

Q: Name a U.S. state capital for which the name of another well-known U.S. city is an antonym. The second city has a population of more than 100,000

The second city was the setting of a sitcom from the '70s.

Edit: Mork and Mindy was set in Boulder, Colorado.

A: LITTLE ROCK and BOULDER