NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 16, 2025): Dry Politics

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 16, 2025): Dry Politics

Q: Take the name of a famous person in American politics (6,6). Hidden in this name reading from left to right, but not in consecutive letters, is the name of a well-known place that's very dry, in 4 letters. Remove these letters. The remaining 8 letters in order from left to right will name another well-known, very dry place. What politician is this?

I referred to a list and one place showed up just after a very familiar place.

Edit: I was referring to a list of planets where Earth comes third and Mars comes next.

A: KAMALA HARRIS --> MARS, KALAHARI

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 9, 2025): Actress Gives Advice on Fermenting Milk

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 9, 2025): Actress Gives Advice on Fermenting Milk

Q: Think of a famous actress -- first and last names. Swap the first letter of each name (e.g. Lana Turner would become Tana Lurner). Say the result out loud, and phonetically you'll get some advice on fermenting milk. What is it?

Take the name of the actress. For each letter, if it appears more than once, keep only half the instances (round up if necessary -- half of 3 is 1.5, but you'd keep 2 letters). Rearrange those letters to get a piece of outerwear.

Edit: The remaining letters anagram to BODYWARMER

A: DREW BARRYMORE, "BREW DAIRY MORE"

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 2, 2025): Automobile Import and Ethnic Food

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Nov 2, 2025): Automobile Import and Ethnic Food

Q: Name a popular automobile import (make and model). Add the letter V and anagram the result. You'll name a popular ethnic food. What names are these?

Insert an E in the model to get something directly associated with the make.

Edit: The Kia Soul is manufactured in Seoul, South Korea.

A: KIA SOUL + V = SOUVLAKI (Greek)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 26, 2025): Current American Singer

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 26, 2025): Current American Singer

Q: Name a famous current American singer. Replace the last name with a colloquial term for a person from the place where this singer was born and raised. Say the result out loud. Phonetically, you'll get a form of singing the singer doesn't usually do. Who is the singer and what is the kind of singing?

I realize why I was having trouble with the puzzle. I knew the singer, but the "phonetically" was what threw me. I had to change my pronunciation for the sake of making the puzzle work.

Edit: My hint was sake referring to Japanese rice wine which is pronounced in Japanese as sah-keh while English speakers will often say sah-kee. Likewise the Japanese pronunciation of karaoke is kah-rah-oh-keh but English speakers turn it into care-ee-oh-kee.

A: CARRIE UNDERWOOD, OKLAHOMA (OKIE) --> KARAOKE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 19, 2025): Getting Out of Jail

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 19, 2025): Getting Out of Jail

Q: Think of something to drink in two words. Rearrange the letters to spell a famous prison and a means of getting out of prison. What words are these?

You can also rearrange the letters to get a cookie and a storage container.

Edit: Gingersnap, Silo

A: SINGAPORE SLING --> SING SING, PAROLE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 12, 2025): Exceptionally Good

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 12, 2025): Exceptionally Good

Q: Think of a word that means exceptionally good. Add two letters at the end of it to make a word that means the exact opposite. What words are these?

Change the last letter of the original word to three later in the alphabet, then add the same two letters as before. Rearrange to get a word meaning "sway".

Edit: superead --> persuade

A: SUPERB, SUPERBAD

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 5, 2025): This Singer is Going Places

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct 5, 2025): This Singer is Going Places

Q: Think of a famous singer. Replace the last three letters of the first name with an E. Also replace the last three letters of the last name with an E. The result will be a world-famous location. What singer is this?

"Not Again."

Edit: This is a repeat of a puzzle from March 2018. My hint also refers to the frequently misquoted line "Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By". The word "again" is not part of the actual quote from Casablanca. Casablanca literally translates to "white house".

A: WHITney HOUSton --> WHITE HOUSE

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 28, 2025): Places to See Actresses

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 28, 2025): Places to See Actresses

Q: Name a famous actress (five letters in the first name, six letters in the last name). Change the first and third letters of her first name and the first letter of her last name. The resulting letters in order from left to right will name a place where you might see this actress.

There's a connection to Ben Kingsley and this place.

Edit: Ben Kingsley played Salvador Dali in Daliland. Dali created In Voluptas Mors which is used in place of the skull markings on the death head moth on the iconic Silence of the Lambs movie poster.

A: JODIE FOSTER --> MOVIE POSTER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 21, 2025): ET Phone Home

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 21, 2025): ET Phone Home

Q: Take the phrase EASTERN TIME. Change one letter and rearrange the result to name a place that observes Eastern Time.

Could it be in the 410 area code?

Edit: It took 410 days to build the Empire State Building

A: EMPIRE STATE (New York)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 14, 2025): Loose Cannons

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 14, 2025): Loose Cannons

Q: In a certain classic film, the protagonist uses two weapons. The name of one of these has 10 letters. If you take its first letter and last six letters, you can rearrange them all to name the other weapon this protagonist uses, in seven letters. What weapons are these?

The protagonist uses a different pair of weapons towards the end of the movie.

Edit: [spoiler]Toward the end of the "classic" film, Star Wars, Luke Skywalker fires a pair of proton torpedos into the exhaust port to destroy the Death Star[/spoiler]

A: LIGHTSABER, BLASTER