NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 28) - Alaskan Conundrum

NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 28) - Alaskan Conundrum

Q: Take a two-word phrase meaning "a difficult puzzle." Drop the first letter, read the remaining letters backward, and you'll get a word for part of Alaska. What is it?

Again, I won't give the answer before the end of the puzzle period, but I will tell you that Alaska isn't the only place to have this 'part'. Work on this on your own and I'm sure you'll have it cracked before then.
Edit: Hopefully you caught all the hints given above... Here's my answer:

A: Difficult Puzzle: HARD NUT --> Part of Alaska: TUNDRA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 21) - Supermarket Brands

NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 21) - Supermarket Brands

Q: Name two familiar products you might find in a drug store or supermarket. These are well known national brands that compete with each other. Each name has five letters. Put them together, one after the other, and you'll get a well known geographical name, also five-five. What is it?

For some reason this answer came almost immediately. Could it be coincidental that Egypt is on the same continent?

A: IVORY COAST - Ivory and Coast are competing brands of soap (from Proctor & Gamble and Dial, respectively)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 7) - Three take away one leaves one

NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 7) - Three take away one leaves one

Q: Think of a word in three syllables starting with the letter 'A'. Remove the 'A' and you'll be left a new word and only one syllable. What is it? Here's a hint: The first word has three vowels, counting the A.

I actually have two answers for this one, but they only differ by one letter. It's not that difficult if you think of the first 'a' as one syllable and try and figure out how the remaining letters can both make two syllables and one syllable. I don't want to give away my answer(s) until after the Thursday deadline, so check back then...
Edit: As I said, I actually have two answers that work. Here they are:

A: AGAPE (love) --> GAPE (to open the mouth wide)
AGAVE (plants having spiny-margined leaves) --> GAVE (presented to another)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 31) - Hop, Skip and a Jump

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 31) - Hop, Skip and a Jump

Q: Think of a word that completes the two-word phrase 'BLANK-Jump.' Remove the fourth letter. The remaining letters, phonetically, make a new word that completes the phrase, 'BLANK-Hop.' What is it?

All the clues are there; just be sure that you think phonetically.
Edit: Okay, you've been patient so here's my answer

A: Bungee Jump --> Bunny Hop

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 24) - Traveling the Periodic Table

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 24) - Traveling the Periodic Table

Q: A 10-letter word for a form of travel, that consists of five consecutive symbols of chemical elements. What is it? If automobile had been the answer, Au, would represent Gold, Mo would represent Molybdenum, and Bi, would represent Bismuth. Unfortunately, the remaining bigrams, To and Le, are not chemical symbols.

To solve this puzzle, it really helps to have a List of the elements by chemical symbol. I'm not going to give away my answer yet, but I will tell you that I did try land travel (motorcycle, snowmobile), water travel (bathyscaph, hovercraft) and even animals (rhinoceros) before I came to the correct answer. Note: as much as I wanted it to, nothing starting with "Police" worked.
Edit: Time to reveal my answer. It wasn't land or water, so that leaves air...

A: HELICOPTER
He = Helium
Li = Lithium
Co = Cobalt
Pt = Platinum
Er = Erbium

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 17) - Masked TV Crime Fighters

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 17) - Masked TV Crime Fighters

Q: Start with the name of a masked crime fighter, who had a TV show. Add the letters L, A and rearrange the results to get the name of another masked crime fighter who had a TV show. Who are these characters?"

I've solved this and I'll give the answer after the Thursday deadline. Hint: Nobody with "Super" or "Bat" in their names.
Edit: Okay, here is the answer. The tricky part is that "THE" is part of one of the names.

A: GREEN HORNET + LA --> THE LONE RANGER

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 10) - Famous American Woman

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 10) - Famous American Woman

Q: Think of a famous American woman with a three part name. When you take the first and last letters of each part of her name and rearrange them, you can make the word "berths". Who is this woman?

I know the answer to this puzzle, and I'll reveal it after the deadline on Thursday. Hint: She's not living and none of her names start with E. Edit: Okay here's the answer:

A: Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
H...T B...R S...E --> BERTHS

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 3) - Three Coins

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 3) - Three Coins

Q: An imaginary country mints coins in three denominations. Each denomination has an integral number, 1, 2, 3, etc. The amounts, 20, 23 and 29, can each be made with exactly three coins. What are the three denominations minted?

Since the deadline has passed, I can tell you my answer to the puzzle. I arrived at this answer with a little bit of experimentation and algebra. If you don't want the answer, stop reading.

A: Assume a, b and c are integers.
Let's try the following equations:

1) a + b + b = 20
2) a + a + c = 23
3) b + c + c = 29

Combining #1 and #2 we have:
2a + c = 23
2a + 4b = 40
4) 4b - c = 17

Next combining #3 and #4 we have:
4b - c = 17
4b + 8c = 116
9c = 99
5) c = 11

Combining #3 and #5 we have:
b + 22 = 29
6) b = 7

Combining #1 and #6 we have:
a + 14 = 20
7) a = 6

Thus the coins are 6, 7 and 11
6 + 7 + 7 = 20
6 + 6 + 11 = 23
7 + 11 + 11 = 29

Edit: 5, 9, 10 was given as another acceptable answer (using 2a + c = 20, 2b + a = 23, 2c + b = 29), but I personally don't like it. I read the question as if each combination could only be made with 3 coins, not more nor less. 20 could be made with two "dimes" or four "nickels" rather than 5+5+10. However, I guess it technically answers the puzzle question which is why they must have decided to allow it. I think 6, 7, 11 must have been the intended answer.

Brain-Nexus Puzzle

I was just looking ahead in my Mind-Bending Puzzles Calendar for June 25/26th and there was a puzzle to go from Brain to Nexus... The requirement was that you connect the words so that the last two letters of one word are the first two letters of the next, and all words must be 5 letters long.

The solution given was:
BRAIN -> INURE -> REGAL -> ALONE -> NEXUS.

My question to you is, am I the only one to notice that you can do it with a single word?
BRAIN -> INANE -> NEXUS.

Edit: Actually I'm not because I asked my son and he came up with the same answer.