NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 26, 2010): The Best Things in Life...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 26, 2010): The Best Things in Life...:

Q: Take the phrase 'patron saint,' remove a letter, then rearrange the letters to create a new, familiar two-word phrase that names something important in life. Hint: The first word has three letters, the second word has seven.

The list of anagrams I came up with spanned 4 pages. How come one of the words in the phrase wasn't in the list?

Edit: I'm sure Liane and Will would say, "The Best Things in Life are Listener Supported". Though there is one intended answer, there are really 4 pages of them. I also hinted at the fact that part of the answer is an acronym rather than a "word".

A: PATRON SAINT - A --> NPR STATION

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 19, 2010): International Trade

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 19, 2010): International Trade:

Q: Name five countries whose names are five letters long. Using the middle letter of each country's name, spell the five-letter name of a sixth country.

I didn't find this difficult and I can form the names of 6 different countries. How about you?

Update: On the air, Will mentioned wanting an answer that didn't use the lesser-known country of Palau. I'm still able to come up with 3 good answers that only involve well-known countries (and one that uses a country similar to Palau).

Edit: My clue above was "I" + "and I" which can be anagrammed to make India. I think this is probably Will's intended answer, but there are some other possible answers.

A:
3 answers with well-known countries:
CHINA, KENYA, SUDAN, CHILE, ITALY --> INDIA
CHILE, QATAR, SPAIN, MALTA, EGYPT --> ITALY
MALTA, CHINA, GABON, EGYPT, SPAIN --> LIBYA

One with lesser-known countries:
LIBYA, NAURU, SYRIA, YEMEN, ITALY --> BURMA

A couple more that include Palau:
YEMEN, ITALY, PALAU, QATAR, SPAIN --> MALTA
JAPAN, ITALY, MALTA, SPAIN, NAURU --> PALAU

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 12, 2010): Compound Word Puzzle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 12, 2010): Compound Word Puzzle:

Q: Think of a common compound word in which each half starts with the letter C. Change both Cs to Bs, and you'll get the names of two related objects. What objects are they?

Well ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, I don't have a good clue at all, so you are on your own to figure this out.

Edit: The clues were ladies and gentlemen (man and woman), girls and boys. You can put each of these words together with the parts of the answer to make other words (Catwoman, Batman, callgirl, ballboy). The other hidden clue was "at all" which is the answer without the leading letters.

A: CATCALL --> BAT and BALL

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 5, 2010): B C D E G P T V Z

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sept. 5, 2010): B C D E G P T V Z:

Q: What is the longest common word in which all the letters rhyme with E?

Has anyone discovered a word longer than 8 letters?

Edit: The hint was discovered

A: DETECTED

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 29, 2010): Famous Writer Anagram

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 29, 2010): Famous Writer Anagram:

Q: Take the word 'bookman.' Change a letter and rearrange the result to name a famous person who wrote books. What person is this?

Since the puzzle is up early, I'll put in a quick clue: Alizée

Edit: My first clue was "put in" as in Vladimir Putin who shares the same name as the author. My second clue was "Alizée", a young French singer whose most successful single was "Moi Lolita"

A: (Vladimir) NABOKOV, most famous for the novel Lolita

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 22, 2010): Countries Trading Chemicals

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 22, 2010): Countries Trading Chemicals:

Q: Take a country whose name contains a symbol for a chemical element, and change it to a different chemical element to get another country. For example, if Aruba were an independent country, you could take the 'AR,' which is the chemical symbol for argon, and change it to 'C,' which is the chemical symbol for carbon, to come up with Cuba. There are two answers to this puzzle, and both must be found.

I've tried thinking of clues but whatever hints I create, they seem too obvious. The nature of the puzzle limits me, in what I can say. I've got the two pairs of countries that Will is thinking of. Let's see if you can figure them out too.

Correction: I've now found 3 pairs of answers. All meet the criteria that Will provided. One of the pairs I hinted at before is probably not in Will's intended answers but does fit. All countries and chemical symbols are valid.

Edit: My clues were the words just before the commas above. "I create" is an anagram of I, TA, CE, RE (the chemical symbols from two pairs of answers). "Limits me" is an anagram of ML, MT, IS, IE (the ISO country codes for two pairs of answers). The elements from the third pair would be AL, NI and the country codes would be DZ, NG.

A:
First country pair:
ALGERIA and NIGERIA, exchanging Aluminum (Al) and Nickel (Ni)

Second country pair:
MALI and MALTA, exchanging Iodine (I) and Tantalum (Ta)

Bonus country pair:
ICELAND and IRELAND, exchanging Cerium (Ce) and Rhenium (Re)

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 15, 2010): There's Been a Mix-up at the Nursery

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 15, 2010): There's Been a Mix-up at the Nursery:

Q: Name two girls' names that are anagrams of each other, and both start with the letter 'C.' The answer should be a well-mixed anagram, with more than two letters switched in one name to get the other.

I'm guessing there might be some debate on the meaning of "well-mixed". I'll just say that if your names end with the same letter, you probably haven't found Will's intended answer. I'd provide a better clue, but after several days of camping I'm smelling pretty funky, so a shower is the first order of business.

Edit: My hint was "funky" as in Cornelia Funke, the award-winning German author of children's fiction. While there are other possible answers (CARLA/CLARA, CLAIRE/CARLIE), those aren't as long and as mixed up as what I assume is Will's intended answer.

A: CAROLINE <--> CORNELIA

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 8, 2010): To Yo, or not to Yo

NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 8, 2010): To Yo, or not to Yo:

Q: Take the letters in the name of cellist Yo Yo Ma, and rearrange them to form the initial letters of a familiar six-word question. What is the question?

I could give a musical clue, but it would give it away.
P.S. She might spell the word "Colour".

Edit: My first hint was to Victoria Beckham. The "P.S." was a hint to her nickname (Posh Spice) and the "Colour" clue was the fact that she is British. Her first solo single was "Out of Your Mind". In addition, if you anagram the letters in "Colour" you get "R U Loco?"

A: Are You Out of Your Mind

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 25, 2010): Make Your Own Spoonerism Riddle

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 25, 2010): Make Your Own Spoonerism Riddle:
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 1, 2010): Make Your Own Spoonerism Riddle:

Q: This is a two-week creative challenge. Come up with a riddle that starts off with 'What's the difference between' and involves a spoonerism. A spoonerism is when consonant sounds are interchanged. For example, 'What's the difference between an ornithologist and a loser in a spelling bee?' The answer: 'One is a bird watcher, and the other is a word botcher.'

Hmm... not much to comment on this week. Obviously this is different than most of Will's puzzles in that it is open-ended and is a two week challenge. Start collecting your ideas and we'll discuss them all in two weeks after the deadline.

Winner:
What's the difference between a wedding chapel and a restaurant's daily specials? One is a marrying venue, the other is a varying menu.

Runners-Up:
What’s the difference between a guinea hen and a young witch? One is a wild chicken and the other is child wicken.

What’s the difference between a dasher and a haberdasher? One makes short spurts and the other makes sports shirts.

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 18, 2010): Let Me Make This Analogy...

NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 18, 2010): Let Me Make This Analogy...:

Q: Complete this analogy:
'Banjo' is to 'ferns' as 'pecan' is to _______.

This puzzle makes me think of Prince Edward's visit in 1924.

Edit: My hint was a reference to plus fours which are trousers that extend 4 inches below the knee and are often associated with golf. According to Wikipedia they were introduced to America during a diplomatic trip by Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1924. In this way, my clue is a double hint to both the way you get the answer (add 4 to each letter position) and a well-known golf player.

A: 'Banjo' is to 'ferns' as 'pecan' is to 'TIGER'.
To get to the second word in each pair, move each letter four later in the alphabet.