Q: Name a brand of beer. Rearrange the letters to name an activity often associated with beer.Maybe LAGER ALES are consumed at a REGAL SALE?
A: TSING TAO --> TOASTING
Q: Take a seven-by-seven square grid. Arrange the names of U.S. cities or towns in regular crossword fashion inside the grid so that the cities used have the highest possible total population, according to the 2010 Census. For example, if you put Chicago in the top row and Houston in the sixth row, both reading across, and then fit Atlanta, Oakland and Reno coming down, you'll form a mini-crossword. And the five cities used have a total population, according to the 2010 census, of 5,830,997. You can do better. (Note: This is a two-week challenge)The first problem is going to be finding a list of U.S. cities by their 2010 census values, to match Will's example. Using the values from Wikipedia, I get a slightly higher value of 5,831,809 for his example grid. And trying to go to census.gov returns a message that it is closed due to the government shutdown. My other issue with this puzzle is whether or not common abbreviations like LA and NYC will be accepted. I hope Mr. Shortz will post here and clarify his intentions with the puzzle, or at least give more details next week on the air. In any case, this one will be a hard puzzle to discuss or hint at since there aren't really any good ways to give a hint. Even giving your population total will give too much away, so I think it's going to be a hard two weeks to comment.
A:
Q: What familiar saying in seven words has seven consonants in a row? The answer is a common saying, in ordinary English. Sometimes it's expressed in nine words rather than seven, but it's the same saying. And either way, in one spot it has seven consecutive consonants. What saying is it?I have one word, and it starts with C.
A: People (who live) in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Q: Name something in seven letters that most people keep in their homes. Take the first, third, fourth and seventh letters and rearrange them. The result will be a four-letter word naming something that the seven-letter thing is commonly used for. What is it?For some reason, the answer hasn't yet come to me so I can't post a clue. I'll leave that to all of you.
A: ASPIRIN --> PAIN
Anyone else feel they spent a lot of time poring through long lists of movie, cartoon or literary characters before finding the answer?Q: The name of what character, familiar to everyone, contains each of the five vowels (A, E, I, O and U) exactly once? The answer consists of two words — eight letters in the first word, four letters in the second.
A: QUESTION MARK
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Sep 15, 2013): Noteworthy Names of the 20th Century: Q: Name a well-known person from the 20th century who held an important position. Take the first and last letters of this person's last name, change each of them to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get the last name of another famous person who held the same position sometime after the first one. Who is it?I got the answer right away, then thought, wait they didn't hold the same position. Anyone think the same thing for a moment?
A: FORD & GORE were both Vice Presidents in the 20th century
Q: Name a famous person in history with four letters in the first name and six letters in the last. Move the first letter of all this to the end. The result will be a two-word phrase that might be defined as "the opposite of a curve." Who's the famous person, and what's the phrase?What is this? Another reference to the puzzle from three weeks ago? At least we know the answer isn't EDIR ECTLIN.
A: MARC ANTONY --> ARC ANTONYM
Q: Think of a well-known celebrity who goes by a single name — the last two letters of which are alphabetically separated by only one letter (like A and C, or B and D). Replace this pair of letters with the one that separates them, and you'll have a common, everyday word. What is it?I wonder if this was inspired by the puzzle of two weeks ago? Anyone know?
A: Beyoncé --> Beyond
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 25, 2013): Open for Business: Q: Think of a business that's found in most towns. Its name consists of two words, each starting with a consonant. Interchange the consonants and you'll get two new words — neither of which rhymes with the original words. What business is it?Checking with my dictionary, I can confirm the words don't rhyme. That goes double for last week's answer.
A: CAR WASH --> WAR and CASH
Q: The Roman numeral for 38 is XXXVIII. What is special or unusual about this Roman numeral that sets it apart from every other Roman numeral that can be written?I'm sure I'll figure this out next month when I go to New Jersey.
A: XXXVIII sorts last alphabetically.
