This does seem pretty easy, unless I've misread something.Q: Name a major professional sports team. The first and last letters of the team's name specify something that is an anagram of its interior letters. What team is it?
A: (Boston) RED SOX --> RX (℞), DOSE
This puzzle is driving me batty.Q: Think of an affliction in five letters. Shift each letter three spaces later in the alphabet — for example, A would become D, B would become E, etc. The result will be a prominent name in the Bible. Who is it?
A: EBOLA --> HEROD
You are all very capable students of Will Shortz.Q: These five 2-word phrases have something very unusual in common. What is it? When you find it, think of another two-word phrase that has the same property.
● Property rights
● Land mine
● Sales order
● Color scheme
● India ink
A: The first 3 letters (of the first word) are the start a state capital and the first 2 letters (of the second word) are the state postal code.
PROperty RIghts --> PROvidence, RI
LANd MIne --> LANsing, MI
SALes ORder --> SALem, OR
COLor SCheme --> COLumbia, SCINDia INk --> INDianapolis, IN
A few possible phrases that also work:BOSs MAn / BOSun's MAte --> BOSton, MA
COLlege SCholarship --> COLumbia, SC
DENtal COverage --> DENver, CO
HARbor PAtrol / HARem PAnts --> HARrisburg, PA
INDefinite INtegral --> INDianapolis, IN
LINgual NErve --> LINcoln, NE
LITerary ARts --> LITtle Rock, AR
MADeira WIne --> MADison, WI
PROmise RIng --> PROvidence, RI
RICkets VAccine --> RIChmond, VA
SACral CAnal / SACred CAbal --> SACramento, CA
Not counting mergersQ: Think of two well-known companies — one in five letters, the other in four letters. Write the names one after the other.
The result, when spaced differently, will name a well-known geographical location in the U.S. (in two words). What is it?
A: MOBIL + EBAY = MOBILE BAY
Tesla only has 5 letters.Q: The name of the film director David Lynch conceals the word AVIDLY in consecutive letters, spanning his first and last names. Can you think of a famous film director whose first and last names conceal a 6-letter name of car, past or present, in consecutive letters?
A: GUILLERMO DEL TORO (MODEL T).
Alternate: DENIS SANDERS (NISSAN)
The longer version of the musician's nickname also contains a body part.Q: Think of a well-known musician whose last name contains a body part. The musician has a single-word nickname that anagrams to a different body part. Who is this musician, and what is the nickname?
A: LOUIS ARMSTRONG --> SATCHMO --> STOMACH
It could be Grape Jell-O® but Grape Jelly doesn't involve any rearrangement.Q: Think of a brand name you might see on your breakfast table. Change one letter to a Y and rearrange the result to get a familiar two-word phrase that names something else you might see on your breakfast table. What phrase is this?
A: KELLOGG'S-L+Y = EGG YOLKS
Q: Continuing on from Part 1, here's Part 2 of the challenge.If you are thinking anagrams, you are heading down the wrong path. Personally I don't feel the second property is that uncommon. However some of you may still be wishing the deadline was extended another week.Edit: The hints were "down" and "extended" trying to hint at the missing descenders and ascenders when written in lowercase. And the word "uncommon" was an example of such a word.
These four words have a very interesting and unusual property in common — something about the letters in them (all the letters). What is it?
SCARECROW
SCREENSAVER
CAMERAWOMAN
CURVACEOUSNESS
When you know it, think of a common 7-letter word that shares the unusual properties of both last week's and this week's words.
A: In lowercase, the words have no ascenders and descendersscarecrow
screensaver
camerawoman
curvaceousness
The common words that I found that could both contain a planet and only use these letters were:
aVENUeS -> VENUS
MAnneRS --> MARS
MAnuReS --> MARS
MARacaS --> MARS
MARoonS --> MARS
MARrowS --> MARS
MoAneRS --> MARS
I submitted AVENUES because VENUS wasn't included in last week's planet list.
Q: This is Part 1 of a two-week challenge. You'll need to solve both parts before you send in your answer. So hold your answer for now.Don't get overenthusiastic — be sure to wait until after the two-week deadline. Here's a link to Part 2.
These four words have a very interesting and unusual property in common. What is it?
NEANDERTHAL
EMBARRASS
SATURATION
CONTEMPTUOUSNESS
A: All the words contain planet names
nEAndeRTHal --> EARTHeMbARraSs --> MARSSATURatioN --> SATURNcoNtEmPTUousNEss --> NEPTUNE
Q: Think of a familiar two-word phrase in 8 letters — with 4 letters in each word. The first word starts with M. Move the first letter of the second word to the end and you'll get a regular 8-letter word, which, amazingly, other than the M, doesn't share any sounds with the original two-word phrase. What phrase is it?
A: MAIL SLOT --> MAILLOTS
